Reporter’s note: When you’re reading this, I will be in Badlands National Park, my first stop during my three weeks of travel. Our reporters Alex Svenson and Melanie Duronio will be covering the majority of Westford’s June events such as Westford Academy’s graduation and Annual Town Meeting. If you have letters to the editor, story pitches, questions, comments or concerns between now and June 18, please forward them to our Executive Director Sarah Fletcher at sfletcher@westfordcat.org.
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WESTFORD — Welcome to the May 29 edition of Weekend Wrap-Up. Here, we highlight the most important news you may have missed this week in Westford.
Westford schools to add equity language to student handbooks
During a May 23 School Committee meeting, the committee unanimously voted to include the proposal into the Westford Academy student handbook. In addition, they voted to include the statement in elementary and middle school handbooks.
A draft of the statement is being considered by student and administrative groups.
“I think it’s something we all believe in, and what other better way to put it than to clearly express it in your handbook and share it with your students,” said Westford Academy Dean of Students Dan Twomey.
Advisory council to promote connection, advocate for English learners
The district has reached the threshold to create an English Learner Parent Advisory Council, with its debut scheduled for fall.
“We’ve seen incredible growth,” said School Committee Secretary Kathryn Clear during a May 23 meeting. “To date, we have 137 ELL students, which is 54% higher than it was in 2018.”
The council is required under the Language Opportunity for Our Kids Act, which requires a district to create an ELPAC to host at least 5% or 100 students in an English Language Learning program.
“As a district, it’s our position to support parents, guardians and caregivers until they can get it up and running,” said ELL Interventionist Amy Bailey. “If there comes a time that families are not able to keep it running, the district must step in.”
Proposed Town Meeting article would discontinue mailed Financial Committee book
You may no longer get a physical Finance Committee book mailed ahead of Annual Town Meeting, but it will still remain accessible.
Article 17 in the Annual Town Meeting Warrant would “discontinue the requirement” that the annual Finance committee book be mailed to all households.
“We don’t want to be mailing 8,500 of them when the majority of them end up, hopefully in the recycling bin but possibly the trash,” Financial Committee Chair Kristina Greene told WestfordCAT.
‘Kindness is sometimes forgotten,’ but Stony Brook student pushes for change
A middle school student is hoping to make a difference in the lives of the international community.
Rachel Newman, a sixth grade student at Stony Brook School joined the youth board of International Expressions of Kindness, an organization dedicated to promoting kindness around the world. Members work to organize their community for projects to promote kindness for others.
“A lot of people wrote kind messages and messages of support toward the kids in Ukraine,” she said.
She hopes her project will make an impact, and touch the lives of those affected by the conflict.
“I wanted to show them that there’s people in the United States that care about them,” she said. “[I wanted to show] that they are not forgotten.”
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