January 29, 2016

Dear Colleagues,
I hope everyone had a productive week.  I had a chance to visit Dr. Cohen’s Android App class at WHS on Monday to view his students’ end-of-course projects.  Wow!  Teams of students first identified a challenge such as getting around the high school more efficiently, prioritizing homework assignments, and creating a tool to be used in assessing concussions.  Students then created their own Android App to address these challenges.  While the apps themselves were impressive, what stood out to me the most was the level of ownership and engagement demonstrated by all of the students.  What a great example of 21st Century learning!
Next, I also want to highlight the great work being led by Jenn Friedman through our newly-launched elementary Literacy Labs.  Thirteen of our elementary teachers have signed on to further develop their approach to balanced literacy and then open their classrooms to their colleagues through peer observation.  What a great example of our teachers stepping forward to both improve their craft and to support the development of their peers.
This was also an important week in our community regarding the future facilities work at Hardy, Hunnewell, and Upham (HHU).  The School Committee held a public hearing Thursday evening to listen to concerns and later discussed its thoughts on the best path forward.  Rather than proceeding with a feasibility study at this point, the School Committee will be commissioning an updated student enrollment forecast as well as a more extensive traffic study to confirm key points of analysis related to this decision.  The Committee also had a very preliminary discussion of establishing a School Building Committee, comprised of professionals and community representatives, to become engaged in the next steps in the HHU process.
Finally, next week is an important week for our FY17 Budget as the School Committee will be voting on the Administration’s recommended budget, as well as taking action on any budget cuts that may be necessary to help close the Town’s deficit for next year.  I will keep you posted on that outcome.
Thank you for all that you do for our students and have a great weekend!
Best regards, David


​​Calendar
 02/04/16 – School Committee Meeting – 5-6:45 pm – Town Hall
 02/15-02/19/16 – Winter Break
 02/23/16 – School Committee Meeting – 7 pm – Town Hall


CONGRATULATIONS TO Steve Favulli (WHS Director of Guidance) on the birth of his son, Lorenzo Joseph, born on January 29, 2016.


 GLoW COFFEEHOUSE
Gay, Lesbian or Whatever Club’s free annual coffeehouse.
January 29th, 2016 from 6:30-8:30 pm
WHS Cafeteria
Refreshments provided
Performances by: WHS Step Squad, WHS A Capella Groups, WHS Improv Troupe and more……
*Suggested donation of $5.00 at the door*
Please contact Zimmieobiora@gmail.com

Upcoming Special Performances!
Sunday, January 31st, 3:00 pm Boston Saengerfest Men’s Chorus at WHS – KLB Auditorium In concert with WHS male singers, Yale Whiffenpoofs, Boston City Singers.
For more information go to http://saengerfest.org/calendar/

Monday, February 8th, 7:00 pm ​Vocalogy ​at WHS – KLB Auditorium – ​Vocalogy, a professional, nationally renowned jazz quintet will be appearing in concert with the WHS Rice Street Singers and Keynote Singers.  This is a rare opportunity to see this ensemble perform on their Boston Tour.
For more information see http://vocalogy.simpl.com/appearances.html
​Monday, March 7th, 7:00 pm U.S. Navy Band at Wellesley High School – The US Navy Band is performing at Wellesley High School on their 2016 National Tour on Monday, March 7th at 7:00 pm (free and open to the public).  Currently all the tickets have already been taken (before advertising), however please keep checking back as we may be able to release more tickets as we get closer to the performance date:  http://tinyurl.com/usnavyband


The Educator Eval Working Group
Wants Your Questions
!

Dear Educators:
The next Educator Evaluation Working Group is scheduled for February 11, 2016.  The Working Group is in the process of putting together a list of frequently asked questions that will be published under the Faculty Tab of the WPS website.
Please forward your educator evaluation questions to one of the Working Group members prior to February 11th.  The Working Group will publish the answer to your question after the February 11th meeting.
Working Group members are:  Karen Archambault, Chelsea Bailow, Sandy Bogage, Thom Carter, Linda Corridan, Kathleen Dooley, Tim Eagan, Jany Finkielsztein, John Finneron, Heather Haskell, Judith Malone-Neville, Gayle McCracken, Kate Morton, Joanne Naso, Jonathan Simon, and Julie Verret.

Thank you​


Professional Development Opportunities
WellesleyPD

Registration is open for the following winter courses through WellesleyPD:
NEW DATES! Online Tools for Formative Assessment and Collaboration

  • Instructors: Ranjani Sriram & Amy Jankins
  • Participants: PreK-12 Educators
  • Date/Times: Online Only, Weeks of 02/22/16 – 03/21/16

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

NEW DATES! Google Apps for Education

  • Instructor: Pete Ritter
  • Participants: PreK-12 Educators
  • Date/Times: Online Only, Weeks of 03/21/16 – 04/11/16

WellesleyPD Instructor Information Session
Are you interested in offering a course to colleagues this summer or next school year? Come to a 30-minute information session. We’ll discuss the process for becoming an approved graduate level instructor for Framingham State University, the course proposal and approval processes, and the requirements for submitting a course for approval.

  • Tuesday, February 9th, 2:45pm – 3:15pm, Wellesley High School

Please RSVP using the following link.
If you have any questions, please contact Chelsea Bailow, Professional Development Coordinator.

Primary Source Summer Institutes
The district has an annual Primary Source membership through which we are allotted seats in their courses. Since the number of seats is limited, you must receive approval from the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning prior to registering.
To view the summer catalog of face-to-face and online offerings, click here. A hard copy will also be available in buildings.
If you’re interested in registering for a course, please submit the Primary Source Registration Request form. Deadline to request registration is Friday, April 15th. Notification of your registration status will be sent after April vacation.

Other Opportunities
TEC Online, Self-Paced Courses Free to WPS Educators
WPS 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.)
  • Strategies to Enhance Instruction for English Language Learners in the Classroom    (Click here for more details.)

    To Register: Go to tec.registration.etlo.org and complete the registration page. You’ll receive an email with a URL for the course you’ve selected, as well as instructions on enrolling in the course.

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.​​


Apply Now to Enroll Children
of Non-Resident WTA Members in Wellesley Schools.  
Children of teachers or nurses residing outside 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 2016-17 school year, please click here to access the form.  Once complete, please return it to District Registrar Nancy Costigliola in Central Office or email it back to her at registrar@wellesleyps.org.  The Application Deadline is May 1, 2016.

Graduate Course Reimbursement
Course reimbursement funding of $30,000 is available to distribute in FY17 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 the following information to Valerie Spruill, Administrative Assistant to the HR Director,spruillv@wellesleyps.org:   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.  The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2016.  You will be notified of the amount awarded to you some time prior to the first paycheck in September 2016.  Please note:  all information must be received by June 1, 2016 or you will be disqualified for reimbursement.  All courses must have occurred in the summer of 2015, fall of 2015 and spring of 2016 and have been completed by June 1, 2016.   Any courses taken prior to the summer of 2015 will not be considered reimbursement.

Thinking About Retirement?
For WTA members interested in retiring in 2016: Contact a representative from MTRS at 617-679-6877.
If you plan to retire this year, please send a signed letter (four months prior to retirement) indicating your intention to Director of Human Resources Gayle McCracken, Wellesley Public Schools, 40 Kingsbury Street, Wellesley, Massachusetts 02481.

​​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.
Superintendent’s Bulletin 1/29/16