After a very busy December, especially these last few days, we all welcomed the start of winter break this afternoon. It was fun to see so many students and staff dressed up in festive attire today (featuring quite the array of holiday sweaters!). I hope you have a restful and enjoyable holiday, and we will see everyone back on Monday, January 5.

Congratulations and thanks to all of the students and teachers in our music and visual arts programs who shared their talents with the community during “concert season” this month! Our Choral, Band, Jazz, and Orchestra groups held beautiful concerts over the last few weeks, and this week’s orchestra concert also featured a stunning display of student artwork in the commons. Remember that WayCam posts recordings of these performances at this link, which is always a fun way to share these special experiences with friends and family!

In just its second year, the Wayland Chapter of DECA had 58 students participate in the District Competition in Boxborough for two days last week. For those unfamiliar with DECA, it  is an international organization for high school and college students that promotes business education and competition: https://www.deca.org/ 

Thanks to advisor and business teacher Fred Lehmann; to staff members Kitty Smith, Ed DeHoratius, and Nic Patrie for judging and chaperoning; and to all the participating students who worked so hard in preparation of their competitive events. Congratulations to students Jeffrey Zhang, Anish Vishwanathan, Isaac Hanna, Mustafa Kheir, Brennan Smith, Tobi Kylberger, and Carlos Villatoro who qualified for the State Competition in March.

Thank you to everyone who donated to the gift drive organized by our Connect Program that benefited children at the Yawkey Konbit Kreyol Center in Dorchester. Earlier this week, our Connect students delivered toys to children and spent two hours in classrooms with kids as young as six months and as old as five years old. Thank you to the community for your generosity in making this special experience possible!

When we return from winter break, we will have three full weeks of classes until the end of second quarter on January 23. For your advance planning, midyear exams will be held on January 22 and January 23. We will send more detailed information about testing and bus schedules in early January.

Winter sports are well underway! You may follow our teams and cheer them on by bookmarking this schedule on the WHS website.

Best wishes for a happy & healthy new year!

~ Allyson Mizoguchi, Principal