Superintendent’s Bulletin 5/22/15

Wellesley High School Graduation is on June 5, Hunnewell Field, at 5:00 PM.  (If outside, a ticket will not be necessary.)  In case of rain, the graduation ceremony will be in the GYM at Wellesley High School.  All faculty and staff will need a ticket for admission.  Please email Mary Donahue at donahuem@wellesleyps.org  by Friday, May 22.  If you plan to attend the graduation, Mary will send the ticket and instructions by return mail.

All WellesleyPD course offerings and information is available online:

• Go to the WPS district homepage: http://www.wellesley.k12.ma.us/
• Select the “Faculty” tab
• Select “Professional Development”

Content-Based Courses

• Using Thinking Maps to Enhance Student Performance
  Participants: PreK-12 Classroom Teachers & Special Educators

• Understanding and Applying Differentiated Instruction
  Participants: PreK-12 Educators

Art

• Discovering the Artist Within: Fostering Creativity in the Classroom
  Participants: PreK-12 Educators, Non-Art Specialists 

Literacy

• Close Reading
  Participants: Grades 3-6 Classroom Teachers & Special Educators 

• Writing Workshop K-5
   Participants: K-5 Educators

Science

• Being Scientists & Engineers: Integrating Science & Engineering Practices in the Elementary Classroom
  Participants: PreK-5 Educators

Technology

• iPad Boot Camp   
  Participants: PreK-5 Educators

• Designing Blended Curriculum Units for the Classroom in Canvas
  Participants: Grades 8-12 Educators             

• Google Apps for Education
  Participants: PreK-12 Educators

CPI Restraint Training

• Full Course
  Participants: PreK-12 Educators, TAs & Paras    

Wellesley Supervision and Evaluation System
Based on staff feedback, a list of Educator Evaluation FAQs has been compiled and is now available online:

• Go to the WPS district homepage: http://www.wellesley.k12.ma.us/
• Select the “Faculty” tab
• Select “Wellesley Supervision and Evaluation System”

For a direct link click FAQs.
​Open Circle
Wellesley expects (and pays for) all elementary teachers to take Open Circle during their second or third year in Wellesley.
Open Circle course offerings and information is available online:

• Go to the WPS district homepage: http://www.wellesley.k12.ma.us/
• Select the “Faculty” tab
• Select “Professional Development”
• Select “Open Circle” from the right menu

All Open Circle registrations should be submitted to Anne Allieri in Chelsea Bailow’s absence through June 1st.

EDCO IDEAS (formerly EDCO EMI)
EDCO IDEAS is now accepting registrations for their summer courses. The registration deadline is Thursday, May 28th.

Wellesley expects (and pays for) second and third year teachers to register for the course “Anti-Racist School Practices to Support the Success of All Students (EMI1)”.
For registration and course information:

• Go to the WPS district homepage: http://www.wellesley.k12.ma.us/
• Select the “Faculty” tab
• Select “Professional Development”
• Select EDCO EMI from the right menu

All EDCO IDEAS registrations should be submitted to Anne Allieri in Chelsea Bailow’s absence through June 1st.

Primary Source is excited to announce a study tour to Spain and Morocco for summer 2016.  Though the tour is more than a year away, we want teachers to know now so they have time to make plans.

We will be partnering with EF Educational Tours to offer Spain and Morocco: Coexistence, Competition and Culture (711-1614) in July 2016.  Though the tour will be open more broadly, Primary Source partners are getting the first peek at this study travel opportunity.  Seats are guaranteed for PS partners for the next 30 days and enrollment will continue over the coming months until the tour fills.

Below is more information about the tour — please share with your teachers and administrators.  It is going to be a wonderful trip!

Spain and Morocco: Coexistence, Competition and Culture (711-1614)
July 6-14, 2016

Join Primary Source an d E F Education First as they team up for an in-depth and experiential exploration of Spain and Morocco over the centuries. Scholar Barbara Petzen and curriculum experts from Primary Source will guide you in studying the interconnections between Muslim-ruled Spain and Morocco across nine centuries. Through experiential learning at major historical and cultural sites, you will investigate varied religious, ethnic, and political identities, dynamic artistic traditions, and the movement of ideas and goods in a period remarkable for its cross-fertilization. Before the trip and en route, you will gain accessible resources for bringing these topics back to your classroom.  Included in the trip:  Cordoba, Granada, Tarifa, Fez, Casablanca and Marrakech.  Open to all K-12 teachers and administrators, but particularly suited to teachers of history and art.

See the full tour web site and enroll at www.eftours.com/1699512YX.

​​Graduate Course Reimbursement
Course reimbursement funding of $30,000 is available to distribute in FY15 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.  To apply for this course reimbursement, please send, by June 1, 2015, your name, 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 Human Resources Director, spruillv@wellesleyps.org   You will be notified of the amount awarded to you sometime prior to the first paycheck in September 2015.  Please note:  all information must be received by June 1, 2015 or you will be disqualified for reimbursement.  All courses must have occurred in the summer of 2014, fall of 2014 and spring of 2015 and have been completed by June 1, 2015.   Any courses taken prior to the summer of 2014 will not count for reimbursement.