Wellesley Public Schools
Learning • Caring • Innovating
Superintendent’s Bulletin
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Dear Colleagues,It’s hard to believe that this is the last bulletin of 2015! A few important points to highlight this week. First, the school calendar for 2016-2017 has now been approved by the School Committee and is posted on our website. Similar to this year, the first day of school for students is the Wednesday (8/31/16) before Labor Day, with all teachers reporting back on Monday, August 29th. This week we also presented the Administration’s recommended FY2017 Budget to the School Committee, which reflects a 4 percent increase over the current fiscal year and meets the guideline set by the School Committee and Town. In order to both maintain a high level of service to our students, while also making further investments in our Strategic Plan, we have recommended delaying capital investments for one year, particularly in technology, to bring this budget forward under guideline. This is clearly a short-term strategy that will place more pressure on the FY18 Budget when these capital requests will need to be addressed. Next, I’m sure you are all aware of the extremely dynamic environment related to state testing right now. This past year, districts were given a choice to either continue participating in MCAS or to shift to the new PARCC exam. (As a district, we chose to remain with MCAS.) This fall, instead of recommending the adoption of PARCC by the State Board of Education, the Commissioner recommended the development of an MCAS 2.0 that will contain both MCAS and PARCC type items. This assessment will not be available in 2016, so districts once again have a choice about participating in MCAS or PARCC. We have notified the state that Wellesley will once again be participating in MCAS. The reason for this choice is similar to last year in that we are trying to minimize disruptions for our students and staff and would prefer not to make significant changes until we have a clearer sense of the state’s direction. It is important to note that this year’s MCAS will also include some PARCC-type items. Finally, as we prepare to head into the winter break, I want to wish you each a happy and restful vacation. Please know how grateful I am for your excellent work and I look forward to seeing you in 2016! Best regards,DavidCalendar
12/15/15 – School Committee Meeting – 7 pm Town Hall
12/24/15 – 1/1/16 – Winter Break – No School
01/04/16 – School Resumes
01/05/16 – School Committee Meeting – 7 pm Town Hall
01/18/16 – MLK Day – No School
01/26/16 – School Committee Meeting – 7 pm Town Hall
Professional Development OpportunitiesWellesleyPDRegistration is open for the following winter courses through WellesleyPD: Designing Blended Curriculum Units for the Classroom in Canvas
- Instructors: Brian Allieri & Ranjani Sriram
- Participants: Grades 8-12 Educators
- Date/Times: Face-to-Face Session: 01/09/16 & 03/19/16, 8:30am – 12:30pm; Online Sessions: 01/09/16 – 03/09/16
Discovering the Artist Within: Fostering Creativity in the Classroom
- Instructors: Lynne Johnson & Diane Redfield
- Participants: PreK-12 Educators, Non-Art Specialists
- Date/Times: 01/30/16 (snow date 02/06), 02/27/16 (snow date 03/05), 03/12/16, 04/09/16, 9:00am – 3:45pm
Teaching Second Languages to Students with Learning Disabilities
- Instructor: Pedro Carrasquillo
- Participants: K-12 Educators, Special Educators
- Date/Times: 02/24/16, 03/02/16, 03/09/16, 03/16/16, 03/23/16, 03/30/16, 3:15pm – 5:45pm
Advanced iPad
- Instructors: Rosey McQuillan & Ranjani Sriram
- Participants: PreK-12 Educators
- Date/Times: Online Only, 03/07/16 – 04/11/16
Introduction to the WIDA Standards and Differentiated Instruction for ELLs
- Instructors: Jenn Hannon & Jenn Eramo
- Participants: K-12 Educators, Specialists, Special Educators
- Date/Times: 03/12/16, 8:30am – 3:30pm; 03/22/16 & 04/05/16, 3:30pm – 6:30pm
Other OpportunitiesTEC Online, Self-Paced Courses Free to WPS EducatorsWPS has partnered with The Education Cooperative (TEC) to offer two online, self-paced courses free of charge to Wellesley educators. Please note that the ELL course is NOT an endorsement course.
- Engaging All Students with Differentiated Instruction Click here for more details.
PDPs: Upon completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate of completion. Submit the certificate to Chelsea Bailow, Professional Development Coordinator, in order for the course to appear in your WellesleyPD records.
Spring IDEAS CoursesIn 2014, EDCO announced the launch of Initiatives for Developing Equity and Achievement for Students (IDEAS), a merger of two past EDCO programs – Empowering Multicultural Initiatives (EMI) and Greater Boston Students of Color Achievement Network (GBSOCAN). WPS is a member district of IDEAS.IDEAS1 Anti-Racist Practices to Support the Success of All StudentsCourse dates: 2/27/16, 3/12/16, 4/2/16, and 4/9/16, 8:30am – 3:30pm
Instructors: JoAnne Kazis and Johnny Cole
Location: Needham High School
Cost: Free to WPS Educators who have not yet taken EMI 1 or IDEAS 1
IDEAS1 Anti-Racist Practices to Support the Success of All StudentsCourse dates: 2/9/16, 4/5/16, 8:30am – 3:30pm; 2/23/16, 3/8/16, 3/22/16, 4/26/16, 3:45pm -6:45pm
Instructors: Leslie Smart and Rebecca Smoler
Location: Lincoln-Sudbury Regional HS
Cost: Free to WPS Educators who have not yet taken EMI 1 or IDEAS 1
Strategies for Examining the Academic Achievement GapCourse dates: 4/16/16, 4/30/16, 8:30am – 3:30pm
Instructors: Claudia Fox Tree and Jennifer Wolfrum
Location: EDCO offices
Cost: $225
Difficult Conversations: Talking about Race and Racism with Students, Colleagues and Parents/GuardiansCourse dates: 2/25/16, 8:30am – 3:30pm, 3/10/16, 3/17/16, 3:45pm – 6:45pm
Instructors: Melissa Patrick and Doug Weinstock
Location: Wayland HS
Cost: $225To Register: Submit the IDEAS Registration form to Chelsea Bailow, Professional Development Coordinator
Lesley University’s 15-credit Graduate Autism Certificate ProgramLeague School of Greater Boston is hosting Lesley University’s 15-credit Graduate Autism Certificate program at their Walpole campus. The program begins in early 2016 and concludes in December 2016. The program was designed to meet the requirements for the Massachusetts autism teacher endorsement.For more information, or to apply, visit the Lesley website at: lesley.edu/league-schoolPlease Note: The autism teacher certificate program is completely voluntary. The DESE is not requiring employees who work with autistic students to have this certificate.
WPS Internal Job Postings on District Website
Please be aware that we added a new feature called “ Internal Job Postings” under the Faculty tab of the District’s website. We will post all of our internal jobs under this website tab. Therefore, you will no longer see internal job postings in the bulletin. This new way of posting will allow us to post internal positions any day of the week. |
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Wellesley Public Schools • Wellesley, Massachusetts www.wellesley.k12.ma.us/district/superintendent David Lussier, Superintendent
The Superintendent’s Bulletin is posted weekly on Fridays on our website. It provides timely, relevant information about meetings, professional development opportunities, curriculum and program development, grant awards, and School Committee news. The bulletin is also the official vehicle for job postings. Please read the bulletin regularly and use it to inform colleagues of meetings and other school news. 
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