Dear Families, 

Happy Friday of the Eid holiday today.  

Last week I wrote about the many incredible things our students were up to in the interim period between the winter and spring athletic seasons, and today we find ourselves four days into the spring athletic season already.  Today also marks the end of winter and the first day of spring (though it doesn’t feel like it yet). Next week our 10th graders will take their ELA MCAS tests (more on that below) and this moment officially kicks off our busy testing season that includes SAT’s, APs, and two more rounds of MCAS. 

Spring means different things to our different ages of students.  Seniors can start thinking about the existential moment of ending their public school careers. Their minds may struggle to stay focused on their academics at times, they may be working through final decisions about what they will do next year, and they can wonder about all the stories they’ve heard about “senior spring” that is filled with so many closing events.  Our 11th graders may see all this happening for seniors, but often they find themselves having to just keep their heads down and keep their eyes focused on the task at hand.  They feel pressure to do their best at this point in their academic career and between finishing their courses and entering testing season they may have an increased volume of responsibilities. The 10th graders have just picked their classes for junior year and they are often watching the 11th graders closely to see if they can better understand the narrative behind how daunting that year will be when it is their turn.  Our 9th graders are no longer 9th graders really.  They may have increased confidence socially and academically from navigating the high school for so many months already and they rarely get lost in the building now. 

When we get to this point in the year I always feel like the end of the year comes in a hurry.  The end of the year events come in a hurry too.  Between the extra testing, the banquets, the awards ceremonies, the celebrations and graduation the pace here feels like it increases exponentially, while all the work of our classes continues on to the end of the year.  Today, I’m writing so that everyone can have this fresh in our minds as we begin this moment. It’s always good to check in with your student to make sure their plan for managing their schedule makes sense. It’s good to keep an eye on them to make sure they are prioritizing their rest and balancing their responsibilities.  As much as we want our students to learn to manage their time on their own, the additional “spring things” can catch up to almost anyone.  As always, please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help along the way. 

10th grade students will be taking the ELA portion of the MCAS exam next week. 

Session 1: Tuesday, March 24th at 7:45AM, 4th floor

Session 2: Wednesday, March 25th at 7:45AM, 4th floor

Room assignments will be posted outside of Phillips house office on Monday.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS: 

If you have any questions, please contact your guidance counselor or Jen Culver, WHS Testing Coordinator.

We would like to bring your attention to a recent handbook change for the 2026-2027 school year. Please see below for the excerpt from page 50 of the WHS Student Handbook:

AP-Advanced Placement Exams: Three-hour tests administered in May each year at Wellesley High School for students seeking advanced standing or credit in college in certain subject areas. WHS administers AP exams for students enrolled in WHS AP courses, WHS sponsored VHS AP courses, or for any other pre-approved courses. Self-study is allowed for 11th and 12th graders only with some restrictions.  

This past weekend, Wellesley DECA competed at the 68th Massachusetts DECA State Career Development Conference (SCDC). We had 23 students attend and compete across a range of business and marketing events.

We are proud to announce that six Wellesley DECA members qualified for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) this April in Atlanta, an improvement from last year when four students qualified. Congratulations to our qualifiers and to everyone who competed, each student put in a large amount of work to prepare.

Students competed in either roleplay events or written/presentation events. Roleplay competitors completed a written exam and participated in two roleplay scenarios, with finalists advancing to a third round. Written competitors presented their projects to judges and presented again if they advanced to finals. All competitors represented Wellesley DECA extremely well.

A special shoutout to Jax Choi-Undheim and Zach Nolan, who represented Wellesley DECA in the Quiz Bowl competition. Quiz Bowl is a March-Madness–style bracket tournament of business, marketing, and DECA knowledge where teams of four compete in fast-paced trivia rounds. Jax and Zach advanced all the way to the quarterfinals, which was an impressive accomplishment.

We would also like to thank Ms. Bell, who supported the team throughout all three days of the conference. She helped with coordinating logistics, helping students stay organized and on time for their events, and for making the entire trip run smoothly.

Additionally, congratulations to Kourosh Farboodmanesh, who concluded his term as a Massachusetts DECA State Officer at SCDC. Over the past year, Kourosh has served more than 13,000 DECA members across the state. At the conference, he helped run the nightly ceremonies in front of thousands of attendees while also competing in his own event. His dedication and leadership have made Wellesley DECA incredibly proud.

We would also like to thank Kian Farboodmanesh, a member of our chapter, who served as an official photographer for the conference. Kian spent the weekend capturing photos of ceremonies and behind-the-scenes moments. We greatly appreciate all of the work he put in to document the event.

You can view the full photo collection from the conference here

For additional Wellesley-specific photos and updates, be sure to follow our Instagram @wellesleydeca.

Congratulations again to all competitors for their hard work and dedication. We are excited to see our qualifiers represent Wellesley DECA at ICDC in April

The Wellesley High School Dramatic Arts Society’s production of “Fire in the Hole” had an incredible performance at Brockton High School this past weekend! As a result of their outstanding performance, they have officially advanced to the State Finals!

 Students earned several special recognitions and awards, including:

The finals will take place at Hancock Hall in Boston from March 26-28; WHS Performance on Friday 3/27

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR STATE FINALS AT THE METG WEBSITE

Greetings Class of 2026 Students and Families, 

We’re writing to share updated payment information for our upcoming 80s Dance on March 27th. 

Tickets cost $25 and can be purchased in advance (here) or at the door. Please note that Venmo is the only form of payment accepted for advance purchases, while both Venmo and cash will be accepted at the door.

We look forward to seeing you all there, The 2026 Class Officers

Parents, if you would like to help out with this event, please refer to this SignupGenius to contribute food and beverages! Thank you!

Hello Wellesley High School!

From Monday, March 23rd through Thursday, April 2nd, we’re holding a school-wide clothing drive to support the organization Cradles to Crayons. This drive is part of a service mission through Project 351 and Cradles to Crayons to help combat clothing insecurity and support families in our community and beyond. You can help by donating new or gently used clothing items and shoes, especially infant, toddler, and little kids clothing items. There will be two collection bins located just outside of the main office by the main entrance for bags of clothing items.

You can reach out to Aidan Guild with any questions at 29guilda@wpsraiders.org. 

Students have the opportunity to travel to Galapagos during February break 2027! It’s an amazing opportunity they will not want to miss. Follow the link below for information and to sign up.

Please reach out to Mr. Bateman (batemank@wellesleyps.org) if you have any questions.

The Wellesley Scholarship Foundation is excited to partner with Marian Derryberry for this year’s Boston Marathon! Marian has been a special educator at Wellesley High School for 23 years and is thrilled to be running her 11th marathon and her 1st Boston! Knowing how meaningful the support from WSF can be for students, Marian is appreciative of any donation to this year’s marathon fundraising effort! Please click the following link to check out her fundraising page and learn more about her running journey!  

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,

 

Please see the recently updated School Counseling Page for Spring events and information.

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

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, April 7 2026 at the Wellesley Free Library Cafe (1st floor) at 7:30pm to discuss Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green (nonfiction)

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. 

The intervention time at the start of these days allows students who are not testing (in this case everyone but the 10th graders) to have access to any of their teachers until 10:20 in the morning.  I do advise students to reach out to their teachers ahead of time to make sure they come at a time when their teacher has some space.  We generally have excellent success when students plan ahead. Some of your students will be asked to come in because they owe some makeup work, they need to finish a test, or if their teacher thinks they need some more direct support on what they’re learning.  In any case, I think it is helpful for you to help us make sure students get the most out of this opportunity as possible. 

One final topic for you today, we’ve had reports of a couple of “near misses” in the parking lot during our drop off and pick up times.  One dangerous behavior that I’d like people to stop engaging in is letting your student off when your car is not in the lane right-hand next to the sidewalk. Having students cross a lane of potentially moving traffic is what has caused some of these close calls.  Also, it may seem restrictive, but the speed limit at the front of the building is 5 mph.  Adhering to that limit also helps keep everyone safe. 

I hope you all have a great start to your spring this weekend. 

Best, 

Jamie