COMMUNITY MEETING September 10th @ 6:30 PM Zoom and In Person at Pollard Middle School

Participate in the Pollard Middle School Project

Pollard Middle School is over 65 years old, and the aging infrastructure is in need of critical upgrades. This initiative is a direct continuation of the Needham School Master Plan, building upon its foundational work to design a renovated or new school that will fully meet the educational needs of our 1300+ middle school students.

Needham has a unique opportunity to partner with the state for partial funding of this project. Its success requires the input and support of our entire community, and we want to understand your priorities.

Stay involved! We hope you will attend the upcoming community meetings and sign up for our Pollard Middle School Project email updates below.

CURRENT PHASE

Feasibility Study: Preliminary Design Program (PDP)

NEXT COMMUNITY MEETING

Wednesday, September 10 @ 6:30pm
What We're Hearing — Update and Q&A
In Person at Pollard Middle School & via Zoom

UPCOMING COMMITTEE MEETINGS:

PPBC
Monday, September 15 @ 7:30pm
In Person at 500 Dedham Avenue & via Zoom

SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Tuesday, September 16 @ 6:30pm
In Person at Broadmeadow Performance Center & via The Needham Channel

UPCOMING COMMUNITY MEETINGS:

Saturday, October 4, 9:00-10:30am
Pollard Open House: Tours and Q&A
In Person at Pollard Middle School

Thursday, November 6, 6:30pm
Sharing Preliminary Plans and Gathering Additional Feedback
IIn Person at Pollard Middle School & Zoom

Saturday, November 15, 9:00-10:30am
Pollard Open House: Tours and Q&A
In Person at Pollard Middle School

COMMUNITY QUESTION

Were the design options for Pollard narrowed down on September 3rd, before all of the community meetings have been held?

No, they have not been narrowed down at this time. On September 3rd, Needham submitted the Preliminary Design Program (PDP) to the MSBA as part of the Feasibility Study. The PDP includes the seven design options that have been shared with the community over the past months:

Code upgrade/repair of Pollard
- Grades 7/8 only
Addition/Renovation of Pollard
- Grades 7/8 only
- Grades 6-8
New construction at Pollard
- Grades 7/8 only
- Grades 6-8
New construction at Defazio
- Grades 7/8 only
- Grades 6-8

At separate meetings on September 2nd, the School Committee and the School Building Committee/PPBC voted to approve the PDP. The MSBA requires that the design team continue to study all seven options in the next phase of the Feasibility Study, which will conclude on December 8th when the Preferred Schematic Report (PSR) is voted on.

More information about the MSBA process can be found on the Project Timeline page.