{"id":10141,"date":"2026-05-22T12:07:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T19:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/whs\/?p=10141"},"modified":"2026-05-22T15:10:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T19:10:20","slug":"whs-principals-newsletter-for-15-may-2026-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/whs\/2026\/05\/22\/whs-principals-newsletter-for-15-may-2026-2\/","title":{"rendered":"WHS Principal’s Newsletter for 15 May 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WHS Principal’s Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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May 22, 2026<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Dear Families –<\/div>\n
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I\u2019ll start this afternoon by saying I hope you find a way to honor those who lost their lives defending our country in the armed forces.\u00a0If you\u2019re not sure what to do, you can always pause what you\u2019re doing on Monday afternoon at 3 pm (whatever the time zone) for the national one minute of silence. Thank you.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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What a week it\u2019s been for the high school!\u00a0I\u2019ve tried to include as many pictures as possible, because I don\u2019t have enough words to describe it all, and the pictures are a lot of fun!\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Monday evening our \u201cVarsity Ceramics\u201d students held their end of year showcase at the Gorse Mill Gallery in Needham. The folks at Gorse Mill are so good to our ceramics program and the kids were up beat and excited to share their work.\u00a0The pictures can\u2019t do it all justice, but you can get a sense of the amazing work they did.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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You should mark your calendars for next May to come to our annual Young Ethnic Scholars (Y.E.S.) International Night.\u00a0There was food, artwork, dancing, singing, poetry, musical instruments, and a fashion show.\u00a0What I loved about this night was how our students put their own selves on display and did it with such joy and passion.\u00a0Over and over I saw students I knew who I had no idea had the talents they displayed.\u00a0A huge thank you to all of the kids for their hard work putting it together.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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A diverse group of young people pose for a photo in front of a screen displaying \"INTERNATIONAL\" and images of the world.<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

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On Wednesday the Wellesley Education Foundation held the annual 25th year chair appreciation ceremony at Wellesley College.\u00a0The inductees are all in their 26th year working for the Wellesley public schools and they each chose a colleague to speak for them.\u00a0The district had 17 educators who were honored (amazing and it speaks to the commitment of our teachers to the community and the community\u2019s commitment to them).\u00a0Wellesley High School honored three educators:\u00a0John Brown, Director of Athletics who was presented by our Hockey Coach Paul Donato.\u00a0Andrew \u201cDrew\u201d Kelton, Assistant Principal, was presented by our Social Studies Department Chair Mike Reidy.\u00a0Christie Kerr, English Teacher, was presented by her English teacher colleague Carol Dube. Congratulations to all the chair recipients!\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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On Thursday morning the senior class heard some words of wisdom and encouragement from Alumni Katie Redford (Wellesley High School class of 1986) who is a human rights lawyer who has spoken at both the U.N. and the Supreme Court.\u00a0Katie remarked to our kids that their journeys, like hers, probably won\u2019t follow a linear path, but to embrace that changes to the plan are coming and they should keep an open mind that they can often turn out for the best.\u00a0Katie was joined by some dozen guests, most of whom were also graduates from the class of 1986 and who live here in town.\u00a0I thought it was great for our seniors to see graduates from Wellesley High School 40 years ago still connected and still friends.\u00a0Thank you to our Student Congress for sponsoring this event.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Finally, this morning our seniors had their annual Pet Parade.\u00a0 I must have had 6 different faculty members comment to me that this day is their favorite event of the year.\u00a0 The mood was great.\u00a0 The weather was great.\u00a0 There were many dogs, a couple of cats, a turtle, a gold fish, and one bird.\u00a0 I heard there was a hedgehog, but I never saw it so maybe that was a legend.\u00a0 All of the animals I saw were well behaved.\u00a0 Thanks to all the parents who helped get the animals back home so the kids who couldn\u2019t do it themselves could be in class on time.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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WHS Graduation Ceremony 2026: Accessible Seating Requests<\/h2>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Attention WHS Class of 2026 Graduates and Families: <\/strong><\/div>\n
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If you have guests attending the Graduation Ceremony on Friday, June 5th that require accessible seating, please email Andrea Ridge (<\/strong>ridgea@wellesleyps.org<\/a><\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong> no later than Friday, May 22nd, 2026.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Please provide the following information:<\/div>\n