We hope everyone is enjoying the last couple days of Thanksgiving Break. The PTO would like to thank our Turkey Promenade dream team of Jen Mock (Event Chair), Julie Newman (Box Collection), Ceren Bayulgen (Food & Bev), and Becca Cahaly (Custodian Gratitude), as well as the WMS Fitness & Health Department for a very successful event. 

Our middle schoolers had a fantastic day giving back and we donated hundreds of boxes of food and household items to families in need in our area, with the help of the Wellesley Food Pantry and Voices Against Violence. 

Reminder: NO SCHOOL MONDAY

All the best,
Your 2023-2024 PTO Presidents
Katie Sullivan & Annie Oh

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  

• 12/12 (Tuesday) 7-8pm: Winter Band Concert
• 12/19 (Tuesday) 7-8pm: Winter Orchestra Concert
• 12/21 (Thursday) during the day: Grade 8 Winter Concert for students/staff
• 12/22 (Friday) during the day: Grade 6 & 7 Winter Concert for students/staff

Please join us in the WMS Auditorium the evening of December 5th to hear nationally-known guest speaker, Katie Greer, talk to parents about how to help their children use technology in a healthy and safe way. This special event is made possible by your contributions to the PTO Creative Arts budget. Get to know Katie Greer here or follow her on Instagram @katielgreer.

Katie will present to 7th & 8th graders during the day, to WMS teachers right after school, and to parents in the evening. She will be back in two years to speak to our 6th graders when they are in 8th grade. This 3-pronged approach provides an impactful, cohesive message between students, teachers, and parents. 

If you know any 5th grade elementary parents who would like to attend, please feel free to pass along the news. Just let them know that the content will focus solely on the middle school years.

Wellesley Public Schools, in collaboration with the Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club, is proud to welcome Dr. Merritt Moore to help us celebrate National Computer Science Education Week.

Dr. Moore, who graduated with Magna Cum Laude Honors in Physics from Harvard and a PhD in Atomic and Laser Physics from the University of Oxford, has also pursued a professional ballet career. She is also an Adjunct Professor at NYU Abu Dhabi teaching “Creative Robotics” that fuses arts and science.

We invite you to join us on the evening of December 13th from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Merritt will talk about how STEAM helped her follow her passions by combining science, coding, and art.

Click here for flyer
Click here to register for zoom

Our third PTO meeting for all parents will be a webinar on Executive Function skills and good study habits for middle schoolers. Please mark your calendars for Monday, January 29th at 7pm for this special online presentation by “Engaging Minds” in Newton. This is the third of four all parent PTO meetings this year. Click here to read more details and register in advance. Note: The recording will be emailed to all registrants after the webinar and the link will remain live for one week. If your student struggles with organization skills and effective study habits, this webinar is for you! 

Tickets are on sale now for the WMS Musical: Anastasia

Thursday, December 7th @4:30pm
Friday, December 8th @7:00pm
Saturday, December 9th @2:00pm & @7:00pm

Click here to purchase your Anastasia tickets today!

(Each cast is listed by performance on the ticket link.)

The WMS Drama Department is excited to announce auditions for its winter musical, Newsies, Jr.! Auditions are Tuesday, December 12 and Wednesday, December 13 from 2:40-6:00. Students must choose one day to audition and must be prepared to stay for the duration.

The WMS Drama Department has determined that they can have no more than 100 students cast in a production due to safety reasons and space limitations. In the event that more than 100 students audition for our production of "Newsies", they will prioritize casting 8th grade students in an effort that all will be able to participate. After 8th grade casting is completed, they will then cast 7th and 6th grade students. Casting will be based on the drama skills needed for the production, availability for rehearsals, as well as student focus and effort. It may mean cuts in either grade.

Before auditioning, the following needs to happen:

• Every caregiver must fill out this Newsies Contract.  
• Every student must join this google classroom (please give this code to your child): bl43qpo
• Every student must choose an audition date via this signup genius.  

Thank you! 

Our next half day is Wednesday, December 6th and the store at the Donizetti entrance will be open from 11:20-Noon. Contact wmspto.spiritwear@gmail.com for all your Raiders hoodies, pj pants, t-shirts, car stickers, car magnets and more! If you have already donated to the PTO this year, please swing by for your complimentary (and newly updated) WMS Car Magnet or Car Sticker. Or email Katie Sullivan at wmsptoinfo@gmail.com with your preference (magnet or sticker) and she will send it directly to you! 

The PTO would like to thank Jenn Fallon for joining the team as our Newsletter Proofreader. Thank you for the help Jenn! We could still use a few helpers to water the flower pots outside school here and there. We’ll pick that effort back up in the spring when it’s warm out. If you would like to help Aisha Usmani freshen up the pots for winter to keep the school entrances looking great, please email wmsptoinfo@gmail.com. Kristen Toffer just planted tulip bulbs which you'll see popping up under the sign this spring! 

Did you know that we have a directory that lists all WMS students and parents that have opted-in? Here’s how to access it: Go to Membership Toolkit and login (from a computer the first time). Use the same email address you gave WPS in PowerSchool at the beginning of the year (when you received your homeroom assignment). Once you've successfully logged in on the computer, you can download and use the Membership Toolkit app on your phone. Notes:

• login from a computer the first time
• you will need to toggle between your multiple schools
• tap the three lines in the top left corner, then tap what looks a little like a recycle symbol to see all your schools and switch between them

Donate to the PTO between now and the end of November to be entered into a drawing to win a gift certificate to the Spirit Wear Store. All you have to do is click the red button below to donate and we’ll do all the rest! (Suggested donation is $125 per student. Any and all donations are very much appreciated to help us continue our efforts of school support).

50 Kingsbury Street
Wellesley, MA 02482