Sneak peek: Fells Branch Library gets an overhaul

November 16, 2018 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The reimagined Fells Branch library is about to take its final leap from fantasy into reality with a Grand Opening celebration on Saturday, November 17, 10am – 2pm, at the new space’s 508 Weston Road location. The branch, located in Wellesley’s oldest public building, was built in 1858 as a one-room school house for 30 students and teacher Caroline Almeda Hartwell. Students were educated there for 65 years until Hardy School opened in 1922.

It’s always been about education

From there the building, now no stranger to being repurposed, opened in 1923 as a library, with the fundraising help of the Fells Improvement Society. This time around, the building’s help came from the Wellesley Free Library Foundation; grants from the Fund for Wellesley; grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services; and private donors. These groups and individuals kicked in the approximately $80k it took to create a space geared toward children 0 – 6 and their caretakers. This increased focus on a young clientele came about as a result of the library’s usage statistics. “All the programs for the young children were off the charts, such as Book Babies,” WFL Assistant Director Elise MacLennan said. “We wanted to make it even more welcoming for caretakers and parents. That’s the age group the books are geared toward. It’s not the place to look for books for older kids, but the older siblings are most definitely welcome, of course.”

In addition to books and materials for young children, there are best sellers and other popular adult books, and any holds can be sent to Fells for pickup.

Heck yes, I want to come by

When MacLennan offered me the chance to take a sneak peek at the library, I jumped at the chance. Here’s are some pics of the colorful, child-centered space:

Wellesley Fells Library — Here’s a “before” shot of the exterior. The Fells branch temporarily closed in July 2017 and will host a Grand Opening celebration on Saturday, November 17, 10am – 2pm

Wellesley Fells Branch — It’s all in the details on this mousie chair. The new learning library will encourage play as a crucial method of learning and the foundation for subsequent academic achievement and lifelong success.

Library hours:

Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm
Closed Sunday and Monday

Email [email protected] for more information, or go to www.WFL-Foundation/donate to make a gift to this project.

Kids’ Trails Day in Wellesley coming on Sunday at Morses Pond

October 8, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

October 14, Sunday (1:30-3:00 p.m.) – Kids’ Trails Day at Morses Pond

Join us in celebrating fall and bring your kids to have fun exploring nature. We will have interactive playtime such as building a Native American shelter, identifying birds and learning about biodegradability. Refreshments served at the end of the activities. No registration required and free for kids of all ages. Dress and footwear should be appropriate for the woods. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Meet at the Morses Pond beach parking lot, which will be open for this event. From Weston Rd, follow Turner Rd to the entrance to Morses Pond, follow access road for 0.3 mi, and the beach parking lot is on your right.

Activities are free and open to the public, and take place unless it pours rain or there are high winds.

More info from Wellesley Trails Committee

Wellesley Trails Committee Kids' Trails Da

Tenacre Super Saturdays

September 30, 2018 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

ART SATURDAYS & P.E. SATURDAYS FALL 2018

ART SATURDAYS
Explore your creative side at Tenacre School this November and learn about three unique artists. Each workshop will focus on a singular craftsman and consist of an educational section and a hands-on creative session. Third and fourth grade students will take home their own masterpiece based on the individual artist’s style and medium. The classes will be taught by Tenacre art teacher, Molly Curry.

Nov. 3: Wayne Thiebaud’s Inspired Ice Cream Cones
Nov. 10: Claude Monet’s Landscapes
Nov. 17: Georgia O’Keeffe’s Flowers

All classes will be held from 9:00–10:30 a.m. in Tenacre’s art studio.

Each class is $40; all three classes are $110.
To register for Art Saturdays, click HERE.

P.E. SATURDAYS
As the weather turns colder, heat up your Saturday mornings with some lively physical education. Kindergarten and first grade students will start each class with warm-up exercises and games, move on to a unique activity, and conclude with cool down yoga. Classes will be taught by Tenacre Camp Sports Director/Tenacre P.E. teacher DaJaun Owens and Tenacre P.E. teachers Patti Delaney and Stephen Jette.

Nov. 3: Obstacle Course: Come swing, climb, and explore ways to move through the Tenacre educational gymnastic obstacle course. Children will use their imagination as they traverse the rock wall like a super hero; swing over a poisonous peanut butter pit; climb across a giant spider web and more.
Nov. 10: Parachute Power: Grab a handle and work as a team during a series of exciting parachute activities–parachute volcano, climb the mountain, cat and mouse in the parachute, and story time in the parachute house.
Nov. 17: Learn the Ropes: Experience all the fun and different activities you can do with a single rope. We will be jumping, swinging, climbing, jumping in rhythm, and playing games with the jump rope and rope swing.

All classes will be held from 9:00–10:00 a.m. in Tenacre’s Gymnasium.

Each class is $40; all three classes are $110.
To register for P.E. Saturdays, click HERE.

Wellesley High School class of 1988 reunion coming up

September 24, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

From: Wellesley Class of 1988 officers

To: The rest of that crazy Class of 1988 crew

Re: Reunion

This may or may not be the WHS Class of 1988. It’s a pic that appears on their group Facebook page, and they are neither confirming nor denying anyone’s identity.

If you can believe it, we graduated from Wellesley High School 30 years ago. Let’s all catch up and celebrate. We want to make sure that as many of our classmates as possible can come to Reunion on November 24 (Thanksgiving weekend), so spread the word.

Join your classmates at the Causeway Restaurant on Causeway Street in Boston Saturday, November 24th, 2018 at 7:30pm. There will be a DJ, slide show, food, drink and memories.

$65 cash, per person.

Please see our group on Facebook here for updates: https://m.facebook.com/groups/20768968300

Or email: [email protected]More information to follow.

See you all there,

Andrew Young

The Wellesley Schools summer reading books aren’t going to read themselves — here’s an inspiring video by Sprague teachers

August 4, 2018 by Caleb Brown Leave a Comment

The Sprague elementary school teachers have outdone themselves once again in their annual short film encouraging students to push through their summer reading even when the going gets tough. Sprague students are encouraged to read about 30 minutes per day during the summer. (You can check out all Wellesley schools’ suggested summer reading on our Wellesley Summer Reading page.)

The film stars Ms. Fiore as an enthusiastic reader who must overcome a difficult section of her once-beloved, The Book. The film begins with Ms. Fiore having fun with The Book (played by Ms. Bartelloni), but things go sour when Ms. Fiore reaches a difficult part of The Book. After pushing The Book away, the rest of the story follows the path that leads Ms. Fiore to give The Book another chance, and it turns out the hard part can be overcome after all.

Highlights include a fantastic junk food binge scene and some expertly choreographed dancing. The soundtrack was full of hits, from The Turtles to Sinead O’Connor.

This masterpiece was directed by Mr. Craig, and his choices of the film’s various sets will be familiar to Sprague kids and parents. The story features various classrooms, hallways, the cafeteria and, of course, the library.

The inspirational messages at the end had me putting War and Peace and other classics on my summer reading list. I can read them after all!

Wellesley Sprague School video — We weren’t able to upload the video, but if you go over to the Sprague School’s site at this link, you can see The Book and The Reader and in all their dramatic glory.