NPS Engage News

February 17-21: February Vacation - Schools Closed

Wednesday, March 12: Early Release Day for all students

School dismissal times are listed online. Please update your dismissal plans as needed.

Dear NPS Families and Caregivers,

As I continue my first year as superintendent, I’ve enjoyed learning from all of you and I’m especially looking forward to sharing my Entry Plan findings with the School Committee and the community during the week of February 24th. Engaging in conversations with everyone and anyone who cares about Natick Public Schools is incredibly important to me. Thank you for reaching out, voicing your concerns, and sharing your appreciation for our schools.

My Entry Plan outlines my key observations and findings after engaging in more than 230 interviews with families, students, staff, and community members. All stakeholders are represented in the plan document. To provide deeper insight into my methodology, I want to highlight that in addition to individual and group discussions, I’ve also incorporated takeaways from nearly 3,000 survey responses, 41 school-based learning walks, and an extensive review of district materials. My time spent listening to all of you has shown me that our district has many unique strengths as well as some distinct opportunities for growth in the coming years.

I look forward to sharing this plan with you soon. It’s been a pleasure getting to know our dynamic students, dedicated educators and engaged families.

Wishing you a peaceful break this coming week.

-Dr. Melissa Spash

NPS kitchens and cafeterias generate a significant amount of food waste, and we are committed to doing more to reduce and divert it. Several schools, including Lilja Elementary, Ben-Hem Elementary, and Wilson Middle School, have waste sorting stations in their cafeterias, in which students separate food from trash. These leftovers get collected by Black Earth Compost and turned into compost at a facility in Framingham.

In late January, we were also excited to pilot a new animal feed collection program between Aramark staff at Natick High School and Memorial Elementary and the Natick Community Organic Farm. Each week, kitchen staff separate fruit and vegetable scraps (e.g., strawberry tops). The Farm picks these items up and feeds them to their animals - pigs, chickens and more. In just four weeks, we have already provided the animals with about 100 lbs. of food! It's a great way for us both to save money on trash or animal feed and to keep food out of the incinerator.

If you are interested in extending this lesson and composting at home, please consider signing up for curbside composting services at natickma.gov/compost.

At Lilja's library, students celebrated 100 days of K-1 with a math-themed read-aloud and building with Keva Planks. -Courtesy of Tara McDonald, K-12 Library Director

First graders love to code! We did a bit of free exploration with coding and then worked on collaboration skills in the Memorial School Library. --Sharing From the Office of Digital Learning

Natick student artists had a significant presence among those recognized in the annual Scholastic Art Awards presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. Check out the 11 award-winning submissions from our 9 student artists. Additionally, Keira Lavelle and Jessica Liu had work accepted into the Emerging Young Artists and Designers Juried Exhibition hosted by UMass Dartmouth. Jessica also won a 2D Recognition Award in the EYAD show. Hearty Congratulations!

Artwork in above image from top left to bottom right:

Maya Rodriguez - Drawing & Illustration Music in Color, Honorable Mention

Keira Lavelle - Drawing & Illustration, Many Comforts, Honorable Mention

Keira Lavelle - Drawing & Illustration, What Holds Us Back, Silver Key

Ethan Weisman -Drawing & Illustration, Stuck in Place, Honorable Mention

Annabel DeGroot - Ceramics & Glass, Snake no. 2, Silver Key

Aiza Shuja - Photography, Found You, Silver Key

Bridget Chick - Photography, Morning Dew, Honorable Mention

Keira Lavelle - Ceramics & Glass, Sonder, Honorable Mention

Stella Gillis - Mixed Media, Growth, Honorable Mention

Camie Medrano - Digital Art, Longing, Silver Key

Hannah Zarin- Painting, Reclamation, Honorable Mention

(Please click on the artwork's name to see a larger version.)

On February 8th, the West Street Singers, under the direction of Bethany Spielman, performed at Tantasqua Regional High School's show choir festival. They received a gold medal, placed second in their division, and received the High Caption award for Best Choreography.

The Natick High School Jazz Ensemble also had a notable performance this past weekend. The ensemble, under the direction of Craig Chisholm, performed at Endicott College as part of the Essentially Ellington Regional Festival. As a non-competitive festival, medals and places are not awarded. However, the band received commendations as follows:

Outstanding Rhythm Section

Outstanding Saxophone Section

Outstanding Trombone Section

Outstanding soloist: Henryk Baran, Trombone

Outstanding soloist: Erik Broberg, Trombone

Outstanding soloist: Ethan Ren, Alto Sax

Outstanding soloist: Evan Simon, Clarinet

BRAVO!!!

The weather didn't stop Natick community members from coming together to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 20th at Natick High. The hundreds of in-person and online attendees were captivated by a rousing spoken word poetry performance from keynote speaker jamele adams (pictured above). As jamele delivered his moving words, former Natick Artist-in-Residence Amy Adams created artwork live on stage to accompany him.

Dr. Melissa Spash and Dr. Art Fergusson introduced the MLK Day Creative Contest winners from Natick's middle schools. The two winning students were invited to recite their poems to the audience.

The Wilson Middle School winner was Lillian Benes (Grade 7). Her poem is "Hope in the Shards." Watch Lillian's Video and see her Poem. The Kennedy Middle School winner was Asha Sparkes (Grade 7). Her poem is "Break Free." Both students' readings can be seen in the on demand video link from Pegasus included below.

Additionally, the following students earned recognition as runners-up for their work:

Wilson Middle School Students

Kaleb Rubenstein, Ethan McEvoy, Sammie Goldrick - "Reputation" (Grade 7)

Maddie Bateman, "Now" (Grade 8)

Ryder Pabian, "A Dream" (Grade 8)

Kennedy Middle School Students

Ridley Greenwald, "Shattered Dreams" (Grade 6)

Seo Sturgeon, "A Light on the Horizon" (Grade 8)

Adrianna Vanas, "The Price of War" (Grade 8)

Many memorable, unforgettable moments were part of the event, including jamele engaging the audience by requesting that they chant out loud and take group selfies. A highlight of the day was hearing Natick community partners read parts of Amanda Gorman's book Something, Someday as the pages were projected. Attendees were treated to the music of the talented West Street Jazz Combo. The event ended in a very joyful, energizing manner, as the singers of Sound & Spirit had everyone up on their feet, singing along.

In addition to the celebration, the Natick Service Council took the opportunity to collect food donations on site; event attendees enjoyed complimentary Starbucks refreshments donated by the coffee chain; and many folks enjoyed connecting with one another and learning from community partners in the Natick High School lobby.

The event was co-created by and co-sponsored by Natick Public Schools alongside SPARK Kindness, the Town of Natick, Natick 180, the Greater Natick Interfaith Leaders Association, the MetroWest Families of Color Unite & Support (FOCUS), Natick is United, Black Lives Belong, Natick for Black Lives Matter Metrowest, the Natick Center Cultural District, the Natick Health Department, the NPS Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) Department, Needham Bank, Family Promise Metrowest, the Rotary Club of Natick, Natick Pegasus, the Massachusetts Cultural Council,vthe Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and other partners. Learn more about the keynote speakers and additional event participants in the event program.

Want to relive the event? Check out the online photo gallery, rewatch the event on Natick Pegasus, or read the Natick Report's coverage of the celebration. See you next year!

Visit the FY26 Budget Override dedicated webpage to keep up to date and to stay informed today and throughout the weeks ahead. Save the date: March 12 will be the next public forum.

Sign-up for alerts and receive updates on meeting notices, financial documents & more.

• Go to: https://www.natickma.gov/list.aspx?ListID=550 to receive regular updates. (Scroll down to the bottom of the webpage.)

Submit "Q&A Tool" questions & receive official responses from Town & NPS staff. (Responses will be published regularly, see the FY26 Budget Override dedicated webpage for details.)

Refer to our Inclement Weather Cancellations and Delays webpage for information of what to expect in the event of inclement weather that may cause any cancellations or delays.

Families will receive broadcast phone calls, SMS texts and emails from SchoolMessenger Communicate if Natick schools are delayed, closed or are dismissing early. You will also see notices posted on our website and on Facebook. Local media outlets carry our school closing notices as well.

Pictured are several of the Natick Public Schools attendees at the 40th Anniversary METCO Directors Association Educators Conference in Norwood, Mass. on Friday, December 6.

Students who participate in the METCO program are thriving from the elementary to high school grade levels. Natick became a partner METCO district in 1969. Learn about METCO's history.

The final, approved Natick Public Schools 2024-2025 school improvement plans are now available online for all NPS community members to review.

February 2025: The latest NPS school report cards are also available online.

We will update submissions for consideration in our community notices pages on a periodic basis. Due to space and other considerations, NPS will not always be including community partner updates in our newsletters, so please look at our community notices page periodically. Contact communitynotices@natickps.org to request publication. NPS Communications reserves the right to approve final publication.

NPS is pleased to be partnering with Framingham Public Schools for the Personal Pathways to Success Career Training Fair, to be held on March 18.

All MetroWest community members are invited to explore diverse postsecondary pathways at the Personal Pathways to Success Career Training Fair. Connect with local job seekers, employers, training programs, and colleges to learn about opportunities beyond the traditional four-year college experience. Whether you're a student, a career changer, or someone looking for new opportunities, this is your chance to discover what’s next!

Please take a look at the Facebook event notice to learn more. Interested in participating as a vendor? Fill out this form: https://bit.ly/4jGKBll.

Are you an adult that supports Black teens in Massachusetts? Register to attend a FREE virtual webinar, "Addressing Black Youth Mental Health" led by Dr. Fabienne Bain (licensed psychologist) on Wednesday, February 26th from 6:30-8:00pm. Participants learn how to recognize someone who needs help and assist them in accessing services. Registration: https://bit.ly/4guEopR

• FlashVote is a survey tool that makes it easy to give input directly to Town of Natick staff (as fast as 1min surveys!), ensure scalable results (via a registered panel that builds over time), and enables a representative sample (showing results by key demographics). This tool will absolutely provide key input to make key decisions in Natick! Sign Up. Learn more.

Is someone in your household not receiving the Engage biweekly district newsletter or important notices related to bus transportation? Direct them to communications@natickps.org to let us know.

Smore.com newsletter HYPERLINK + FILE & ATTACHMENT notice

Natick Public Schools does not discriminate in employment nor its educational programs, services, and activities based on race, creed, color, age, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, physical and intellectual differences, immigration status, homeless status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Please be aware all electronic communication to and from Natick Public Schools is public record and subject to public disclosure per Massachusetts General Law Chapter 66, Section 10.

• Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
• Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
• MGL, Ch.76, Section 5: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 76, Section 5