Wong Says Focus Stays on Academics

Wellesley Schools Superintendent Bella T. Wong read this statement at a Feb. 8 School Committee meeting to better interpret the meaning of certain school budget figures.

Here’s the statement in its entirety:

During the budget process, I used some statistics as points of reference to
support the assertion that the School Department works hard to be and is fiscally
prudent, according to certain benchmarks.

Contrary to my intent, it sparked a concern about the quality of the WPS
education programs. I’d like to address that concern with a reassurance that the
WPS has and does indeed provide excellent programs and resource to its
students.

I speak not only as the Superintendent of Schools, but also as someone who
grew up attending the Brookline Public Schools; living in Menlo Park, Palo Alto
and Stanford, California; teaching at Lincoln-Sudbury; serving on the Weston
School Committee; and working here in WPS.

The most important resource we can offer students is the quality of our educators
and the quality of their instruction. In my role, I have the opportunity to visit
classrooms across the district on a regular basis and am able to witness a
remarkably high level of instruction across all our schools and grade levels. It is
not happenstance. We spend a great deal of time training our administrators to
effectively supervise and evaluate teachers, because we feel that is the most
important work of any administrator. Thanks to this particular School
Committee, today we have the highest level of professional development to
support this training in over a decade.

The second most important resource we can offer is small class size. Over the
last decade, this community has supported renovation, additions or new school
construction for Sprague in 2002, Bates in 2004, the preschool in 2006, Middle
School in 2007, Fiske and Schofield Modulars in 2007, temporary high school
classrooms in 2008 and again in 2009, Middle School renovations for 2011 and a
brand new high school in 2012. At the same time, operating budgets have
protected our class size. Town approval of the new high school project occurred
in December 2008, just months after the fall economic crisis from which we are
still recovering. This is an amazing commitment not just to upgrade school
facilities, but also to support capacity to avoid large class sizes.

The third most important resource we can offer is breadth and depth of program
to support academic excellence appropriate for all our students, and foster the
social and emotional growth of our students so they will be productive and
successful citizens of an evolving global economy.

There is no reason not to believe or assert that the students of Wellesley will be
the leaders of tomorrow. Education is an investment not only in their future, but
our future.

The number of our students who are engaged in the use of technology, the arts,
fitness and academics is at the highest level ever. As long as I have been an
educator, I continue to be amazed by not just the superlative achievement of
WPS students, but how interesting the ‘average’ kid is – how they speak, what
they say, their artwork, their writing. I was so impressed by the last BRADFORD
that I wrote to Amanda, our faculty advisor, and told her so.

I don’t want anything I may have cited during budget discussions to obscure how
great this school system is and how great these kids are doing. Not to say there
isn’t room for improvement – that will never be the case – but to say that the
kids are reaping the benefits of what this town has invested over time.