The Wellesley High School Council has a vacancy for its Community Representative. The Council effectively serves as the “legislative body” for the High School, by reviewing and approving most amendments to the High School’s Student Handbook. (The Handbook contains many important policies around grading, absences, and a host of other topics.) The Council also provides the WHS Principal with input on topics of interest. The Council includes representatives from the faculty, students, parents and the community. The Community Representative serves an important role in helping the Council understand how the High School is impacting the broader community, and what the community would like to see, as the High School proceeds to educate Wellesley’s students. The Community Representative also provides an additional opportunity for the community to hear what the Council discusses, and gathers input from community members, on an informal basis. The Council meets once per month, so the related workload is not heavy for the Community Representative. No prior experience is required—only a desire to contribute to productive discussions and receive feedback from our fellow Wellesley residents. If you are interested in applying, please submit a brief statement of interest (a paragraph is fine) to John Malone at WHS – malonej@wellesleyps.org
#1 Catholic Memorial ends Wellesley Raiders’ football playoff run with 49-7 romp
The Wellesley High School football team got ahead early on top-ranked Catholic Memorial in their Division 2 semi-final game on soggy Friday night in Weston, but it was almost all Knights after that in a 49-7 loss for the Raiders.
Catholic Memorial looked vulnerable early with three turnovers and allowing a quarterback sack on third down. The fifth-ranked Raiders went up 7-0 on a 53-yard touchdown after Lukas Prock connected with Matthew Yen in the first quarter. Catholic Memorial answered with a touchdown, but a missed extra point kept Wellesley slightly ahead… until the Knights really took over, scoring on six straight possessions during one stretch.
(View Wellesley Media recording of the game. More from the Boston Globe and MetroWest Daily News… a subscription may be required).
Catholic Memorial advances to the Division 2 Super Bowl vs. King Philip.
Wellesley’s season isn’t done. Next up for the Raiders (8-3) is rival Needham on Thanksgiving Day on the road. That won’t be an easy matchup either: The undefeated Rockets (11-0) are headed to the Division 1 Super Bowl.
(Photos courtesy of Darren Bovie.)
We welcome photos and info on Wellesley sports: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
Fiske Elementary School in Wellesley celebrates its Blue Ribbon designation
November has been such a balmy month that assembling the Fiske Elementary School community outdoors on Monday to celebrate their recent national award seemed like a no-brainer. Until the weather decided to turn seasonable, and a drizzle—the only precipitation in at least a month—moved the festivities inside. No matter. Custodians relocated chairs and sound equipment in record time, families made their way across the parking lot, depositing umbrellas outside the door, and the show went on in the gym.
The Fiske community has been on Cloud 9 since earlier this fall, when the school was named a National Blue Ribbon Schools award winner by the U.S. Department of Education as a top performer among public and private institutions.
“Last week Ms. Stoetzel and I had the honor of traveling all the way to Washington, DC to accept this prestigious award on your behalf,” Principal Rachel McGregor told the assembled crowd of about 300 including students, family members, Select Board member Colette Aufranc, School Committee Chair Linda Chow and Co-Chair Nikki Offenlach, Superintendent David Lussier, and a representative from State Rep. Alice Peisch’s office.
The Fiske band played patriotic songs for the crowd, the Fiske Falcon mascot swooped around, pumping up the excitement, and the coveted Blue Ribbon flag was displayed for all to see. By now, it’s surely settled into its new home up the flagpole outside Fiske’s front entrance. As they say on Hastings St., winning the award was Fiske-tastic.
Fiske was one of 356 schools nationwide to be recognized and one of nine Massachusetts schools to earn the Exemplary High Performing School award (see criteria).
Hardy Elementary School, in 2021, was the last Wellesley school to score the Blue Ribbon honor. Sprague earned the recognition in 2010.
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Hardy School grand opening celebration for public on Nov. 23
While the new Hardy Elementary School opened to students in late August upon the return of classes, the wider Wellesley community is now invited to a grand opening celebration at 293 Weston Rd. on Saturday, Nov. 23.
A brief ceremony will take place inside the new building at 10am, followed by self-guided tours from 11am-2pm.
Learn about the design and construction of the net-zero-ready school, and more. Plenty of parking will be available.
(We flashed our press pass and secured a tour last month—but you’ll want to see it in person if you can at this rain or shine event.)
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Raider Classic Golf Tournament raised $45K in support of Wellesley METCO
This year’s Raider Classic Golf Tournament, held this past summer at Sandy Burr Country Club in Wayland, raised $45,000 in support of Wellesley METCO.
That’s quite a jump from the tournaments over the past couple of years, which each raised $20K.
Friends of Wellesley METCO, Inc.’s Tinea Rochelle writes that the group “can’t thank everyone enough. This generous donation will be used to fund additional scholarships and summer enrichment programs, and pay for the many buses utilized throughout the school year.”
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Football postseason: Scenes from Wellesley High Raiders’ 14-7 win over Bishop Feehan
The Raiders’ fifth-ranked football team topped #4 Bishop Feehan on the road in Attleboro on Friday, Nov. 15 by a 14-7 score.
Junior Tennyson Charney came up big on offense and defense, catching the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and later making a big stop on defense to give Wellesley the ball back to secure the win (see more in the Globe, subscription may be required). Quarterback Lukas Prock connected in the first quarter for a long touchdown pass to Will Zalosh to go up 7-0.
The Raiders play in the semi-finals on Friday, Nov. 22 (6pm) vs. #1 ranked Catholic Memorial at Weston High School. The winner will advance to the Division 2 super bowl game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough in early December.
Here are photos from the Nov. 15 game vs. Bishop Feehan courtesy of Darren Bovie.
We welcome photos and other information on Wellesley sports: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
The night belonged to the kids at the Wellesley Education Foundation Spelling Bee
The Wellesley Middle School spelling team had a score to settle during Wednesday night’s Wellesley Education Foundation Spelling Bee. Back in 2022, the youngest members in the competition came close to winning it all, but got knocked out very late in the final round. Not this time. The 8th graders’ names and faces were different, but the determination was the same. This team came to win. Game faces, check. No costumes. No silly team name. Aniruddh Arun, Eafan Sher, and Tyler Pollack simply called themselves, “Wellesley Middle School 8th graders.” That’s all.
In the end, the kids spelled “nucivorous” for the win, taking down the highly competitive Bates Basilisk team. The word refers to animals that seek out acorns and the like as a food source. Their was nothing nutty about this win—Team 8th graders came prepared.
(See Wellesley Media recording of the bee.)
Busy Bee
During the annual fundraiser put on by WEF, 35 teams, each made up of three members, competed in a round. There were five rounds of seven teams, with the winning team of each round competing for the championship. The winners took home the Ruth Humphries Bee trophy to keep for their reigning year. A plaque listing all the winners also hangs in the Wellesley Free Library.
All teams in a round spelled words simultaneously. Emcee Mike Dowling, there for his 30th Bee, announced the word and the three team members collaborated on the spelling of a word before writing down their answer on the white board provided. Teams had 25 seconds to come up with a spelling, and then displayed their answer. Teams that correctly spelled the word continued on to the next word, until one team won the round.
Just don’t tell them they can’t do it
The Bee really was big night for students. Wellesley Evolutions Team 2, due to a last-minute cancellation, was down a member. No big deal, the show must go on, and all that. Duo Chase Murphy and Tommy Moretti apparently don’t like to waste time. They dispensed with six other teams by out-spelling them on the very first word— “rime.” Take that, Team WHS Assistant Principals, and all the rest.
“Everybody hates on us and said we couldn’t win. We wanted to show them,” Murphy said.
It was on to the finals for Team Evolutions. And although they didn’t prevail, Dowling reminded them that they would always have the bragging rights of making it this far.
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