OMS School Counseling Newsletter

Dear Ottoson families and caregivers,

Welcome to the 2025–2026 school year! Whether you're returning to Ottoson or joining us for the first time, we are so glad you're here. As the school counseling team, we’re excited to support your child’s journey through middle school and partner with you to make this a positive and successful year. If you are confused about who your student's counselor is, it should be visible in PowerSchool.

To kick things off, we’ll be meeting briefly with each student in what we call “minute meetings” during the month of September. These short check-ins are our way of saying hello, getting to know students a little better, and seeing how we can support their transition into the school year—whether it’s their first time at Ottoson or they’re already familiar with our community.

Middle school is a time of tremendous growth, change, and discovery—and we’re here to help every step of the way. In addition to supporting students with course scheduling and academic planning, your school counselors are trained to:

• Recognize early signs of mental health challenges, such as shifts in performance, attendance, mood, or behavior

• Help students navigate problems at home or within the family

• Facilitate communication between students, families, and teachers

• Provide support for existing mental health conditions and offer proactive wellness education

• Offer short-term counseling and crisis support for issues such as grief, transitions, or urgent mental health concerns

• Connect families with school and community-based resources for more specialized mental health services

• Educate staff and families about student mental health and developmental needs

• Address barriers to care, including cultural or language differences

• Maintain confidentiality and follow best practices in ethical and evidence-based support

• 
  

As licensed professionals, we also adhere closely to the ASCA Ethical Standards and continually stay updated on current best practices in school counseling and mental health.

Each month, our newsletter will include helpful mental health and community resources, along with information about upcoming webinars and events related to middle school development, wellness, and parenting support. We hope these tools empower you to stay informed and connected.

We look forward to getting to know your students and working together to make this a great year. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the counseling team if you have any questions or concerns—we’re here to help.

Warmly,
The Ottoson Middle School Counseling Team

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) with a complete list of the schools you child is applying to and their application deadlines

  • Please complete the linked OMS caregiver insight form 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.

After this 18 minute video you will be able to:

• Recognize opportunities to demonstrate progress, effort and understanding
• Identify and address fixed mindset (for yourself and your children / students)
• Identify and apply strategies that inspire a growth mindset
• Apply strategies to develop homework as a meaningful experience

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.

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.

Fall 2025 Brochures

Arlington Center for the Arts

Arlington Recreation Department

Arlington Boys and Girls Club

Fidelity House Fall Program

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.