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Needham, Massachusetts, 5,541 students in 8 schools

Needham School District Snow Day Predictor

The odds of a closing or a delay on the next three school mornings in Needham, measured against Needham's own big snow morning of 8.2 inches.

The next three school mornings

Will Needham close tomorrow?

Reading the National Weather Service forecast for the overnight and the bus hours in Needham.
The Needham playbook

How Needham calls a snow day

5 built in snow days

On the 2026 to 2027 calendar, listed as “snow days”.

“6/25 Last Day of School (5 Snow Days) Early Release”
Source

Making up a lost day

Added to the end of the year, moving the last day from June 17 to as late as June 25.

“6/17 Last Day of School - (No Snow Days) Early Release for Students and Staff”
Source

The 2026 to 2027 calendar

  • First day September 2, 2026
  • Winter break Dec 24 to Jan 1
  • February break Feb 15 to Feb 19
  • Last day June 17, 2027
District calendar

The board policy

“The Superintendent is authorized by the School Committee to close any or all schools in hazardous weather or in extraordinary circumstances which might endanger the safety of students or school employees.”
Board policy

Read from Needham’s own pages on October 8, 2026; the district site is needham.k12.ma.us.

Ten winters of school mornings

Needham’s snow record

34.3inches of snow a winter
3.5school mornings a winter with 2 in of new snow or more
1.5with 4 in or more
8.2 ina big snow morning in Needham: the top tenth of snowy school mornings
0.3school mornings a winter at 0 F or colder
0.3Nov
5.1Dec
11.4Jan
10.5Feb
6.1Mar
Average snowfall by month, inches
  • Biggest day 17.1 in on February 23, 2026
  • Snowiest winter 2025 to 2026, 62.8 in
  • 6 in mornings 1 a winter
  • 1 in mornings 5.1 a winter

Measured at a NOAA weather station 5.9 miles away. Mornings are the 7 am snow reading on a weekday from December 1 through March 31, over the ten winters from 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026, from NOAA GHCN Daily.

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The Massachusetts rule

How Massachusetts counts a lost day

Massachusetts requires a 185 day calendar, at least 180 days actually held, and 900 hours for elementary or 990 hours for secondary students. Every day lost through March 31 is made up with full rescheduled days; after March 31, days are made up until 180 or the scheduled 185th day, whichever comes first.

The Massachusetts rules in the agency’s own words, and every Massachusetts district

Next door

Districts near Needham

DistrictSnow a winter4 in morningsBuilt in days
Wellesley School DistrictWellesley26.2 in1.4
Dedham School DistrictDedham56.4 in2.7
Westwood School DistrictWestwood41.3 in1.8
Newton School DistrictNewtonville26.2 in1.45
Natick School DistrictNatick41.3 in1.85
Norwood School DistrictNorwood41.3 in1.8
The schools

8 schools

Every school in Needham follows the district’s call: one closing covers them all.

High

  • Needham High

Middle

  • Pollard Middle
  • High Rock School

Elementary

  • Newman Elementary
  • Sunita L. Williams Elementary
  • Broadmeadow
  • William Mitchell
  • John Eliot
Questions

Needham snow day questions

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More winter

More for Massachusetts snow days

Snow day predictorClosing and delay odds for any ZIP, with the snowiest districts in the country.Snow depth mapHow much snow is on the ground right now, measured, across the country.First snow datesWhen the first measurable snow usually lands where you live.Frozen pipesThe nights cold enough to freeze a pipe, and what to do before one.Snow plow trackerWhere the plows are during a storm, city by city.Massachusetts winter forecastThe season ahead for Massachusetts: snowfall, cold and the first snow.
A residential street under deep snow on a bright blue morning, cars parked along the curb buried into smooth white mounds, one set of tire tracks down the middle
The morning after a big one: cars buried to the mirrors and one set of tracks down the middle. A street like this is a closing, no debate. Photo, Fairfax, Virginia, January 2016: Jarek Tuszyński, CC BY 4.0

The odds are a forecast read, and the superintendent makes the call: the district’s own announcement is the one to follow.