Deborah Brown, Author at Natick Report

Natick School Committee community forums

October 22, 2021 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

Join the Natick School Committee for upcoming discussions about facilities, space and capital planning. The meetings will address issues related to Johnson Elementary School and Natick High, and overall long-range space and facilities planning.

EVENT: Community-wide forum
Natick High School is facing space needs according to a long-range space and facilities planning report. Based on the report, administrators are looking to somehow add 6 classrooms to the this old school. This could be achieved by adding modular classrooms, similar to the way Andover has recently used modulars to add 10 classrooms at a cost of 1 million. Additional issues regarding the building will be discussed.

DATE: Mon., Oct. 25
TIME: 7pm
LOCATION: Virtual. Join the meeting via computer:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81394916525

EVENT: Johnson Family Forum
The meeting will address Johnson School needs, the biggest issue being the aging school’s lack of ADA compliance. The elementary school has additional upkeep needs that will be discussed. Closing the school is not off the table.

DATE: Wed., October 27
TIME: 7pm
LOCATION: links to the Zoom meeting

Cochituate Rail Trail Celebration

October 20, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

First, the muckety-muck State-level officials did their jobs. The suits showed up last month at the Rte. 30 bridge that spans Rte. 9, speechified, cut a pretty ribbon, and voila—the Cochituate Rail Trail was officially open.

Next, it was time for the locals to party. At the Cochituate Rail Trail (CRT) Community Celebration last week, community members and civic groups got together on the part of the 4-mile trail that runs in front of Amvets Post 79 to bask in the glory of a project that keeps moving forward. (The crowd thanks your bathrooms for their service, Amvets)

The CRT is a multi-use trail that runs from Saxonville in Framingham to Natick Center. The Natick segment officially opened in late September and currently terminates at Whitney Field at the Navy Yard. But it’s not done yet. The next step is to extend the trail from the Navy Yard to the MBTA commuter rail station in Natick Center.

At the celebration, sponsored by the Solomon Foundation, several organizations set up along the trail, and there was a brief speaking program.

Here are some pics:

Cochituate Rail Trail, Natick — It’s not a party without ice cream. Matthew Gioia from Wally’s Ice Cream, based in Auburndale, brought the fun. He says Pumpkin Oreo is a big seller right now. But our money was no good on the trail—the treats were all on Matthew.

Happy trails to you

If you haven’t checked out the Cochituate Rail Trail yet, a nice access point is the parking lot at Navy Yard Field, 41 Washington Ave., Natick. Parking is also available at or near Home Depot on Route 30.

Here’s a map of the trail.

Zipping over Route 30 on the Cochituate Rail Trail

Cochituate Trail ribbon cutting

Natick weekend roundup—Trails Day, Riverbend Fall Festival, Art in the Park, Oldtown Photo Competition

October 15, 2021 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, Natick has a few fun events going on:

Natick Fall Trails Day

The Natick Trails and Forest Stewardship Committee invites the public to Natick Fall Trails Day on Saturday, Oct. 16, 9am-noon. The goal is to tidy up the trails at Hunnewell Town Forest for all to enjoy.

Pre-register for Natick Fall Trails Day.

Fall Festival, Riverbend School

LOCATION: 33 Eliot School, South Natick

Art in the Park

The Natick Artists’ Association will host Art in the Park at Shaw Park, (that nice green space across the street from the Bacon Free library) on Sunday, October 17, 10am – 3pm.

There will be over 2 dozen local artists enjoying the fresh air and offering up their art for your enjoyment and for purchase.

EVENT: Art in the Park
LOCATION: Shaw Park, Eliot Street, South Natick
DATE: Sunday, October 17
TIME: 10am-3pm

Oldtown Photo Calendar Competition

The 16th annual Oldtown Photo Calendar Competition will feature the work of over forty local photographers. Show visitors vote for their favorites, and winning images will be published in the Oldtown Calendar, a fundraiser for local nonprofit groups. All photographs were taken in “Oldtown” which includes parts of Natick, Dover, Sherborn, Wellesley and Needham. Come vote for your favorites, and check out the just-published 2022 Calendar, featuring the winners from last year’s competition.

The Oldtown Calendar is just one of many community building efforts organized by the Eliot Church. www.oldtowncalendar.org

DATE: October 17, 2021
TIME: 11am – 3pm
LOCATION: Eliot Church, 45 Eliot Street (Route 16), Natick, MA

Where to eat in Natick, Massachusetts

October 14, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Natick offers a variety of eateries, from fancy to homey to chains. Natick’s best-known restaurant team is Dora Tavel-Sanchez Luz and Gabriel Sanchez Luz, who launched Buttercup in Natick following their success with The Farmhouse in Needham. Seafood standbys are Legal Seafood on route 9 and Dolphin in Natick Center. Fanciness aside, Casey’s Diner is the place to go for steamed hot dogs, burgers, and other diner classics.

Take a look at our exhaustive list of restaurants on our Where to Eat in Natick page. Please reach out if restaurants should be added or deleted, or if you have other relevant info: natickreport@gmail.com

Restaurant visit

We recently tried out Eli’s, a Natick staple popular for its all-day breakfast. The Washington Street spot serves a wide selection of humorously named omelets such as the “Hot Mama,” pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, cheesy tater tots, and more. We stopped in for lunch and tried out their Left Coast burger with mashed avocado, fried egg, cheddar, and sriracha mayo. Our burger arrived cooked to order (medium), topped with a single and beautiful sunny-side-up fried egg. The hearty lunch came with a choice of fries, coleslaw, or potato salad. For a slight upcharge we could’ve had tater tots, truffle fries, or sweet potato fries.

Eli's, Natick — Eli’s, Natick serves up a Left Coast burger with mashed avocado, fried egg, cheddar, sriracha mayo, and a side of fries.

Also on the lunch menu: salads, a full roster of sandwiches such as turkey club, reuben, creative grilled cheeses (or just a regular one if you want). A kid’s menu includes chicken fingers, hot dogs, burgers, and grilled cheese.

Eli’s has a beer and wine license and offers a nice roster of about a dozen canned beers including some from local breweries (Jack’s Abby, Framingham; Lord Hobo, Woburn; Night Shift, Everett). Cider, hard seltzer, wines, and a couple of bubblies are also available. Plenty of the usual non-alcoholic beverages on hand as well, of course.

The casual spot seats about 45, spread out over 17 tables. Nice staff, too.

RESTAURANT: Eli’s
LOCATION: 12 Washington St., Natick, MA 01760
HOURS: Tuesday-Sunday, 7am-2pm. Closed Monday.

MORE FOOD, MORE FUN

Where to eat in Wellesley, Massachusetts

Interested in advertising on this page? Good thinking—Natick Report’s Where to Eat page is where diners from Natick and beyond go to find out about restaurants from one end of 01760 to the next. We keep the restaurants page updated, fresh, and current by stopping into local hot spots regularly and letting our readers know about our dining experiences.

US News & World Report 2021 elementary & middle school rankings: Where Natick fits in

October 13, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

US News & World Report for years now has ranked and sorted the nation’s public high schools, based on how students perform on state-required tests, graduation rates, and how well schools prepare students for college.

Now the media company has put out its first-ever rankings of K-8 public schools.

John F. Kennedy Middle School, Natick — Kennedy Middle School was one of Natick’s K-8 schools ranked by US News & World Report

According to US & News Report’s website, “Scoring was almost entirely rooted in students’ performance on mathematics and reading/language arts State assessments.”

The Report sourced its data from numbers put out by the U.S. Department of Education from the 2018-2019 academic year, before COVID impacted education. Here’s a link to the methodology.

Here’s where US & News placed Natick among the 1,104 public elementary schools it ranked:

Memorial—79
Johnson—103
Brown—157
Lilja—331
Bennett-Hemenway—373

Ranked 1, 2, 3 in Massachusetts elementary schools

Martha Jones, Westwood,
Horace Mann, Melrose
Woodward Memorial, Southborough

Nearby elementary schools in the top 40:

Chickory, Dover, 7th
Fiske, Wellesley—15th
Loker, Wayland, 19th
Hardy, Wellesley—25th
Josiah Haynes, Sudbury, 26th
Woodland, Weston, 27th
Sprague, Wellesley—33rd
Schofield, Wellesley—35th

Middle school rankings

Wilson Middle School came in at 113, and Kennedy was slotted at 119 out of the 527 the Massachusetts public middle schools that were included in the rankings.

Prince in Princeton, Boston Latin, and Heath in Chestnut Hill got the 1, 2, and 3 slots, respectively.

Nearby middle schools that cracked the top 40 list—Pollard in Needham was ranked 8th; Charles E. Brown, Newton Centre was 14; Hopkinton Middle School was 17; and High Rock in Needham was 24.

Including “K” students kind of bothers us

We remember a casual conversation years ago with a kindergarten teacher on the subject of school rankings. “Well, there’s another reason I love teaching this age. They haven’t started ranking kindergarteners. Yet.”

Looks like “yet” has arrived.

We’re not sure where the best kindergarteners in all the land attend school. For now, US News & World keeps the elementary school comparisons on a state-by-state basis.

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