In case you missed it, there's still time to provide feedback on the draft of our next district strategic plan to be launched in July.

Please use this survey to indicate how well you believe each objective and initiative aligns with what you believe should be priorities for the Waltham Public Schools going forward. The draft objectives and initiatives have been developed and refined over the past several months by the leadership team and a strategic planning team and are based on student data as well as feedback collected through surveys and focus groups.

Your input will help drive and refine the priorities and initiatives that lead us through the next several years and we value your comments and feedback.

As a culmination of their exploration of Weather Phenomena, 3rd grade students at the Dual Language Elementary School met with WCVB's Cindy Fitzgibbon for an engaging presentation and discussion. The students then provided a bilingual "Eyeopener" that was aired the following day that you can see here at WCVB.

Waltham High School Science Club hosts monthly “Science Pizza Talks”, where Brandeis scientists from diverse backgrounds share their unique personal journeys and science careers with students. In January, the talk was given in Spanish by Norelis Diaz-Rodriguez, a 3rd year Neuroscience PhD student. Over 70 of our multilingual students attended Norelis’s presentations, where she shared how she persisted and thrived as a first generation college student from Puerto Rico, who experienced hurricanes, blackouts, earthquakes, strikes and the pandemic. She also shared with students her research on homeostasis in fruit flies, neural plasticity and its application to autism spectrum disorder. Students were engaged and asked many questions at the end of her presentations.

As today marks the beginning of Black History Month, we would like to reinforce our commitment to equity, inclusive practices and anti-racist teaching. While this month places a focus on the contributions, achievements, and struggles of Black Americans, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the diversity of this community, which is evident in our schools more than anyplace else, is inclusive of many races, ethnicities, religions, sexual identities, gender identities, learning styles, and physical abilities. This inclusivity needs to transcend the months they are assigned and be woven into the fabric of how we approach our day to day as educators to always strive for inclusion and belonging in our schools and across our community.

This is an important time to remind ourselves of our commitment to the individual and collective work we need to do in order to continue to learn, understand and deeply reflect on the contributions, voices, struggles and lived experiences, both past and present of all, especially Black Americans as part of the excellence and rich fabric of our nation. We must also honestly contend with the legacy of inequality, oppression and historical wrongs such that we learn about its ongoing impact today including negative beliefs or ideas or structures that harm us all. And, we must always strive towards connection and understanding. How are we connected to our family, our school, our country and each other? How are we connected to history? To fully consider all the ways we fit into the world around us, we must examine our individuality, our relationships, and the communities of which we are a part in order to live up to our most and sacred democratic ideals.

Here are a few resources to support our learning and growth:

Learning for Justice

The Urgency of Black History

National Geographic Kids Black History Month

Library of Congress

National Museum of African American History & Culture

NPR Black History Month Things to Know

Virtual Monthly Meetings for this school year will be:

February 8, 2023

March 8, 2023

April 12, 2023

May 10, 2023

June 14, 2023

Meetings are from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. ZOOM LINK: https://walthamsepac.com/

The WSEPAC is a state mandated and supported advisory group comprised of parents, guardians, teachers and administrators working in partnership to promote an innovative environment where children with learning challenges have equal access to educational opportunities, while ensuring that our schools strive to improve educational outcomes for all children. Contact us at walthampac@gmail.com

8:30 a.m - 1:30 p.m.

Kennedy Middle School

Dr. Jennifer L. DelRey, Staff Psychologist, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Newton Wellesley Hospital will present the Keynote Address

Workshop sessions will include "Your Child and Screen Time", a parent panel focusing on a sense of belonging and "Addressing Family Stress"

Other Informative Sessions *

* Breakfast & Lunch * Child Care *

*Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese and ASL interpretation*

Information Tables include:

Boy Scouts

Girl Scouts

Charles River Community Health Center

JAHAN Women and Youth Intercultural

Opportunities for Inclusion

OUT Metrowest

REACH Beyond Domestic Violence

Waltham Family School

For more information, please contact:

Nadene Stein

nadenestein@walthampublicschools.org

781-314-5428

REGISTRATION BELOW

Children whose parent/legal guardian(s) are living in Waltham may enroll in Kindergarten with the Waltham Public Schools if they have reached 5 years of age on or before September 1, of the new school year.

Online registration for the 2023-2024 school year is available:

Instructions and registration information can be found at this link The communication for our 2023-24 Kindergarten Registration will be mailed out in January to families on our list of expected kindergarten students. If you do not receive this notice from our office, you are encouraged to contact us and confirm that your child is either on our list or needs to be added so that you will receive communications and mailings for Kindergarten registration.

Families wishing to participate in the Dual Language School lottery must notify the PIC at the time of registration. The Dual Language lottery will be held in May 2023 (date TBA) and to qualify you must submit all required documents. We look forward to welcoming your child and working with your family throughout the registration process.

The Preschool Application for Fall 2023 is now filling the waitlist for both the Stanley and Northeast Elementary School locations. Parents are still encouraged to apply for either the 3 year old morning or 4 year old afternoon program. Applications for the waitlist will be accepted through December 2023. Children whose parents or legal guardians reside in Waltham and will turn 3 or 4 years old on or before September 1, 2023 are eligible to apply. More information including the online applications for all Integrated Preschool programs can be found on the Preschool Programs page.

We're not quite out of the woods yet! Please help keep everyone safe and remember to:

* Stay home when you are sick and take a test for COVID-19.

* Consider wearing a mask when in large crowds.

* Get tested if you develop any symptoms of COVID-19 (even if they are mild) and on day 6 day following an exposure to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

* Isolate if you test positive for COVID-19 (or if test results are pending) and notify your close contacts they may have been exposed.

* Gather with others outside or increase ventilation by bringing fresh outdoor air inside when weather permits.

* Cover your coughs and sneezes.

* Practice good hand hygiene.

SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment) is a public health approach that can deliver an early intervention to anyone who uses alcohol and/or drugs in unhealthy ways. It is a state required screening administered in one grade throughout middle school and high school. This year, during the month of February, students in 6th grade and 9th grade will be administered a paper version of SBIRT. If you have any questions, or if you would like to opt your child out of this screening, please call your School Nurse.

Please remember to dress your child for the weather. Most schools like to get the students outside for recess, even in the winter!

The Waltham Public Library has partnered with the Waltham Boys and Girls Club to offer a new free dinner program! Youth 18 and under can come to the library for a 3PM snack and at 5PM for dinner. This program is open to all youth and will be available Monday-Friday. Come by for a bite!

Please contact our vendors to learn about incentives they offer!

JSC Transportation Services

(978) 600-5720

Eastern Bus Company

(781) 790-0878