We invite all Waltham Public Schools families, caregivers, and community members to participate in Strategic Planning Forums with Superintendent Dr. Brian Reagan. Please come share your feedback and ideas. Choose from one of two sessions either Monday, May 2 at 6:30 pm or Thursday, May 5 at 9:30 am. Both sessions will be held at McDevitt Middle School. Spanish Interpretation provided.

As part of Earth Day events in April, the members of the Kennedy National Junior Honor participated in Earth Day in Waltham. They took part in cleaning up the Charles River and cleaning the grounds of the Kennedy Middle School. Thank you to all those students who participated in these events.

Our Waltham Police Officers, Physical Ed and Health Ed teachers are collaborating to build positive trusting relationships with our students.

At Whittemore, SRO Louie Arevalo frequently stops into PE classes to say hello to the kids and hop into a game or two. Pictured below, Officer Arevalo playing floor hockey with PE teacher PJ Bandini and our Whittemore 5th grade students.

At McDevitt, Health teachers Amy Chiaravalloti and Alex Blenis have partnered with SRO Chip Cononi to educate our middle school students around the dangers of drug and alcohol use and abuse. The Officers discussed peer pressure, risk taking, consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse and what they can do to help if you ever need it. They also shared some personal stories about why they became a Waltham Police Officer. For the past month SRO Cononi has brought many of his colleagues in to speak to our health classes including Sergeants Pat Hart, Pat Dean and Tom Bryant as well as Officers Tyler Treligan, Lee DiCecca, Bruce Cleaver and Rich Anderson.

Date: May 3rd, 2022

Location: Virtual Zoom

Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Presenter: Lynne Hanley

REGISTRATION HERE

The Basic Rights workshop provides families with an introduction to their rights and responsibilities under:

• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

• Massachusetts Special Education Law

The District Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Working Group has been working to create an SEL District Learning Plan. Members held an SEL Caregiver Feedback Session last week to gather feedback on SEL. They collected information about desired SEL goals for our students and shared information about options for a new SEL curriculum at the elementary level. Here is their presentation and there's still time for you to provide feedback through this survey!

On May 21st, the Waltham Public Schools will host the second annual School Parent Awareness Conference at Kennedy Middle School from 8:30 to 4:00.

The mission of this conference is to connect and enable parents and guardians of Waltham students to be powerful advocates for themselves and their children. You will have the opportunity to contribute and engage in meaningful conversations, and gain information along with other Waltham parents, guardians and professionals on topics of major importance to them.

We are offering morning (10:15 - 12:15) and afternoon (1:15 - 3:15) sessions.

Topics include:

• All Things Health Related- WPS Nurses

• Parenting and (still) fostering resilience through COVID-19 - The Resilience Project's Parents & Caregivers Program

• Teen Depression Workshop

• Dealing with Challenging Teen Behaviors: How to Set Rules and Get Them Followed- Wayside

• Building a Community of Equity Belonging & Community for All Waltham Youth - Waltham Partnership for Youth

• Reading Strategies at Home- Director of Reading for WPS

• Raising Self- Reliant Children- WPS Transition Specialist

• Planning Social Emotional Learning for the Waltham Public Schools - SEL District Learning Team for WPS

The Keynote Speaker is Christopher Willard: Resilience in Post-Traumatic Growth in the New Normal.

Interpretation and childcare will be available.

To register, visit this link.

Please email nadenestein@walthampublicschools.org or call 781-314-5428 with questions.

A big congratulations to WHS Senior Eliza Zangerl-Salter who was recently named as a Semifinalist in the 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program by the United States Department of Education Commission on Presidential Scholars.

Eliza's path: WHS nominated her to DESE, then Commissioner Riley of DESE chose her as one of MA's 10 male and 10 female candidates to represent MA. In all, there were 94 candidates from MA considered by the federal Commission on Presidential Scholars. Then, Eliza had to submit her application with essays. Now, only seven students are from MA (6 academic and 1 career/technical). Eliza is one of the six! There are 2 links on their website http://www.ed.gov/psp that show the schools that these 94 candidates and six semifinalists attend. Scholars will be announced this month!

The Waltham Public Schools Office of Pupil Services, along with parents and community members, have been working to put together the second annual Parenting Awareness Conference for Saturday, May 21, 2022.

There will be 10 sessions (5 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon) for parents/caregivers to attend where they will learn about social-emotional learning topics that will help empower them to become advocates for their children and themselves.

Topics include:

• All Things Health Related- WPS Nurses

• Parenting and (still) fostering resilience through COVID-19 - The Resilience Project's Parents & Caregivers Program

• Teen Depression Workshop

• Dealing with Challenging Teen Behaviors: How to Set Rules and Get Them Followed- Wayside

• Building a Community of Equity Belonging & Community for All Waltham Youth - Waltham Partnership for Youth

• Reading Strategies at Home- Director of Reading for WPS

• Raising Self- Reliant Children- WPS Transition Specialist

• Planning Social Emotional Learning for the Waltham Public Schools - SEL District Learning Team for WPS

The Keynote Speaker is Christopher Willard: Resilience in Post-Traumatic Growth in the New Normal

Interpretation and childcare will be available.

To register, visit this link.

Please email nadenestein@walthampublicschools or call 781-314-5428 with questions.

Registration through our new Online Form is available along with the guide to create an Aspen Account. Please contact the Parent Information Center (PIC) by email or phone 781-314-5524 (English) 781-314-5668 (Spanish) if you need assistance with the registration process. Please contact PIC for preschool registration as well. You need to register every year.

We look forward to welcoming your child and working with your family throughout the registration process.

As spring approaches, the district has begun planning summer programming for students. As of March, the following academic programs will be in place based on teacher referrals and student need or per student's Individualized Education Plan. More details to follow from your school or appropriate department. A small number of enrichment programs will be provided by the district for a tuition or no cost (details to be provided next month!).

ELEMENTARY PROGRAMMING

• Title I Elementary Program @ Plympton (July) by teacher referral
• ELL Elementary Summer Institute @ Whittemore (July) by referral from Multilingual Dept.
• Comprehensive Elementary Special Education Programming @ Stanley (June 27 - August 11) as per IEP and Office of Pupil Services

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAMMING

• Title I Middle School Step Up Program @ Kennedy and McDevitt (July) by teacher referral
• ELL Secondary Summer Institute @ McDevitt (July) by referral from Multilingual Dept.
• Comprehensive Secondary Special Education Programming @ Kennedy (June 27 - August 11) as per IEP and Office of Pupil Services

HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMMING

• ELL Secondary Summer Institute @ McDevitt (July) by referral from Multilingual Dep
• High School Credit Recovery @ McDevitt (July) by referral from high school
• Comprehensive Secondary Special Education Programming @ Kennedy (June 27 - August 11) as per IEP and Office of Pupil Services
• Work Transition @ WHS (June 27 - August 11) as per IEP and Office of Pupil Services

Friendly reminder that we continue to conduct weekly COVID testing through the end of the school year. Test kits are still being distributed for weekly Wednesday night testing. Any questions, please click the link below or contact your school nurse.

https://www.walthampublicschools.org/parents/home-covid-testing/

NEED HEALTH INSURANCE???

If you or your family does not have health insurance, please contact Mary Petry, RN at: marypetry@walthampublicschools.org

The clinic will be from 10AM – 4PM on Saturday, May 14th, 2022, for anyone age 5+.

MAY 4 & 18, 2022

MEMORIAL DAY, NO SCHOOL

MAY 30, 2022

JOB OPPORTUNITIES WITH WPS!