1. New Editorial Board

The Wayland Student Press Network is handing over leadership for the 2024-2025 school year to the new Co-Editors-in-Chiefs, Reva Datar and Sasha Libenzon. The new WSPN Editorial Board can be viewed here. History teacher Sarah Lee and English teacher Eric Bosco will be going into their second year as the publication’s advisors.

2. Homecoming

After many years of trying to bring a Homecoming dance to Wayland, this year’s Student Council President Venezia Sebastianelli and Vice President Luke DiPietro-Froio have brought this fantasy to life. Planned for September 27, 2024, a Masquerade themed Homecoming will be held in the WHS field house. Rather than the traditional “find a date” Homecoming dance, this dance will be advertised as a “no date” night to ensure everyone has a fun time without the pressure of finding a date. The Student Council hopes that this school-wide event will bring the high school together and be a chance for students to hang out with friends. Homecoming will be a night filled with fun, so look out for more information within the first weeks of school.

3. New gymnastics team

WHS will have a gymnastics team to the high school this winter. Senior Nicole Angelova was one of the students who used her passion for gymnastics to accomplish getting a gymnastics team set in motion. This team had to be approved by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), Athletic Advisory Committee and Wayland School Committee. Ultimately, the team agreed to do a co-op with Weston, and was approved. Practices will occur on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at Massachusetts Gymnastics Center Sudbury.

4. Dates for super Wednesdays

Super Wednesdays – Wednesdays when students are dismissed from school early while staff stay for professional development – will occur only three times this year on Oct. 9, Nov. 13 and Dec. 4. Super Wednesday dismissal times this year will be at 12:30 p.m. instead of 12:15 p.m. as it’s been in past years.

5. New World Language names

The World Language department has worked to align WHS’ curriculum with the proficiency levels defined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). In previous years, numbers one through five were used to distinguish the different leveled language classes. This year, there are now specified courses that target novice and intermediate level learners. The goal of this change is that language learning follows a continuum so that students’ abilities to both comprehend and produce language grow in complexity during their time taking a language.

6. New teachers

There are a few new teachers in different departments this year. The new Innovation Pathways teacher will be Nic Patrie, and Edmund DeHoratius will be the Innovation Career Pathways Coordinator. The Math department has added Matt Daniels, and new World Language teachers Erika Ramirez and Kendall Farkas will be joining WHS as well. Seven new staff members will be added to the Special Education department. This includes Mykayla Cohen, the new Student Services Administrator, Maggie Britton, Jacob Haspel, Mary Jo Murphy, Jason Tassinari, Brittany Price and Ashley Birman. In Counseling there will be Hannah Rubio.

There are a number of returning staff members that are taking on new roles at WHS. These include Janet Carmichael who will be the Academic Support Center Teacher and Christopher Jorge who will be returning to the WHS Wellness Department as well as teach a few courses this year. Finally, along with their teacher and counselor duties, Tina Calderon and Alaina Ghetti will be the Lead Diversity, Equity and Belonging Teachers this year.

7. New Student Services Administrator

The student services administrator is Mykayla Cohen. Her role is supporting all things related to student services. She will work collaboratively with counselors, special educators and other student support services to ensure all students are supported.