WEF gives WPS over 82K

Wellesley Education Foundation Grants Over $82K to Support Public Schools

-by Rama K Ramaswamy

Wellesley Education Foundation, (WEF) is a non-profit, tax-exempt community organization; its mission- to invest in programs that enhance, enrich and maintain educational excellence and foster innovation in the Wellesley public schools (WPS), gave away a total of $82,735.94 in funding as part of their Fall Grants Cycle, which when previously announced, did not take into account contributions from the Ruth Walters Fund. The Ruth S. Walters Environmental Fund, to be more specific, provided support for funding, “the raising of an endangered, endemic species of turtle which will be released into the wild here in Massachusetts”, Phase I of a pilot project to map and create site assessments, for each of the seven K-5 schools, to facilitate the incorporation of in-situ experience into the emerging 2105-16 “Life Sciences” curriculum, and the very first Wellesley STEM Expo, 2014.

In addition to this, approximately 27 grants were applied for out of which 23 were funded- all in line with the Superintendent of Schools’ (Dr. David Lussier), strategic objectives and curriculum review proposal; whereby teachers and staff in the elementary, middle and high schools were able to apply this funding to anchor learning and child development initiatives that also coincide with the detailed goals of the strategic plan. According to one high school parent, “world class school systems don’t just happen.” Other parents in the community maintain that good school systems “require an intricate mix of strong teaching, core skills development and innovative new programming.” Within these parameters, the Superintendent and his team of staff and educators have set out key strategic objectives to reach for as part of a five-year (2014-19) plan.

The first and foremost goal of WPS is improving the system’s ability to focus on every child, in every classroom, every day. According to Dean Blase, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, “children learn best when they work in a learning environment that is responsive to the whole child- an environment that supports their academic, social, and emotional needs.” With this in mind, WEF funded three key grants to support whole-child initiatives this fall, which according to Blase, directly put, was “awesome.” Dr. Lussier canvased the entire town during the development phase of the WPS Strategic Plan in 2014; detailed feedback revealed the community’s interest in not only investing in better educational standards but also, outstanding educators. To this end, WEF’s Fall Grants Cycle is supporting on-going professional development on cross-curriculum integration as part of the “National Conference Cross-Pollination Grant” Teachers from across the district will be invited to partake in conferences that will highlight opportunities to move WPS to an integrated curriculum delivery model across disciplines. The goal is to have students benefit from more in-depth learning when multiple departments engage on a topic within a calendar year of study. According to Blase, “there was enormous interest among the teachers and staff for professional development.” In addition, the “Notice and Note Workshop” is designed to facilitate 5th-9th grade teachers develop “response to text” and research consistency furthering long term vertical alignment throughout K-12 levels; this requires “information free-flow”, district wide, and has been structured with built-in funding for further, potential growth and development.

WEF Fall Grants highlights and what the community can expect include the following: the underwriting of a “growth mindset curriculum” whereby all K-12 classrooms will be engaged in, year-long, reading and discussion programs. This initiative is based on the work of Carol Dweck, the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, whose focus on exploration, discovery and goal-setting helped establish the trend towards promoting grit and determination as a basis for achievement. Her work challenges the classic fixed mindset that believes talent is solely a result of inherent ability, given to some and not others.

Chemistry, in 10th grade, will now have access to document cameras, which have proven to be a highly interactive classroom, teaching tool that facilitates student collaboration and maximizes hands-on learning time. The creative arts department has purchased a new, “more modern, safer and technology” welder; as many parents know, creative arts classes are highly sought after, including “classes in metals”-sculpting and jewelry making. Courses such as these are, according to instructors, “a wonderful intersection between science, technology and creative arts.” The community will be able to see evidence of displayed at the 2015 Spring Student Art Show at the Wellesley Free Library.

At the Middle School, the modern languages staff obtained a “Soundfield System” that provides an auditory learning tool for mastering languages that will help all students hear the articulation and nuance while learning new languages, augmenting book learning. The goal is for more students to build aptitude in languages acquisition with targeted aural practice and exposure. Various types of educational supplementation was provided for at the WMS 6th grade classroom level as well as for students in the special needs programs which included movement stools; the “Movement Make For Flexible Learners” WEF grant made it possible for students to utilize their tendency to move during learning and channel these impulses (which may have in the past been termed as “fidgeting”) in order to remain and maintain active listening-learning skills while in the classroom setting. Middle School teacher Brian Kelly’s WEF grant was for the purchase of upgraded, robotics hardware, specifically, the third generation of the LEGO “Programmable Brick”, Kelly said, “this also allows me to build more physical demonstration examples that won’t have to be disassembled for student use when we run short of parts.” In addition, according to Kelly, “the process of debugging a program or understanding why a structure doesn’t work as expected provide invaluable opportunities for students not only to solve problems, but to become aware of their own process for doing so. The benefits of this lie not only in a sense of satisfaction and confidence students experience (and describe), but also in an enhanced understanding of failure as an inherent aspect of the process of problem solving in Engineering.”

For our youngest students, WEF provided support for “Growing Scholars and Scientists with STEAM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math). PAWS Director of Early Childhood WPS, Rebecca Zieminski says, “this grant was written to bring Dr. Kristen Wendell to the PAWS Preschool to teach the preschool faculty and staff how to incorporate STEAM into the purposeful play we support at the preschool. This unique approach brings STEAM to life through the integration of literacy and science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. This is a capacity, building opportunities by which we add to the knowledge base of our outstanding staff and provide them with the background and understanding needed to bring these types of learning opportunities into the preschool classrooms.” Children’s books were also purchased to enable the teachers and staff to implement their development training into the classroom immediately.

Wellesley Education Foundation relies upon the generosity of community members and businesses to support the innovative programs and faculty learning made possible by these grants. It is with deep gratitude to the Wellesley community that the WEF board announces these programs. “We should all be proud of the work that’s being done to improve public education and expand access for all students. Wellesley schools are collectively putting forth a top-notch effort to fund innovation and support engagement in the learning process for students and educators alike. Through WEF funding, learning that meets the demands of the 21st Century continues to expand, Pre-K through 12 in Wellesley’” states Carol Morrow, WEF Co-President. For more information and to support the Wellesley Education Foundation or learn more, please visit: www.wellesleyeducationfoundation.org.