Dear Colleagues,
This past weekend, hundreds of thousands of people participated in “March for Our Lives” demonstrations around the country, advocating for common sense gun control measures that polls consistently show most Americans want. While the sheer number of people involved was noteworthy, what I found most impressive was that these events had been organized and led by students. A week prior to this march, students at both WMS and WHS also organized walkouts in support of a similar message in response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
While I am a strong supporter of the positions being advocated, which I believe are long overdue, I am even more excited that a generation of students has shown a remarkable level of engagement around a topic for which they care deeply.
We often talk about developing the “heads, hearts, and hands” of our students. As I listened to and observed our students in the context of these issues, I felt an incredible sense of pride that our district and community is developing such thoughtful young people. Despite being a generation that has sometimes been criticized as being overly interested in social media interactions, in the past month we have witnessed a level of civic engagement by young people not seen since the 1960s. To our students here and around the country, I say “bravo” and keep it up!
Best regards,
David Lussier
Calendar
4/2 and 4/3/18 – Annual Town Meeting (cont’d) – 7 pm – WMS
4/4/18 – SC Meeting – 6:30 pm – Town Hall
Insurance Open Enrollment Information Sessions – see below
4/24/18 – SC Meeting – 6:30 pm – Town Hall
5/1/18 – Student Enrollment Application Deadline for Non-Resident WTA Members
Important Insurance Open Enrollment Information Sessions Scheduled
This year, the Town of Wellesley will be offering many different insurance options to its benefit eligible employees. Some of the new offerings this benefit period are Accident Insurance, Critical Illness and Hospital Indemnity, all provided by AFLAC. Also newly being offered is an EyeMed benefit that will significantly reduce your out of pocket expenses for glasses and contacts.
To assist in the understanding of how these new offerings work, the Town of Wellesley will be hosting numerous informational sessions on a variety of topics. The “Understanding your Health Insurance Options” information sessions being presented by Fallon and will review the differences between the Benchmark Plan and the High Deductible Plan being offered this Open Enrollment to benefit eligible employees. These sessions in particular will be helpful to employees who are not sure which plan is right for them and may also assist in their considerations of the any or all of the additional insurances being offered as well.
Please click here for information on the dates/times of these important sessions. Please note: If you currently have a health insurance plan through the Town of Wellesley, you will need to take action to continue your health insurance after June 30th – regardless of whether you select any of the additional options being offered.
Information about all the offerings during this Open Enrollment period can be found at www.wellesleyma.gov/openenrollment.
Waiting for Superman Screening – April 5, 2018, 7 pm
Please join members of the Wellesley community for a viewing and discussion of the documentary Waiting for Superman scheduled for 7 pm at the Unitarian Universalists Church of Wellesley, 309 Washington Street.
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 be considered 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.