Volunteering

Serve and Inspire with Somerville Public Schools!

Welcome to Somerville Public Schools and thank you for your interest in volunteering! Why Volunteer? Volunteers in schools leads to greater student achievement and self-confidence, better attendance, improved conversation skills and social relationships, and stronger community connections. As a volunteer with Somerville Public Schools, you will work with students, educators, parents and guardians, and community volunteers to enrich and expand student learning. Whether you have an hour a week or an hour a month, we'll work to match you with a rewarding volunteer experience.

In-Person Volunteers: Somerville Public Schools continues to welcome volunteers to serve in person. Volunteers who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 are permitted to serve in person, and will be matched at the discretion of school staff. Volunteers with confirmed weekly schedules have the option to test weekly at their school site. Please refer to these COVID-19 Safety Protocols for In-Person Volunteers before serving. Acceptable proof of vaccination include: CDC vaccination card, photo of CDC vaccination card, or state vaccination record or digital vaccine passport (this varies by state). Volunteers serving in person will adhere to the district's safety and health protocols. Community health measures will continue to be closely monitored for in-person volunteer safety guidelines.

Getting Started

NEW TO SOMERVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS? If interested in serving regularly please take a moment to self-register as an SPS Volunteer here. Volunteer Orientations will be scheduled for volunteers interested in being matched for regular, weekly volunteering (see details here).

RETURNING VOLUNTEERS, PARENTS AND GUARDIANS: Thank you for sharing your time and talents with SPS. Volunteers who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and wishing to serve in person should submit a CORI for the current school year and must provide proof of full vaccination for COVID-19. To submit your CORI remotely, please download this fillable CORI Form and "enable editing" to use. For information about MA CORI regulation and your CORI rights visit https://www.mass.gov/doc/cori-booklet/download.

Thank you for reviewing this Guide for procedures and best practices for serving with Somerville Public Schools.

SERVE, ENGAGE, CONNECT, INSPIRE

Volunteers serve weekly at every Somerville school, offering educators more ways to individualize and expand student learning. Volunteers serve as tutors, mentors, help in a classroom or with homework, provide therapy dog team visits and lots more. Multi-lingual applicants are encouraged to apply, Portuguese or Spanish bilingual or fluent volunteers especially welcomed.

Spring 2022

Mathematics, In-Class or 1:1 or small group tutoring. During, before or after school hours, Grades 3-12. Required commitment of at least one hour/week.

Multi-lingual volunteers (Portuguese, Spanish) serve in classrooms and for 1:1 tutoring or mentoring. In-school and after school hours, flexible hours.

After School Homework Support and/or Tutoring: multiple elementary school locations, any day M-F, 3pm-4pm or 4pm-5pm.

After School Tutoring (Writing, Mathematics, Sciences, Languages), Somerville High School. Be matched for 1:1 tutoring by student request. M-F, 2:45pm-4pm, one session/week minimum commitment.

Pre-K - Grade 3 classroom support: multiple locations, Spanish or Portuguese bilingual preferred but not required.

After School Enrichment: Work with After School Site Coordinators to assist or offer hands-on after school units. Choose your passion: STEM activities, cooperative games, athletics, visual or theater arts, gardening, nature walks, cooking, crafts, journaling, writing...

Therapy Dogs (and their Human Handlers) Wanted! Since 2012, Somerville Public Schools has welcomed trained, certified therapy dog teams into classrooms and for individual counseling sessions. Therapy dog teams in classrooms can help reduce student anxiety, improve confidence, and provide emotional benefits for students. Trained teams serve once weekly or bi-monthly with the same classroom or student(s) and are provided safe, quiet spaces to meet.

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COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERING

Volunteers for Parks Evaluations this Spring! The City of Somerville's Office of Food Access and Healthy Communities seeks volunteers to help with Somerville's 3rd annual Parks Evaluation this Spring. Volunteers are needed to better understand use of Somerville parks to inform city planning and policies for parks development, renovation and permitted use. Volunteers serve between May 21-June 5, conducting observations at 5 or 6 parks for two-hour windows each, one weekend and one weekday afternoon/evening. Volunteers will receive a one-hour training week of May 16 about how to conduct and record their observations. Contact Alissa Ebel, Healthy Communities Coordinator: aebel@somervillema.gov or 617-626-6600 x4321 to learn more.

The Welcome Project The Welcome Project is a local nonprofit working to strengthen the collective power of immigrant youth, adults and families to shape community process, programs and decision-making around schools, programs, government and institutions. Remote, flexible scheduling as your time allows. For more information contact: Winki Chan (She/Her/Hers) winki@welcomeproject.org or call 617-623-6633.

Project SOUP Community Food Center, 165 Broadway, Somerville Homeless Coalition. Volunteer to sort, stock and pack at Project SOUP: Cook a Meal for Adult Shelter, located on College Ave: contact Katie at nstevens@shcinc.org.

Food For Free distributes free, nutritious, locally sourced food to vulnerable families in Greater Boston. You can help nourish local families by signing up here to package or deliver meals for Somerville or Cambridge families.

Groundwork Somerville Help maintain hands-on outdoor learning opportunities in our schools! School Gardens Maintenance Volunteers Wanted! Volunteers are paired with one (or more) SPS school garden sites to help weed, water and for regular care of a school garden. May - September, minimum 1 hour/week commitment, with flexible timing during the day and ability to take on as many additional hours as you'd like. Email jules@groundworksomerville.org for more info.

MAMAS (Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville) is an entirely volunteer-led resource connecting community needs with community resources. Join a working group, help distribute resources or work toward redistributing resources.