District Monthly Update

Winter Holiday concerts and celebrations took place across our schools where students, educators and families safely enjoyed the festivities and brought holiday cheer to our community through music and the arts.

The 38th annual Waltham High School Student Santa took place on December 22 coordinated by the Student Council, National Honor Society and program coordinators from the Social Studies & History Department. Here's a link to the show!

Thank you to all members of the Waltham community for their generosity and holiday spirit!

Shout out to Sky'lah Boyd who is a 7th grade student attorney in our Discovering Justice Mock Trial Program run at both the JFK and McDevitt Middle School, coordinated by two fabulous teachers - Sean Lobberecht (at JFK) and Natasha Cochran (at McDevitt). Sky'lah was a co-moderator for the panel event that we held for Mock Trial students across the state.

The panel, Unpopular Speech In Schools, featured Mary Beth Tinker (student activist and public speaker), Kevin Dua (an educator and former teacher in Cambridge Public Schools), and Mike Heistand (a lawyer with the Student Press Law Association) and took place via Zoom late November. Sky'lah did a wonderful job asking questions to the panelists, actively listening, and responding to questions with her own insights. Her poise, enthusiasm, and confidence were impressive, especially for a 7th grader via zoom co-moderating a panel of adults! You can watch the event here. And you can see the part where Mary Beth Tinker turns a question back on Sky’lah here.

It was great to see Waltham students engaged in the chat and connecting their Mock Trial Program learnings to the real world events and perspectives our panelists brought. Congratulations to all who participated and shout out to Sky'lah!

Waltham participated in its annual Hour of Code activities this year during Computer Science Education Week. Activities varied from school to school at the elementary level where students engaged in amazing resources found on our Waltham Codes website!

First semester Tech Literacy students at McDevitt participated in Computer Science Discoveries, an introductory Computer Science unit created by Code.org. The curriculum covers topics such as problem solving and physical computing while directing students through activities that teach them how to create an app! Middle Schoolers at Kennedy used Scratch to create their own games. They quickly learned that coders need to be precise. They used a lot of trial and error to achieve their success. One middle school student was quoted saying "That was frustrating, but the end result made me feel successful and good!"

Waltham High School completed an all-school Hour of Code during an extended advisory bolck, in which students chose a coding activity to complete. Students from the high school computer science classes visited homerooms to help out and promote CS in Waltham. The Girls Who Code and Robotics clubs also hosted a Code-A-Cookie activity and workshops after school. Shout out to senior Emily Lin who designed the annual Hour of Code sticker!

For many years, the district has benefited from its university partners in our wonderful city. Three Waltham educators are participating in this year's Brandeis Teacher Leadership program:

Shalini Parthibhan (WHS)

Ben Chebot (McDevitt)

Ashlee Heidgerd (Stanley)

MARCH 5, 2022 PARENTING AWARENESS CONFERENCE

Keynote Speakers * Workshops * Community Resources *

The goal of the 3rd annual Waltham Parenting Awareness Conference is to connect and empower parents to be strong advocates for themselves and their children. Parents will have the opportunity to contribute to and engage in meaningful conversations, and gain insights alongside other parents and professionals on topics that matter most to them. This year’s conference will be in person with access to interpreters. Stay Tuned for more.

We have recently been awarded a two-year grant from the Barr Foundation to support Waltham High School in its efforts to realize the education plan premised on project and problem based interdisciplinary learning (PBL) as we enter the new high school in Fall 2024. Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge.

Construction of the new Waltham High School is well underway. Foundations are being poured and masonry and waterproofing for elevator shafts has started. Steel is expected to arrive in January. The project is within budget on all lines and the August 2024 opening date remains on target. Check out our Facebook page and Website

Your child will be eligible to enroll in kindergarten if they were born between September 1, 2016 - September 1, 2017, and live in Waltham with a parent or legal guardian. Registration for the 2022-2023 school year will be held remotely beginning in January 2022, and information will be posted on the WPS Registration page. Please contact the Parent Information Center (PIC) by email or phone 781-314-5524 (English) 781-314-5668 (Spanish) to make sure your child is on our list, or to add your child 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 2022, 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 Special Education Department is currently accepting applications for the Integrated Preschool Programs at the Stanley and Northeast Elementary Schools for the 2022-2023 school year.

• Children whose parents or legal guardians reside in Waltham and will turn 3 or 4 years old on or before September 1, 2022 are eligible to apply.
• More information including the online applications for all Integrated Preschool programs can be found at this link on the Waltham Public Schools District website.
• Applications must be submitted no later than January 15, 2022.

PLEASE READ THE MESSAGE FROM DR. REAGAN SENT YESTERDAY about updates to our efforts to maintain health and safety as we experience a post-holiday increase in COVID-19 cases and start school tomorrow January 3 (Reminder that there is a two hour delay).

The district’s mask mandate is still in effect. All students and staff must wear a face mask when inside our school buildings. Our local mask mandate is in accordance with the state mask mandate for schools.

We have asked teachers to adjust classroom furniture so that students are not seated facing each other. This will remain in effect at least through January 28, 2022.

Windows on school buses must remain open to provide proper ventilation. Please be sure your children are dressed appropriately for what will likely be cold bus rides during the winter months. Similarly, we are encouraging staff to keep classroom windows open to increase ventilation. As such, classrooms may be colder than normal.

If your child tests positive using a home test, it is your responsibility to communicate with their close contacts. Home tests are useful tools, but they are not considered official by the Department of Public Health. Someone who tests positive with a home antigen test should notify their school nurse, secure a PCR test, and isolate while waiting for results.

A simplified flowchart for individuals who have tested positive can be found here.

BACK TO SCHOOL

January 3, 2022 - Two Hour Delay

SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETINGS

January 5 & 19, 2022

EARLY RELEASE DAY (All Schools)

January 14, 2022

MLK DAY, NO SCHOOL

January 17, 2022

EARLY RELEASE DAY - ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ONLY

January 25, 2022