District Monthly Update

Dear WPS Community,

I am excited to share with you that our equity audit is underway! We have partnered with The Leadership Academy to conduct a comprehensive equity audit, focusing on three key areas:

• Instruction

• Operations and Resources

• Community Care and Engagement

This audit will involve significant input from all members of our school community. We invite you to participate in the following ways:

• Community Forums:
  

• We will be hosting small-group forums (10-12 participants each) on Monday, January 13th, Tuesday, January 14th, Monday, January 27th and Tuesday, January 28th. Forums are one hour.

• These forums will bring together students, staff, parents/caregivers, recent WHS graduates, and community partners.

• Consultants from The Leadership Academy will facilitate the forums. Notes will be collected and these notes will be anonymous and used as part of our data collection process. This information will be analyzed along with survey results and artifacts to identify outcomes of the audit.

• If you are interested in participating, please fill out the appropriate interest form below by Monday, January 6th at 8am:

• WPS Student Forum Interest Form - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpDDtjbkULmrpzbg_MCZFhg4xaopF8wWRoocfeKgJ6m5FZfw/viewform?usp=sharing

• Parent/Caregiver Forum Interest Form - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSea81Nx3VsCwkPVCVTovSW6ZGRYvLtYx8jwt9zLgYcOMWt5Nw/viewform?usp=sharing

• Staff (non-licensed) Forum Interest Form - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCzeq7r5Qyb_UbmMZuQKqd2GH1o1VPVeGuGDOGcdo0esC1NA/viewform?usp=sharing

• Recent WHS Graduate Forum Interest Form (virtual) - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdvfrDaPCWpZDCh_FvLyk1HK3gP9p1WlQsdOJFl9bvTVjxzIg/viewform?usp=sharing

• Teachers Forum Interest Form (virtual) - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3o2m-Vw4YAtFk3Nys5cYefm8xvkwv7l1hLTulh73RY1zuzA/viewform?usp=sharing

• WPS Administrator Forum Interest Form - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfO-g1zN8d73IPE_gAhFMc3QbfxZ4PM7mqdI5aO_BSsa6wPTg/viewform?usp=sharing

• Online Survey:
  

• We will also be conducting an online survey open to all stakeholders. Your valuable feedback is essential, so please participate in this survey when it becomes available.

This equity audit is a collaborative effort, and I want to express my sincere gratitude to the members of the WPS Equity Audit Team:

• Randall Trang, WHS Educator

• Genevra Valvo, Kennedy Educator

• Paula Mendoza, Whittemore Educator

• Keyla Veloz Sanchez, Dual Language Educator

• Jackie Herrera, Program Coordinator, Waltham Family School

• Blake Siskavich, Director of Fine and Performing Arts

• Allison Smizwer, Parent

• Samantha Ead, Parent

• Leanne Christie Jeanty, Student

• Alexandra Garcia Barrios, Student

• Lindsey Alexander, The Leadership Academy

• Nikki Nagler, The Leadership Academy

• Ashley Fortner-Dominguez, The Leadership Academy

• Sarah Kent, Assistant Supt of Teaching and Learning

• Chad Mazza, Assistant Supt for Finance and Operations

• Kate Peretz, Administrator of Human Resources

• Nadene Stein, Assistant Supt for Pupil Services

• Marisa Mendonsa, Superintendent

As we approach the December break, I want to wish all of you a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Dr. Mendonsa

December 17 - WHS Show Choir Winter Concert at 7PM

December 18 - School Committee Meeting at 7PM

December 23 - January 1 - No School - Christmas Vacation

The Career and Technical Education department is excited to announce that we have received the final approval for Cosmetology, Environmental Science, HVAC-R and Programming and Web Development programs. Please see the final approval letter here

Stanley Elementary School participated in the National Inclusive Schools Week during the first week in December. This year, the theme was "Every Voice Matters." Here is the website for those who want to read about this annual celebration: https://inclusiveschools.org/inclusive-schools-week/. We encouraged everyone to take part as it is so wonderful to learn about traditions and family celebrations connected to our students. Some of the events that happened during this week were Parent/Family presentations, Staff and Community member read-alouds and we capped the week off with an AMAZING Multicultural Night on Thursday, December 5th from 5:30-7:00.

Kennedy held its Winter Concert on Thursday, December 12. The auditorium was completely filled as families and staff listened to musicians and singers across grades 6-8.

Additionally this week, Kennedy concluded its drive for winter gear, hygiene products, and nonperishable foods run by the WHS Project 351 representative, who is a former Kennedy student and current 9th grader.

We are excited to share that the Kennedy student winners of the Patriot Pen Essay Contest, which is hosted by the VFW, were visited by City Councillor Sean Durkee. Here is an overview of the essay contest, if you are interested. Congratulations to 6th grader Marcus in Ms. Poland’s class and 7th graders Anthony and Myleisy in Ms. Sturges’ class for their essays! 7th grader Myleisy was the overall winner and was selected by the Metro North region, Region 18, to be forwarded to the state awards ceremony!

Two big events coming up at Kennedy in January: Culture Night on January 24th, and the Wizards Game on January 31st.

November 26th was a special day at the Thomas R. Plympton School. Thanks to a generous grant from the Waltham Education Fund, first grade students were treated to a fabulous puppet show presented by Waltham High School art students.

Kathleen Flynn, a Fine Arts teacher at the high school, spearheaded the project. She led her students through the process of creating puppets inspired by popular children's books. The unit started with a collaborative visit to the WHS Library where Ms. Tierney talked to the students about puppets, storytelling, and children’s books. Each group chose a book and characters on which to base their puppet(s). Ms. Tierney reached out to Ms. Halley at Plympton to start the conversations about coordinating the puppet show performance.

From there, Ms. Flynn guided the students in designing and creating their puppets. Then they developed puppet shows specifically geared towards first grade students. The high school students wrote, directed, and practiced performing the shows for weeks before the final presentations in front of the students. The interactive presentations had students calling out answers to questions from the puppets and the thoughtful high school students even brought little treasures to hand out (like “moonstones” and “seeds”) connected to the stories they shared. At the end, the first grade students asked the high school students questions about their process of creating the puppets and the shows.

This program really stands out as an example of leadership and teaching opportunities for our high school students as well as amazing role modeling for our younger students.

On Wednesday December 11th, the melodic and spirited McDevitt Chorus, under the direction of Frances Bertotti-Metoyer closed out an incredible Winter concert in front of a packed auditorium of delighted family members and guests.

SAVE THE DATE! FREE EVENT!

6th Annual Parenting Awareness Conference

March 8, 2025 from 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

@ Kennedy Middle School

Our Keynote Speaker will be Brendan Mahan from ADHD Essentials! His topic is “Parenting as Leadership (Being a Leader Instead of a Boss)”. Many informative and interesting sessions will be available for parents to participate in including Emily Torres-Cullinane, Chief of Community Engagement from Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s Office speaking on “Social Media and Mental Health” in English and Spanish. Other sessions will be added over the next two months. Our event includes community information tables, breakfast & lunch, child care for school-aged children and interpretation.

Email nadenestein@walthampublicschool.org for more information on registering.

All WPS Multilingual Learners and their teachers are preparing for WIDA ACCESS testing. This assessment measures student language progress in listening, speaking, reading and writing in English. Students take these assessments during the school day between January 6, 2025 and February 14, 2025

Learn more about WIDA ACCESS testing here:

English

Spanish

Portuguese

Haitian Creole

Russian

Change of Address

If you have moved within Waltham or need to update the address Waltham Public Schools has on file, you must provide the new address to your child(ren)’s school(s). To complete the update, you will need to provide the school with the following:

Proof of Residency

WELCOME CLASS OF 2038! KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

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. The communication for our 2025-26 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.

The Fine & Performing Arts Department of Waltham Public Schools has launched a dedicated webpage to keep families informed about its events. Visit the page at Fine & Performing Arts Webpage to explore a calendar of performance events and the City Hall art show schedule. Updates will be added throughout the year, so check back often! We are also on social media. Follow us on instagram!

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Public School Monitoring (PSM) will conduct an Integrated Monitoring Review of the Waltham Public Schools during the week of January 27, 2025. Each school district, charter school, vocational school, and virtual school undergoes an Integrated Monitoring Review every three years. The areas addressed during an Integrated Monitoring Review are organized into two groups, known as Group A Universal Standards and Group B Universal Standards.

The Waltham Public Schools will be undergoing a Group B monitoring review that addresses special education teacher and related service personnel licensure and professional development; parent, student, and community engagement, including compliance with Child Find requirements; facilities and classroom observations; implementation and oversight of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs); time and learning, and equal access.

The process includes interviews with district staff and administrators, review of policies and procedures, and school building visits. The process may also include parent/caregiver, student and teacher focus group meetings to gather additional information. Interpretation will be provided, if needed.

The Department will send a parent survey, in multiple languages and formats, as needed, to parents /guardians of special education students to gather key information on the special education processes and procedures.

Parents/guardians and other stakeholders may call Gillian Lange, Monitoring Review Chairperson, at (781) 338- 3246 to request a telephone interview. If anyone requires an accommodation, such as translation, to participate in an interview, the Department will make the necessary arrangements.

Within approximately 60 business days after the onsite visit, the review chairperson will provide the charter school with a report that includes information on further actions that may be required. The public can access the report at https://www.doe.mass.edu/psm/tfm/default.html.