Dear Families,

Happy Friday on the eve of our February vacation week. As usually happens the week prior to a break is filled with assessments and events people need to get in before the kids go away. If you weren’t ready for a break at the beginning of the week, you certainly are now. 

Tuesday night we had home varsity basketball games for both the girls and boys teams. It was fun to catch those games and then hop over to our annual Choral Step Up concert in the auditorium. It was fun seeing our middle schoolers join our high school singers on stage. Despite the rush of the week, the kids sounded fantastic and, what’s best, there were lots of smiles during and after. Here’s a shot of the group on stage together at the end of the show. 

On Wednesday afternoon our Chinese Club, sponsored by our generous PTSO, hosted a Lunar New Year Celebration in the cafeteria. Lots of food. Lots of fun. Lots of sharing. There were hundreds of students who stopped by the event. Thank you to our Chinese club students for all their hard work putting this event together and for doing such a great job cleaning up! 

On Thursday night I attended the Wellesley Education Foundation event called “Making Sense of AI in Education: Understanding What Matters Most” with presenter Greg Kulowiec. 

Greg talked to about 100 parents about how this “arrival” technology can be used to help students enhance their learning and not interrupt it. If you were wondering, “arrival” refers to this technology that we did not ask for or plan for. It just arrived back in 2023 and students and faculty have been grappling with its existence ever since. 

Greg suggested we won’t really understand the full impact of AI on education for 5-7 more years and he advised us all to spend some time learning about it as the implications grow. 

Dear Parents and Students of the Class of 2027, 

We are excited to announce that the second round of the Class of 2027 Parking Raffle has been extended to Friday February 27, 2026!

This raffle offers students the chance to win the second of two guaranteed parking spots throughout the upcoming school year, providing a convenient and reliable spot to park in.

But wait … there’s more! A second name will be drawn, with the winner receiving a FREE Junior Boat Cruise ticket! 

A reminder that the ticket prices are $50 for one ticket, $135 for three tickets, and $200 for five tickets. Please note: tickets purchased for the previous round will NOT be carried over into this second round. 

Purchasing multiple tickets increases your chances of winning, and we encourage interested students and families to participate and take advantage of this year-long parking opportunity! Not only is this a great opportunity, it is also a major fundraiser for The WHS Class of 2027 that will provide funds for events thoughout this year and senior year.

To enter, please venmo: @wellesleyhigh2027, including the student’s first and last name in the description.

Thank you so much for your continued support of our class! 

Sincerely, Class Officers of ’27

Wellesley High School Acastock will be taking place on March 6th at 7pm. This is a large a cappella concert featuring our four a cappella groups and our special guest: Professional A cappella group Ball in the House. 

The show will have professional sound from Clarus – the same company that provides sound for the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (also the same competition you might know from the movie Pitch Perfect.) 

Tickets are on sale now at the following link:

Seminar day is an annual event on the first Wednesday of March in which students, faculty, and community members can share a unique story or teach about a topic outside of our normal curriculum.

Each seminar block will be held in person for one full hour, and speakers can sign up for one, two, or all three blocks. Please note: Deadline to sign up is February 20th

Schedule for Seminar Day 2026:

Please sign up with this Seminar Google Form, and we hope to see you there!

Please contact baileya@wellesleyps.org, prichardt@wellesleyps.org, or 26budson-mcquilkena@wpsraiders.org with any questions or requests for any materials.

**** 

Thank You, The WHS Student Congress

Wellesley High School Dramatic Arts Company (WHSDAC) presents its Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild (METG) One-Act entry, Fire in the Hole, by Pulitzer Prize winning author Robert Schenkkan (from The Kentucky Cycle), in late February. It focuses on the conflicts in a 1920’s coal-mining town.

A FREE preview performance will be held Friday, February 27 @ 7pm at Wellesley High, followed by Q&A. Due to mature content, the show is not recommended for children under 13.

2026 METG Preliminary Round is at Wellesley High School on Saturday, February 28 and we take the stage at 1:30pm. Click below for tickets and further info:

Come Support the 50+ students who will perform, work backstage and host the other five competing high schools!

WHS 10th Grader Nate Cody has been accepted as a candidate in Blood Cancer United’s 2026 Student Visionaries of the Year campaign.

 

Student Visionaries of the Year is a national seven-week challenge through which high school student leaders raise funds and awareness for the fight against blood cancers. Last year’s New England candidates raised an amazing $1,300,000 for the mission of Blood Cancer United. This year’s campaign began on February 5th and culminates with our Grand Finale Gala on Sunday, March 29th at Granite Links in Quincy, MA. The funds raised benefit our mission; to cure blood cancer, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. 

 

This is truly an elite competition and we count ourselves lucky to have Nate, leading Team “Running For A Cure”, as part of this campaign to represent Wellesley High School. Please see Nate’s fundraising link, which can be found HERE,

 

WHS counselors will present a framework and timeline for the post-secondary process with a focus on the milestones that are particularly relevant to students looking ahead to their junior year.  

Meeting ID: 864 3077 3862

Password: 137436

  WHS School Counseling Website

SBIRT screening (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) will be conducted during 10th grade Health classes. SBIRT is a mandated screening for substance use/abuse in public schools. The screening is interview-based and takes approximately 5 minutes. All results are kept confidential and are not included in your student’s school record. The screening is completed by trained health teachers and nurses. For more detailed information see the full letter here: SBIRT Info Letter.

If you would like to have your child opted-out of this screening for this year, please let us know by filling out this form: SBIRT Opt-Out Form.  

Additional information visit: WHS School Counseling Website 

Students will begin meeting with teachers about course recommendations for next year after February break. Course selection for the 26-27 school year will take place in March.

9th graders will prepare for course selection with counselors in seminar in January. 10th and 11th graders will have counseling seminar during the course selection window in March.

All meetings are from 9-10 am on Fridays in the Faculty Dining Room. Next Date: April 10

Wellesley Scholarship Foundation application is now open and closes on March 1st. Please check in with your counselor with any other post-secondary questions.

Visit the Standardized Testing Padlet for all your testing information throughout the year.

WHS School Counseling Department

Director: Margaret Walendin – walendinm@wellesleyps.org

The librarians at Wellesley High School host a monthly Book Club for parents where we read YA books and discuss. If you are interested in participating please email us at whslibrary@wellesleyps.org

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at the Wellesley Free Library Cafe (1st floor) at 7:30pm to discuss The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (novel in verse) 

The Wellesley Free Library will have copies available for check out.

Any question can be emailed to whslibrary-group@wellesleyps.org.

Our list of clubs and enrichment programs for 2025-2026 has recently been updated.

To print your own copy or access the list, see Complete List of 2025-2026 Clubs on the WHS website. 

I hope everyone has a great week and the kids have time to do some things they really enjoy.  If you’re traveling, please be safe.  We’ll see you on the 23rd. 

Best, 

Jamie