Since 2020: More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.
Natick Public Schools this week opened for the 2026-2027 school year. We stopped by Memorial Elementary School to take in the scene, and the kids looked ready to go.
If you’d like to help us keep the wider community in the loop on school news, please reach out: natickreport@gmail.com
We hope the summer has been kind to all Natick families, faculty, and staff. The countdown to the 2026-27 school year is officially on, with classes set to begin on Wednesday, Aug. 26. Regardless of whether you have kids in the school system, get ready for the familiar bustle as our town returns to its high-energy, back-to-school routine.
Memorial Elementary School, NatickFun fact: Students will be in attendance for the 45 of the first 48 school days, spanning late Aug. – Oct.
Here’s the entire 2026-27 academic calendar.
Natick is fortunate to have a lively arts scene, with various opportunities to engage with or make art at any given time. Check out a concert, theater performance, art gallery opening this month. Here are just a few events happening soon.
Don’t see your free or low-cost Natick cultural event listed? Contact natickreport@gmail.com for inclusion.
DATE/TIME: Aug. 4, 5:30pm-6:30pm
LOCATION: The lawn of the Bacon Free Library, 58 Eliot St., Natick
DESCRIPTION: With energetic beats, catchy melodies, and soaring vocals, Stacey Peasley’s music and performances have been gathering accolades and fans for over a decade!
DATE/TIME: Aug. 6, 5pm-8pm
LOCATION: Natick Common and around Natick center
DESCRIPTION: Music, food, activities, including historical interpreters.
DATE/TIME: Thursday, Aug. 6, 5pm-7:30pm
LOCATION: Morse Institute Library lawn, 114 E. Central St., Natick
SPONSOR: Natick Art Association
DESCRIPTION: Art in Action affords visitors an opportunity to watch artists at work, ask questions, and in some instances, try their hand at creating their own art.
DATE/TIME: Aug. 7 & Aug. 21, 10:30am-11am
LOCATION: The lawn of the Bacon Free Library, 58 Eliot St., Natick
DESCRIPTION: Be prepared to laugh, dance, sing, and jam your way through 30 minutes of non-stop family fun! This performance is geared toward kids ages 1 – 7, but fun for the whole family. With modern takes on children’s classics and classic original tunes, you’ll be humming and bopping all the way home. This program will be held outdoors, so bring a blanket or chairs. In case of rainy or cold weather (under 45 degrees), it will be rescheduled.
Beyond Natick, theater production, Polly In The ColonyDATES: Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9, 2026 — 7pm, 2pm.
LOCATION: Boston College High School, Bulger Performing Arts Center, 150 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA 02125
AGES: Recommended for grades 3–6, teachers and families
Tickets $10 kids, $15 adults, teachers get in free. https://friendsofpolly.
DESCRIPTION: A 250-YEAR-OLD DOLL WHO WITNESSED THE BOSTON TEA PARTY TAKES THE STAGE. “Polly in the Colony: A True Revolutionary Tale” — a new play for young audiences — makes its world premiere at Boston College High School Aug. 8 and 9, timed to America’s 250th anniversary.
She arrived in Boston on a tea ship in 1773 and was purchased off a shop counter on the very day colonists dumped the tea into the harbor. For more than a century since, she has sat behind glass at Boston’s Old State House, receiving handwritten fan mail from generations of children. Now Polly Sumner — a real, 250-year-old fashion doll — is stepping into the spotlight to tell her own story.
EVENT: Multicultural Day 2026DATE/TIME: Aug. 22, 11am-2pm
LOCATION: Natick Common
SPONSOR: Natick Center Cultural District
DESCRIPTION: This event highlights the diversity and cultures in the community. Visit a variety of cultural booths for fun activities and educational opportunities! To be a part of Multicultural Day, please fill out this Google Form here.
EVENT: Art exhibitDATES/TIME: July 30 – October 8, during library hours
LOCATION: Bacon Free Library, 58 Eliot St., Natick
DESCRIPTION: “Monotypes, Inspired by Nature,” by Lynda Goldberg.
VENUE: Lyric Stage, 140 Clarendon Street, 2nd floor (accessible), Boston
PERFORMANCES:
All My Sons—Sept. 18 – Oct 18
Peter Pan Goes Wrong— Nov. 13 – Dec. 31
Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d — Feb. 5 – Feb. 28, 2027
King James — March 19 – Apr. 11, 2027
Les Misérables— Apr. 30 – June 20, 2027
TICKETS: https://www.lyricstage.com/
Craig Sellers, Walnut Hill SchoolWalnut Hill School for the Arts has appointed a new interim Head of School to lead the independent boarding and day academic and arts high school. Craig Sellers will join Walnut Hill later this summer. Previously, Eric Barber served as the school’s 13th Head, 2022-late June 2026. During the short gap between the end of Barber’s tenure and Sellers’ first day on the job, Linda Dennison is serving as acting Head of School.
Sellers will start as the interim Head of Walnut Hill on Aug. 3, and comes comes to Walnut Hill most recently from New Garden Friends School in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he has served as interim head since 2025.
He brings more than 20 years of experience as a sitting head of school, including three long-term headships and three prior interim assignments—one at Idyllwild Arts Academy, a peer arts boarding school. Craig’s former headships include service at Princeton Friends School (Princeton, NJ), Friends’ Central School (Wynnewood, PA), The Derryfield School (Manchester, NH), and United Friends School (Quakertown, PA).
Sellers holds degrees from Teachers College (Columbia University), New York Law School, and Franklin & Marshall College, and was also a Fulbright Fellow from 2006 to 2007, serving in an international principal exchange in Krabi, Thailand.
To the editor:
A Place To Turn, a food pantry serving 12 MetroWest communities, including Wellesley, received a generous grant from the Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club (WHJWC). The funding supports the Diaper Project, which provides a week’s supply of diapers to families with young children who are struggling to make ends meet. Diapers can cost as much as $120 a month, and families cannot use their SNAP or WIC benefits to purchase them. This too often means parents are forced to choose between clean diapers for their babies and paying for other basic necessities, like heat.
Support from the WHJWC helps A Place To Turn to keep the shelves stocked with the diaper sizes families need most. According to Rebecca Gallo, Executive Director of A Place To Turn, “Access to clean diapers is essential to keeping babies healthy and giving parents peace of mind. A Place To Turn offers a week supply of diapers and wipes to families with young children. We could not do this without community support. Funding from the Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club helps us to keep our diaper closet stocked.”
The WHJWC supports A Place To Turn beyond the grant. Members are regular volunteers all year long. They help prep produce, pack diaper bags and shop with families when the pantry is open. The group makes a meaningful impact on alleviating hunger and ensuring families in our community can meet their basic needs.
Thank you to The WHJWC.
Rebecca Gallo, Executive Director
A Place To Turn
