Wellesley business buzz: BaboBot catches on at Babson; Goddard School celebrates 1 year in town

November 6, 2024 by Bob Brown

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

BaboBot catches on at Babson. Now will businesses bite?

The students behind BaboBot—a free instant messaging tool that hundreds of Babson College students and others at the school check daily to get cafeteria menus—have bigger plans for the technology they launched three years ago.

BaboBot is the brainchild of juniors Axel Petochi and Mauricio Szajman, who started together at Babson and remain roommates off-campus (Szajman has transferred to Boston University to study computer science).

They created the BaboBot webscraper as freshmen. “Our original inspiration was just making our lives simpler as students, going to the cafe quite often before and after workouts,” says Petochi, a business student in his junior year.

The messaging tool caught on initially by word of mouth, then the creators started promoting it via flyers and posters, which attracted hundreds. BaboBot now has close to 700 users and is growing 10% month over month. “We have about 25% of the community on the platform,” Petochi says.

Now that they’ve got the Babson community’s attention, they are using BaboBot as well for marketing some school events from student organizations. They’ve also begun speaking with Wellesley businesses to help them reach the college crowd.

Beyond that, the students are looking to introduce BaboBot to more schools (it’s already at United Nations International School), and to develop a full-fledged app that could be used by students and parents to easily access all sorts of information, including athletic schedules. That web app is slated to be ready by the first semester of the next academic year.

Looking ahead, Petochi says both students plan to head to New York after graduating and pursue a business involving their technology.

“We’re applying our entrepreneurial education to real-world applications,” Petochi says.

Contact the BaboBot team.

BaboBot co-founders Axel Petochi & Mauricio Szajman

Know of businesses coming or going? Don’t keep it to yourself: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Goddard School celebrates 1 year in town

The Goddard School of Wellesley (141 Linden St.), which specializes in early childhood development, on Nov. 2 celebrated its first anniversary in town. That flew by, just like the way the kids who attend grow up.

The event featured a petting zoo, face painting, a visit from cartoon characters, and more.

Goddard School anniversary — Courtesy photos

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Wellesley speaker event—”The State of the Charles River”

November 5, 2024 by admin

Wellesley Conservation Land Trust, speaker

Wellesley School Committee to vote on 2025-26 school year calendar changes Nov. 19

November 5, 2024 by Deborah Brown

The School Committee on Nov. 19 will take a vote on the Academic Calendar Task Force‘s recommendations regarding the observance of religious and cultural holidays within the Wellesley Public Schools Academic Calendar.

The School Committee will deliberate during public Zoom meetings on Nov. 12 and Nov. 19, and there will be opportunities for public comment. Feedback can also be communicated via email to school_committee@wellesleyps.org

The recommendations

The Academic Task Force recommends that starting with the 2025-26 school year, four static holidays should be included as days off. The envisioned breakdown is that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur should be retained as holidays, while Lunar New Year, and Eid al-Fitr (or Eid Al-Adha, depending on the year) should be added. The removal of Diwali and Good Friday is recommended.

Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Good Friday have been included as days off since the 1990s, ending the previous policy of keeping schools open during religious and cultural holidays. Diwali made its first appearance on the school calendar for the 2024-25 school year. If the School Committee votes to accept the Task Force’s recommendations, Lunar New Year and Eid will be added for the first time, reflecting not only an increase in diversity in Wellesley, but the school community’s desire that all religious and cultural communities feel valued and represented.

Although Good Friday is celebrated by far more survey respondents than any other holiday listed, a memo from task force leaders and School Committee members asserted: “Survey results indicated less consensus around the need for a no-school holiday for Good Friday, especially among parents/caregivers and teachers/staff.”

The 25-member Academic Calendar Task Force, which has held about a dozen public meetings since April 2024, is headed up by School Committee chair Linda Chow and vice chair Niki Ofenlach. Rounding out the group are Wellesley Public Schools parents and caregivers, including former School Committee member Leda Eizenberg, who serves as the Task Force secretary; Wellesley public schools staff members and leaders, including Supt. David Lussier; and four WHS students.

Survey says…

Results from 6,700 surveys sent out to teachers/staff, parents/caregivers and students (8th – 12th grades) in mid-September reflected that high-importance holiday-related issues included maximizing summer break. Seems the emotional end to the school year is now officially June 19 (Juneteenth), a federal holiday since 2021, and thus a day off. The motivation to head back to school after that day in order to get in the requisite 180 days is pretty much nonexistent. Also, a lack of air conditioning in some school buildings has become a hot-button issue over the past few years. Minimizing child care needs during the school year, as well as ensuring all religious and cultural communities feel valued and represented on the academic calendar were also strong themes that emerged from the survey results.

Out of the 2,607 surveys that were filled out (a 39% response rate), Wellesley Middle School’s 8th graders deserve a shout-out for their high level of engagement—84% of them chimed in, representing 262 total responses. Since we brought this up, the rest of the survey participation results broke down as follows:

Teachers & Staff: 468 responses (42%)
Parents/Caregivers: 1,333 responses (approx. 33%)
WMS Students (8th grade only): 262 responses (84%)
WHS Students: 560 responses (44%)
Note: Teachers/staff members who are also parents are represented in both categories.

Celebrants and observers

The survey results reflect the number of respondents that celebrate/observe holidays listed in the survey break down as follows:

Rosh Hashanah 307
Yom Kippur: 298
Good Friday: 803
Diwali: 78
Lunar New Year: 293
Eid al-Fitr: 97
None of these: 1,114

Write-in holidays with 15+ responses, a category that could indicate where future discussions on holidays could go, included:

Eastern Orthodox Easter (21)
Eastern Orthodox Good Friday (23)
Eid al-Adha (65)
Mid-Autumn Festival (21)
Eastern Orthodox Christmas (15)
Passover (18)

Attend the next meetings

Nov. 12—School Committee meeting (Zoom link to be provided soon)

Nov. 19—School Committee meeting (Zoom link to be provided soon)
Vote will be taken on Academic Task Force’s recommendations for the 2025-26 school calendar

Announcements from the Wellesley Public Schools

Nov. 1, 2024–Dear Members of the WPS Community,

As you know, Tuesday is Election Day. This year, only one of our schools, Sprague, serves as a polling site. In collaboration with the Town Clerk’s Office and Wellesley Police Department, we will manage the flow of voters through the side entrance near the gym to ensure that both voting and our school operations can occur as seamlessly and safely as possible.

I recognize that our country remains deeply divided as we approach the election and that members of our community likely have strong opinions and potentially heightened anxieties going into next week. Democracy is an inherently messy endeavor and it’s important to remember that our ability to disagree–even vehemently–is a protected right. However, I also ask the members of our school community to consider how we engage with one another and with our students next week, regardless of the outcome of the election.

At school, elections are teachable moments and some classes have already been fully engaged in critically analyzing the platforms and campaigns of the respective political parties and candidates. Next week, more conversations will be occurring within classrooms and throughout our schools. In these moments, I am asking our educators to reinforce expectations of mutual respect and inclusive dialogue, which will allow our students to not only share their opinions, but to also listen and seek to understand the opinions of those with whom they may disagree.

At home, please engage with your children and check in on how they are feeling, as well as share how you are feeling. There is no such thing as perfection in these moments. It’s more important to be authentic, ask questions, and offer encouragement. Together, we can each play a role in helping our students feel safe and supported and to model for them how to respectfully engage on challenging topics.

Finally, if anyone is struggling next week or knows of someone who is, please reach out to a member of our staff so that we can intervene and provide support. We often say that no one should worry alone and that is certainly true next week. Civil discourse may not feel like the norm right now, but it has likely never been more important.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and for your support of our students and our school community in the days ahead.

Best regards,
Dr. David Lussier
Superintendent of Schools

Wellesley High’s Team Ultraviolet robotics club feeling more at home

October 29, 2024 by Bob Brown

When we first wrote a few years back about Wellesley High School’s Team Ultraviolet, a FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) club, most of the non-competition action took place at the garage of team member’s home. But with that student since graduated and the space becoming unavailable next year, the club has been looking to transition to the high school building itself for more of its activities.

“This year we are pushing to make our new home in Wellesley High School,” writes Neha Guruprasad, who responded to our questions with fellow club members John Brosnahan, Alexis Lee, and Stephanie Xia. “Wellesley Public Schools have graciously provided operational funding for our team for the past few years, but we are looking for a new workspace… Fitting an entire robot manufacturing and storage space into a high school has definitely proven to be challenging, however, we have made some progress.”

The club has been working to increase the portability of its build space to facilitate transport to the high school. It’s also trying to hold as many robot sessions at the high school as possible. “In addition to improving our team sustainability, transitioning into the high school will allow for more convenient sessions for our members and greater integration with the Wellesley Public School system,” the team says.

Busy summer

Team Ultraviolet comes off a busy summer of teaching youngsters about robotics.

The high schoolers have held robotics workshops and demonstrations for kids since 2021, following the club’s founding in 2020. This past summer marked the second year of teaching Space Rover Robotics at the Recreation Center, and Team Ultraviolet also runs a FIRST Lego League (FLL) for middle school students. “Our FLL teams also serve as a pipeline to our [FIRST Robotics Competition] team to ensure our sustainability!” says Guruprasad, the team’s Impact Lead (this entails coordinating efforts to make a positive impact on the community by raising awareness and accessibility of STEM education, such as through legislative efforts).

About 10 Team Ultraviolet members taught more than 40 4th-6th graders this past summer in 3-hour sessions that included snack and free play time. “Students learn how electrical circuits work, what NASA Mars rovers do, and design and build their own mini-rovers in pairs. Then they get to operate their rovers in teams to play games, similar to what we do with our robot in FIRST Robotics Competitions during the school year. On the final day of the workshops, the students get to meet and operate our 125 lb competition robot, which they always find very exciting!” Team Ultraviolet says.

While it’s challenging to keep the attention of younger kids, Guruprasad says months of planning and a focus on hands-on learning ensured kids were engaged and had fun. Problem solving challenges for younger kids, and engineering designs and modifications for more experienced ones, were among the highlights.

“One big takeaway for us has been that every child is unique, and by connecting with each one as an individual, we are best able to help cultivate their curiosity and allow them to flourish. Our 3:1 or lower mentor-to-student ratio allows us to give each child the attention that they need. We’ve also learned that it’s best to pair students in groups based on age and experience so that every kid can learn new concepts and not repeat ones they may already be familiar with,” the team says, noting that some kids come in having used programs like Scratch.

New season for Team Ultraviolet

Team Ultraviolet by early October had nearly four dozen members and that number is expected to grow as the school year moves ahead.

“Team sustainability is a big theme for us this year… We welcome all students to our team, including those who might not typically see themselves in STEM,” according to the team. “In addition to the technical aspect of designing and constructing a robot, our team has a large administrative wing that manages everything from logistics to outreach to workshops to social media. We not only want to recruit new students, but mentors as well, as we would love to find more WPS staff mentors to advise us. We also need to raise funds to build our competition robot. These workshops work as fundraisers, and we also have a GoFundMe where anyone can donate to our nonprofit team.”

Banquet 2024 Team Ultraviolet — Team Ultraviolet at its 2024 banquet (Courtesy photo)

Team Ultraviolet is currently in its preseason, which is followed by the build season. Preseason includes member recruitment, writing grants to raise money for robot parts, and starting on projects and workshops where skills from soldering to programming are learned and put to use. The software subteam, for example, will reprogram the robot named “Conehead” from last year, while the mechanical subteam will repair damages to the robot from two years ago.

“Since we don’t know the rules of the game we will be competing in during this time, preseason works to train members to start working on the robot once the rules are announced,” the team says.

January marks the start of the build season with Kickoff, during which FIRST Robotics announces the year’s game challenge to all teams worldwide. That’s when the brainstorming really begins for Team Ultraviolet, which aims to have a solidified robot design within a couple of weeks.

Members then spend six weeks constructing the robot, which will be used in competitions vs. other New England high school teams in late February into April.

“During each competition, we compete in matches on teams, called alliances, which consist of three randomly selected robots. Each alliance must complete a task, such as placing cubes and cones, balancing on a seesaw, or shooting baskets, depending on what the game is that year. After each game, the alliance with the most points wins that match, contributing to each team’s overall rankings. In between matches and competitions, we can make repairs or improvements to our robots to ensure our robot is the best it can be,” Team Ultraviolet explains.

The club isn’t all about competitions. In the spirit of community outreach, it runs demos for organizations such as Girl Scout troops, and takes part in activities like the Annual Veterans Parade during Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend.

Team Ultraviolet 8567 Driving — 2024 robot (Courtesy photo)

Have questions for the team or want to help? Contact Team Ultraviolet at wellesleyfrc@gmail.com

You can also follow their adventures on Instagram.

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Wellesley Public Schools students’ English MCAS scores remain lower post-pandemic; math & science mostly positive

October 24, 2024 by Jennifer Bonniwell

State-wide MCAS scores show that Wellesley elementary and middle school students still have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels in English and writing skills, while math and science scores are at the same or better than results before 2020.

Another area of concern was the performance at Upham and Schofield elementary schools, which are far below Wellesley’s other elementary schools.

In addition, wide disparities in MCAS performance persist among student groups by race/ethnicity and students identified as high-needs, meaning those with disabilities, low income, or English-language learners.

“In many cases, you’ll see students responding favorably to their learning and in other cases some student groups persisting with disparities in their learning,” Wellesley Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Sandy Trach told the School Committee during the Oct. 8 meeting (watch on Wellesley Media beginning at 32:32).

“There is much to acknowledge in the district, meeting and exceeding its accountability target. In the same vein we remain steadfast in closing the gap for students who have been historically underserved, it is only then that we will have fulfilled our promise of all means all,” Trach said.

MCAS English Results Still Lower than Before 2020

Students in grades 3 to 8 have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels in English, MCAS scores show. For grades 3-5, 71 percent met or exceeded expectations, compared with 83 percent in 2019. In middle school, 73 percent met or exceeded expectations, compared with 77 percent in 2019.

In contrast, 10th grade students have rebounded, with 84 percent of students met or exceeded expectations in English, compared with 85 percent in 2019.

Wellesley’s peer districts and across the state similarly seem to be struggling with English skills in grades 3 to 8. Only Carlisle, Weston and Lexington elementary schools topped Wellesley for grades 3 to 8. Among peer high schools, Wellesley was topped by Lexington, Dover-Sherborn, Weston, Concord-Carlisle and Winchester, and tied with Needham.

Math, Science Results Better

Scores in math and science show that Wellesley students are at or above pre-2020 levels. In math, 77 percent of students grade 3-5 met or exceeded expectations, compared with 76 percent in 2019. And in science, 78 percent of 5th grade students met or exceeded expectations, compared with 67 percent in 2019.

For grades 6-8, 74 percent of students met or exceeded expectations in math, compared with 73 percent in 2019. And in science, 78 percent of 8th grade students met or exceeded expectations compared with 79 percent in 2019.

The high school math score is troubling because scores have varied widely over the past five years. In 2024, 81 percent of students met or exceeded expectations in math, compared with 89 percent in 2023, 83 percent in 2022, and 88 percent in 2019.

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In science, 81 percent of high school students met or exceeded expectations, compared with 72 percent in 2022. This version of the science, technology and engineering test was first given to 10th graders in 2022, so there is no pre-pandemic comparison score.

Among peer districts in grades 3 to 8, Wellesley tied for third in math and science, while among high schools, Wellesley tied for 5th in both math and science.

Upham, Schofield Lowest Performing in WPS

Upham and Schofield elementary schools remained Wellesley’s lowest performing schools. Upham scored 82 percent, which is described by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) as showing substantial progress towards targets. Bates Elementary School earned the highest marks for school accountability, with a 99 percent score and named a school of distinction by DESE.

The grades for elementary schools are based on accountability, which means how students performed on MCAS compared to peers around the state as well as how much students improved compared to how similar students have performed in past years.

The performance of Upham and Schofield was particularly concerning to School Committee members because it was “nearly 20 points lower” than Bates, which scored 99 percent on accountability. [Read more…]

What Wellesley voters need to know about state ballot Question 2 on MCAS exams

October 24, 2024 by Bob Brown

Question 2 on the state ballot this fall would repeal the state mandate that students pass 10th grade MCAS exams in math, English, and science. A YES vote would remove the MCAS requirement.

The state currently requires students to score above a certain scale score on the Grade 10 exams to graduate. Students in the class of 2026, who took the Grade 10 MCAS last spring, must score at least 470 to graduate. Students who fail the exam can retake it in Grades 11 and 12. State officials have said the vast majority of students pass MCAS when they retake it in later grades.

If Massachusetts voters approve the measure, it would go into effect immediately for the class of 2025 and it would be left up to districts to certify that students have met state academic standards.

The ballot question has become a hot-topic statewide because of news that more than 16,000 students failed the 10th grade MCAS test – 3,000 more students than last year. Percentage-wise, 78 percent of students statewide passed all three portions of the MCAS on their first attempt in 2024, compared with 82 percent in 2023. More than half of the students who retake the exam the next year will pass, according to state data. However, most students who never pass the MCAS also fail to meet local graduation requirements.

In Wellesley, no students did not graduate in 2024 because they failed the MCAS, according to WPS spokeswoman Sharon Gray.

The Wellesley Educator’s Association (WEA) has not taken a position on the ballot question. That is a break from the WEA state-wide affiliate, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which has publicly backed the measure.

“The WEA supported the initial efforts to help the question get on the ballot since we believe it’s a valuable question for MA citizens to consider. We have not taken an official position or made an endorsement at this time and are focused on providing opportunities for our membership to learn more and learn about opportunities to support the Yes on 2 endorsement from the MTA if they feel personally motivated,” said Brian Reddy, who teaches visual art at WHS and is current chair of the Political Action and Endorsements Committee for the WEA.

More Election Info

Want to know where you vote, or review the ballot? Visit the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts election website.

By contributing reporter Jennifer Bonniwell

Related: Wellesley Public Schools students’ English MCAS scores remain lower post-pandemic; math & science mostly positive

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