I had the privilege of addressing Somerville Public School (SPS) staff at the pre-start of school convocation. It was an opportunity to express my deep gratitude to the educators and administrators of SPS and reflect on the shared culture and the value of community at SPS. And in the interest of continuing the drum beat of appreciation, I am sharing my talking points here:  

I first ran for SC over a decade ago to support and represent my community AND… I am still excited about this work - I am excited by and impressed with how the SPS continues to invest in community building at all levels  - from the classroom, to schools and increasingly at the district level.

This district convocation was introduced several years ago for educators to align and celebrate the start of the school year, the Ed of the Year Staff recognition celebration is quite the party, which I love to crash, and most recently the district began hosting a Back to School Fair for all families - with tables representing every school and so many groups and service providers.

This photo is from Tuesday’s Back to School Fair - and is of a student sharing how the first day of school makes them feel - excited, nervous, and curious were some of the choices. AND they were also encouraged to share in their own words. We - Ward 2 Representative Liz Eldridge, who created this beautiful board (and a very popular activity to decorate your own pencil), and Michele Lippens, the Ward 3 representative spoke to so many students and parents - from pre-K to high schoolers - who wanted to share how they felt, who wanted to be heard

This is the work of the School Committee - to understand and reflect the voices of our community - and we can be more effective at our work because of the strong community bonds developed intentionally by you - educators, administrators, staff - and our families. Thank you!

The final board was full of these dots - especially clustered under “excited”, “nervous” and “ready” (because YES, we can be all these things at once)... as well as self identified feelings on post-its…shared by students who were brave and comfortable thinking outside the structure - including one young man who posted he was feeling “hangry” 🙂

Upon reflection, what I loved about this board was how in its small way it represented the culture of our district:

• Personal attention - “I am seen”
• Focus on the social & emotional 
• Data driven  - SO MANY DOTS
• Student voice
  • Including thinking outside the box
  • Being brave and having agency  
• High quality materials (thanks to Liz)
• Community building - “I am not the only one who feels this way”

This is the culture that you - our educators and administrators - intentionally create and foster in our buildings, classrooms and district wide. This is the culture AND community that allows our students and families to thrive and creates a sense of belonging - which is no small feat.  And surprisingly several students, even some of the youngest, identified “Like I Belong” as how they were feeling about the first day of school (and yes that made me a bit misty).

Thank you so much for all that you do.  I am so proud of SPS and grateful for the passion and commitment you all bring to this work for our students, families and each other! And I hope as you sift through your emotions about the start of school that feeling “like I belong” is part of the mix- because I certainly do. 

 Thank you