OMS School Counseling Newsletter

Dear Families and Caregivers,

November has been a meaningful and productive month for our counseling team! We recently completed the Signs of Suicide Program and mental health screening, reaching over 850 students. Our counselors connected with many students and families following the screenings and provided referrals where needed. Thank you so much for your support throughout this important initiative.

On November 14th, we observed Children’s Grief Awareness Month in collaboration with The Children’s Room (TCR). TCR partnered with our counseling staff to host engaging lunchtime activities and an awareness table. Students had the chance to honor pets and loved ones they've lost and to share messages of encouragement for their peers. The turnout and participation were inspiring.

Additionally, we wrapped up our first round of small groups for the year. Selected students participated in a short-term executive functioning group, which will be offered again in January. In the new year, we’re also excited to introduce a short-term group focusing on managing symptoms of anxiety and depression. Please feel free to reach out if you feel these supports would benefit your student.

We also like to have a bit of fun while we work. The OMS counselors enjoyed twin day on November 26th sponsored by the OMS Student Council. See the picture above!

Warm regards,
The OMS Counseling Team

MCLean Webinar: A conversation with Abigail Stark, PhD, on how we can help young athletes train their mental health muscles. Cali Werner, LCSW, also shares her own experiences as a young person with OCD and an elite athlete.

Watch now to learn more about:

• Why resilience is important for student athletes
• How young athletes can develop resilience
• How parents and coaches can help student athletes

Click here to watch

Student Athlete Mental Health: Building Resilience and Trust & Being Supportive

Click here to watch

Student Athlete Mental Health: The Many Expectations, Challenges Faced & What To Watch For

The following guidelines have been developed to ensure that each student’s private school application process runs smoothly.

Private School Coordinator: Cheryl Kerr ~ Administrative Assistant to School Counseling and Administration

• • Please email Cheryl (ckerr@arlington.k12.ma.us) a complete list of the schools and their application deadlines

  • Please complete the linked BRAG SHEET that will be sent directly to the school counselor

Additional Information

• Online requests for the Counselor/Administrator School Report within Ravenna, Gateway, etc should be sent to the student’s School Counselor’s email address.

• Online requests for teacher recommendations should be sent to individual teachers’ (Math, English, etc.) email addresses. Before sending an online request, students should make the recommendation requests of teachers in person.

• If online recommendations are not available, provide stamped envelopes for each teacher recommendation request (English, Math, etc.) in the folder to Cheryl Kerr.

• Sign the Release of Information section online for Ottoson to release transcript information, or fill out this release and email it to Cheryl Kerr.

• Reminder: Recommendations are confidential between the requesting school and Ottoson Middle School personnel.

For all other questions regarding the Private School Application Process, please call or email

Cheryl Kerr in the School Counseling Department at ckerr@arlington.k12.ma.us, 781-316-3744 ext 28006.

Family Learning Sessions

First Tuesday of Month, 7-8pm ET (4-5pm PT)

Dates: 9/3, 10/1, 11/5, 12/3, 1/7, 2/4, 3/4, 4/1 & 5/6

Access with this link

All parents are invited to join anonymously via YouTube Live, or watch the ​recording afterwards. There is no cost to participate.

Bryt also has Parents Supporting Parents Conversationss

Middle/High School Parents

Third Tuesday of Month, 7-8pm ET (4-5pm PT)

Dates: 10/15, 11/19, 12/17, 1/21, 2/18, 3/18, 4/15 & 5/20

Join with this link

BIPOC Parents

Fourth Tuesday of Month, 7-8pm ET (4-5pm PT)

Dates: 10/22, 11/26, 1/28, 2/25, 3/25, 4/22 & 5/27

Join with this link

Parents and caregivers play a crucial role in guiding how children and teens use social media. But starting that conversation can be hard. How can we engage young people in useful conversations and help instill healthy habits? What are some roadblocks to avoid?

Join Cartwheel and Dr. Ilan Shapiro in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health for an engaging webinar on one of the most pressing youth mental health topics today. Learn how to engage your child in meaningful discussions, set healthy boundaries, and support their well-being in the digital age.

The yearlong calendar of topics can be found here and all past webinars are recorded and can be watched at any time. These are open to all!

Wednesday December 18, 12:00 noon

Dr. Maggie Gorraiz Shares Ways To Make Daily Stressors More Manageable

Kids and teens experience all kinds of feelings, but may not necessarily know how to deal with them or how to cope with when they come up. It’s important that we help them learn the skills to manage their emotions, thoughts, and reactions in healthy and productive ways. By doing so, we can help them build skills that can increase well-being in adulthood and prevent unhealthy coping strategies as they get older.

In this previously recorded session, Maggie Gorraiz, PhD, explores different types of coping strategies for children and adolescents, shares age-appropriate ways to teach coping to our loved ones, and answers audience questions about the mental health benefits that healthy coping can bring to our whole families.

Register Now!

Can’t join our session live?
Sign up anyway! You’ll receive a recording by email a few days after the webinar.

Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth (MPY) is pleased to announce its new MPY Parenting Solutions Library. The MPY Parenting Solutions Library is offered at no charge, in partnership with Peace At Home Parenting Solutions, a non-profit located in Mansfield, Connecticut. Peace At Home Parenting Solutions is a dynamic hub of trusted knowledge and compassionate support that inspires parents to create positive change for their children, their families and themselves. Through this new partnership, MPY is pleased to offer proven resources to help students’ families thrive.

Peace At Home Parenting Solutions specializes in empowering parents with evidence-based strategies to foster nurturing connections that safeguard their children's mental well-being. The trainings are presented by experts with advanced degrees and the trainings focus on child and adolescent development, including difficulties in school, mental health challenges, neurodiversity, LGBTQ+ identity formation, racism, and grief. These trainings present easy-to-use strategies for long-lasting change

APS Family Support Request

The District invites you to complete the APS Family Support Request Form. It is designed to give families an avenue to request support and helps the District and schools understand the needs and concerns of families in order to provide the most effective support and resources. Once you complete this form we will share your responses with the family engagement department and/or school social workers or counselors to support your child(ren)/ family.

Youth, Media, and Well-Being Research LAb in Wellesley is hosting a free virtual afterschool club for middle school girls about designing healthier social media experiences, hosted by researchers from the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab and Wellesley College students. The club meetings are drop-in sessions (students can come for just one meeting or attend the entire series!) with our first session on March 14. Any middle school girl is encouraged to apply on a first-come, first-serve basis. We are especially interested in reaching under-resourced girls in the Metrowest area. Interested students can apply using this link (https://bit.ly/DigitalWellbeingClub) up until the day of the club sessions.

The Dan Kelly Foundation

Financial assistance for youth sports. (DK4) is committed to helping kids thrive by providing athletic opportunities for children of all ages, skill levels, and diverse backgrounds. We believe that sports can harness the power in kids by building character and confidence, teaching perseverance and teamwork, which ultimately fosters the development of skills needed for responsible citizenship

Sanborn Foundation

Financial assistance for Arlington residents living with cancer

Parent Support through PPAL (Parent/Professional Advocacy League) They offer workshops on a range of topics from navigating your child's IEP, to active parenting. The also have a series in Spanish.

Winter Brochures

Arlington Center for the Arts

Arlington Recreation Department

Arlington Boys and Girls Club

Fidelity House Fall Program

APS does not endorse any of these practices specifically and we are sharing things as resources for Arlington families.

Association for Autism and Neurodiversity (AANE) - has immediate openings for Parent Coaching. Click Here for the link to AANE Parent Coaching.

The Concord Center is excited to announce that they are now running an Accelerated Outpatient Program (AOP) for adolescents with moderate to severe anxiety disorders and/or obsessive compulsive disorders. For more information, please use this link.

McLean Hospital Child and Adolescent Outpatient Supports. Their Group and Bridge services are insurance based, while their Anxiety Mastery Program and DBT Program are hybrid insurance and fee for service

Looking for child psychiatric services? This practice is new in Lexington and accepting new patients. They are out of network for most insurance carriers. ReThink Minds

Ottoson School Counseling- many great resources are linked here, including previous newsletters.

Massachusetts Launched a new Community Behavioral Health Centers (CBHCs) to serve as an entry point for timely, high-quality and evidence-based treatment for mental health conditions and substance use disorders, including routine appointments, urgent visits, and 24/7 community-based crisis intervention as an alternative to hospital emergency departments. CBHCs receive enhanced state funding through alternative payment models to support flexible, person-centered treatment.

Community Supports (Food, Mental Health, Housing, etc.)

Greater Massachusetts Special Needs Events

Cartwheel Care

Services are available to all Arlington Public Schools students and families.

Services are virtual and include short-term individual and group therapy, parent/caregiver

consultation. Following an initial session, additional services may include medication evaluation

and prescription, and longer-term outpatient referral support.

Referrals to Cartwheel Care go through your student’s school counselor

Parent Support Groups are offered through Child Therapy Boston.

Their therapists understand the unique position that parents are in. Parenting kids with anxiety, dysregulation, ADHD, Mood Disorders, and challenges with school or peer relationships can be hard. Traditional advice, books, and parenting “methods” don’t always apply to the unique situations you might find yourselves in.