A smattering of Wellesley Public Schools happenings:
Save the date for Fiske Wild West Round Up
It’s been a while since any of the schools have been able to hold one of their annual fairs. Fiske Elementary School returns with its Wild West Round Up on Sept. 25, with games, a petting zoo, and more.
Come to Upham, please
Wellesley Public Schools Supt. Dr. David Lussier said during this week’s School Committee meeting that enrollment to Upham Elementary School has re-opened until Aug. 1 for families who might want to transfer students there. “Clearly one of the challenges that we continue to wrestle with as we wait for these new schools to be built and with redistricting and rightsizing, we’ve been dealing with significantly lower enrollment at Upham now for some years. In order to have a critical mass of students and to maintain a vibrant school community we are trying to use the tools available to us, and one of them of course is choice, allowing families to enroll.”
Middle School off limits this summer
Wellesley Middle School is a large construction site this sumner, and it is closed to the public. If you have business that must be addressed at either the Middle School or Central Office, email for staff directory or call 781-446-6200 and you will be guided on how to proceed.
Your tax dollars are at work here. On Dec. 1, Wellesley voted in favor of a debt exclusion to fund multimillion dollar renovations designed to extend the life of Wellesley Middle School by 25 years.
The building systems project, based on a design scheme developed over the past year, involves replacement of heating and ventilation units in the gyms, kitchen, and auditorium, plus an overall kitchen renovation (note that the kitchen serves both WMS and the elementary schools). Air conditioning is also planned for the auditorium, which as anyone who has attend a WMS graduation can attest, is needed. Classroom improvements, security updates, exterior fixes and sustainability improvements are big parts of the project, too.
Wellesley Scholarship Foundation awards $373K to students
The Wellesley Scholarship Foundation has awarded $373,000 in need-based college scholarships to 76 students from Wellesley or Wellesley High School for the upcoming academic year.
The scholarships range in value from $500 to $13,400, with a median value of $4,000. The foundation administered the granting of an additional
$118,500 in need-based college scholarships funded by several Wellesley community groups.
This year, about 13% of the WHS graduating class applied for need-based college scholarships. Nearly 7% of the students in the class were awarded scholarships funded by the Wellesley Scholarship Foundation, and another roughly 2% were awarded scholarships funded by the foundation’s partners.
WSF relies upon contributions of community members.
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