The new Wellesley Middle School sign was installed in the Kingsbury Courtyard last Tuesday and we are delighted to see this 2-year PTO project come to fruition. Funds were provided by the Class of 2022 and Class of 2023 8th grade graduates. We would like to thank those students & families for this very meaningful class gift. (See below for before and after pictures.)

Grade 6 conferences continue this week, and PICTURE DAY is on Wednesday!

We hope you’ll join the PTO, Principal Ito, and the WMS Department Heads on the 7PM webinar tomorrow night (Monday) to hear about the WMS Fall Updates and future plans. The zoom link is below.

Sincerely,
Your 2023-2024 PTO Presidents
Annie Oh & Katie Sullivan

Links for information on dates and events that are further out: 

LINK to Wellesley Middle School Events Calendar

LINK to Wellesley Public School Events Calendar  

Tomorrow night from 7:00-8:00pm the PTO will host a zoom call with Principal Ito and panelists to provide departmental updates and discuss future WMS plans. This is the first of four all parent PTO meetings this year. Panel topics will cover:

• Future building plans
• Curriculum updates
• Green schools initiatives
• Cafeteria seating plans
• An explanation of the odd/even structure of the building

Please click the link below to join the webinar on Monday @7PM:
Click here for Webinar
Passcode: 618261

Note: All attendees will be placed into a meeting room on Zoom and admitted at the 7pm start time.

June & September Minutes (to be voted on at the meeting) can be viewed on the WMS PTO website. 

Go to Coffee Pond and click "Order Online" and select "School Portraits" then enter Wellesley, MA and WMS to order if you don’t have the form that came home from school.

The annual WMS Halloween Dance will be on Friday evening, October 27th for all grades 6th, 7th & 8th! 300 students are expected and they will be split into two groups for safety reasons. 6th Graders will be in the cafeteria, while 7th & 8th graders will use Gym A. If you would like to volunteer for an hour to pass out water and snacks please email Katie at wmsptoinfo@gmail.com.

Please bring the family and join us in the Kingsbury Courtyard to care for the pollinator garden in front of WMS. Stop by anytime from 8:00-10:00am to give back to the community by helping our town gardener extraordinaire, Susy Jordan, do some edging and weeding of the beds.

Join us for a special evening All Parent PTO meeting in Boston with the WHS PTSO and Stephanie Holland, our new K-12 METCO Director. We have reserved the Shelburne Community Center, 2730 Washington Street, Roxbury 02119. Agenda coming soon!  

Did you know that your child's WMS iPad turns off access to the internet at 11PM and then switches it back on at 6AM? View last week's "iPads for Parents" presentation by the Technology Department HERE. Thank you Brian Allieri, Pete Ritter and Jackie Hoglund for this important talk about tech use and our children. 

Click here for a Family Tech Planner for middle schoolers to help them sort through important questions like, "how much time will I spend online"? You can also find great Parent Tips & FAQs by platform, such as TikTok and Snapchat. 

The Spirit Wear Online Holiday Store is NOW OPEN for just TWO WEEKS! Be sure to stock up on your favorite Raiders gear and show off your school spirit with new hoodies, baseball caps, winter hats, bags and towels. We also have t-shirts, sweatpants and pajama pants, all online until MONDAY, OCTOBER 30th @11:59am. If you have immediate spirit wear needs or questions about our online store, please email the Spirit Wear Team at wmspto.spiritwear@gmail.com.

Please note that orders are printed and shipped about 4 weeks from 10/30. Items should arrive late November/early December in time for the holiday season. There are 2 shipping options: free school pickup or ship directly to home for a small fee.

First, we would like to extend a warm welcome to parent, Alison McCarthy, who will serve as our Parent Advisory Council representative. If you have a child receiving special education services and would like to connect, please reach out to Alison through the WMS Family Directory under “Parent Resources” here: WMS PTO Website.

We know it’s a long way off, but if you love to read and love Wellesley Books we have the job for you! We are looking for a coordinator for the June Book Fair at our last PTO Meeting in the WMS Library. The volunteer position requires obtaining the summer reading lists from the ELA Department and sending it to Wellesley Books. Wellesley Books does all of the heavy lifting to bring the Summer Reading Books to WMS for purchase and the PTO gets a small percentage of the sales. The coordinator works closely with our wonderful school librarian, Sarah Chessman. It requires about 3-5 volunteer hours in the May/June time frame. 

If you have any feedback for the PTO or would like to get involved in a school initiative (small or large) please email wmsptoinfo@gmail.com.

50 Kingsbury Street
Wellesley, MA 02482