WHS Principal’s Newsletter for 30 October, 2026

Dear Families, 

Happy Friday on an incredibly packed last Friday in October here.  The boys soccer team had their senior night last night and our football team has their last regular season home game against Brookline tonight at 6 pm.  Saturday night is Halloween, Sunday morning we turn back the clocks.  The early decision deadline for many of our Seniors is also Sunday.  Next Tuesday is the midterm elections, our First Quarter ends in less than a week on Thursday November 5th.  

Now I know any of our kids might look at any single one of these dates above and say it is no big deal.  I also know for some of our students they will navigate these dates without even a second thought.  However, there are a lot of pieces here that could cumulatively increase the stress on our kids. Gaining an hour of the day on Sunday can still throw off sleep patterns. There’s a lot of chatter and media coverage of elections that can creep into all of our subconscious.   A lot of this we can’t control, but if your child is struggling with any of this we’d like you to be in communication with your house offices and/or teachers so we can see if there’s anything we can do to help.  Even if you just want us to know and not do anything it can be helpful down the line. 

—————————————————————————————

I’d say being an Athletic Director is one of the most political and complicated jobs in the district. You should know 15 – 20% of AD’s turn over every year in Massachusetts.  The average tenure of an AD is 3-5 years.   John Brown’s 20 year tenure at Wellesley High School is actually dragging that average tenure number up.   Each year John has about 100 coaches on staff between middle school teams (don’t forget about them!), our sub varsity coaches, our assistant coaches and our varsity coaches.  The turnover rate for many of those jobs is annual too.  I know he has an amazing staff to support him, and it’s easy to lose track of the fact that  in addition to hiring and supervising all that staff, he’s in charge of ordering their equipment and uniforms. He manages budgets, schedules games, officials (pays those officials), and orders and pays for all the transportation.  All the schools in the district combined don’t use as many buses as our athletics department.  And, of course, athletics can be a very emotional and charged topic for kids and families, so on a regular basis John has managed conversations with high levels of intensity.   There were many occasions where John and I worked together on these issues and I want to say thank you to him for that partnership. 

A note can’t capture all that John did for us or all he’s meant to me as a colleague and friend here.   John’s service to our kids, our entire staff, and the Wellesley Community was really a unique and special example.  Thanks to John for what he built here.  I know Chris McGrath will benefit from all his work as we head into the next chapter of athletics at Wellesley High. 

Please join me in thanking John and know the good news is he’ll still be around for the rest of the school year in a reduced role to assist the transition. 

The registration deadline to order AP Exams is fast approaching. Please complete the three-step registration process by November 6th at 11:59 PM to avoid any late fees.  

IMPORTANT:  All three steps must be completed, in order, for an AP Exam to be ordered:

See the AP Registration Instructions and Deadlines document or the AP Exam section in the WHS Standardized Testing Padlet for additional testing information.

If you have any questions, please contact our Testing/SSD Coordinator Jen Culver or Anne North in the Main Office.

The Wellesley High School Mock Trial Team competed in the 2026 Garden City Invitational at Newton South High School this past weekend.  Over the weekend competition, they participated in three separate trials against three different high school teams, with eight teams in total competing. In the case, the team represented the Plaintiff in a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit again the Plaintiff’s former employer.

Only two teams won all their trials, and Wellesley was one of the two.  It then came down to scoring, and there were only 4 points between them and the winner – 91 to 87.

The Winsor School (1st place)

Arlington

Brookline

Boston Latin Academy

Newton South

Walpole

Westford Academy

Katherine Xu (Captain) – Competition Participant

Linda Zhang (Captain) – Competition Participant

Hugo Cortis (Captain) – Competition Participant

Sumaiya Liu (Captain) – Competition Participant

Chaehyeon Im – Competition Participant

Oscar Allan – Competition Participant

Domenico Stranieri – Competition Participant

Sofia Galatopoullos – Competition Participant

Lauren Sau – Competition Participant

Angela Zhang – Competition Participant

Larry Lin

Rosy Barman

Adriana Martinez

Emma Morgan

ZeWen Yin

Throughout the competition, fellow coaches, spectators, and judges consistently remarked on our students’ exceptional presentation, preparation, attention to detail, and command of the case. It was wonderful to see their hard work and dedication recognized. Our students represented Wellesley High School exceptionally well.

We are incredibly proud of this team of talented and dedicated students. We are excited to build on this success and prepare for the state competition in January.

HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) is a club dedicated to preparing future leaders in the healthcare field. We are hosting a personal hygiene drive to support health, wellness and safety in our community. We are partnering with A Place To Turn Natick, a choice-based food pantry and community resource center committed to serving MetroWest residents in need. 

Items Needed: 

Collection Details:

Please drop off donations in the collection bin located right in front of the main office through November 19th! 

Any questions may be directed to Fatima Bangash, at 28bangashf@wpsraiders.org.

The Bradford’s Newsletter is our premier way of sharing information with students and families affiliated with the Wellesley Public Schools District. It is our intention to share important pieces of information and timely events at the high school. 

Please take a moment and review the current edition on their website whsbradford.org

APRIL 14-24, 2027: Travel with Wellesley High School Art Department!

Program Highlights: Ancient Rome & Gladiator School; Vatican City and Borghese Gallery; Assisi, Florence, Bologna, and Venice.

Application Deadline: JUST EXTENDED – act now, as only a few spots remain Application Link

Once applications are received, students will get an email with a QR code for paying

Please check out the event flyer for further details and itinerary.

Please review the updated WHS Club and Extra-Curricular Activity schedule, which includes hyperlinks to club descriptions, meeting times, contacts, and meeting locations. 

WHS Seniors and Staff got into the Halloween Spirit today, wearing a wide variety of costumes—ranging from superheroes like Spider-Man and Batman to witches, ghosts, animals, and pop-culture characters – and one School Resource Officer was “cloned” for the festivities!

There were so many great pics, we had to make a slideshow for everyone to see: 

Here’s a small sampling of the creativity – and sense of humor – our students brought to school today:

And for those of us old enough to remember this movie from 1985, our Costume Award Winning Phillips House Staff took us back to The Breakfast Club and that infamous Saturday detention.

I hope you have all the productivity and rest you need this weekend. 

Best, 

Jamie