Waltham Family School brings English learning to the immigrant community

On Jan. 30 the Waltham Family School held its latest Coffee and Conversation event, a morning program open to the community to learn more about WFS and see the school in action. 

More than 40 people attended the event including students, parents and guests. They asked questions, shared experiences, and met the WFS staff in a supportive, friendly setting. 

WFS is a long-standing preschool program that provides English language education for immigrant parents and school readiness for their children. Its mission is to set families up for educational and career success. 

The school, located at 510 Moody St., was established in 2003 via a federal grant called Even Start, which awarded funding to communities and municipalities to provide English skills and educational opportunities for lower-income families.

The school’s program director, Jackie Herrera, said the WFS curriculum serves families who want to improve their English and workplace skills through English-as-a-second-language classes and tutoring. The school offers field trips, Chromebooks and scholarships for students who need extra help.

Throughout the year WFS also runs programs that promote community integration and inclusion. This year’s literacy event included a book fair, bilingual bingo and raffle baskets. Its annual kindergarten family resource fair attracted a large crowd, with more than 60 families participating.

Since its opening, WFS has supported more than 600 families from from Guatemala, Turkey, Haiti and beyond. 

WFS preschool children have gone on to high school, college and successful careers. Parents have graduated and become small business owners, according to Herrera.

“Learning English at Waltham Family School opens up a whole new world of possibilities for me. Every day there is something new to learn and much to be grateful for WFS,” Veronica, a parent at the school, said. 

“The future is bright”

Herrera is a first-generation high school and college graduate from El Salvador. She has a passion for serving the immigrant community and wants to continue and build on WFS’ success.

“We’ve been welcomed by the community and had great success,” Herrera said. “Our goal is to offer additional preschool classrooms and [English to speakers of other languages] classes so that more immigrant families can get access to our learning tools.”

The Even Start program was eliminated at the federal level in 2010, and WFS’ future was in jeopardy at that time. With the school very successful and thriving, the city didn’t want it to disappear and stepped up, Herrera said. 

WFS is now supported by Waltham Public Schools for staffing help, the city for space allocation and The Friends of the Waltham Family School, a small nonprofit, for fundraising. “The future is bright,” Herrera said. “What’s most important, especially given the current climate and what’s happening in our country, is that we continue to value the richness of our immigrant, multilingual and diverse communities and give them access to high-quality educational opportunities.”