Waltham Family School

The Waltham Family School (WFS) provides preschool opportunities for children and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes for parents. The school addresses both needs through a unique collaborative program that prepares children for success in school, empowers parents to be partners with the schools by attending parent –teacher conferences and communicating regularly with their child’s teacher, and strengthens parent’s skills necessary for parenting, workforce and community life. WFS serves Waltham families with the lowest income and lowest level of education. 60% of parents have a 6^th grade education or less in their home countries, 100% meet HUD low or very low income guidelines, and 82% or parents are from Central and South America, with the remaining parents coming from Asia and Africa. Formerly supported by an Even Start Family Literacy grant, the School’s funding was loss in 2011 Congressional budget cuts