{"id":8494,"date":"2025-09-19T16:27:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T23:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/whs\/?p=8494"},"modified":"2025-11-24T12:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T17:56:11","slug":"newsletter-091925","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellesleyps.org\/whs\/2025\/09\/19\/newsletter-091925\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellesley High School Principal’s Newsletter for Sept 19, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n
<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n

WHS Principal’s Newsletter<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n
September 19, 2025<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
Dear Families,\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Happy Friday.\u00a0I\u2019m writing to you this afternoon after a great PTSO\/Principal Coffee meeting. I don\u2019t normally combine those two events, but September just got too busy to schedule both this month.\u00a0We will hold them separately moving forward.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Thank you to all the parents who came.\u00a0My nonmathematical estimate was we had about 30 people in attendance which was a really nice start to the year.\u00a0Today we introduced two of our new teachers, Nate Banfield in English and Danny Loss in Social Studies.\u00a0We had a presentation from our senior class officers on their event planning for the school year and parents got to watch our Friday morning announcements.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In my updates I spoke to everyone about our new Cell Phone policy implementation which is going very well so far. Kids are still adjusting in places but reports from staff and students alike have been that they think the classroom environment is better this year and that learning in class is more focused than last year for the classes that weren\u2019t asking students to park their phones already.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0I also spoke about how we are grappling with Artificial Intelligence here at the high school.\u00a0We are feeling both the pressure of preserving and ensuring our essential learning by protecting it from AI influence so we know our kids are learning what they should, and we are feeling the pressure to help the entire community teach our kids how to use AI responsibly and ethically in a world which will likely require it of them moving forward.\u00a0We are doing this through thoughtful experimentation and professional development. I encourage all of you to have conversations with your children about how they are using AI both for school and personal use. I also mentioned the environmental impact of using AI because of the tremendous amount of power the servers use.\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Finally, I spoke about the considerable work we are doing to align the course team curriculum in the 10th grade at the high school.\u00a0I chose to lift up the 10th grade first because it is how we are determining competency for the state.\u00a0Our teachers on those course teams know they need to have at least one major assessment per quarter that is as close to 100% common as possible. They also need to be crafting common rubrics for grading, improving interrater reliability, and then using item analysis to examine the results in an effort to improve instruction where necessary. Some teams are very far along with this work already, but the expectation is for them to continue to improve this year.\u00a0Other levels are also doing work in these areas with our normal PD time,\u00a0but I only have capacity to give this extra time to our 10th grade teams this year. This is clearly more than a one year endeavor, but I wanted to share with you our commitment to it.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n

WHS Club Fair – September 24 & 25<\/h2>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n
The Wellesley High School Club Fair will take place over the course of two days this year: Wednesday, September 24th and Thursday September 25th during A Block, Lunch Block, and from 2:30pm – 3:00pm after school in the cafeteria. We hope that students will visit the club fair to see the dozens of fantastic clubs that WHS has to offer this year and consider joining a club that they find interesting. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n

Wellesley Raiders Walk Team for The Jimmy Fund Walk<\/h2>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
In the United States, over 15,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year. It remains the leading cause of death by disease in children under 19. Approximately 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes, oftentimes more than once. Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund Clinic change the lives of both patients and their families through cutting-edge research and compassionate care.\u00a0<\/div>\n
The Jimmy Fund Walk is an annual event held by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, the largest single-day walk fundraiser in the country. It follows the iconic Boston Marathon route, and you can choose to walk a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or full marathon. All routes end in the Boston Common. Since 1989, the Jimmy Fund Walk has raised over $185 million towards cancer care and research at Dana-Farber.<\/div>\n
Every donation and registration is a step closer to a world where all cancers are treatable and curable. Every step matters in lowering those statistics to what we sincerely hope will become zero one day. Join us in fighting for a future without cancer. Please consider donating to our cause or registering for Walk Day.<\/div>\n
We have organized a Shake Shack Donation Day <\/strong>to fundraise towards our goal. The event will take place on Monday, Sept. 29th at the Wellesley Shack;<\/strong> simply mention the code DONATE <\/strong>or type it into the kiosk, and 25% of your total will be donated to the Jimmy Fund Walk.\u00a0<\/div>\n
– Lanting Ran and Grace Cahoon, co-captains of the Wellesley Raiders walk team<\/div>\n
https:\/\/danafarber.jimmyfund.org\/site\/TR\/JimmyFundWalk\/JimmyFundWalk?pg=team&fr_id=2380&team_id=32005<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Shake<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"A<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n

Step Up Day: Wednesday, October 8th<\/h2>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n
Step Up Day is Wednesday, October 8th at WHS. Students participate in activities tailored to their grade level.\u00a0<\/div>\n
9th & 10th Grade<\/strong><\/div>\n