Conversations With Julie Galles

Dear Wesley Family and Friends,

As I begin my third year at Wesley, and my first as the permanent Head of School, I am filled with gratitude and excited anticipation for what lies ahead. As we cautiously emerge from under the cloud of the pandemic, the road ahead shines with opportunities to connect, collaborate, and grow. Wesley is stronger due to the discovery and learning of last year, from the meaningful and very successful accreditation process (the school was awarded a new full 7-year term!), to the powerful parent dialogues in CODI and parent roundtables, to the accomplishments of our students in the classrooms. We are moving into this year with strength, confidence, and joy.

Speaking of joy, I know that I needed it to be part of my theme for the year. As the community gathered more often last spring, the joy of children interacting with their school and home adults, as well as the adults enjoying each other, was palpable. We will therefore be using the theme of Joyful Moments this year as we actively seek to foster and identify both small and large instances of joyfulness. As I mentioned to the faculty and staff during our opening meetings, joy is different from happiness in that it comes from a deeper place and can persist even in the face of other strong emotions such as sadness and loss. Joy is tied up with gratitude and the two feed each other.

Throughout this newsletter, I hope you will see evidence of plenty of joyful moments, from our highly successful summer program to our wonderful new faculty and staff members. Even the campus holds renewed joy as spaces were reconfigured and play areas and equipment were refurbished with pops of color. I am excited about opportunities for parents to engage more fully with their children’s joyful learning, as well as attending to their own through parent education, grade level potlucks, and myriad chances to participate in the life of the school via Parents’ Association events, CODI events, and more.

Thank you for your involvement in our special school, and I look forward to connecting and sharing the joy of this new year

Julie Galles
Head of School