Since 2005: More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.
Student-athletes at Wellesley High School and Dana Hall School in Wellesley made commitments to participate on college sports teams in the fall.
Seven members of the Wellesley High Class of 2026 have either officially signed or are committed to compete at the collegiate level. At Wednesday’s ceremonial signing event, the student-athletes were cheered on by Principal Jamie Chisum, Athletic Director John Brown and dozens of family, friends, and staff members.
The students:
The two-year co-captain has a varsity career total of 64 goals and 22 assists at the private school.
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Wellesley College continues to invest in campus upgrades, and word surfaced this week that it will receive $145.2m from a bond sale by a quasi public agency called MassDevelopment. We found no word of the deal on the college or agency websites, but the Wall Street Journal and others have reported on the financial news (we have reached out to the college and will update this post if we get an update).
The private college, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary, has had its share of quality time with Wellesley town board and committee meetings in recent years regarding projects, from those involving an antenna siting to upgrades at Nehoiden Golf Course to renovations at Clapp Library. The College last year made moves to try to avoid having to go to so many Design Review Board meetings for projects it argued would barely be noticed by those off campus.
The college on Nov. 17 is set to appear before the Wellesley Planning Board for an online public hearing regarding a new Project of Significant Impact. The college seeks a special permit to build five single-story temporary dorm buildings totaling about 22,000 sq. ft. to serve as swing space for 150 student beds while existing dorms are renovated over the next 8-10 years. The project replaces Dower Hall, which is going down (Dower Hall is located on the side of campus near the College Club).
This plan is intertwined with the state’s effort to dispose of 45 acres of MassBay property to use for housing, as proceeds from the project would partially fund MassBay development, which would cost tens of millions of dollars based on an early vision for such development. The emerging plan has received lots of attention in town, both by those who live nearby and fear traffic and other impacts, those concerned about the possible loss of forest land, and those bullish on more housing opportunities. An upcoming public workshop is designed to help the town share its ideas with the state for what will work in Wellesley.
Meanwhile, Babson College has a Project of Significant Impact of its own in the works, with plans to redo the executive conference center and garage in a big way.
A public hearing with the Planning Board was held in May to discuss Babson’s plans for a new Executive Lodge and Conference Center consisting of approximately 77,600 square feet of hospitality space, including guest rooms, function/meeting areas, a fitness center and restaurant space. Babson has been working its way through various town bodies, including the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The town of Wellesley has scheduled a public workshop for Monday, Dec. 8 (6:30-9:30 pm) at the high school cafeteria focused on the future of 45 acres of MassBay Community College property—5 acres of parking lot and 40 of forest abutting Centennial Reservation.
The state has deemed the MassBay property as surplus and ripe for redevelopment under its Affordable Homes Act; MassBay stands to benefit from the sale of the property, which could partially fund campus upgrades, such as new cybersecurity and recreation facilities.
The in-person-only meeting will include briefings on the state program and the site, and seek public input on housing needs and design preferences. The town is working with three consulting firms on the effort, and seeks to provide the state with input ahead of the Commonwealth issuing a request for proposals to developers next year.
Related:
Congratulations to the Wellesley High School girls swim and dive team on winning their sixth straight state title over the weekend at the Boston University pool.
The Raiders won the MIAA Division 2 championship with 292 points, 10 ahead of Chelmsford High. That was a much narrower margin of victory than a year ago, though Wellesley again won thanks to a having a very deep team.
Congratulations to the Girls Swim and Dive Team winning the MIAA State Championship today for the 6th straight time! pic.twitter.com/dOGbsHzhnn
— Wellesley Raiders (@wellesleysports) November 9, 2025
The one-two punch of Sarah Ginsberg and Hailey Ligibel earned first and second place in the 1-meter diving event, with Ginsberg’s performance the only-first place finish of the day for Wellesley.
Plenty of other team members performed well, including Sonja Tellander (3rd in 200-yard freestyle, 2nd in 500-yard freestyle) and Elaine Cheng (2nd in 50-yard freestyle, 4th in 100-yard freestyle). Those two also swam to a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay with teammates Kate Snow and Kathryn Bonnette.
More on Wellesley’s championship day in the Boston Globe (subscription may be needed to read).
More: It’s tourney time for Wellesley High sports teams
The latest Wellesley, Mass., sports news:
It’s post-season time for Wellesley High School sports teams, giving those with great records a chance to keep up the momentum and giving others a chance to surprise.
(Update 11/7/25: The Raiders made the final 4 with a 3-2 win.) The No. 3 Raiders field hockey team, which has run off an amazing 19 straight wins after losing the very first game of the season, meets No. 6 Belmont High this Friday, Nov. 7 in a round of eight matchup at home.
(Update 11/7/25: The Raiders move on with a 27-21 win.) In the second part of a sports doubleheader in Wellesley, the No. 8 Raiders football team takes on No. 9 Plymouth North under the lights in a first-round Division 2 playoff game.
The defending champ Wellesley High girls soccer team, ranked third in Division 1 this season, has advanced to the round of 16 with a win over Haverhill. The Raiders compete vs. Hopkinton on Saturday, Nov. 8 at home at 2pm. The No. 11 boys soccer team got bounced in the round of 32 by Franklin on penalty kicks after a strong regular season that had them entering the post-season with a 9-4-3 record.
The No. 14 girls volleyball team (12-6 in the regular season) has advanced to the third round of the post-season tourney with an opening round win over Wachusett followed by a big upset of No. 3 Shrewsbury. Up next on Nov. 8: Central Catholic in the round of eight.
The cross country teams (boys were 7-2, girls were 5-4) run at divisionals in Wrentham on Saturday.
The boys golf team tied for sixth at states last month, and Aarav Lavu finished in the top 10 individual players.
Congrats as well to student-athletes selected to represent Wellesley High School at the MIAA Sportsmanship Summit at the recent Gillette Stadium:
The new-look Hunnewell tennis and pickleball courts on Washington Street are now available to use after undergoing repairs and renovation over the summer and early fall. While it’s getting colder, we’ve seen people out there playing on the previous courts in much more wintry weather.
The Natural Resources Commission approved a plan earlier this year to line courts 7 and 8 for tennis and pickleball (with pickleball lines also on the hitting wall surface). That followed robust discussion about the courts at Annual Town Meeting and even before that.
Congrats to Wellesley’s Mary Ann Cluggish, this year’s recipient of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners’ Elizabeth P. Sohier Award.
A ceremony honoring Clugglish and others was held on Thursday, Nov. 6 at the State House.
Cluggish served as a commissioner for 12 years, and was honored a couple of years back upon departing the board.
Cluggish’s volunteer work for the state was built on a foundation of local library support. She served 12 years as a Library Trustee in Wellesley and helped gain Town Meeting support for the library that opened in 2003.
Initially she tried to ping the phone from her smart watch, but it wasn’t brainy enough.
An RDF volunteer named Lorretta then tried to call the phone, but again, no luck.
Another person in the area the area offered to help using iTunes, but Antonelli didn’t recall her password.
She then visited the police station and Officer Eric Ferrara called her phone. He seemed pretty sure that the device was not shut off since it was still ringing, so he recommended that Antonelli head back to the RDF, which she did the next day, armed with a tracking app.
The phone appeared to be located somewhere in paper recycling, much of which had already been baled into bundles from the day before.
“It must have fallen out of my pocket into a bag of recycled paper—but which one of four types? And was it already baled or in the loose paper?” Frances Antonelli wondered.
An RDF employee named Jim first assisted by removing bales of paper from the area one by one to test each of them for the phone. His colleagues Tyler and Nick joined the team, which discovered the phone wasn’t in any of the bales, as the pinging didn’t move when the bales did.
They could call the phone, but its ring was muffled, presumably from being under a pile.
“Then came stage two — Jim got out rakes for raking through the unbaled paper,” Antonelli said. “We made many calls to the phone, and much paper was moved out of the way. Finally we heard it ring!”
After more frantic digging, Jim found the phone.
“Years of photos were saved! All of my notes and apps and stored contacts were once again in my hands,” a relieved Antonelli said.
This resident’s experience wasn’t unique in that the RDF runs into lost item searches at least weekly, according to RDF Superintendent James Manzolini. “Our success rate of finding the lost item really depends on what it was/how much effort the resident wanted to put into finding it/and WHEN it was lost,” he says.
Antonelli shared thanks with the RDF employees, the volunteer, and the police officer for their patience and kindness.
As she said when sharing this tale with us, “I have a happy story” for you.
We love hearing good news stories from readers: Please share: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
