Dear Hardy families,

Highlight from the Past Week

On Monday, we had a fourth grader serve as student principal of the day.

Placement Information

As a reminder, across the district, we are beginning the placement process for the 2026-2027 school year. This applies to students currently in grades K-4. For incoming K families, we will share more information about placement at Kindergarten Orientation in early May, and provide an opportunity for families to share input for consideration at this time.

As always, when doing class placement, a great deal of time and consideration is given to achieving our goal, which is to make the best possible placement for every child at Hardy as we work to create balanced and heterogeneous classes.听

Your child鈥檚 teacher will work with the other member(s) of their grade level team, including special educators, specialists, and me to create effective instructional groups. The following factors will be considered: class size, gender, social relationships that work well in the classroom environment, and individual learning characteristics.听

If you feel you have a significant concern about an emotional, social, or academic issue that you think that we are not yet aware of, you are welcome to complete a Serious Concerns Form. As our goal is to form well-balanced classrooms, we听cannot听consider:

• Requests for specific teachers or teaching/personality styles 听
• Requests to be with specific friends

While this form is optional, if you wish to share any serious concerns, please complete the following form by this Friday, April 17th. Parent input submitted after this date will not be considered.听

See link for optional serious concerns form:

Have a great week and a great upcoming April vacation!

Respectfully yours,

Grant Smith

Principal

Dear Hardy families,

Highlights from the Past Week

On Monday, we had a special CAS (Creative Arts & Sciences) program for 3rd-5th grade which featured a planetarium that was set up in our gym. Students enjoyed learning about the solar system in this highly engaging space.听

Staffing News for Next Year

Fourth grade teacher Avery Budnik will be teaching fifth grade next year (as there is an additional section being added). We鈥檒l be hiring a new fourth grade teacher. 听

Placement Information

Across the district, we are beginning the placement process for the 2026-2027 school year. This applies to students currently in grades K-4. For incoming K families, we will share more information about placement at Kindergarten Orientation in early May, and provide an opportunity for families to share input for consideration at this time.

As always, when doing class placement, a great deal of time and consideration is given to achieving our goal, which is to make the best possible placement for every child at Hardy as we work to create balanced and heterogeneous classes.听

Your child鈥檚 teacher will work with the other member(s) of their grade level team, including special educators, specialists, and me to create effective instructional groups. The following factors will be considered: class size, gender, social relationships that work well in the classroom environment, and individual learning characteristics.听

If you feel you have a significant concern about an emotional, social, or academic issue that you think that we are not yet aware of, you are welcome to complete a Serious Concerns Form. As our goal is to form well-balanced classrooms, we听cannot听consider:

• Requests for specific teachers or teaching/personality styles 听
• Requests to be with specific friends

While this form is optional, if you wish to share any serious concerns, please complete the following form by Friday, April 17th. Parent input submitted after this date will not be considered.听

See link for optional serious concerns form:

Have a great week!

Respectfully yours,

Grant Smith

Principal

Dear Hardy families,

Highlights from the Past Week

We wrapped up parent-teacher conferences as parents/guardians checked in on student goals/progress and discussed ways that the families and the school can continue to partner to promote student success.

On Friday, we had our School Spirit Day for the month of March. Go Huskies!

Attention 3rd-5th Grade Families: MCAS Schedule Reminder

Grade 3
ELA session 1: April 13
ELA session 2: April 14
Math session 1: May 11
Math session 2: May 12

Grade 4
ELA session 1: April 9
ELA session 2: April 10
Math session 1: May 7
Math session 2: May 8

Grade 5
ELA session 1: April 6
ELA session 2: April 7
Math session 1: May 4
Math session 2: May 5
Science session 1: May 14
Science session 2: May 15

No School Reminder for Good Friday

We will be off from school this upcoming Friday in honor of Good Friday.

Have a great week!

Respectfully yours,

Grant Smith

Principal

Dear Hardy families,

Highlights from the Past Week

On Monday, we had a special CAS (Creative Arts and Sciences) program featuring Hip-Hop music led by the group Ill Style and Peace Productions.听

On Thursday, we had Bingo Night, which served as a fun-filled community building event. Thanks to the fifth grade committee for planning this event for our community.

On Friday, we had an all school meeting led by our first grade students who shared their learning of seasonal patterns of change. We also had student talents including a second grader doing a handstand, a third grader showing off basketball skills, and a third grader performing on the piano.听

Parent-Teacher Conferences

As we begin parent-teacher conferences this week, parents/guardians are reminded that the purpose of the spring conference is to check in on student goals/progress and discuss ways that the families and the school can continue to partner to promote student success.听

Pick Up Patrol Reminder

Now that the good weather has finally arrived students are enjoying riding their bikes or walking to school and visiting Fells on Wednesdays. Please make sure that you update Pick Up Patrol to reflect these new dismissal plans. Thank you for helping us ensure a smooth and safe dismissal process.听

Reminder for parents/caregivers doing drop off/pick up & parents/guardians of students riding bikes

We have received feedback from school safety officer Kathy Poirier that I want to share with you:

Cars on Weston Rd. during drop off/pick up
Parents/caregivers are asked to not stop on Weston Road when Weston Road has a green light and wave children on to cross the street. It causes major confusion. Traffic is to continue on a green light and only stop when the light changes to a red light.

Bike riders听
Parents/guardians of students riding bikes to school are asked to remind their children to wait for the pedestrian light and do not cross the street when a motorist waves them on.

Shamrock Shuffle Walk & Ride to School Day

On Tuesday we will have the Shamrock Shuffle Walk and Ride to School Day.听

No School Reminder

This upcoming Friday, we will have no school in honor of Eid al-Fitr.听

Have a great week!

Respectfully yours,

Grant Smith

Principal

Hello Hardy families,

Highlights from the Past Week

Kindergarten classes took part in novel engineering, having the chance to build bridges and ships using everyday building materials such as cardboard, construction paper, and masking tape.

On Friday, we had Buddies as students had the chance to do an activity with their assigned Buddies in a partner class. First and third graders played a memory based matching game.听

Staffing News

It is with mixed emotions that I share the news that beloved Hardy second grade teacher Mrs. Maggipinto has decided to retire at the end of this school year. Mrs. Maggipinto has served as a teacher at Hardy for 2 years but has taught overall for 31 years, 29 of which were in WPS. She has served as an amazing asset to our district! While we still have several months left this school year to benefit from the talent of Mrs. Maggipinto, please join me in congratulating Mrs. Maggipinto and letting her know how grateful we are for her incredible dedication to the Hardy students & the 无尽资源采集 community!

Note for Parents/Caregivers Doing Drop-off/Pick-up听

Parents/caregivers doing drop-off/pick-up are asked to be mindful that there is a marked crosswalk with zebra stripping that connects the handicapped parking spaces to the front plaza. We are now staffing this crosswalk with a staff member that has a handheld stop sign. Please follow the direction of this staff member and when the stop sign is in use, traffic should come to a complete stop, allowing students and staff members to safely cross. Thank you for your cooperation.

Attention First Grade Parents/Guardians

You are invited to our all school meeting this upcoming Friday at 8:45 AM in the cafeteria. This will be led by our first graders.听

Have a great week!

Respectfully yours,

Grant Smith

Principal

Dear Hardy families,

Highlights from the Past Week

During Fitness & Health classes, Mr. Guzzi did snowshoeing with 2nd-5th grade students across the Hardy field.听
On Friday, we had our School Spirit Day for the month of February. Students showed off their Hardy Husky spirit!

SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) Update

In conjunction with the National SEL Day, which is taking place on March 2nd, I wanted to share an update on SEL. At Hardy, we have a dedicated SEL block, in which students are learning from the district鈥檚 Second Step Curriculum. We also have a daily morning meeting, which is focused on building SEL skills in the context of classroom community. Want to learn more about social-emotional learning?
Watch this video from Committee for Children:

Have a great week!

Respectfully yours,

Grant Smith

Principal

Hello Hardy!

I hope everyone had a relaxing February vacation!

Highlights from the Week before Vacation

On Friday, we had a special talent focused all-school meeting. Thanks to Mr. Corcoran for planning this special event for our school!
We celebrated Valentine鈥檚 Day with Valentine鈥檚 Day cards being shared and special holiday related activities.听

Special Thanks

Thanks to the 4th grade parents for providing staff with a delicious 鈥淪oup-er Bowl鈥� themed lunch the week before vacation. We appreciate your ongoing support!听

Have a great week!

Respectfully yours,

Grant Smith

Principal

Dear Hardy families,

Highlights from the Past Week

On Wednesday, we had the Cardiac Cruise Walk & Ride to School Day. Thanks to Mr. Guzzi for planning this event for our school.

On Wednesday, we had a special Creative Arts and Sciences enrichment program featuring the Tanglewood Marionettes. The K-2nd grade students saw 鈥淭he Fairy Circus鈥� and the 3rd-5th grade students saw 鈥淎rabian Adventure.鈥澨�

On Thursday, we had International Night as we celebrated the rich diversity in the Hardy community with a night of special performances, country booths, and delicious food. Thanks to parent organizers Sonia Kolenchary and Ada Franchino for organizing such an important annual event for our community!

On Friday, we had a Patriots Spirit Day as students and staff wore their Patriots gear to school to show support for the home team as they went into the Super Bowl!

Throughout the week students enjoyed recess playing in a winter wonderland of snow.听

Fifth Grade Clubs

In an effort to promote connection across the entire fifth grade and provide opportunities for choice-based experiences for students, we have started two clubs for fifth graders. Mrs. O鈥橞rien is leading a Beads Club and I am leading a Chess Club. Each club meets once a week during the fifth grade lunch. While it was optional to join the clubs, a vast majority of students signed up to participate. We are excited to provide this positive enrichment for our students!

Have a great week & great upcoming February vacation!

Respectfully yours,

Grant Smith

Principal

Dear Hardy families,

Highlights from the Past Week

On Friday, we had a 5th grade Math-In as parents/guardians played highly engaging games with students that helped to promote math understanding.听

Report Card Information

As we move into the midpoint of the school year, I wanted to reach out and provide you with important information and resources related to our Standards Based Report Card (SBRC).听Report Cards will be available in the Parent Portal this Friday, January 30 at 3:00 pm.

1. Our has many useful links and information.听
2. A is available for families.听
3. Paper copies of the report card are no longer provided by each school. The Standards Based Report Card can be accessed using the Parent Portal. Please view the website for those .听

Please reach out to the teacher if you cannot view your child’s report card on PowerSchool.听
If you need help logging into PowerSchool, please contact portal@wellesleyps.org for login assistance.

Feb. 2 – District Website Focus Group Opportunity

WPS parents and caregivers are invited to participate in an online focus group to share your insights on current WPS website needs, including accessibility, resource organization, and communication efficiency. The perspective of parents and caregivers is essential to building a platform that better serves our WPS community. The focus group will be held on Monday, February 2, from 7-8 p.m. on Zoom. . Thank you for your continued commitment to our district鈥檚 and for helping us innovate our digital tools to better support our students and families!

Kindergarten Registration is Open!

Kindergarten registration is for children 5 years of age on or before August 31, 2026 is now open. Please see the听 for information and document requirements. Register ASAP! Families who complete the two-part registration process by March 1, 2026 will have the opportunity to attend a Kindergarten welcome event on the morning of March 7.听
Registration for Grades 1-12 will open February 7.

Have a great week!

Respectfully yours,

Grant Smith

Principal

Dear Hardy families,

Highlights from the Past Week

On Friday, our mascot Hero the Husky visited classrooms that hit their Paws target. Shhh鈥on鈥檛 tell Hardy students this top secret (that some of you already know) – kudos to parent volunteer Jennifer Saull, who comes in each Friday and puts on the Hero costume and accompanies me to classrooms to congratulate students.

On Friday, we had an all-school meeting featuring our second graders. Students taught the school about the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We also had student talents on display.

Save the Date: Presentation on A.I. for families

On Thursday, Feb. 12, from 7:00-8:00 PM in the high school auditorium, there will be a presentation on A.I. for WPS families. This will be led by Greg Kulowiec, who is a highly respected expert in the field of A.I. in education. Here is a description of the event:
AI emerged nearly three years ago and all learners and educators became members of an experiment that no one was prepared for. This presentation is designed to help parents and guardians better understand the technology, the impact on the learner, their brain and both the risks and opportunities presented by generative AI. Presented from the lens of a parent and educator, Greg will help families enhance their understanding to be prepared to have better conversations around this technology.听

For more information and to RSVP:

Library Volunteer Opportunity听

Support our growing readers! With over 900 books cycling in and out of the library each week, our school library is looking for a few volunteers to help keep our shelves organized. This ensures our students can always find the books they鈥檙e looking for quickly and easily! Even a “pop-in” visit just once or twice a month makes a huge difference in keeping things running smoothly for the kids.听
If you鈥檙e interested in helping please send a quick email to Mrs. Perriello at perrielloe@wellesleyps.org鈥攚e鈥檇 love to have you!

Have a great week!

Respectfully yours,

Grant Smith

Principal