WPS Superintendent Updates

More than 350 high school juniors and seniors from across the Commonwealth, including WHS students Sarah M. and Ronan M., gathered at the State House on Friday, April 4th, for Student Government Day. Participants spent the morning learning from government officials and taking part in a joint committee hearing, where they debated the proposed “Act Promoting Safe Technology Use and Distraction-Free Education for Youth.” Later, students convened in the House and Senate Chambers to hear from members of the executive branch and participate in a simulated legislative debate. Notably, Sarah was selected to serve as the Student Governor and delivered a speech to both student representatives and elected officials.

This fall, Ronan will attend Northeastern University, and Sarah will attend Yale.

This past Saturday, WHS student Nirjara Akkole competed in the “Best in State” Championship of the Lions Youth Speech Competition. Selected as one of the top five finalists from over 600 entries statewide, Nirjara delivered an outstanding performance — and we are proud to share that she was crowned the 2025 Massachusetts State Champion. Congratulations, Nirjara!

The start and end times have been approved for the 2025-2026 school year.

Please note that the four elementary schools rotate start and end times every three years. The 2025-2026 school year represents year one of the next rotation. Consequently, Elm Street and Old Post Road Schools will start at 9:00 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. Boyden and Fisher Schools will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m. The Daniel Feeney Preschool hours have been adjusted to accommodate the change in schedule. We want to provide this information to families early to plan accordingly.

The 2025-2026 District Calendar is scheduled to be released the first week of May. We don’t anticipate any significant change to the calendar. Grades 1-12 are scheduled to start on Wednesday, August 27th. Pre-K and K are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 2nd.

Next month, families will receive an invitation email to participate in the WPS district-wide Family School Climate Survey. The purpose of the survey is to learn more about you and your child’s experiences in our schools. We have partnered with K12 Insight to administer the survey, compile the results, and analyze feedback. Walpole Public Schools values your feedback, and we appreciate your ongoing contribution as we strive to cultivate an optimal learning environment for our students.

Calling Writers of All Ages!

The Walpole Cultural Council is pleased to announce the return of Walpole Writes, a town-wide writing contest open to all residents and non-resident students of Walpole schools.

First, second, and third-place winners will be selected and publicly announced in five age groups and two categories. The age groups are elementary school (grades K-2), elementary school (grades 3-5), middle school, high school, and adult. The categories are short stories and poems. Writers may choose to write about any topic.

The contest is open through April 30th, and winners will be announced in May. To enter, complete the entry form and upload your submission by April 30th. Winners will be recognized at a celebration at the Walpole Public Library mid-June. Additional event details will be shared at a later date. The Walpole Cultural Council will create a publication of the winning entries. Walpole Writes is sponsored by Dedham Savings Bank.

We are excited to announce that Extended Day will be running a Pilot Summer Program this upcoming summer and registration is now live. We are anticipating registration to fill quickly and will do our best to enroll as many waitlisted students as possible.

This year, the camp will run for 4 weeks at Fisher Elementary and offer an Extended Day PM option for families. Registration will be open for incoming first through sixth graders. Registration will be available for individual weeks and families will have the option to register for all 4 weeks at a discounted rate.

Click HERE to access the Summer Camp Information and Registration Information for the Summer of 2025 or reach out to Dan Santangelo (dsantangelo@walpole.k12.ma.us) or Evan Storlazzi (estorlazzi@walpole.k12.ma.us) with any questions.

We still have families on the census who have not yet enrolled in Kindergarten. These numbers are essential for planning the 2025-2026 school year.

To pre-register a kindergarten age-qualified* child, a parent or legal guardian must complete the online registration form (scroll down to kindergarten pre-registration).

If you are unable to drop off documents at your neighborhood school during the day, the Superintendents’ Office (135 School Street, Room 204) is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM, Tuesday 7:30 AM - 6:00 PM and Friday 7:30 AM - 2:30 PM.

*Kindergarten age-qualified children are those who turn five (5) years old before September 1 of the school year for which they are pre-registering.

To find out more about registration, click here.