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Watertown updates equity work: restorative practices, caregiver meet-and-greets and student leadership internships
Summary
District equity staff reported on caregiver convenings, restorative practices training across K–12, student leadership internships and plans for student representation on advisory bodies and commissions.
Dr. Saren Daly presented the Watertown Public Schools quarterly equity update Monday, outlining three focus areas: stakeholder engagement, restorative practices and student voice. She said the district held 12 caregiver convenings in September and October and captured caregiver input through a word cloud and open-ended responses on inclusion and concerns about bullying, gender identity and mental health.
Daly told the committee the caregiver feedback surfaced a strong desire for caregivers to meet and learn from one another and that the district will use ParentSquare to create caregiver groups for sustained engagement. She said the equity office is expanding employee resource groups and that student participation on bodies like the Watertown Human Rights Commission is planned for February.
Roy Karp, the district's restorative justice practices and student leadership development specialist, described the program's strategy: exposure, formal training, and leadership roles across stakeholders. Karp said the district aims to reach 50% of staff trained in Tier 1 restorative practices in a coming year and over 80% by the end of year four, and that training is already underway in multiple buildings. "Restorative justice is a mindset and a collection of practices for proactively building supportive relationships and community and for responding to conflicts and harm in a manner that centers healing and the restoration of relationships," he said.
Students who completed internships described leading restorative circles with elementary students, running circles for teachers and gaining leadership and public-speaking skills. Sylvia Cicada, a Watertown High School senior, said the internship included leading circles with fifth graders: "That experience was really special to me... getting to interact with the students was, like, such a cool way to engage with my community." Committee members asked about data linking engagement activities to academic outcomes and how the district will scale internships; staff said they will develop more scaffolding, reflection and showcase opportunities, and return with updates in April.
Daly and Karp outlined next steps including training plans, expanding caregiver convenings, building internal trainer capacity, and placing trained students in leadership roles (school committee student reps, superintendent's student advisory council, Human Rights Commission student reps and paid social action project leader internships). They said the district will return with more details in April.
