WPY UPDATES:

Wraparound Waltham

Collaborating to create a community of belonging and opportunity for newcomer immigrant students and their families.

Pictured above: WPY High School Wraparound students work on setting goals as they create vision boards in their Welcome Class.

After successfully expanding Wraparound programming into McDevitt Middle School last school-year, we're thrilled to share that we have officially launched Wraparound programming in Waltham's second middle school, Kennedy Middle School! Similar to our work at McDevitt and Waltham High School, we are running the Welcome Class at Kennedy, focusing on the newcomer immigrant student population.

The Welcome Class is being led by WPY Wraparound Middle School Program Coordinator Dave LeBlanc and co-taught by Kennedy Middle School ELL teachers. Additionally, in partnership with Doc Wayne Youth Services, we will also be offering sports-based group therapy for newcomer students who are facing behavioral/emotional challenges. Participants undertake goal setting and movement-oriented exercises to develop the thoughtfulness, sense of competence, and feeling of effectiveness that are essential to social development. Bilingual Doc Wayne clinicians will begin meeting with students after school later this month. 

Big shout-out to Kennedy Middle School's leadership, Principal Kevin Gildea and Assistant Principal Amy Woogmaster, and WPY's own Dave LeBlanc, for spearheading this partnership. We're excited to share more in the coming months!

We are thrilled to share our Wraparound Waltham Report! The report covers the 2022-2023 school-year and also provides a holistic overview of impacts of the first four years of Wraparound Waltham.

"Wraparound programming serves as bridges to students no matter when they arrive in Waltham and enroll in school so that they can thrive in school and build their academic skills. Over the last two years, the Wraparound program has become a bright spot for successful transition and integration into school. Wraparound Waltham is a protective factor for many newcomer students who would otherwise enroll in school without an understanding of academic and school expectations for graduation, leading to feelings of disengagement, ultimately increasing the drop out risk." - Waltham Public Schools Staff

Career Exploration & Training (CET)

Connecting students to life-altering career development opportunities through meaningful paid internship experiences.

Pictured above: A Spanish for Educators Conversation Partner provides instruction to a Waltham Public Schools educator. Conversation Partners are high school students who are hired by WPY and paid to support these Spanish classes.

The 2023-2024 School Year Internship Program is up and running! CET Mental Health and Healthcare Professionals of Tomorrow Coordinator, Monica Manna, and the Teen Mental Health Alliance Peer Leaders hired 16 Peer Associates. They've spent their first weeks getting established in their roles, building community, and identifying their "why" related to mental health. This school year, they will earn their Teen Mental Health First Aid certification and use their knowledge to create a community project. 

The McDevitt Bilingual Mentoring Program connects Waltham High School students to seventh- and eighth-grade ESL students. This past month, mentors participated in weekly trainings led by CET Educators of Tomorrow Specialist, Mary Krathwohl, and McDevitt staff, building their mentoring skills to prepare for mentoring sessions beginning in December. 

The WPY office interns are back! The Communication Student Associates also started this month and have supported Development & Communications Coordinator, Olivia Spelman, with graphics for our 2023 Giving Tuesday campaign. The CET team hired two new student associates to support the program. Their first big project will be planning and preparing for Ready, Set, Job! Look for more information on Ready, Set, Job in our next newsletter! 

Opportunities for Youth and

Community Members:

Waltham Welcome Center

We will be having The Right to Immigration Institute (TRII) at The Waltham Welcome Center November 28th and December 12th! Our community is invited to stop by and chat with a representative from TRII. Please see the flyer for more information. 

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