WHS eNotes

Dear students, staff, and parents/guardians:

Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed a restful and refreshing December break. As we return to school, please remember that there are less than two weeks remaining in the semester (January 21st), making this an important time to stay focused, complete assignments, and finish strong.

A reminder that next Friday, January 16th, is a Professional Development Day for staff, and there will be no school for students.

As winter settles in, here’s a fun seasonal fact to share: Snow is common in many areas during the winter, but the highest snowfall ever recorded in a single year in the United States occurred at Mount Rainier in Washington. Between February 19, 1971, and February 18, 1972, an incredible 31.1 meters (1,224 inches) of snow fell!

We look forward to a productive and successful close to the semester.

Sincerely,

Stephen Imbusch

Principal

Walpole High School is seeking a dedicated and experienced Girls Varsity Tennis Coach to lead its high school tennis program. The coach will be responsible for fostering a competitive and positive team culture, developing student-athletes' skills and character, and ensuring alignment with the school’s values and academic mission.

Job Start Date: March 16, 2026

Job Requirements

• Prior playing/coaching experience at the high school or collegiate level preferred.
• Strong knowledge of tennis rules, techniques, and strategies.
• Ability to serve as a positive role model and mentor.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and organizational skills.
• Must pass all background checks and required school/district certifications.

Three letters of recommendation required.

Salary per WTA Contract.

Apply for this position here: https://walpole.schoolspring.com/?jobid=5487367

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.

Private Lessons through the WPS Music Department

The Walpole Public Schools Music Department is pleased to announce the spring session for our Private Lesson Program for students in grades 4 - 12. If your child is interested in taking private instrument or voice lessons, here is your chance. Lessons are offered in flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone horn, tuba, piano, percussion, violin, viola, cello, guitar and voice. All lessons are taught by accomplished performers on their respective instruments. Some lessons are currently being taught virtually.

Session 2 will run February 2 to June 12. Registration is open Friday, January 9th through Monday, January 26th.

For more information, visit:

Lesson Program Information Page

To register, visit:

Lesson Registration Link

For questions, email:

Tim Fleming (K-12 Music Coordinator) at tfleming@walpole.k12.ma.us

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).

There will be a PM Club meeting after school on Thursday, January 15th in room 1319 to discuss our February trip. Any student who has paid their student activity fee is welcome to attend. Past trips from this year have included Snowport, Museum of Illusions Boston and Boston Lights. Come join!

The January Best Buddies meeting has been rescheduled to Monday January 12th after school in the cafeteria.

The Photography Club will meet on January 15th. The theme is Monochromatic Pictures! It's our first time ever with this theme and I'm excited to see what you all do with this. These are pictures that are composed of just one color. Any color you choose! So this should be an interesting week for a theme that we have never done before.

The next meeting of the Girl Up Club will be on Tuesday, January 20th, after school in Mrs. Rafferty’s room (3129). The club is continuing to run a Period Product Drive for our December theme, “Menstrual Education and Equity.” We will accept donations of unopened boxes of pads and tampons until January 15th. The drive will also accept heating or cooling packs. There will be a box set up by the nurses office to drop off the donations. For those interested in joining the club, the Google Classroom code is jp2m4wez. We hope to see you there!

Congratulations to the speech and debate team for placing 4th out of 31 schools at Natick High on 12/20.

We are incredibly proud of our speech president and VP for competing in the Holly Pentathlon- 5 events!

Speech Vice-President Aaron Arora- 1st in Informative, 2nd place overall in the pentathlon, 3rd in Duo, 5th in POI, and 5th in Broadcast Editorial.
Speech President Swara Sonchhatra- 3rd in Duo and 6th in Poetry
Anna Pileggi placed 2nd in Children’s Literature.
Debate VP Hemant Selvamurugan placed 2nd in Radio and competed in Broadcast Editorial.
Damien Black placed 3rd in Impromptu Speaking.
Novice Zena Girhotra placed 5th in Prose Reading.
Catarina Miranda placed 6th in Drama Audition and competed in KL.

Thank you to parent judges, Shital Mepani and Sudeep Unhale as well as drivers, Andrea Black, Srinivas Gollakota, Praveen Kulkarni, Sandra Marchione, Shital Mepani, + Florenc Tomori. Thanks to alumni judges: Kayla Ahern, Nidhi Byragoni, Emeli Cruz, Kaylee Ebb, Shayna Jain, and Favor Nyende.

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: The DEADLINE to celebrate your Class of 2026 Senior with a Recognition Ad in the yearbook is coming soon - January 31st is the last day to submit an Ad. Please follow the directions in the link to design and purchase an optional ad for your Senior student. 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!

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

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