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 welcomes volunteers to serve in person. 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 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 minimum 3-foot physical social distancing guidelines. Community health measures will continue to be closely monitored for in-person volunteer protocols. Volunteers with weekly schedules have the option to test weekly at their school site.

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.

Winter 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...

Remote Tutors, Grades 5-12, commitment of at least one hour/week preferred (Literacy, Language, Mathematics, Sciences).

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COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERING

Fun, outdoor, active short-term volunteer opp! Safe Routes To School, Pedestrian Safety Training. Shape Up Somerville, Office of Food Access & Healthy Communities and SPS seeks volunteers to help offer Pedestrian Safety Trainings to Grade 2 students. Weeks of March 7 and 14. All elementary schools, training provided. Contact Shape Up Somerville Director Lisa Robinson if interested: LRobinson@somervillema.gov.

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.