Announcements

Dear WRAP Families,

As part of our commitment to promoting healthy living and responsible decision making, Wayland Middle School WRAP teachers will provide students with information and tools to engage in social and emotional learning experiences. Through the following standards, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework identifies information middle school students should acquire by the end of 8th grade in the area of “Social and Emotional Health:”

7.7 Recognize the positive contribution of character traits (such as tolerance, honesty, self discipline, respectfulness, and kindness) to relationships, the benefit to relationships which include understanding and respecting individual differences, and the detrimental effect of prejudice (such as prejudice on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, class, or religion) on individual relationships and society as a whole.

5.7 Identify and describe the experience of different feelings (such as elation, joy, grief, and rage) and how feelings affect daily functioning.

5.10 Describe the contribution of a personal support system to good mental health.

Wayland Middle School has partnered with the organization REACH to help knowledgeably guide students about these important topics. The Wayland Public Schools have a long and trusted relationship working with the REACH organization. Students in a regular year interact with the REACH teachers in the Wellness classroom. We have recognized the importance of these lessons and have worked to provide them in WRAP by occasionally utilizing the flexible last half hour times of Social Studies, Math, and Science to engage in these topics Students will have a total number of lessons on healthy relationships once or twice a week during January and the beginning of February.

A bit about REACH:

REACH Beyond Domestic Violence is a non-profit organization providing safety and support to survivors of abuse while engaging communities to promote healthy relationships and prevent domestic violence. The Prevention and Education team partners with schools and communities to provide healthy relationship workshops to middle and high school students, professional development sessions and individual consultation for faculty and staff, and educational events for parents as a way to build awareness, skills, and safer communities. You can find more

information at http://reachma.org/ This year, lessons with REACH will help students and faculty build strategies to address boundaries and consent from both a proactive and responsive approach, while acknowledging unique challenges posed by COVID-19, remote learning, and personal experience/ identity.

In the sixth grade, students will use interdisciplinary methods to discuss the characteristics of healthy friendships. Students will engage in activities that model and build empathy skills and learn how to communicate boundaries.

In the seventh grade, workshops will focus on navigating shifting relationships amid a period of transition. Students will explore topics of conflict resolution, physical, emotional, and digital boundaries and consent, and collective accountability.

In the eighth grade, students will build on their knowledge to explore how boundaries and consent are communicated in a physical and digital world. More focus will be put onto dating relationships, warning signs of unhealthy relationships, collective accountability, and how to help a friend when they are in need.

In addition, the Middle School WRAP program teachers are working with the High School WRAP teachers and the high school WRAP students who have volunteered to develop some social activities to continue the Middle School students’ social and emotional learning during this year of remote experience. We are planning these events to potentially be occurring once a month on Wednesdays. More information will be forthcoming this month.

Please contact the WRAP House Leader if you have any questions and/or concerns.

Stacey Reed: stacey_reed@waylandps.org