Congratulations to the following 17 educators and staff members who were honored May 20, 2026 by the Wellesley Education Foundation for 25 years of service to the Wellesley Public Schools! This year’s incredible honorees were:
Pamela Allen, Fiske & Hardy Librarian
Pamela has been the Librarian at Fiske Elementary for the past 26 years, beginning in August 2000. This past year, in addition to working at Fiske, she has also served as Librarian at Hardy Elementary. It has been her absolute pleasure working with the K-5 students all these years; they are her most favorite part of her job!! The enthusiasm, curiosity and wisdom they bring to library classes each week has truly been an absolute delight!
Rebecca Blouwolff, WMS World Language Teacher
Rebecca has taught French to all grades at Welleseley Middle school since 1998. Over the years she has had many articles published; created a popular blog, Ma Révolution Française; and served as a featured guest on multiple educational podcasts. Rebecca was honored as the ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year in 2020.
John Brown, Athletics Director
John started in the Wellesley Public Schools as a TV/Video Teacher in the Fall of 2000 helping to build a program that encompassed a wide range of diverse students from grades 9-12. They regularly had a waiting list to take those elective classes. In 2006, John became the Director of Athletics for Wellesley Public Schools, where the programs have had tremendous success. Over the past 20 years there have been thousands of participants, hundreds of League Championships, dozens of Sportsmanship Awards, 5 Boston Globe Scholastic Awards for the best winning percentage, and 47 State Championships. John will be retiring this Fall and has loved his time here.
Rita Cameron, Bates Kindergarten Teacher
Rita has taught at the Bates School since 1999. She spent her first 2 years as a teaching assistant, then taught first grade for 3 years. She moved to kindergarten at the beginning of her fourth year and has been in kindergarten ever since, with the exception of the pandemic year (2020/2021), when she taught first grade for the year in person.
Kathryn Dexter, Hunnewell Music Teacher
Katie Dexter is an elementary music teacher with 30 years of experience teaching General Music in Massachusetts public schools, including 25 years in Wellesley. She spent most of her career at Hunnewell Elementary School and has also taught at Fiske, Sprague, Upham, and Bates. She studied music education at UMass Amherst and earned a graduate degree in education from Lesley University. In 2017, she received the Excellence in General Music Award from the Massachusetts Music Educators Association and has enjoyed writing articles and presenting workshops along the way. Katie loves mentoring future teachers and appreciates that there is truly never a dull moment in the music room.
Jacqueline Hennessey, Hardy Literacy Intervention Teacher
After teaching first grade in Connecticut for 6 years, Jacqui made the move up to the Boston area to be closer to family and started teaching at Fiske in 2000. She was at Fiske for 22 years. In her time at Fiske, Jacqui taught first grade, a K/1 multi-grade, and was a Literacy Specialist, as well as grade-level leader for many years. In the 2023-24 school year, Jacqui moved to Upham as the Literacy Specialist/Intervention Teacher. After the closing of Upham, Jacqui moved to Hardy where she has been the Literacy Intervention Teacher for the past two years.
Lisa Humphrey, Fiske 1st Grade Teacher
With 29 years of teaching experience, Lisa joined the Wellesley Public Schools in 1999, spending her first 14 years teaching second and third grade at Hunnewell. She then worked for five years as an elementary math coach at Hunnewell, Schofield, and Fiske before returning to the classroom as a first grade teacher. After four years at Upham, Lisa has taught first grade at Fiske for the past three years.
Andrew Kelton, WHS Assistant Principal
Drew is a graduate of Wellesley Public Schools class of 1987. He was a member of the WHS social studies department for 13 years and taught World History, US History, Psychology and Sociology. For the past 13 years, he has served as an assistant principal at WHS.
Christine Kerr, WHS 9th Grade English Teacher
Christine joined the WHS English Department in 2000. She was the coordinator for the World Challenge Expedition that culminated in a month-long expedition to Tanzania in 2002 with 7 WHS students & 7 students from Aberdeen, Scotland. She served as advisor to the school newspaper and taught 9th-12th grade English classes and electives, including Media Matters and The Bible as Literature. She has been a member of the Faculty Senate (7+ years) and was President of the Faculty Senate 2021-2022.
Kathryn Mahoney, WMS Counseling Department Head
Kate started her career at Wellesley Middle School in August of 2000 as a part-time school counselor. She was then promoted to full-time in 2001 and worked as a full-time school counselor until 2014. She became interim department head of school counseling in 2014 and was hired as permanent department head in 2015. She earned her supervision license through EDCO collaborative. In addition to serving as department head and supervising a staff of seven, she is a school counselor serving a caseload of students.
Neysa McNamara, Hardy 3rd Grade Teacher
Neysa has worked in Wellesley Public Schools at the Hardy Elementary School for her entire teaching career. She is grateful that she was hired right out of graduate school and has been privileged to teach at Hardy for 25 years. Neysa has taught 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade and a 3/4 multigrade over the years. Her favorite parts of being a teacher are the relationships she forms with her students and their families, and working alongside people she considers dear friends.
Mark Mayall, District Computer Technician
Mark came to WPS after a brief stint teaching 9th grade science at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. As a member of the WPS Technology Department, he has been responsible for the installation, maintenance, and repair of computers, printers and AV equipment throughout the district. Among the most gratifying aspects of his job are the relationships with his Tech Department colleagues and being able to help facilitate the education of students who require specialized equipment. In addition to his job in the Tech Department, he was also part of the coaching staff of the WHS Indoor and Outdoor Track teams from 2003-2010.
Michael Mazzeo, WMS 8th Grade Math Teacher
Michael was hired in Wellesley in the fall of 2000 after teaching for six years in Naples, Florida (5th grade) and Orinda, California (7th/8th grade math and Athletic Director). He spent one year at Wellesley Middle School teaching 6th grade math and ELA before moving to 8th grade Algebra 1, which he has taught ever since. He was hired by Bella Wong during John D’Auria’s tenure as middle school principal.
Lisa Mortarelli, Hunnewell 1st Grade Teacher
Lisa began teaching second grade at Bates. Just two years later, she was brought over to open the new Sprague School. At Sprague, she taught second grade, job shared second grade for four years, moved into a 1/2 multiage classroom, and rolled out to first grade. After 13 years at Sprague, she joined Hunnewell as the Literacy Specialist. During COVID, she taught in-person kindergarten, which gave her the itch to get back into the classroom 100 percent with children. So this year, she is back to where it all began, as a first grade classroom teacher.
Lauren Pedroli, Hardy Special Educator
In September 2000, Lauren’s career began in the Wellesley Public Schools at Hardy Elementary School. She has been an upper elementary grades special educator for Hardy and has worked with grades 3-5 during her tenure. She feels very fortunate to work in Wellesley and with the supportive Hardy School community.
Elizabeth Quinty, District Physical Therapist
Elizabeth has worked the full span of the Wellesley Public Schools, including preschool straight through to the Launch 18-22 program this year. She has done out-of-district evaluations, and has been sent to provide compensatory services to a student attending Perkins School for the Blind. She has been both blessed and professionally challenged throughout her career in school-based PT!
Michelle Weir, P.A.W.S. Special Educator
Michelle started at P.A.W.S. as a Teacher Assistant in 2000 and took over as a classroom teacher in 2001. Throughout the years, she has primarily taught the district’s youngest learners, lovingly referred to as the “Puppies” class. Many of her students have had their first-ever school experience at the young age of 2.9 (2 years, 9 months) when they enter the “Puppies” class. For many years, she has also served as the Special Educator on the diagnostic evaluation team, supporting young children and their families as they transition from Early Intervention. Although she has been teaching for 25 years, each year she is still a student as she continues to learn from what each child brings to her classroom.