WHS eNotes

Dear students, staff, and parents/guardians:

In this Edutopia article, Youki Terada and Stephen Merrill summarize the ten K-12 studies they believe were the most significant in 2025.

Please note that school will be closed for the holiday break beginning Wednesday, December 24th. Tuesday, December 23rd is an Early Release Day and students will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m. Classes will resume on Monday, January 5th, 2026. We look forward to welcoming students back, refreshed and ready to work hard in the year ahead.

On behalf of our faculty and staff, I’d like to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a joyful New Year. May this season bring you and your loved ones peace, happiness, and cherished time together.

I hope you enjoy a restful and festive holiday season.

Sincerely,

Stephen Imbusch

Principal

This document covers the Competency Determination for Walpole students which was approved by the Walpole School Committee on 12/11/25 and is effective for the Class of 2026 and thereafter.

Timber TV was happy to be able to stream Walpole High's Winter Concert on December 17th.

Here is a link through our YouTube page. Please make sure to like and subscribe to help us grow our audience!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1uRbxKYLbg&t=60s

Attention Seniors: The following scholarships are now available. Please check the scholarship list found on your SCOIR drive.

James Lavoie Essay Contest

The Larry Rooney Jr. Memorial Scholarship

AFL-CIO Scholarship

Big Y Foods Inc. Scholarship

The Stephen Philips Memorial Scholarship Fund

The 2026 Walpole Scholarship Foundation application is now available. WHS seniors who are applying to a post high school institution may apply. Please see the Foundation's website- www.walpolescholarshipfoundation.org - for links to the electronic application and more information.

Some schools in our area are seeing an uptick in scams targeting schools and parents. These scams will pretend to be from a principal or school official advertising a "special offer."

Please be aware that all authentic electronic communications from our schools and district will be delivered to you one of these channels:

• our official email addresses (someone@walpole.k12.ma.us)
• TalkingPoints
• Walpole Public Schools smartphone app
• our Apptegy/Thrillshare texting platform

If you are ever unsure of a message that seems to come from one of our schools, please contact the main office or email helpdesk@walpole.k12.ma.us for confirmation.

Teachers in the World Language Department are now registering their students for the National Spanish Exam and the National French Contest. The registration deadline for the National Spanish Exam is approaching in January. Any student who is interested in participating in either language contest should speak to their teacher about signing up. See below for information about each exam and the benefits of participating.

The National French Contest

The National French Contest is an annual competition where students of French in grades 1-12, in all 50 states and abroad, take a written test and compete against students with similar educational backgrounds for prizes.

The National Spanish Exam

The National Spanish Exam (NSE) is an online, motivational competition that recognizes, stimulates, and promotes students’ linguistic competence and proficiency in Spanish. In addition to the contest, the NSE is a standardized online assessment for grades 6-12, that measures both content standards (vocabulary and grammar) and performance standards (reading and listening comprehension). This tool provides valuable feedback on the students’ proficiency, monitoring and tracking their progress and development each year.

Students who place at or above the 75th percentile at the national level receive medals (gold, silver, bronze, honorable mention) and are eligible to apply for several types of scholarships (Global Citizen Scholarship, Junior Study Abroad Program, Senior Scholarship).

The Photography Club will meet in the new year January 8, 2026. The theme is Holidays! There's so many to celebrate over the next 2 weeks. Whatever you are celebrating take some pictures. The Photography Club wishes everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year and it's been great to share in so many pictures with all of the students. We can't wait to see the pictures the students take in 2026!

If you would like more information contact jdagostino@walpole.k12.ma.us Please follow along on our instagram to see our pictures that the students have taken: @photography_whs123

Congratulations to the team for placing 5th out of 33 schools at Arlington High on 12/13 for the St. Nick Showdown Tournament!

Bravo to finalists:

Swara Sonchhatra: 4th in Original Oratory and 4th in Radio Broadcasting
Ramu Muthukaruppan: 5th in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Cara Coyne and Vanshi Shroff: 3rd in Duo Interpretation
Karthik Gollakota: 5th in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking
Elaina Shobin: 5th in Radio Broadcasting
Amy Issa: Top Novice in Radio Broadcasting

A huge thank you to our parent judges/drivers: Srinivas Gollakota, Vipul Panchal, Vijay Panchakshari, Selva Ramamoorthy, and Jigs Sonchhatra and parent drivers: Eliza Cruz and Ranji Shroff.

The UNICEF Club is hosting a fundraiser through Feeding America to support our December theme of Children’s Safety & Well-Being in the Winter! The QR code listed below directs to UNICEF club’s Team Feed Virtual Donations page. Individuals who donate will have their names written on an individual hand on our tree mural which will be displayed at the end of our fundraiser!

Every $1 donated helps provide at least 10 meals. It only takes a little to make a big difference. Help us in our fight to end hunger!

The WHS National Honor Society is collecting gently used coats of all sizes now until December break to support Coats for Kids and Families. Please drop off donations in the box in the main lobby.

The WHS Chamber Orchestra meets every Thursday from 2:15-3:15 PM in room 1101. This is a good opportunity for students who play a stringed instrument, but are unable to fit Orchestra into their school schedule. Please contact Mr. Bedrossian or Gwen Haferd for any information.

"The Walpole High School National Art Honor Society (NAHS) is looking for any requests for projects or services where our members can contribute their time, skills, and energy. NAHS is a selected group of creative, talented, and conscientious students dedicated to using their skills to support the community through art. Please fill out this form (https://forms.gle/4DpXdE3m7aaTTQE27) if you or anyone in your community is looking for help with bringing their creative projects to life!"

SENIOR Parents & Guardians: Do you want to celebrate your Class of 2026 Senior with a Recognition Ad in the yearbook? Please follow the directions in the link to design and purchase an ad. Please see the attached PDF for more details!

Please check in with our Class of 2026 Information site for ALL info regarding Senior year, including Yearbook due dates and updates!

Timber Talk for the Winter Season!

Check out the latest episode right here:

https://youtu.be/7TQogxMWSAU

YouTube channel:

WHS Timber TV - YouTube

A reminder to all athletes and their parents/guardians, the athletic fee must be paid before the athlete can get a uniform and play in a game. MySchoolBucks is open to pay online or you can pay by check (made payable to Town of Walpole). Please see below for the fee schedule

Winter Athletic Fees- $375 for Boys/Girls Hockey and Gymnastics and $275 for the other sports.

The Athletic website is located on the High School homepage. On this page, you will find forms, registration instructions, online payments, Twitter information, coaches' contact information, and an athletic calendar with the daily game schedules.

David St. Martin

Athletic Director

Walpole Timberwolves apparel check out the link below.

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/massachusetts/walpole/walpole-high-school

For a list of upcoming events please click on the following link: https://sites.google.com/a/walpole.k12.ma.us/athletics/

Email: dstmartin@walpole.k12.ma.us

Phone: 508-660-7257
Twitter: @WalpolehighADSM

Walpole High School

Email: simbusch@walpole.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.walpole.k12.ma.us/o/whs
Location: 275 Common Street, Walpole, MA, USA
Phone: (508) 660-7257
Twitter: @WalpoleHS

Instagram: @WalpoleHighSchool