Prior Search Updates

Please note that the communications below were distributed throughout the 2023-2024 school year. These communications all pertain to the search for a new, permanent Superintendent of Schools.

Superintendent Search Update From 

January 11, 2024 - Feedback deadline extended

The links to the Superintendent Candidate events are now available to watch on demand:

January 9 Candidate Forum

January 10 Interviews

In order to allow community members time to watch these recordings and provide us with useful feedback, the School Committee is extending the deadline to provide feedback to Thursday, January 11, at 6:00PM. 

Please provide your candidate feedback on the Feedback Form (located here: https://forms.gle/U8vu4hPVPaC4Rj2z8) by 6:00PM on Thursday, January 11.

Natick School Committee

Superintendent Search Update:
Finalists Announcement - January 8, 2024

The School Committee is excited to announce the four finalists for the position of NPS Superintendent of Schools. These four candidates were selected by a Screening Committee of multiple community stakeholders with support from our search firm, NESDEC. The selection was guided by the profile of a candidate that was developed based on the focus groups and community survey. We want to thank all those who were involved in the process thus far. 

Below are the names and current roles of the four finalists with links to their resumes in alphabetical order:

• Melissa Spash, Deputy Superintendent, Lawrence Public Schools  
• Priya Tahiliani, Superintendent of Schools, Everett Public Schools  
• David Thomson, Superintendent of Schools, Norwood Public Schools 
• Sandra Trach, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, Wellesley Public Schools   

We encourage the community to continue to be engaged in the process and to continue to provide us feedback. Below is a reminder of the plan for the week including the various ways in which you can participate in the process and provide your feedback (see link below for feedback form):

·       Tuesday January 9, morning: The finalists will conduct site visits to at least one elementary school, one middle school, and the high school. This will give an opportunity for the candidates to see our schools in action and meet some of our staff. Principals will communicate with their teams which candidate(s) will be visiting their school and when.

·       Tuesday January 9, 5:30PM at the Natick High School Auditorium and via Pegasus (government channel): THE COMMUNITY IS INVITED TO ATTEND OR WATCH ON TV THE CANDIDATE FORUM! Each finalist will have 30 minutes to introduce themselves and answer questions from the community. All candidates will be asked the same questions that will be pre-selected based on questions provided from the community (teachers, parents, and other community members).

·       Wednesday January 10, starting at 5:00PM: The School Committee will conduct interviews with all candidates in open meeting. This meeting will be open to the public in person, on Zoom, and via Pegasus (education channel). See meeting agenda for details.

·       Friday January 12 at 6PM: The School Committee will reconvene to deliberate and vote on the final candidate. This meeting will be open to the public in person, on Zoom, and via . See meeting agenda for details. 

FEEDBACK: Click on this link to provide your feedback on the candidates. We encourage you to provide feedback after you have attended/watched any of the events above. Please submit your feedback by Thursday January 11 at 12:00PM to allow the School Committee time for review. 

If you have any questions, please contact the School Committee at [email protected]. 

Thank you,

The Natick School Committee

(Note: This January 8th update was sent to all Natick Public Schools constituents via email. This information was also announced live at the School Committee meeting (which is also available as a recording on Pegasus). If you have questions about the email distribution process, feel free to reach out to communications[at]natickps.org.)

Superintendent Search Update - January 2, 2024

We are excited to share with you some important updates about the Superintendent Search Process and invite you all to get involved. This update contains important information about the timeline and opportunities for community engagement as we move towards selecting the next NPS leader.

Given the number of other districts in the last steps of their superintendent search and the overlap in candidates, the School Committee decided to accelerate the original process. We will still go through all the steps we planned to take, including providing opportunities for community engagement. We will just go through these steps at a faster pace than planned to make sure we are able to attract the best candidate to our district!

Below is the timeline for the selection of the next NPS permanent superintendent*:  

→ Please note in particular the Meet and Greet Forum (open to the entire Natick Community on January 9, 2023) and the opportunity to submit questions for this forum here. 

• Tuesday January 2 - Friday January 5: The Screening Committee comprised of community stakeholders will conduct first round interviews and select between 3-5 candidates to move to the final round. Interviews and deliberations will be closed to the public. 

• Monday January 8: The School Committee will announce the finalists to the community during our meeting. We will also release the finalists’ resumes.

• Tuesday January 9, morning: The finalists will conduct site visits to at least one elementary school, one middle school, and the high school. This will give an opportunity for the candidates to see our schools in action and meet some of our staff. Principals will communicate with their teams which candidate(s) will be visiting their school and when. 

• Tuesday January 9, 5:30PM at the Natick High School Auditorium: THE COMMUNITY IS INVITED TO ATTEND A MEET AND GREET WITH THE FINALISTS! Each finalist will have 30 minutes to introduce themselves and answer questions from the community. 

All candidates will be asked the same questions that will be pre-selected based on input from the community. If you would like to submit a question to be considered for this forum please click here.

• Wednesday January 10, starting at 5:15PM: The School Committee will conduct interviews with all candidates in open meeting. Depending on time and the direction of the School Committee, the Committee may start deliberation and possible vote on a final candidate this same night. This meeting will be open to the public in person, on Zoom, and via . See forthcoming meeting agenda for details. 

• Thursday January 11 or Friday January 12: If needed, the School Committee will reconvene to deliberate and vote on the final candidate. Exact date and time to be finalized during the January 8 School Committee meeting. This meeting will be open to the public in person, on Zoom, and via Pegasus. See forthcoming meeting agenda for details. 

*Note: Timeline is subject to change. Any changes will be promptly communicated to the community. 

If you have any questions about this process, please contact the School Committee at schoolcommittee[at]natickps.org.

-The Natick School Committee

(Note: This January 2nd update was sent to all Natick Public Schools constituents via email. If you have questions about the mailing process, feel free to reach out to communications[at]natickps.org.)

Superintendent Search Update from Dec. 8

Dear NPS Community,

The School Committee is pleased to announce two major milestones we have accomplished in our path towards selecting our next permanent Superintendent:

The Screening Committee’s tasks will be to review all applicants’ resumes, select candidates for first round interviews, conduct first round interviews, and select three to five candidate finalists for consideration to the School Committee. The Screening Committee will hold its first open meeting on December 14th at 5:30 p.m. in the School Committee meeting room on the 3rd floor of Town Hall. This meeting will include an orientation for the Screening Committee members and an overview of the selection process.

We want to thank all members of the community who participated in our focus groups and surveys! Your input is invaluable in advising the School Committee on the selection of our next superintendent.

If you have any questions about the process, please do not hesitate to contact the School Committee at schoolcommittee[at]natickps.org.

November Updates about Survey and
Focus Group Opportunities


SURVEY OPPORTUNITY (Survey Closed 11/15)

The Natick Public Schools Superintendent Search Screening Committee invites interested stakeholders to fill out the following survey: [ended]. Please note that the survey was extended to November 15.

October Updates about NESDEC, Invitation Letter, Screening Committee and Focus Groups

Superintendent Search Update - Distributed Oct. 27, 2023

Dear Natick Public Schools Community,

The School Committee, along with our consultants at NESDEC, would like to update you on the process of the search for our new permanent superintendent. Please take the time to read about the latest developments in this process below:

• The School Committee approved (and NESDEC began dissemination of) the  invitation letter for candidates to submit their applications by December 7, 2023. This deadline puts us on a timeline to select our superintendent by the end of January/early February.
  
  

• We are now working on a process to gather information from various community stakeholders in order to develop a candidate profile that will guide the selection of the superintendent. We will collect feedback through a community-wide survey (coming soon) and a series of focus groups. At its October 2nd meeting, the School Committee voted to conduct the following set of focus groups in the coming weeks:

  • Building administrators and Central Office staff

  • Students

  • Teachers/School staff (two focus groups)

  • Parents/Caregivers: (two focus groups—one in person in the morning, one virtual in the evening)

  • Community members

  • Town leaders (both professionals and volunteers)
    
    

SAVE THE DATE: FOCUS GROUPS
Parents/Caregivers - Nov. 9 at the Community-Senior Center, 9 a.m.
Community - Nov. 9 at the Town Hall School Committee room, 5:30 p.m.
Parents/Caregivers - Nov. 13 on Zoom ONLY, 7 p.m.

(More information —including a virtual meeting link—will be announced soon.)

• The School Committee voted on which members of its Committee will serve on the Screening Committee. Matt Brand (Chair of the Screening Committee) and Catherine Brunell were elected. The members of the screening committee will also include Central Office staff person, a principal, three members of the Education Association of Natick, a student, three parents, the town administrator, and a community member-at-large.
  
  

• The School Committee will be reaching out to stakeholder groups to identify who may be interested in serving on the Screening Committee.
  
  

As always, if you have any questions or comments about the process, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

Natick School Committee

Link to Invitation Letter

Superintendent Search Update - Distributed Oct. 13, 2023

Dear NPS Community Members,

The School Committee has set the stage for a robust search for our next permanent Superintendent. Specifically, over the past few weeks, we took the following first two steps in the search process:

1)We hired NESDEC as our Superintendent Search firm. Through the expertise of two former Superintendents (Dr. Sally Dias and Dr. Judith Paolucci), NESDEC will help the School Committee: recruit candidates from across the country; gather information from all community stakeholders to identify our collective priorities; develop a candidate profile to guide the search process based on the community’s input; and help screen and interview candidates.

2)Along with NESDEC as our search firm, we also decided to put together a Screening Committee that will screen the initial pool of candidates and select finalists. Though the School Committee is still working on the process for setting up the Screening Committee, we have identified the various types of stakeholders we will be inviting including: three parent representatives who will be selected in coordination with Natick SEPAC, Natick METCO and the Parent Coordinating Council (ensuring the three represent elementary, middle, and high school parents); three members of the Education Association of Natick (educator union); one community member at large; one student representative; one central office administrator; one school principal; the Natick Town Administrator (or designee); and two members of the School Committee. More information on the Screening Committee is forthcoming.

Next, we are working with NESDEC on a plan to engage the community through a survey and series of focus groups that will take place later this month and into November. Stay tuned to future newsletters to learn more about how you can provide your feedback into the process.

As always, if you have any questions about the process, please feel free to email us at [email protected].