Snow Day Reschedules Make a Statement Day, Aly Raisman

Friday's snow day pushes back events at the High School and Pollard School, which are both on for today.

  Friday's unexpected snow day canceled Needham schools across the town. There were a couple of events planned for the day which were also put off by the snow. At the High School, students geared up for Make a Statement Day on Thursday by decorating blank shirts with slogans and logos that mean something to them. The plan is to wear them at the end of the week, on Make a Statement Day itself.  Needham Youth Coalition's Michelle Butman told Patch by e-mail that today is the day: students are wearing their shirts on March 11 for Make a Statement Day. Check out Patch's gallery of Make a Statement Day shirts, and add your own. Meanwhile, at the Pollard Middle School, Needham Olympian Aly Raisman was bringing Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and …

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What Are Pollard Students Reading This Summer?

A quick guide to required reading for students entering seventh and eighth grade in the fall.

School's out at the end of the day today, but that doesn't mean homework is at an end. Over the summer, Pollard Middle School students—those entering seventh and eighth grade in 2012-13—must read at least two books from an approved list of titles. Suggested titles include a few classics such as "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton, "Call of the Wild" by Jack London, "Dracula" by Bram Stoker and "Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne, as well as modern favorites such as "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card, "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak and "The Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The full list of approved titles can be found as a PDF at right (by genre or author) or on the school website, pollard.needham.k12.ma.us. Note: …

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Police: Middle Schooler Brought Bullets to School

A 12-year-old Pollard student is facing charges for unlawful possession of ammunition and said he found the items at the RTS.

A Pollard Middle School student is being charged with unlawful possession of ammunition after he allegedly brought .22 caliber bullets to school on Monday, May 7. The Needham Police Department school resource officer at Pollard was notified on Tuesday, May 8 at around 8:30 a.m. that a student may have been in possession of ammunition while on school grounds the previous day. Following an investigation, a complaint was filed against a 12-year-old juvenile male for unlawful possession of ammunition (.22 caliber bullets) and trespassing, according to police reports. The student told police he had found the bullets at the town's Recycling and Transfer Station while at the site when it was closed. Police recovered more ammunition from the RTS …

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Letter: Appreciation for Community Week

This letter was submitted by a Needham resident.

Last week, the Pollard/High Rock PTC sponsored a series of Community Week events, which were wonderful. Our family was able to attend the Monday film presentation, "Including Samuel," which we found heartwarming and enlightening. On Friday evening, we heard Travis Roy give an eloquent talk followed by an educational Q&A.  Thank you very much to the middle school PTC folks, SEPAC, Jennifer Kirby, Dee Springer, Tee Stock and others for their hard work in putting the past week's events together and make Community Week a reality. Thanks also goes to the Needham Education Foundation, which helped fund the events with a spring 2012 small grant. Georgina Arrieta-Ruetenik Greendale Avenue

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Pollard Students Explore Benefits of iPads in Classrooms

Several eighth grade classes are participating in a pilot program in which Needham Public Schools purchased 30 tablet computers for educational use.

Take a virtual trip to France, compose a blues song and explore the elements of the periodic table—these are just a few of the things Needham eighth graders have been using iPads for over the past few weeks, as they participate in a pilot program designed to see how the new technology can benefit classroom teaching. Last year, Needham Public Schools purchased 30 iPads for a pilot program at Pollard Middle School, introducing the tablet computers into several eighth grade classrooms to see how they could offer new and different ways of learning. Teachers were invited last spring to apply to be part of the program, suggesting ways the iPads could benefit their curriculum. The selected teachers then received iPads to work with and training …

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Pollard Student To Appear in Boston Play

Children's Theatre production "Reflections of a Rock Lobster" tells the story of a gay teenager and his fight against bullying, prejudice and intolerance.

Bullied, ridiculed, misunderstood and gay. This was the life of Cumberland, RI high school student Aaron Fricke, a teenager whose unprecedented civil actions forever changed the lives of gay and lesbian students.    Boston Children’s Theatre will be the first children’s theater in the country to produce the world premiere play "Reflections of a Rock Lobster," about a gay teenager and his fight to defend his life and preserve his civil rights in the wake of bullying, prejudice and intolerance.   "Reflections of a Rock Lobster" will featuer the talents of 14-year-old Boston resident Joy Kozu, who attends Pollard Middle School. In addition to working with Boston Children's Theatre, Kozu has appeared on stage in “A Christmas Carol” with Our …

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Needham Artists Win 2012 Scholastic Awards

Congratulations to the Needham High School and Pollard Middle School students who won Gold Keys, Silver Keys and Honorable Mentions.

Eighteen student artists from Needham High School earned Gold Keys for their entries in the 2012 Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards. In addition, nine students earned Silver Keys and 21 received Honorable Mentions. Students from Pollard Middle School also received awards, with three earning Silver Keys and five earning Honorable Mentions. Nearly 14,000 images were submitted as individual category entries and as part of portfolios created by more than 6,500 individual students. All individual Gold Key and Silver Key students have been invited to exhibit their work in the Massachusetts Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza, in Boston. The exhibit will be open Monday, Feb. 13 through Friday, April 20, viewable Monday through Friday between 9…

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Patch Chats with Dr. Lisa Chen

New Pollard Middle School principal is one of about 22 fresh faces in the building this year.

Students arriving at Pollard Middle School for the first day of the 2011-12 school year on Thursday, Sept. 8 found a new principal at the helm, Dr. Lisa Chen. Chen was hired in May to take over for former principal Glenn Brand, who left for an assistant superintendent position with Sharon Public Schools.  Chen is among 22 new staff members at Pollard Middle School this year, including new social studies, science, health, Spanish, English and engineering design teachers, special education liaisons and others, plus three student teachers. Patch sat down with Chen recently to talk about her work prior to coming to Needham and her thoughts on the new job and a new school year. What was your position before coming to Needham? I had the …

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2011 Back to School

A New Look for Newman

Workers spent the summer building a temporary school to accommodate students and staff during ongoing renovations.

It’s still located at 1155 Central Ave., but Newman Elementary School will look a lot different when students arrive for their first day of the 2011-12 year on Thursday. The building has been undergoing renovations and will continue to be revamped over the coming year, so in the interim, students and staff will be doing their work in a temporary school constructed out of a network of modular units that are so neatly put together, it’s hard to imagine it’s not a real school building. As Needham Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Daniel Gutekanst puts it: “These aren’t the modular units your grandmother’s used to.” Designed and installed by Consigli Construction Co., the colorful units fit together to connect classrooms and hallways to the …

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Labs and Leaks: School Officials Consider Building Needs

Experts offered an early look at issues that should be addressed at Hillside, Mitchell and Pollard schools at the Tuesday night School Committee meeting.

Small science labs at Pollard Middle School and leaky roofs at Hillside and Mitchell elementary schools are among the problems the town will need to address in the not-so-distant future, experts said Tuesday. Representatives from Dore & Whittier Architects were before the Needham School Committee Tuesday night to share some of the issues they had found in their preliminary evaluation of the three school buildings. The study was funded by Town Meeting and is the first step toward deciding what exactly the town wants to do with those buildings both in the short and long term. All three buildings were built in the 1950s and underwent renovations and haven't undergone major renovations since the 1960s, according to Steve Popper, director of …

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