The Swellesley Report - Page 2 of 1576 - More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Happy Father’s Day, Wellesley

June 20, 2021 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

We’re remembering back to last year when Mr. Swellesley was rumored to have created a temporary trail of Dad Jokes on Wellesley’s Brook Path. Why should the folks who leave painted kindness rocks around town have all the fun, went the reasoning.

Our gift to Wellesley dads this year is a small collection titled, “The Best of Bob’s Dad Jokes.” Enjoy.

Wellesley Dad Jokes

Mr. Swellesley relaxes for once:

fathers day hammock — Mr. Swellesley enjoys some hammock time on his special day in this vintage pic.

Remember how last year a storm tore through Wellesley on Father’s Day, leaving downed trees and over an inch of rain, and localized flooding? Crazy times.

Wellesley storm, Brook Path, 2020. photo credit, RE. Good doggy, Flo.

Pinnacle Residential Properties—Wellesley real estate numbers

June 20, 2021 by admin Leave a Comment

Wellesley COVID-19 update: 12-15-year-olds all over vaccine

June 20, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The share of Wellesley’s population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 crept up from 60% to 61% this past week, according to weekly data released by the state. Those in the 12-15-year-old age range have jumped at the chance to get vaccinated since being allowed to do so last month, and now more than half of them in Wellesley are fully vaccinated.

Wellesley has more than 18,000 residents fully vaccinated, and the state now has more than 4 million people fully vaccinated against the disease.

Wellesley boasts 70% of its population with at least 1 dose. Nearly half of those in each eligible age range have now been fully vaccinated, with 16-19- and 20-29-year-olds just needing to eke past the 49% mark.

june 17 wellesley vax

New COVID-19 cases in Wellesley remain rare.

Happy Juneteenth, Wellesley

June 19, 2021 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

In celebration of Juneteenth, writer and Wellesley resident Je’Lesia Jones and librarian Quincy Knapp, in partnership with the Wellesley Free Library, have created laminated bookmarks to educate the public about the recently enacted federal holiday.

After Jones got approval for the project from the WFL administration earlier this year she and Knapp, a WFL children’s librarian, got to work. To provide graphic interest for the bookmarks Jones said, “We researched African fabrics, i.e., Kente Cloth, a Ghanaian textile made of strips of cotton and silk, all handwoven cloth, and that led to lots of other textiles, fabrics and designs, including architecture. Some of the backgrounds are African architecture. Those creations make up the backgrounds for the bookmarks.”

Juneteenth, Jelesia Jones, Wellesley

The front of each bookmark showcases one of 40 inspirational quotes from Black movers and shakers. “I chose the quotes, wanting to represent the array of Black thought ranging from doctors, musicians, historians, scholars, etc.,” Jones said. “Frankly, I was inspired by Amanda Gorman, the gifted young woman who delivered her poem, The Hill We Climb, at Biden’s inaugural. Her words so fittingly represent the joy of Juneteenth, and were the first chosen for the bookmarks.”

On the back of each bookmark is a short explanation of the day which reads, “Juneteenth is short for ‘June Nineteenth’ and marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, 1865, two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. Juneteenth honors the end of slavery.”

At the bottom of each bookmark a link provides a reading list of 101 books in honor of Juneteenth.

Jones says the bookmarks have been a huge hit. “Since most of the bookmarks have a different quote, patrons are asking if they can take more than one.”

To keep up with demand, she and Knapp had to do a second printing. The free bookmarks will be available through June at the Temporary Main Library in Wellesley Square; the Wellesley Hills branch; and the Wellesley Fells branch.

Just don’t try to pick one up for yourself on June 19th. The libraries are closed for the holiday.

Beyond Wellesley: Weston’s Case Estates trails

June 18, 2021 by Bob Brown 2 Comments

I thought maybe I’d exhausted every trail within a reasonable driving distance during the pandemic, but I’d overlooked Weston’s Case Estates, less than a 20-minute drive from our house.

I went on a rainy morning, parking at the Weston compound that includes the community center, library, and some schools. I found the trail entrance just around the side of the community center, and was greeted by an information board including the first of many signs about how dogs must be leashed. In fact, I didn’t run across any unleashed dogs, and for that matter, not many people either during my 4 or so miles of crisscrossing Weston’s trails.

The start of the trail is on a packed stony material that would work fine for strollers or wheelchairs.

It winds through a batch of colorful rhododendrons…crimson, pink, pinker, orange, and white, that have been around for 100 years.

The path ends at a lookout over old farm buildings and a stone incinerator. According to Weston’s Case Estates trails pamphlet (embedded below): “Case Estates sits on the original homeland of the Massachusetts Tribal Nation. From 1909 until the early 2000’s, much of this land was home to an experimental farm and horticultural center under the care of Marian Case (until 1944) and then Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum.”

Case Estates Weston — Dedication tiles at the end of the paved trail

weston case estates incinerator — A view of the stone incinerator

From there it was into the woods, following paths up and down and across, best of all through boardwalks and bog bridges that saved me from soaking my sneakers. With temps in the 40s and drizzle in the air, bugs were kept at bay and the green growth enveloped the trails.

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A post shared by Wellesley Trails Committee (@wellesleytrailscommittee)

Back at the parking lot I surveyed the buildings, including the Community Center and Library, then was home in practically no time despite a leisurely drive back.

weston community center — Community Center

Case Estates Weston library horse — Weston Public Library

The Weston Forest & Trail Association owns more than 200 acres of conservation land and easements and maintains more than 100 miles of trails in the Town of Weston.

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Outgoing director calls mental health problems in area ‘systemic and institutional’

June 17, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Mark Kline, Psy.D., Executive Director of The Human Relations Service (HRS) in Wellesley, has been busy writing reports for the boards of health in Wellesley, Wayland, and Weston upon his retirement from the job. Earlier this week at the Wellesley Board of Health meeting he shared the highlights and lowlights of the mental health situation locally during the pandemic, with a look ahead at continuing challenges (we last discussed these issues with Kline about a year ago).

“The problems with mental health care are what I call system and institutional,” said Kline, who has been with HRS for 32 years. “They go well beyond problems in the outpatient mental health service delivery system…I am confronted on a weekly basis with horrifying cases of kids who have spent weeks in emergency rooms…”

HRS building in Wellesley behind Hills Church — HRS building

The list of problems goes on, from acute care to intensive outpatient care, to a lack of beds and day treatment programs.

“This past year the number of kids I heard of being discharged from hospitals who were referred to virtual day treatment programs was just beyond the ken of my imagination,” he said. “How you would take a kid that had been suicidal, send them home and spend the day on zoom and think anything good could come of it, I have no idea.”

HRS provides outpatient services, and has been doing so virtually during the pandemic, with hopes of returning mainly to in-person by fall. The outfit produced more direct service hours this past year vs. the year before, but Kline said “it’s been an incredibly trying year.” The virtual services work okay for most clients, and telehealth services will provide benefits going forward, he said, though such services are not so great for kids.

HRS’s biggest challenge is developing a funding mechanism to increase staff needed to serve rising demand. Clinicians are graduating with licenses these days, hanging up shingles right away, and attracting clients. They can make a good living doing this, and don’t need to take insurance. This means they can take clients who can pay cash, while those who rely on insurance need to look elsewhere.

HRS can’t currently afford to compete with such practices.

“We can’t afford to operate under that framework anymore…” said Kline, who plans to go into private practice. “We have to figure out some way to dramatically improve how we compensate clinicians. To me, it starts with [paying a bigger chunk of] health benefits.”

That might mean paying more like 80% of health benefits than 25% for part-time employees, he said.

Kline even raised the idea of HRS might need to run at an operating deficit in the short-term to be able to afford hiring more clinicians.

One hope for attracting more clinicians is that as pandemic protocols fade, the collegiality, community-orientation and mentorship you can find in a setting like HRS might win over some. He complimented the mental health specialists who work for the town and public schools that HRS staff coordinates with on local cases.

Board of Health Vice Chair Marcia Testa-Simonson said there is also a push ramping up now to get state dollars to support local health organizations, particularly in the area of mental health.

An executive search agency has been hired to replace Kline, hopefully by fall.

Kline’s briefing starts about 30 minutes into Wellesley Media recording

Black Lives Matter flags now common at Wellesley Public School buildings

June 16, 2021 by Deborah Brown 11 Comments

Although Black Lives Matter flags displayed in Wellesley buildings earlier this year—first at the middle school, followed by Wellesley High School—received little attention outside the school community, the subsequent introduction of such flags at the elementary and pre-K levels has triggered a response from those who say the banners have no place in the public schools.

A letter to The Swellesley Report editors equates the BLM flag with anti-Semitism. The 50 signers call for the flags to be removed from the Wellesley Public Schools saying, “…recent crimes against Jews have been a direct result of BLM’s political and violent rhetoric. Physical assaults against Jewish people have been reported to authorities in, just to name a few, California, Arizona, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Florida. The BLM flags cause a lot of fear for Jewish students, and that should not be tolerated…we do not seek to take the flags down because we do not believe in the fundamental cause of liberty for everyone. We seek to take them down because they are political in nature and are divisive.”

School administrators say that a history of systemic racism against Black Americans is reason enough to keep the flags as a way to communicate to their Black students, faculty, and staff that their presence is valued.

BLM vs. BLM

Wellesley Public Schools Superintendent Dr. David Lussier makes a distinction between the Black Lives Matter organization and the flags that have been raised in the schools.

Lussier said in an email, “The decision to display Black Lives Matter flags at any of our schools has been the result of conversations at those schools among staff and parents. (And students at the secondary level.) There is no district-wide mandate that this must be done, but we fully support this practice. We don’t see this as any type of political statement but rather a reinforcement of our belief in the dignity and safety of our Black students, staff, and families. This is also not an endorsement of the political organization of the same name (which has a different logo.)”

Lussier says the Wellesley Public Schools have worked closely over the years with the Anti-Defamation League, an anti-hate organization founded in 1913 in response to an escalating climate of antisemitism and bigotry. The organization has expanded its mission over the years to include exposing extremism, delivering anti-bias education, and fighting hate online. The Wellesley Public Schools report to the ADL incidents of antisemitism that have occurred in the district. The ADL uses the information, along with that from schools and organizations across the country, to track trends.

“The ADL takes a similar approach to BLM,” Lussier continued, “and does not consider the flag nor the slogan to be antisemitic. Like WPS, the ADL views the BLM sign as an affirmation of support for the Black community and draws a distinction between this broader social movement and the specific agenda of the BLM political organization.”

Wellesley’s banners and flags

Black Lives Matter activities have picked up in Wellesley over the past few years, from the installation of yard signs to the organization of vigils and protests. This has included Wellesley High School students walking out of classes in a 2019 protest organized by Young Ethnic Scholars. Then in May 2020, hundreds filled the streets of Wellesley to protest against injustice and police brutality after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis.

Black Lives Matter and We Believe Black Lives Matter or We Believe That Black Lives Matter banners started appearing in school buildings earlier this year, initially at Wellesley Middle School and Wellesley High.

Wellesley High School Principal Jamie Chisum in a letter to the WHS community wrote in March, “So, this week we put up the donated flag in our cafeteria. We believe in black lives matter and that is what this flag represents. Our flag does not advocate for any political position or agenda. It does not mean only black lives matter, but that black lives matter as well. The raising of this flag breathes life into all four of our Core Values: Respect for Human Differences, Cooperative and Caring Relationships, Commitment to Community, and Academic Excellence. We clearly must do more than simply hang a flag to truly honor all of these values for our black students, staff, and visitors, but we believe this is a lasting symbol to remind us of the need to continue our work towards equity.”

Since then, a steady stream of activity has taken place at schools for younger students. Dr. Charmie Curry, director of diversity, equity & inclusion at Wellesley Public Schools, last week shared an update with the Wellesley School Committee on the past year’s accomplishments, including racial justice lessons during which students discussed and reflected on the Black Lives Matter movement (about 33 minutes into Wellesley Media recording).

“I always love to see how students are taking in important current day topics” and writing about it, she said.

bates flag — Flag at Bates Elementary School, displayed during School Committee presentation

The Fiske Elementary School Council in March posted an agenda item on a Black Lives Matter flag, which included the point that “We need to make sure the goal of placing the flag is not misunderstood by being clear on the purpose.”

Hardy Principal Grant Smith welcomed back families from April vacation by informing them about plans to hang a “We Believe Black Lives Matter” flag in the gym. “The WMS decision sparked conversation amongst WPS administrators, faculty and staff about the need for a flag in each of the district’s buildings. At Hardy, we are committed to affirming the statement that We believe that Black Lives Matter,” he wrote.

Bates and Hunnewell Elementary Schools did likewise with announcements they would be displaying “We Believe Black Lives Matter” and “We Believe That Black Lives Matter” flags, respectively, in their gym and front hallway.

The most recent development, as the Wellesley Public School year winds down, took place at Wellesley’s PAWS pre-school. Director Becca Zieminski informed families on June 7 that on “Thursday, June 10th, the new Black Lives Matter and LGBTQIA+ flags will be installed at P.A.W.S. All classrooms will then create individual classroom flags that represent the children in each classroom and the smaller classroom flags will be added to a larger unified PAWS flag that will be hung up in the school.”

Beyond Wellesley

The Massachusetts Teacher Association endorses support for what it calls “The Black Lives Matter at School movement,” which is aimed at engaging classrooms and communities to support racial and social justice. Black Lives Matter at School is centered around ending “zero tolerance” policies and replacing those policies with restorative justice programs in all schools; hiring more black teachers; and mandating black history and ethnic studies in preK-12 schools.

Some Massachusetts schools, including in Marblehead, have met resistance from residents.

School districts in some other parts of the country are not on board with such movements. At Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla., an English teacher hung a Black Lives Matter flag outside her classroom in support of students processing the death of Reginald Boston, a 20-year-old Black man. Boston was shot to death in Jacksonville by police on Jan. 21, 2020 during an undercover police operation.

The district told the teacher to remove the flag on the grounds that the display violated policy on political speech by employees. The teacher refused to comply, and was reassigned to non-teaching duties. A lawsuit was filed last month in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida alleging the teacher’s First Amendment rights have been violated.

Not just a matter for the schools

While much of the Black Lives Matter activity within the Wellesley School System has remained within that community, School Committee Chair Linda Chow at last week’s committee meeting said one challenge remaining is that of educating and engaging with the whole community. “I see that there’s a great opportunity to collaborate between the schools and the town,” she said.

The Town of Wellesley has discussed bringing in a diversity, equity & inclusion consultant and has launched a civil discourse program to help the community address difficult topics civilly. Those efforts are still in relatively early stages.

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