WHS Principal's Update 8/7/26

On Sunday night, please take a screenshot of your schedule from SIS or Print It! Sometimes our wifi may give you difficulties and you want to access your schedule easily!

• Wake Up Bright and Early Monday Morning!
• Get Ready!
• Log into SIS Student Portal
• Check Your Schedule and Take a Screenshot Before You Get To School!
• Make sure you have your ID and fully charged chromebook
• Let's GOOOOOOO!

Wellington High School follows the district dress code found in the SY27 Student Family Handbook on page 21. The dress code is in effect for the entire school day. This also applies to students who are dismissed earlier in the day and who return to the campus.

• Be respectful of yourself and others
• All shorts and skirts must be at least mid-thigh
• All shirts must have sleeves
• No exposed midriffs or visible undergarments
• No see-through clothing
• No vulgarity/inappropriate graphics
• Appropriate and safe footwear

• NO DROP OFF AT THE MAIN ENTRANCE!!!
• Gates open at 6:45am with supervision, the bell rings at 7:30am
• Free Breakfast beginning at 6:45am
• Please anticipate LONG DROP OFF LINES! Be patient and work together.
• Plan accordingly! On any given morning, we have 600-800 cars dropping students off... use the entire 45 minute that our gates are open!
• Arrive with plenty of time to get through drop off line and then metal detector line to get on campus! (Treat it like TSA at the airport until you get your groove!)
• ALL students will be required to go through the metal detectors and are subject to search.
• Tardies will begin Thursday

Location & Procedure

• Parents and guardians who plan to drive their student to school will enter the campus via the bus loop, all arriving from the North, on Greenview Shores, with a RIGHT TURN ONLY!

• There is NO LEFT TURN TO GET INTO THE SCHOOL DURING DROP OFF!

• NO STUDENT DROP OFF AT THE MAIN ENTRANCE LIGHT/MARQUEE... DROP OFF AT BUS LOOP ONLY!
• The Main Entrance is only for WHS faculty, buses, and students with injuries or in need of assistance with permission in advance from the Principal!

• Remember, it is a RIGHT IN and a RIGHT OUT!
• If you are coming from Southshore, you will go past the marquee and stop light, make a u-turn at Morning Glory Drive.
• If you are coming from Wellington Trace, stay in the right lane to merge into the entrance of the car loop!

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW TO VIEW PARENT DROP OFF LOCATION AND PROCEDURES

DO NOT CROSS THE STREET UNLESS YOU ARE AT THE CROSSWALK AT THE LIGHT!!!

1. Enter through the pass through gate near the bus loop.

2. Enter through the main entrance.

Bike Riders and Scooters!

1. You must thoroughly lock your bike or scooter at the bike rack near the student entrance to the building at the bus loop (by the metal detectors). There is a camera pointed at the bike rack.

2. IF you do not lock up your bike or you park in a different location, you do this at your own risk.

Students may not park golf carts on Wellington High School Campus. There is no designated area for golf carts. Thank you for your cooperation!

Student drivers must have a parking decal in order to park on campus! If you did not get your decal or have not made arrangements with Dr. Moore, you may not park on campus day 1!

Please review your Parking Pass Contract prior to arriving on campus!

Dr. Moore will be in the student parking lot monitoring decals Monday morning. Please reach out to him if you have any questions at eric.moore@palmbeachschools.org

"Here Comes The Bus" is an easy-to-use website and application that enables you to see the location of your child’s school bus on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer. You will be able to know when the bus is near your stop, so you can send your child out at just the right time.

Transportation Call Center: (561) 357-1110, Monday-Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Parent Help and Support

In order to create an HCTB account, students MUST be registered to a regular or ESE bus route:

• Regular routes require Register Your Ride
• ESE routes require a transportation request through your school (if not already assigned to an ESE route)
• The Student SIS PIN is required to add a student to HCTB, accessible through the SIS Parent Gateway
• Parents who do not have access to the SIS Gateway will need to request the Student PIN from their child’s school Step-by-Step directions for downloading the mobile application and registering for HCTB can be found here and on the District Transportation website.
• The District is excited about the ability of HCTB to provide more timely bus scheduling information, as well as improving the overall transportation experience for parents and students.

1. ALL students MUST have a valid student ID and lanyard to enter campus. If you did not get your ID yet, please arrive between 6:45am-7:00am so you can get one and get to class on time, avoid the long lines!!!

• 10th-12th graders: An ID from last year will be fine until Wednesday, however, if you have any off campus classes... you will not be able to leave campus without showing your current schedule on your ID.

2. All students will enter campus through the metal detectors! All bottles, stanley cups, and large containers must be opened for inspection. If we cannot see clearly what is inside, you will be asked to empty the cup or container.

3. IF you have not gotten your chromebook and charger yet, you will report directly to the IT office to pick one up. You must have a chromebook daily to function on campus, as we will be using MINGA, a paperless hall pass system, which will require electronic access on a school issued device. Once the first bell rings, we will stop the line and send you to class. You can come back to get one during your lunch period.

4. Report to first period when the bell rings!!! We will have Link Crew Leaders throughout the campus helping students find their way if needed. Use your schedule that you took a screenshot of when you woke up this morning!!!!! Some schedules and classes had to be adjusted, so just check one more time!!!

5. Once in first period, your teachers will give further instructions.

6. If you have any of the following courses, please report to the locations below on your first day:

• Exec Internship ½, ¾: report to Mrs. Toledo in the Lecture Hall for Instructions!!

• Vol/Sch Commu Serv (aka ..student aide): report to Mr. Tanton in 1154-B for Instructions!

• Vol Pub Serv (aka..off campus comm. serv): report to Mr. Saperstein in the Media Ctr for instructions!

There will be no schedule changes for the first 2 weeks of school. The focus will be on new registrations, leveling classes after AICE Scores are published, and monitoring.

• If you are missing a class period, you will report to the media center to see your counselor during the period that is missing!
• If you are missing A CORE COURSE REQUIRED FOR GRADUATION (Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Global Perspectives), you may report to the media center during the class you wish to drop and replace with your core course needed for graduation.
• If you are missing an ACADEMY course required to remain in the academy (Fire, Marketing, Fine/Perf Arts, Cyber-Security, Vet), you will email Vanessa.Douglass@palmbeachschools.org, she will communicate with you via email and adjust your schedule
• ALL OTHER REQUESTS WILL BE DENIED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Follow the schedule below for the first 2 weeks.

Check out the menu below for our newly renovated WHS Cafe!!! Breakfast and Lunch are free to ALL students!

Your lunch time is based on the building you are in 5th period!

• If you are in building 100, 400, 500, 600, PE, Portables, SGA, BLAST, LInk Crew, LIA - You go to 1st Lunch
• If you are in building 200, 300, Chorus, Band, Theatre - You go to 2nd Lunch

Gates will open to the bus loop for parent pick up at 2:30pm. Once again, it is a RIGHT IN and a RIGHT OUT. When parents arrive at the parent pick up in the back of the cafeteria, there is a big loop.

Parents should verify with their students that they are ready to be picked up and the student will be there (not in the band room).

We ask the students to move forward and the parents MUST drive forward.
Parents pick up and go 😀

Students Exits for walkers or scooter/bike riders at the gate pass through in the bus loop or main exit.

Please do not cross the street unless you are at a crosswalk or light! Very Dangerous!!!

1. Have your ID ON AND READY

2. Make your way to the bus loop

3. Check the information board

4. Find your bus route

5. The # next to your route corresponds to the spot the bus is sitting in.

6. Get on the bus (bus route numbers are displayed on a black board with white numbers/letters)

7. Scan your ID when you board the bus

If you have an off campus class 5th, 6th or 7th period and you are a student athlete or in a club, do not return to school until 3:15pm. IF you arrive earlier, you will be turned away. The focus between 2:50-3:15 is to exit all cars from the school in a one way direction. Thank you for your cooperation!!

Thank you to all of those who joined us for New Student Orientation on Wednesday evening! I know it was a lot of information and it was a FULL HOUSE! WOW!

As promised, below is the link to the presentation. Take your time to go through it and feel free to reach out with any questions!!!

The Florida State Board of Education has adopted Rule 6A-1.09953, Statewide Uniform Weighted Grading System in Honors and Articulated Accelerated Courses, establishing a statewide weighted grading system for students in District and charter schools entering Grade 9 during the 2026–2027 school year and thereafter.

What This Means

• The new statewide weighted grading scale applies only to students entering Grade 9 in the 2026–2027 school year and beyond.

• Students who entered Grade 9 during the 2025–2026 school year or earlier will continue to have their grade point averages calculated using the weighted grading system that was in effect when they entered high school.

• Students entering Grade 9 in 2026–2027 who earned high school credit while in middle school prior to the 2026–2027 school year will have those weighted course grades recalculated to align with the new statewide weighted grading system.

Dear Students and Parents,

Wellington Community High School uses Xello for all college and career planning. Students will use Xello to link their Common App accounts and submit requests for counselor and teacher documents. Important: If a student has already invited their counselor on Common App, they still must link their Common App account to Xello. This connection is essential for counselors to send the required documents (such as transcripts, School Reports, or Letters of Recommendations) to colleges on time.

How to Access Xello: Log in through the student portal → search “XELLO” → click the Xello tile.

Helpful Resources:

• Student Guide for Linking Common App and Xello (article)
• Linking Your Common App to Xello (video)
• How to request counselor forms/teacher evaluations (article)
• Requesting transcripts for non-common app schools (article)

Counselor Contacts (SY26–27):

● Julia Saye (A–C): julia.saye@palmbeachschools.org

● Rosemyrtle Louis (D–G): rosemyrtle.louis@palmbeachschools.org

● Danielle Fairclough (H–J): danielle.fairclough@palmbeachschools.org

● Laquania Morgan (K–M): laquania.morgan@palmbeachschools.org

● Timothy Mickens (N–R): timothy.mickens@palmbeachschools.org

● Terry Roberto (S–Z): terry.roberto@palmbeachschools.org

● Claudia Gallardo (ESOL/ELL): claudia.gallardo@palmbeachschools.org

To learn more, visit Xello’s website to see how it can support your college and career

planning.

Thank you—we look forward to a great year ahead!

Sincerely,

Danielle Fairclough

Director of School Counseling

Wellington Community High School

• ALWAYS have the opportunity to make up work without academic penalty (for full credit) upon their return to campus

• Ensure parent/guardian contacts the appropriate support center to excuse the absence to avoid issues with Driver’s Licenses!!!

• Are responsible to:

• Check SIS and Google Classroom for missing assignments, tests, quizzes

• Ask teachers for the make up assignments, quizzes, and/or tests

• Complete make up work within allotted time

• 1 day of absence= 1 day to make up work

(unless extended time accommodation on 504, IEP or ELL Plan)

No Virtual Option at WHS: classes are live in person!

If your student is playing or hopes to play a Fall Sport, please plan on attending our Fall Sports Parent Meeting on Tuesday, August 11 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. The schedule for Tuesday evening will be:

• 6-6:30 p.m.- Parents Arrive in Theatre

• 6:30-7 p.m.- Athletic Director Presentation in Theatre

• 7-8 p.m.- Individual Sport Presentation in breakout rooms

Topics of discussion will include:

• Practice/Competition Schedule
• Fundraising Opportunities
• Travel Plans
• Communication Plans
• Volunteer Needs
• Field Trip Paperwork

See you then!!!

If you are interested in representing your grade level in SGA, you will need to run for Class Office. Fill out the application and drop it off in the SGA basket in the Main Office by Friday, August 14th. After you have turned in the application you must attend the mandatory meeting during your assigned lunch in the LDLC (Lecture Hall Area) on Monday, August 17th.

If you have any questions please reach out the SGA Advisors:

Vanessa Douglass - vanessa.douglass@palmbeachschools.org

Gemma Ford - gemma.ford@palmbeachschools.org

Wellington High School's HOSA chapter is a vibrant, student-led organization dedicated to fostering a passion for medicine, science, and community service among our student body. We offer unique opportunities for members to collaborate through specialized leadership groups, participate in engaging activities, and grow as future healthcare professionals. We encourage all interested sophomores, juniors, and seniors to read the full article to learn about our mission, eligibility criteria, and how to apply before the August 29th deadline. Click here for more info

National Honor Society Requirements for New Members: Rising Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors with a 3.65 HPA (Weighted) or a 3.5 GPA (Unweighted).

Completed 25 hours of community service after May 15, 2026 (Work hours do not count towards the volunteer requirement for NHS. Please review the link for student volunteer opportunities.)

2 Teachers to complete a Recommendation Form (You just need to list the names of 2 teachers on the application and I will send them a form to complete. They do not need to write you a letter.)

Record of Positive Behavior (No Referrals)

We will begin reviewing NHS applications on August 12th and must be submitted electronically by September 25th in order to be considered. Incomplete and/or late applications will not be accepted. The application will be posted on Grade Level Support Classrooms and the NHS Application Classroom.

*If you were accepted into NHS last year, you do not need to reapply; however, you must keep up with your requirements.

*Class of 2028 and later must apply before their senior year.

*NHS Volunteer Information and Opportunities

*Students with questions regarding the National Honor Society should reach out to me directly.

Contact: Dr. Lenahan, NHS Adviser

brendan.lenahan@palmbeachschools.org

Google Classroom Code: db2rmclt

Follow us on Instagram @wellingtonhigh.nhs

The final adoption of the ordinance is currently scheduled for the Village Council meeting on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, and additional changes may be possible. Highlights of the proposed ordinance include:

• Operators must be 15 years old.
• Operators must carry government issued photo ID (school ID acceptable).
• Speed limit of 15mph on sidewalks/pathways.
• Micromobility (non-human powered) devices are strictly prohibited on or at:
• Public bridle trails
• Wellington Town Center
• Neighborhood parks, boat dock, and on playground equipment
• The Heart Trail at Village Park on day/times indicated on posted signs
• Enforcement:
• by the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office as a non-criminal traffic infraction, punishable as a pedestrian violation pursuant to Chapter 318

We will provide additional updates following the August 11th Village Council meeting once the ordinance has received final consideration. We do anticipate a grace, or warning period, along with educational campaign prior to enforcement.

Additional Safety Programs and Tips:

• Attached is an E-bike safety course for teens to share with parents who are interested. This FREE course is for all of Palm Beach County teens; however, Wellington teens are given priority over the next 2 weeks to enroll.
• Bike Safety:
• A helmet is required under state law for all bicyclists, including e-bikes & e-scooters, under the age of 16; however, it is recommended that all bicycle riders wear a helmet, regardless of age.

The Village launched a dedicated webpage regarding all things micromobility, including current information regarding the Micromobility Ordinance scheduled for 2nd reading on August 11, 2026 and council final consideration. The webpage can be found at wellingtonfl.gov/micromobility.

PBSO District 8 will have dedicated deputies at each school zone during arrival and dismissal from August 10, 2026 – August 21, 2026. This high-visibility traffic safety initiative will address consistent issues like parents illegally parking, loading and unloading from roadways, and traffic congestion. In addition, PBSO will have up to 2 deputies floating to assist with helmet education and micromobility outreach.

We are asking everyone to be mindful and adhere to speed limits in the Village. Our school zone safety program will resume on August 10, 2026, which means speed cameras in our school zones will be enforcing and issuing violations for vehicles travelling over 11+mph over the posted speed limit.

• When school zone is active: Speed cameras enforce the 20-mph speed limit.
• When school zone is not active, during the day: speed cameras enforce the regular posted speed limit. Speed cameras stop enforcing at the end of school dismissal.
• Violation threshold: A violation is issued only when a vehicle is travelling 11 mph or more of the applicable speed.

For more information on specific school zones, enforcement hours and camera locations, please visit wellingtonfl.gov/schoolzonesafety.