The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Wellesley Schools Round-Up: Hardy/Upham meeting; congrats Nat’l Merit scholars; Step-Up Day; Dana Hall Open House; authors visit Tenacre

by Leave a Comment

Wellesley Schools news:

Hardy/Upham feasibility study meeting, October 15th

The School Building Committee (SBC) invites all members of the community on Tuesday, October 15, 7:30pm, at the Wellesley Middle School Auditorium to come hear about the Hardy/Upham feasibility study process and timeline, ask questions of the project consultants, and learn about future opportunities to engage and provide feedback.

Topics will include the educational visioning process, key features of today’s elementary schools, the approach to sustainability and ways stakeholders will be included as the Town develops its plan to rebuild either the Hardy or Upham School in partnership with the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The SBC welcomes your comments and input Email

Congratulations, National Merit Scholars

Four Wellesley students have been named semi-finalists for the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. The semi-finalists who are among 16,000 high-school seniors who will go on to compete for the scholarships that will be offered next spring are:

  • Abigail Litvak – Dana Hall School
  • Rowan de Peyster – Wellesley High School
  • Faith Ellis, Newton Country Day School
  • Andrew Kung
  • Gary Shou

More than 1.5 million students applied for the highly competitive scholarship, and the 16k semi-finalists represent fewer than 1 percent of all U.S. high-school seniors. For each state, the number of semi-finalists is proportional to that state’s percentage of the total graduating seniors in the country. Students will find out in February whether they make it to the finalist stage. The scholarship winners will be announced in April 2020.

Step-Up Day at Wellesley High School for sophomores and juniors, October 16th

Step-Up Day is Wednesday, October 16 for WHS sophomores and juniors. On Step-Up Day students come to school at 8am to take either the PreACT (10th graders) or the PSAT (11th graders). While no students will be turned away from testing, all students must pay for the exam in order to receive their scores.  Visit the WPS Fee Payment System to register for the exam.

Upper School Open House at Dana Hall School, October 20th

Dana Hall School, WellesleyDana Hall School will hold its fall Upper School Open House on Sunday, October 20, 1pm – 3pm. The event will provide prospective students for grades 9-12 and their families with introduction to the breadth and depth of the Upper School curriculum. Students and parents can visit demo classes to experience Dana Hall School’s dynamic teaching and learning. They will also have the opportunity to hear from current students, alumnae and administrators, and explore the School’s 55-acre Wellesley campus. Register here or contact the Admission Office at (781) 489-1331 or [email protected].

Tenacre School hosts young adult authors

Tenacre School, Wellesley
Tenacre School, in conjunction with Wellesley Books, welcomed young adult authors Veronica Roth and Sara Farizan to campus. Ms. Roth, the best-selling author of The Divergent series, spoke about her new book, The End and Other Beginnings. Ms. Farizan, a 1997 alumna of Tenacre School, moderated the lively, humorous, and engaging discussion.

Want your school’s news to appear in Swellesley’s weekly Schools Round-Up post?

Here’s how it works:

[Read more…]

Share

Dana Hall honors, chills out with longtime Truly Yogurt owner

by 1 Comment

Katherine Bradley and Gary Goldman
Dana Hall Head of School Katherine Bradley and Truly Yogurt’s Gary Goldman

 

Longtime Truly Yogurt owner Gary Goldman, who is selling the Wellesley institution after nearly 3 decades at the helm, was honored on Wednesday by neighboring Dana Hall School. Students and staff there have consumed more than their fair share of Truly’s treats over the years.

Dana Hall celebrated Goldman’s retirement at its Oct. 2 All-School Meeting.

“For years, Dana Hall students, faculty, families and alumnae have headed to Truly’s to celebrate personal victories, birthdays, special occasions, the completion of a particularly challenging paper or the end of exams,” said Head of School Katherine Bradley at the festivities. “We’ve gone there to boost our spirits and calm our nerves. More often than not, we’ve probably gone there for no specific reason, because I don’t think you really ever need an excuse to eat delicious ice cream or frozen yogurt.”

Goldman received a standing ovation before sharing a few words. “I am truly grateful,” he said. 

Support Swellesley: Here’s how to Advertise and/or Donate to support our independent journalism venture

Share

Dana Hall’s Middle School open house: Oct. 3

by Leave a Comment

The Dana Hall School Admission Office will hold its fall Middle School Open House on Thursday, October 3, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Prospective students for grades 5-8 and their families can meet and ask questions of Dana Hall School teachers and administrators. They will be invited to explore the School’s innovative curriculum and broad extra-curricular offerings. Current students will lead campus tours throughout the event and share details about life at Dana Hall School.

For more information and to register, visit www.danahall.org/openhouse19 or contact the Admission Office at (781) 489-1331 or [email protected].

Share
Sexton

Fields of Means: Wellesley’s summer of new sports turf

by Leave a Comment

As summer begins to roll to an end, millions of dollars worth of new turf fields are popping up all over town in preparation for the upcoming school year and sports seasons.

Two new Sprague turf fields, part of a $1M makeover, are still being rolled out. The parking lot next to the fields is piled high with bags full of plastic pellets waiting to be spread across the two fields to add buoyancy. The sheer amount of plastic used to make these fields was overwhelming.

Turf being rolled out onto Sprague.
Turf being rolled out onto Sprague.
Bags of pellets in Sprague parking lot

 

Scraps of turf snaked around the edges of the Sprague fields

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New turf fields have also been rolled out at Dana Hall School, getting them closer to completing the Turf Field Project before the school year begins. The fields are part of a $1.8 project undertaken by Dana Hall this summer.

Dana Hall Field looking close to finished (08/14/19)
Dana Hall field looking close to finished (08/14/19)

 

Wellesley College has also invested in a new turf field for its athletics department in the middle of its outdoor track. The field was being painted and is closed until this weekend when Wellesley College teams will begin using the new field for practice.

Wellesley College Turf Field
Wellesley College turf field

 

And finally, the new Boston Sports Institute on Rte. 9 has finished the indoor turf field and is almost ready for Wellesley Youth Soccer, Wellesley Youth Lacrosse and the Boston Bolts club soccer team to begin using the field. There is both an upstairs and downstairs section from which fans can watch.

Indoor turf field at Boston Sports Institute
Indoor turf field at Boston Sports Institute

Support Swellesley: We’re fielding Advertisements and/or Donations to support our independent journalism venture

Share

Digging into Dana Hall’s big construction project

by Leave a Comment

On May 29, Dana Hall School in Wellesley held a ceremony outside, facing Grove Street, and announced the Turf Field Project. The ceremony was conducted to show the importance of the project to the school and to thank  donors who made it possible. The Turf Field Project is outlined in the Vision 2025 strategic plan, which set many goals for improvement at the girls’ 5th-12th-grade school between the years 2018 and 2025. 

Turf Field Construction (7/30/19)

 

Head of School Katherine Bradley stated during the ceremony that the Turf Field Project “will benefit all students, not just the ones who wear the cleats and mouth guards”. She’s confident that the field will only help the unification of the Dana Hall community, as “sports are community builders.”

To honor the outgoing Director of Athletics, Health, and Wellness John Suby, the turf field’s spectator sideline will be named Suby Sideline. Bradley has called Suby, who retired this year, a “tireless cheerleader” for Dana Hall.

Along with the field, the project includes a new stone wall entrance-way to the school. “Middle Road”, as Director of Communications Liza Cohen tells me Dana Hall-ers call the road leading into the campus from Grove Street, is being moved 80 feet to the left. This addition to the project is possible because of funds raised by parents of the class of 2019. 

The overall $1.8M project is expected to be finished for the start of the 2019-20 school year. Check out the school’s website for updates and live coverage of the construction. 

SWELLESLEY IS CONSTANTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Here’s how to Advertise and/or Donate to support our independent journalism venture

Share

Dana Hall hosting forum on girls and stress on May 2

by Leave a Comment

On Thursday, May 2, from 7–8:30 p.m., Dana Hall School will host The Forum: A Conversation on Girls and Stress. This program is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

This discussion will focus on adolescent girls and stress. While girls are aspiring to even more ambitious academic goals than ever, they also report higher levels of stress and a stronger reaction to stress than their male counterparts.

At this evening event, a group of educators, scientists and clinicians who work with girls and young women from childhood through the collegiate years, will share recent research findings, as well as discuss and share practical strategies to help parents, teachers and students devise methods to perform well in the classroom, while also mitigating stress.

Panelists include Robin Cook-Nobles, Ed.D., psychologist, who has been working at Wellesley College since 1986 and has been director of the Counseling Service at the
Stone Center for more than 25 years; Christina Dolce, Psy.D., NCSP, a clinical and educational psychologist at McLean Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School; and Renée Spencer Ed.D., LICSW, a professor at the Boston University School of Social Work whose research interests include youth mentoring, adolescent development and gender. Rebecca Platt, Psy.D., Dana Hall Middle School Counselor, will serve as moderator for the event.

For more information and to register, visit www.danahall.org/springforum19. Questions may be emailed to [email protected].

 

Support Swellesley:  Here’s how to Advertise and/or Donate to support our independent journalism venture

Share