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 opened with a full-time, normal schedule for students on September 1. Please note that for the health and safety of students, staff, families, volunteers and the school community, opportunities to serve in-person, as well as the duration of volunteer activities may be limited at this time. Adult volunteers who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 are permitted to serve in person, and will be matched at the discretion of school administration and staff. 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 indoor masking and 3-foot physical social distancing guidelines. Community health measures will continue to be closely monitored for in-person volunteer protocols.

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 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, INSPIRE this SCHOOL YEAR!**

Somerville Public Schools partners with several area organizations to offer coordinated and robust volunteer tutoring, mentoring and enrichment. The following partnerships are coordinated through schools' principals and school leadership teams. Please visit these organization sites to learn more and to begin their application process. This is not a comprehensive list of opportunities with SPS. Please reach out to JCapuano@k12.somerville.ma.us to share your availability and interests for volunteering with SPS this Fall.

Greater Boston Jewish Coalition for Literacy GBJCL Literacy Tutors have been helping SPS elementary students discover the joy of reading for more than 15 years.Through partnerships with synagogues, Jewish community organizations, day schools and local businesses, GBJCL volunteers serve for year-long one-to-one reading, tutoring and conversation.

Enroot empowers immigrant youth to achieve in academics, career and for personal success through one-to-one mentoring and out-of-school experiences. Tues evening opportunities at Somerville High School this Fall! Click here to apply or contact Enroot Program Manager Vania Loredo: vloredo@enrooteducation.org.

Tufts Literacy Corps (Tufts students only!) Tufts Literacy Corps student volunteers have been serving with SPS since 1998. If you're a Tufts student and wish to volunteer with TLC, reach out to Tufts Literacy Specialist Cynthia Krug: cynthia.krug@tufts.edu or tuftstlc@gmail.com.

Breakthrough Boston has a unique dual mission of serving students and aspiring educators, addressing inequities at both the individual student and systemic level. Volunteers have been seving with SPS since 2018 tutoring and mentoring Somerville students. BIPOC Volunteers wanted for middle grades math tutoring and mentoring this Fall. Contact Breakthrough's Managing Director of Student Services Jennie McDonald-Brown for more info and to sign up: jmcdonaldbrown@btgbmail.org.

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERING

The Welcome Project seeks a community volunteer with web expertise to help manage and update their website. 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 or if interested please contact: Winki Chan (She/Her/Hers), Curriculum Design Associate, The Welcome Project: winki@welcomeproject.org or call 617-623-6633.

Project SOUP Community Food Center, 165 Broadway, Somerville Homeless Coalition Project SOUP's food pantry delivery program seeks volunteers to drive deliveries during summer months, mostly Saturdays. Project SOUP delivers food pantry bags to homebound families and individuals. Sign up here.

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 deliver or package meals for Somerville or Cambridge families.

Groundwork Somerville educates and develops community-based partnerships to bring about the sustained regeneration, improvement and management of the physical environment. Groundwork Somerville offers youth programming and maintains all Somerville school gardens. To serve in a school garden, at a cleaning and greening day or assist with GWS programming, reach out to Groundwork Somerville here.

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 resouces.