The Hunnewell School community will lose its beloved principal at the end of this school year. Ellen Quirk, who has led the school since 2013, has announced that she will retire. Over the past 11 years, Ellen has been a steady presence throughout, especially during the years the 86-year old Hunnewell School went from planning phase, to total teardown, to a brand-new 76,500 sq. ft., 18-classroom school.

Hunnewell Elementary School principal Ellen Quirk, pictured here in her new office at the new building, will retire at the end of the school year.

Ellen will leave big administrative shoes to fill. If only Wellesley had another great principal who was going to be out of a job in June. Then that principal could simply transfer to Hunnewell. Hmmm…now that we think of it, isn’t Upham School closing at the end of this year? And won’t that closure leave Upham’s principal Jeff Dees without a school to lead?

Here’s what Superintendent David Lussier had to say about such a scenario in a letter to the Hunnewell and Upham communities:

Typically, when principalships have opened in WPS, our practice has been to begin a search process and move through the vetting of candidates with the assistance of staff and community members. But with Upham’s planned closure in June, we find ourselves with the opportunity to keep an outstanding principal in Wellesley, one who already knows our students, curricula, district systems, and community.

Principal Jeff Dees is our longest-serving principal, having led Upham for the past 12 years. During his time there he has not only created an environment of belongingness among the students and staff, he has been exceptional in his support of Upham’s SKILLS program. This positions him well to support another in-district specialized program, the Therapeutic Learning Center at Hunnewell. While Jeff will have to re-establish himself in the new environment at Hunnewell, his experience serving as Upham’s instructional leader and beloved principal will shorten this learning curve considerably.

With all of this in mind, I am very happy to announce that I am appointing Jeff Dees as the next principal of the Hunnewell School, effective July 1, 2024.

We join the superintendent in congratulating Ellen Quirk on her retirement, and Jeff Dees on his upcoming position as Hunnewell School principal.

Redistricting news

In separate email, Supt. Lussier updated families about redistricting:

I wanted to inform you that all families of current K-4 students will be receiving an email on Thursday morning that will confirm their student’s elementary school placement for next year, based on address, current enrollment in a district-wide program, or previous placement through the open enrollment/elementary transfer option (ETO) process. This confirmation will not take into account any outstanding applications for the elementary transfer option for next year, given that the ETO application process is open until May 1.

More here on the redistricting planning process.