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Photo courtesy of Westwood Public Schools. Students participate in Westwood Public Schools' inclusive read-aloud program.
11-13-2026 8:28pm
Westwood Public Schools Implements Inclusive Read Aloud Program for K-5 Students
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Thanks to Westwood Public Schools for contributing this news to Westwood Minute.
Westwood parent Nick Quiroz stood before a classroom of fifth graders and asked them, “What makes a house a home?”
The answers came quickly:
“Love.”
“Happiness.”
“It’s where memories are made.”
Quiroz was at the Downey School as part of the Westwood Public Schools (WPS) Inclusive Read Aloud Program. It's a program in which family volunteers visit classrooms once a month and read stories that promote inclusion and belonging. In addition to being a reader, Quiroz is the program’s parent coordinator.
“I started reading in the program last year when it was reestablished, and I became very passionate about it,” said Quiroz. “I partnered with the district to expand the program. Initially, it was focused on disability awareness and ran for five months.”
This year, the program runs for eight months. Each Westwood classroom from kindergarten through fifth grade receives a visit from a volunteer reader once a month.
“We talk about family differences, cultural differences, and learning differences,” said WPS Director of Equity, Integration and Community Partnerships Lateefah Franck. “We have parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles who volunteer to come into the classroom and read selected books to the class.”
She says every volunteer has participated in district training centered on understanding the values of inclusion and belonging.
The book Quiroz recently read was In Our Mothers’ House by Patricia Polacco. It tells the story of a multiracial family in which two women adopt three children, weaving themes of race, religion and nontraditional family structures throughout its pages. The story highlights that love, acceptance and family unity are what truly define a home.
“While the program raises awareness among children in the elementary schools and different aspects of inclusion and diversity, it also raises the same awareness with the parents – even more so," said Quiroz. “We all grow up with our ideas, our biases, and going into a classroom and sharing these stories opens new perspectives for adults as we see how warmly and naturally the children embrace every story.”
Quiroz and the district created discussion packets to accompany each book, to help guide the readers through a question-and-answer session with each class. Franck said the program directly relates to the district’s Portrait of a Graduate goals of ensuring students understand and accept diversity among their peers and their community.
“I think it’s important that our children see their parents and their family members volunteering and reading and leading discussion in their classroom, so they know there is a connection between kindness taught at school and at home,” said Franck. “What I’m really appreciating about the program is the connection I see between the student’s elementary exposure and how this builds into middle school, and lessons around kindness, and how they’re building a school culture of inclusivity and belonging.”
Currently, there are about 85 family volunteer readers. Quiroz said there are several spots still open in the fifth grade. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Lateefah Franck at lfranck@westwood.k12.ma.us.
