Dear Colleagues,
Earlier this month, voters in Wellesley approved the funds to construct a long-discussed senior center. While perhaps less noteworthy to families with school-aged children, I think this project is actually very important for several reasons.
First, ours is a community that has long invested in its children. This is most clearly evident in the support we receive each year through our budget as well as through the many community organizations in the Town that support WPS. Our seniors, many of whom have lived for many years in Wellesley and have children who have gone through our system, are no less deserving of our support.
Second, our seniors represent an incredible asset to our community in terms of their activism and the breadth of their life experiences. I am particularly interested in this latter point as I would love to see more opportunities to create intergenerational connections between our students and residents who have such diverse connections to our past. The forthcoming senior center will provide a rallying point for such learning opportunities.
Finally, and more broadly, it seems as though our society has continued to move away from an “us” mindset to one of “me.” Just as our children are the responsibility of the entire community, so too do we all share responsibility for our seniors. The recent vote to approve the senior center was, to me, an important exclamation point about our caretaking responsibilities for everyone in our community. What an important message and example for our students.
Thanks to each of you for the important work you do for our students and I hope you have a chance to come out and enjoy the many activities taking place this weekend as part of Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend:http://www.wellesleyweekend.com/schedule.html
Best regards,
David
Calendar
05/20/16 – Deadline – Re-enrollment in Certain Health Insurance Options (see below)
05/24/16 – School Committee Meeting – 7 pm – Town Hall
05/30/16 – Memorial Day – No School
06/01/16 – Deadline – Graduate Course Reimbursement Submittals
06/03/16 – WHS Graduation – 5 pm
06/07/16 – School Committee Meeting – 7 pm – Town Hall
HEALTH INSURANCE ALERT!
IMPORTANT – Must re-enroll for health insurance benefits by May 20th in order to continue coverage on July 1st
(Applies to all non-Fallon Health Plans only)
As a reminder, open enrollment for benefit eligible employees will end next Friday, May 20, 2016. During open enrollment, you may do the following:
1) Enroll in a health or dental plan
2) Add family members to a health or dental plan
**Proof of relationship documents are required if adding family members to your health or dental plan. Birth certificates are required for children and marriage certificates are required for spouses.
3) Change your health plan provider
4) Change your dental option (low to high or high to low)
5) Change your long term disability (LTD) option.
** LTD benefits and premium are based on salary. Please contact HR directly at (781) 431 – 1019, x2244to find out what options are available to you.
Rates for all health and dental plans offered by the Town can be found here . General information and forms on all the health and dental plans the Town offers can be found here .
**Please be advised that if you are keeping a non-Fallon health plan for FY17, you MUST re-enroll in your plan of choice using the plan specific form for either Harvard, Tufts or Blue Cross. Not re-enrolling will result in your current coverage ending on 6/30/2016.**
If you are currently on Fallon insurance, you do not need to re-enroll. You also do not have to re-enroll on dental or long term disability insurances. Listed below is the Town’s website address with additional information. If you have any questions or need to speak with a benefits representative, please call the Benefits Office at 781-431-1019, extension 2244.
http://www.wellesleyma.gov/
SAT Associate Supervisors and Proctors Needed!
Associate Supervisors are needed to administer SATs for June 4, 2016. Proctors are needed to monitor the halls, direct students to their classrooms and assist the Main Office staff with running the test center, as needed. Both positions are paid positions so you will be compensated for your time.
The following positions are open:
Proctor (Hall Monitor): $100, 7:00am to 1:00pm*
Associate Supervisor (Test Proctor): $125, 6:30am to 1:00pm*
Associate Supervisor Extended Time (Test Proctor): $185, 6:30am to 2:30pm*
*All positions have the opportunity for early release should students arrive and complete testing early.
Please note the following:
According to College Board guidelines, Associate Supervisors and Proctors must be current or retired faculty or other professional staff of WPS or from a neighboring institution or a graduate student.
Also, according to College Board guidelines, an Associate Supervisor or Proctor cannot administer any SAT Program test that will be taken by a member of their household or immediate family at any test center NATION WIDE.
If you are interested and are eligible according to the College Board guidelines, please email Kyle Getz at getzk@wellesleyps.org. In your correspondence, please indicate which position you would be most interested in filling, as well as you current address and cell phone number.
IMPORTANT: Indicating interest doesn’t guarantee a position as the number of Associate Supervisors and Proctors required to run the test center is based on the number of students testing as well as their needs. Every effort will be made to make positions available to as many people as possible.
WHS Graduation News
Wellesley High School Graduation is on Friday, June 3rd, on Hunnewell Field (weather permitting), at 5:00 PM. In case of rain, the graduation will be in the GYM at Wellesley High School. All faculty and staff require a ticket for admission to the gym. If you plan to attend the graduation, please email Mary Donahue at donahuem@wellesleyps.org by Friday, May 20. Mary will send the ticket and instructions by return mail. Tickets are not required if graduation is held outdoors.
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.
Professional Development Opportunities
WellesleyPD Summer 2016 Course Offerings
Summer courses through WellesleyPD are now open for registration!
To login to WellesleyPD:
- Username: lastnamefirstinitial
- The default password is wellesleypd; you may click “Forgot Your Password?” for reset information to be sent to your WPS email address
If you encounter difficulty logging in, please contact Chelsea Bailow, Professional Development Coordinator.
Registration for courses closes 2 weeks prior to the date of the first scheduled session of the course. Early registration is encouraged, as class size for each course is limited and a minimum number of participants is required in order for a course to run.
If the minimum number of participants is not reached 2 weeks prior to the date of the first scheduled session of the course, the course will be cancelled. Participants will be notified of course cancellations at least 10 days prior to the date of the first scheduled session of the course.
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.
Thinking About Retirement?
For WTA members interested in retiring in 2016: Contact a representative from MTRS at 617-679-6877.
For further information to determine eligibility for retirement benefits visit: http://www.mass.gov/mtrs; to calculate your retirement benefits, go to http://www.mass.gov/mtrs/active-and-inactive-members/retiring-from-the-mtrs/regular-superannuation/estimate-your-retirement-benefits.html and tohttp://www.mass.gov/mtrs/forms-and-general-resources/downloadable-forms/
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.