About

Ottoson is one of the few middle schools in the state to have a QSA. That Ottoson is one of the pioneering schools to embrace a Gay/Straight Alliance (now the QSA) is a tribute to the forward thinking of OMS administration and Gibbs Ottoson Parent Teacher Organization (GO PTO), and numerous staff and parent volunteers. We are also grateful to the generosity of the Arlington Education Foundation, whose generous grant helped get the QSA off the ground back in the spring of 2011.

A school QSA has a very positive effect on students, staff and families, and contributes to a culture of acceptance and kindness. Our QSA is a very important part of Ottoson’s anti-bullying efforts, and the OMS QSA often collaborates with the OMS Peer Leaders initiative. Arlington High School students say they wish there had been a QSA at Ottoson when they were in middle school, and QSA members have been instrumental in providing information about grade school with the result that a pilot program, The Rainbow Alliance, is being run at Brackett Elementary School for 4^th and 5^th graders for the school year 2017-2018.

Thanks in part to the QSA, OMS staff, students, and families have more awareness about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender civil rights issues, as well as an increased understanding about how to address bullying language such as “That’s so gay!” This is all very good news, given that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender youth have a much higher rate of being bullied as well as a much higher rate of self-harming, substance abuse, and suicide than straight youth. The existence of a QSA in school could well be life saving.

If you are interested in learning more about how to support local LGBTQ+ youth keep an eye out for information about the new Town of Arlington Rainbow Commission. Organizations slightly more farther afield include Greater Boston PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and BAGLY (Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Youth) among many others.