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Hello and welcome to our first newsletter! If you are receiving this, you have attended one of our events in the past year, or you are one of our contacts in the MetroWest region who is passionate about supporting educators, families, and students. We hope that you enjoy receiving updates from the center in your email and will follow our social media for more. The Chris Walsh Center for Educators and Families of MetroWest celebrated its opening at Framingham State University in February 2020, at one of the last large face-to-face gatherings held on campus prior to COVID-19. We are celebrating one year of providing services to the campus and the community this week, so I’d like to share some highlights about what we’ve accomplished in our first year.

Hybrid and Online Professional Development Webinars: Hundreds of educators, other professionals, and parent/guardians have extended their learning in our series of webinars. You can watch the recordings of each event to learn about:

• Culturally Responsive Social-Emotional-Behavioral Supports

• Dyslexia Screening

• Twice-Exceptional Learners (Gifted/advanced learners with a disability diagnosis)

• Epilepsy Awareness (Lecture and Panel Discussion)

Parent/Caregiver Support Groups: Parents/caregivers, educators, and staff from the center have come together to discuss topics including dyslexia, twice-exceptional students, mental health, and supporting children with remote learning during COVID-19.

Parenting Book Discussion: The center, in partnership with students majoring in Child and Family Studies at FSU, led a book group discussion for educators and families about Raising Human Beings by Dr. Ross Greene.

Grant-Funded School Consultation: Through a partnership grant with the MetroWest Jewish Day School in Framingham, the center is providing ongoing consultation to teachers, focused on their efforts to provide differentiated instruction for a range of learning needs, in a hybrid format.

Service Learning Experiences for FSU Students: The center has provided service learning experiences for dozens of students as part of their coursework in the Education Department. We have also hired paid interns and student employees who are studying across many fields, including education, sociology, psychology, English, marketing, and business.

Advisory Board: The center formed an advisory board and held our first meeting in fall 2020. Please contact us if you are interested in attending our Spring 2021 meeting and/or serving on the board in the 2021-22 academic year.

We hope to stay connected with you and build the scope of our programming in the next 12 months!

Stay tuned,

James Cressey, Ph.D., NCSP

Chris Walsh Center Coordinator

Associate Professor and Chair, Education department

The ribbon cutting at the Chris Walsh Center for Educators and Families of MetroWest on February 13th, 2020.