Making Use of Community Resources

Many Newton residents, including parents and retirees, are willing and able to volunteer their time and skills to the Newton Public Schools. We also have public institutions, colleges, businesses, and other community resources that could greatly benefit the Newton Public Schools. We can more systematically take advantage of these resources by developing a plan to identify and to make use of them.

Summary of Proposed Solution

As part of a coordinated effort to take advantage of available community resources, Newton should:

i) provide parents with structured opportunities to contribute to their children’s schools;

ii) develop guest lecturer program;

iii) expand mentoring programs;

iv) work with area colleges; and

v) create internship and community service programs in cooperation with Newton businesses and institutions.

Discussion and Implementation Plan

i) Providing Opportunities for Parental Participation

Parents play many roles in their children’s education. Parents advocate for their children’s needs, tutor their children, encourage their success, and monitor their progress, working with teachers to make sure challenges are being provided and goals are being achieved. Parents also work with teachers and principals to organize special events, raise funds, and advocate for the general needs of their children’s schools. Parents are highly motivated to improve the learning environment in their children’s schools. Despite being busy with work and other responsibilities, many parents are willing to volunteer their time and effort to address school needs.

Parents can serve as guest lecturers, can organize and lead enrichment activities, and can offer mentoring to students in need of academic help. This type of involvement by parents in the overall programming of the school can be encouraged and supported by structuring opportunities with clear time-commitments and expectations. For example, it is much more likely that a busy parent would agree to lead a student band, math club, robotics team, or other enrichment activity if the hours of the program were regular and consistent and if the program had the full support of teachers and administrators.

Rather than responding to budget pressure by reducing or eliminating enrichment programs, school administrators should ask parents whether they can volunteer to lead these types of activities and programs. These efforts can also be part of the re-examination of the school day, discussed in Part B of this section.

ii) Developing a Guest Lecturer Program

Challenging material can often be clarified when described in a different way. Students can be excited and motivated by an inspiring speaker who relates academic subject matter to solving problems in the real world. Unfortunately, time pressure, standardized testing requirements, and curriculum structures can limit available classroom time for guest lecturers. Newton should seek to expand what is currently offered by our Creative Arts and Sciences program by developing a guest lecturer program.

For example, Newton is home to thousands of scientists, mathematicians, doctors, engineers, architects, accountants, and other professionals who use math in their work every day. If we were to create a structured math guest lecturer program that was integrated into the curriculum at every grade level, we could invite regular participation from members of these professions. We could have a geometry unit taught at the appropriate grade level by architects and an algebra guest lecture offered by accountants. With clear time commitments and program requirements, we could then invite participation from qualified Newton residents.

Guest lecturer programs with multiple units that require longer time commitments may be of interest to retired Newton residents.

iii) Expanding Mentoring Programs

Parents, retirees, and other volunteers interested in offering mentoring and tutoring to Newton students should be invited to participate in a structured program that matches them with students whose needs correspond to their expertise. The program should provide these mentors with information on relevant curriculum objectives and student goals. Mentors would be encouraged to sit in on a class or two to see how material is being presented and could also provide feedback to teachers regarding which points are in need of clarification and re-enforcement.

Our mentoring program should not be considered a substitute for small class sizes, but in cases where class sizes are at the higher end of our acceptable range, mentors can help students having trouble getting their questions answered in class. Mentoring is also valuable for students who learn at a different pace or have difficulty asking questions in class.

iv) Working with Area Colleges

There are two valuable types of relationships that the Newton Schools can develop with area colleges. First, we can create an educational internship program that asks a student to assist a teacher on a set schedule over the course of a semester or entire school year in exchange for course credit. Second, we should work with area colleges to create an advanced studies program for our high school students that allow them to take college courses in areas where they have exhausted our high school-level offerings.

v) Creating Internship and Community Service Programs

The flip side of bringing educational interns from area colleges to Newton schools is working with local businesses and other institutions to offer our high school students internships with them. Interns could help to manage a food pantry, run an office, or develop a new program at a community center. There are many institutions in our community that would welcome the opportunity to have a student intern helping them for a semester. For example, an intern could work with Angino Farm to help with community outreach.

A well-run internship program offers valuable life experience, teaches new skills, and provides students with a way to give back to the community.