Wellesley Public Schools

Please see the School Committee’s Strategic Plan Executive Summary dated April 1 in advance of Town Meeting’s consideration of the Wellesley Public Schools FY’26 budget.

This March, Wellesley Public Schools and the Wellesley Education Foundation are collaborating to present three informative webinars in support of students’ mental health. Webinars are being recorded and available for 30 days:

• March 11 – Supporting Children Experiencing Anxiety (Link to video; password: SCSAnxiety2025)
• March 18 – School Avoidance (Link to video; password: SCSSchoolRefuse2025)
• On March 27 from 6-7 p.m, join us for an online workshop on Distress Tolerance: Supporting Your Child in High Intensity Moments. Yudelki M. Firpo-Perretti, Ph.D. from McLean will share skills for helping children learn to tolerate distress and big feelings without making the situation worse, including a skills coaching protocol for parents to use at home. (Link to join)

The Wellesley Public Schools invites responders to submit proposals for the lease of office and classroom space suitable to perform public services and accessible to the public for its Launch Program that serves students (18-22 years of age) with average to above average cognitive learning potential experiencing significant delays in the acquisition of literacy and math skills due to a language-based learning disability. The Request for Proposal (RFP) will be released on March 26, 2025.  The Pre-Submission meeting is scheduled for April 4, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at the School Central Administration Office at 40 Kingsbury Street, Wellesley MA. RFP questions are due to schoolbids@wellesleyma.gov on April 10, 2025 by 11:00 a.m. with responses provided to the interested vendors by April 15, 2025.  Proposals are due on May 2, 2025 with expected approval by the School Committee on May 27, 2025.

If you are downloading a bid we strongly encourage you to notify the Wellesley Public Schools Purchasing Office at schoolbids@wellesleyma.gov and provide us with your Company Name, Address, Phone & Fax # and which bid you downloaded.

Wellesley Public Schools (WPS) is seeking proposals from mental health service agencies to provide consultation to staff, community education, and employee assistance.  The Request for Proposal (RFP) will be released on March 24, 2025.  Questions are due to schoolbids@wellesleyms.gov on April 2, 2025 by 10:00 a.m. with responses provided to the interested vendors by April 4, 2025.  Proposals are due on April 11, 2025 with expected approval by the School Committee on May 13, 2025.

If you are downloading a bid we strongly encourage you to notify the Wellesley Public Schools Purchasing Office at schoolbids@wellesleyma.gov and provide us with your Company Name, Address, Phone & Fax # and which bid you downloaded.

On March 18, 2025, the School Committee approved the District’s Competency Determination (CD) proposal, to align with the new state law that eliminated MCAS as a statewide graduation requirement. Please see this update for more details.

Kindergarten: For children 5 years of age on or before August 31, 2025. Please see the Kindergarten registration page for Forms, Required Documents and More Information.

Grades 1-12:  Registration For Grades 1 through 12 opened March 1. Please see the Grades 1-12 Registration page for information and document requirements.

Child Find: Under federal and state special education regulations, the Wellesley Public Schools has a responsibility to locate, identify, refer, evaluate, and if eligible, provide a free, appropriate, public education to students with disabilities who reside in the town of Wellesley. Click for more information.

WPS is seeing a significant rise in illnesses. Students should stay home when they have a fever (100 F), vomiting/diarrhea within past 24 hours, been placed on antibiotics in the past 24 hours, are unable to manage profuse nasal drainage, or have a persistent cough that is keeping the student awake at night. Students may return when they have been fever-free for 24 hours without medication, have had no vomiting/diarrhea within past 24 hours, have more than 24 hours on a prescribed antibiotic, and they are feeling well and back to their routine. If your child never develops a fever, and symptoms are mild and do not interfere with normal activity, he or she can continue to attend school. Isolation is no longer required for those testing positive with COVID-19. Please see this Frequently Asked Questions document on the WPS Nursing website for further information and guidance.

Please see this Frequently Asked Questions document for the latest information on the PowerSchool data breach that came to light in January 2025. In addition, PowerSchool is offering identify protection services for impacted individuals. Please see this letter to families & staff for details.

• FY26 School Committee Voted Budget posted January 28, 2025 (447 pages)
• FY26 School Committee Budget Discussion (January 28, 2025)
• FY26 School Committee Budget Discussion (January 7 and 21, 2025)
• FY26 Administration’s Recommended Budget posted December 6, 2024 (455 pages)

The FY26 Recommended Budget was presented to the School Committee at its December 10 meeting (see presentation slides and meeting recording). The budget hearing was held on January 21 and voted on January 28.

The School Committee voted December 10 to adopt a new model for the inclusion of religious and cultural holidays in the academic calendar, starting with the 2025-26 school year. After deliberating for more than a month on the recommendations of the Academic Calendar Task Force (ACTF), discussing many of the available options, and hearing further feedback from the community, the Committee voted to support the model known as “Rotating Model 3.” This model retains Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Good Friday as no-school days every year; and adds an additional one or two holidays, either Diwali, Lunar New Year, and/or Eid Al-Fitr, depending on the year. In the 25-26 WPS Academic Calendar, approved separately last night by the Committee, Eid Al-Fitr will be a day off school, while Lunar New Year falls during February break, and school will be in session for Diwali. 

The Joseph E. Fiske Elementary School is one of 356 schools nationwide that has been recognized by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona as a 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools award winner! The prestigious awards are handed out each year to top-performing public and private schools. Fiske was designated an Exemplary High-Performing School, awarded to schools that are among their state’s highest performing as measured by state assessments or nationally formed tests. Fiske, which serves approximately 278 students in grades K-5, is the third WPS school to earn the National Blue Ribbon designation, following Sprague (2010) and Hardy (2021). Read more here.

Important updates to the WPS attendance procedures will become effective with the start of the 2024-25 school year. These updates include detailed new procedures on absences and tardies that will be included in all school handbooks. Improving student attendance is an important goal for WPS during the upcoming school year. Please read this post for more information on the district’s new attendance procedures.

With Lights Installed, Focus is on Preparing for New Buildings by Hunnewell Track & Field

School Committee’s proposal to install bathrooms, a concession stand, team rooms, lights and an improved sound system – collectively known as Phase II Enhancements to the Hunnewell Track & Field – has seen significant progress since the end of 2023, as outlined in this update dated 4/23/24. With lights installed and a new sound system to follow, much of the recent activity has been on preparing the site for the installation of prefabricated bathrooms and a concession stand, expected by Fall 2024. The Committee voted on May 21 to move forward into Design and Permitting with an enhanced modular building option for the Team Rooms and with DPW as the implementation partner. Read more on the T&F Projects page.

None at this time.

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