Dear Colleagues,
I hope everyone had a restful February break. It would appear that March may be a snowy month as it was last year. I hope I am wrong.
As you know, we are in the process of developing a new strategic plan, charting a course for the next five years for WPS. Our Profile of a Graduate and Core Values will serve as the foundation for this plan and we are actively working to translate these ideas into mutually reinforcing pathways across multiple areas of programming. One area in which I would invite your feedback, is in the best ways to define, support, and assess “local and global engagement” across the District.
I’ve seen many examples of teachers and students engaging real world problems in our classrooms through innovative units and project-based learning. If you are looking for inspiration, please check out the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
I also think about the amazing art trips that Thom Carter organizes each year, taking students around the world. Could we have a goal that every student will have one international experience before they graduate? What would a more robust exchange program look like? How can we find more opportunities for our students to deploy their growing second language skills?
So, if you have some great ideas on any of these topics, please share your thoughts with me. Thanks for all that you do for our students.
Best regards,
David
Calendar
03/12/19 – SC Meeting – Town Hall – 6:30 pm
03/14/19 – SC Office Hour – Great Hall, Town Hall – 9 am
03/25/19 – Annual Town Meeting Begins
Baby News!
Congratulations to Jaime DeLuise (WMS Guidance Counselor) on the birth of her daughter, Elle Scott DeLuise, on February 12, 2019.
SAT/ACT Proctors Needed!
SAT/ACT proctors are needed for students with school based accommodations. Testing takes place at WHS the week following the Saturday national administration. Hours may vary, a 7:45 arrival is necessary and being a proctor does not commit one to every test administration; assignments are flexible. Responsibilities are to deliver instructions verbatim and monitor time and test-takers. Proctors will need to have a CORI which the District will facilitate.
Please direct interest and inquiries to Julia Sweet at sweetj@wellesleyps.org.
Apply Now to enroll children of non-resident WTA members in WPS
Children of teachers or nurses residing outside of Wellesley shall be entitled to attend Wellesley Public Schools without charge for tuition on a space-available basis (Article 12, WTA Unit A Contract). If you are interested in this benefit for the 2019-20 school year, please click here to access the form. Once completed, please return the form, along with a letter of intent, to District Registrar Nancy Costigliola in Central Office in person or by email at registrar@wellesleyps.org. The application and letter of intent deadline is May 1, 2019.
Graduate Course Reimbursement
Course reimbursement funding of $30,000 is available to distribute in FY20 among qualified teachers. This funding is for graduate course work done as part of a master’s degree program to fulfill a teacher’s obligations for the Massachusetts Educators Professional License and for course work required to achieve the next stage of licensure culminating in a professional license and/or when a specialist teacher’s immediate supervisor, subject to the approval of the Assistant Superintendent, verifies that there are no further in-district courses available for recertification in that specialist’s field, that specialist may apply for tuition reimbursement. Any Unit A member for whom no DESE license exists, including but not limited to occupational and physical therapists, so long as that member maintains appropriate certification and/or licensure required to perform his or her duties, shall be eligible to apply for tuition reimbursement. To apply for this course reimbursement, please send, by no later June 3, 2019, the completed reimbursement form, along with evidence of your enrollment in an applicable master/doctoral degree program, name and description of the course, evidence of course cost (a billing statement), proof of payment (i.e. credit card statement, canceled check or receipt of payment), and transcript to Valerie Spruill, Administrative Assistant to the Director of Human Resources, spruillv@wellesleyps.org. You will be notified of the amount awarded to you some time prior to the first paycheck in September 2019. Please note: all information must be received by June 3, 2019 or you will be disqualified for reimbursement. All courses must have occurred in the summer of 2018, fall of 2018 and spring of 2019 and have been completed by June 3, 2019. Any courses taken prior to the summer of 2018 will not count for reimbursement.
Renewing Your Educator’s License?
Information about requirements to renew your educator license is available on the WPS website. Click here to go to the HR Licensure tab. When you apply for your license on the DESE website under ELAR, the DESE will send you an electronic communication about what is missing from your licensure file in order to renew. The HR licensure tab and your ELAR account are two tools to assist you with information about licensure renewal.
Insurance Benefits Information
Health and Dental Insurance Benefits information is handled by the Town Hall Benefits Office. Inquiries should be directed to Joanne Liburd at JLiburd@wellesleyma.gov or by calling 781-431-1019 extension 2244.
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.