Dear Colleagues,
Last night, we honored six educators who have taught in WPS for 25 years. Our long-standing tradition of the “Chair Ceremony” has been made possible through the generous support of the Wellesley Education Foundation (WEF) and Wellesley College. I include the full list of honorees below to ensure that our entire district recognize the contributions of these outstanding educators. (And yes, they each receive an actual, collegiate-type chair!)
Deb Karagoezian – Instructional Library Assistant, Fiske School (2016 Honoree)
Deb has called Fiske her home for the last 25 years. Prior to becoming the Fiske Instructional Library Assistant she held positions in the Food Services Department and as a substitute teacher. She loves her position as Library Assistant as it gives her the ability to introduce literature to kindergarten students and guide them on how to properly use the library. In addition to her passion for education and children, Deb enjoys gardening, traveling and spending time with her family.
Rosemary Kelley – Grade 1 Teacher, Fiske School (2016 Honoree)
After completing her Masters in education at Lesley University, including student teaching at Fiske, Rosemary officially began her teaching career in the WPS gaining experience as a teaching assistant before taking on her own 1st grade class in 1992.
Nancy Eich, Retired Gr. 2 Teacher, Schofield (2017 Honoree)
Nancy began her career at Schofield School in 1991 as a teaching assistant and was hired as a 3rd grade teacher in 1994. She taught 3rd grade for 6 years and ultimately moved to 2nd grade in 2001. She remained a second grade teacher for the next 15 years until her retirement in 2016. Nancy is now enjoying spending time with her family, especially her 9-month old grandson Gavin and 99 year old mother.
Lynn Kaminski, Kindergarten Teacher, Hunnewell (2017 Honoree)
Lynn has been at Hunnewell, teaching Kindergarten for all 25 years! That’s the only thing that has stayed the same! In that time, there have been 5 superintendents in Wellesley and 5 principals at Hunnewell, not to mention classroom changes and changes in grade level colleagues! What has remained constant is her love of the energy and enthusiasm of her five and six year old students. While Lynn has not ‘graduated’ from kindergarten over the last 25 years, she doesn’t want to! Her love for her work has not stopped growing!
Suzanne Whitehouse – Upham Grade 3 Teacher (2017 Honoree)
Suzanne started at Upham as a long term substitute and never left! She started teaching grade 3, then taught some multi-grade classes over the years, and she is now back teaching grade 3.
Calendar
3/20/18 – SC Meeting – 6:30 pm – Wakelin Room, Main Library
3/26/18 – Annual Town Meeting Begins – 7 pm – WMS
3/28/18 – SC Meeting – 6:30 pm – Town Hall
WTA Health Insurance Forums
Our Health Insurance plan design will be changing. WTA will work tirelessly to ensure our members are educated and supported. To that end, the executive board and rep council will host forums on understanding these health plans and the financial mitigation offered. We kindly ask that you make every effort to attend any one of these forums.
WTA Health Insurance Forums:
Monday, 3/19 @ 3:30pm: Bates Elementary Library
Monday, 3/19 @ 3:30pm: Fiske Elementary Gym
Tuesday, 3/20 @ 3:30pm: Sprague Elementary Library
Tuesday, 3/20 @ 3:30pm: Hunnewell Library
Wednesday, 3/21 @ 2:45pm*: Wellesley Middle School FDR
Wednesday, 3/21 @ 3:30pm*: Wellesley Middle School FDR
*We are hosting the WMS meeting twice to accommodate space and supervisory issues.
We apologize in advance for not getting to every school. Given our time constraints, we prioritized Wellesley geography and the availability of meeting places. You are welcome to attend ANY of these meetings, even if you cannot attend the one at your school.
Apply Now to Enroll Children of Non-Resident WTA Members in Wellesley Public Schools
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 2018-19 school year, please click registrar. The Application and Letter of Intent Deadline is May 1, 2018.
Graduate Course Reimbursement
Course reimbursement funding of $30,000 is available to distribute in FY19 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 1, 2018 the completed spruillv. You will be notified of the amount awarded to you sometime prior to the first paycheck in September 2018. Please note: all information must be received by June 1, 2018 or you will be disqualified for reimbursement. All courses must have occurred in the summer of 2017, fall of 2017 and spring of 2018 and have been completed by June 1, 2018. Any courses taken prior to the summer of 2017 will not count for reimbursement.
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 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.