New Collaborative Aims To Improve Waltham High Graduation Rates

WALTHAM, MA — There's a new effort aimed at addressing disparities in high school graduation rates among Waltham students. Two hospitals and several local organizations are behind a collaborative called Wraparound Waltham set to do this, according to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

The Waltham High School graduation rate last year based on a four-year cohort was 86.2 percent. The state rate is 87.9 percent, according to district data. Though overall high school enrollment rates are level and have even dropped throughout the past couple years, the percentage and number of students who are learning to speak English is increasing, according to the Department of Education. Waltham is seeing this, too.

The issue, is that the large majority (78 percent) of English learner dropouts across the state are Latino. Waltham is among the districts in the state seeing a higher percentage of such dropouts.

The state awarded a $1.5 million grant to Mass General Hospital, which is working with Newton-Wellesley and the collaborative to support a team of providers who will conduct mental health assessments and social determinants of health screenings for immigrant students for four years.

Officials called the effort "groundbreaking," in a release.

In a recent comprehensive review, Newton-Wellesley and a Waltham-based advisory committee revealed comparative discrepancies regionally and across the state, according to the hospital.

Wraparound Waltham is led by the Waltham Partnership for Youth and includes Waltham Boys and Girls Club, Children’s Charter, Doc Wayne Youth Services and The Right to Immigration Institute.

The group will work closely with these students and their caregivers to first get a sense of the needs, strengths and personal goals of each student and then the plan is to develop Individual Student Success Plans.

The plans will include a host of in-school and out-of-school programs and support designed to address basic needs such has food, housing and transportation; employment needs; linguistic and social isolation; school belonging and engagement; ability to adapt to new environments; and access to mental health care, according to a release. And it will focus on recent immigrants and refugees.

“It is our hope that this model will ultimately inform the way systems of support are designed for all high needs students at Waltham High School, not just those who meet the target demographic for this grant,” said Executive Director, WPY Kaytie Dowcett.

Mass General Waltham and Mass General Physician’s Organization Waltham applied for and got state funding for the project and Newton-Wellesley is facilitating this initiative on behalf of Mass General Hospital.

The state grant will be distributed in the amount of $300,000 per year for four years. And an additional award of $78,000 per year will be given to Waltham Public Schools over four years to support their work with Wraparound Waltham.

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).