Revere Public Schools opened the 2025-2026 Family Engagement Night series on Thursday with a lively event bringing together families, school staff, and community partners. The goal: to strengthen connections between families and local support organizations, sharing services, programs, and resources available to students and their households.
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“Welcome to the Kick-Off of the Revere Community Resource Series!” declared Dr. Lourenço Garcia, Assistant Superintendent of Equity and Inclusion. “Today, we are excited to bring together our community partners who play an important role in supporting Revere’s students, families, and neighborhoods. This series is designed to strengthen connections, highlight available resources, and build collaboration across our schools and community organizations.” He added his gratitude to all those partners, emphasizing that “together, we can ensure that our families have access to the resources and opportunities they need to thrive.”
The event featured remarks and presentations from several key community stakeholders. Below are summaries of what each speaker shared, drawing on their work and the organization’s mission.
Morgan Berlin from Eastie Farm described the farm’s broad mix of Food, Farming, and Education programs. Eastie Farm Key highlights included:
• Produce for the People: a program designed to address food insecurity by creating more equitable, healthy local food access. Eastie Farm offers affordable and free CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares, distributing fresh produce weekly from their greenhouse (fridge-free, no sign-up required, no questions asked).
• Living Lands: regenerative agriculture and farming practices, including a zero-emissions geothermal greenhouse, soil health, composting, and stormwater management. Berlin emphasized how these efforts both grow food and build environmental resilience.
• Student Stewards: educational offerings for children and teens, including school-term and summer programs, focused on food systems, climate change, environmental stewardship, junior farming, and “Climate NATURE” workshops.
Berlin encouraged families to get involved, whether through volunteering, programming participation, or access to produce offerings.
Chartwells — Martha Franklin
Martha Franklin, Director of Dining and Nutrition Services at Chartwells, introduced the Revere Public Schools’ new food service contract. She laid out the guiding values of the new food services:
• Using fresh, nutritious, minimally processed, and locally sourced ingredients.
• Promoting experiential learning in relation to food, to help students explore and enjoy eating well.
• Aiming to make sure students “leave the cafeteria happier and healthier than when they came in.”
• Highlighting the importance of meals not just for nourishment but also for social connection and well-being.
Chartwells generously donated the food for the evening’s event.
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Revere Police — Captain Thomas Malone
Captain Thomas Malone of the Revere Police spoke about the School Resource Officers (SRO) program. Drawing from the departmental description:
• SROs are assigned exclusively to Revere Public Schools.
• Their roles include daily interaction with students; ensuring safe arrival and departure of children; monitoring traffic and parking around schools during drop-off and pick-up; and working with parents, teachers, and students concerning juvenile or non-school disciplinary issues.
• Participation in community-oriented policing efforts, including the Police Athletic League.
• Captain Malone also highlighted “Charlie,” a therapy dog assigned to support the schools and community events, providing emotional support and helping build trust.
Chartwells generously donated the food for the evening’s event.
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Lauren Buck, Director of Public Health, presented the work of the Revere Public Health Division. Key points from her remarks (and the department’s mission) included:
• The division works to promote health equity, ensuring that all residents, including students, have access to optimal health services.
• Operates vaccine clinics (including seasonal flu, respiratory vaccines) for children and adults; free of charge, with special provisions for homebound residents.
• Collaborates with school nurses and the school district to monitor immunization records, follow up, and support compliance with school immunization requirements.
• Offers education and outreach around health behaviors, communicable disease prevention, environmental risks, etc.
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Madelyn Pineda-Alvarez, Community Liaison Coordinator, outlined the work of the Community Liaisons Office, which serves as a bridge between Revere residents and city services. From the city’s liaison page:
• The liaison office assists with referrals for housing, employment, food, English classes, health insurance, and other essential supports.
• Starting fall 2025, the office will offer quarterly “Welcome Tours” for newcomers to the city—whether they are renters or homeowners. The first tour is scheduled for Saturday, November 1, 2025, at 11:00 AM, starting from Revere City Hall. The initiative aims to orient new residents to city services and resources.
The Liaison Office also maintains regular schedules for meetings with residents in various locations (City Hall, mobile sites around the city) to make city services more accessible.
Pineda-Alvarez encouraged families to reach out to the liaison office for help navigating available supports, especially those who may be newer to Revere or unfamiliar with municipal resources.
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Revere Community School — Fadiala Beauvais
Fadiala Beauvais, Program Coordinator of Revere Community School, described the wide array of offerings there. According to the school’s website:
- Courses in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), Citizenship preparation, HiSET (High School Equivalency), workforce development, computer skills, and computer classes.
- A Laptop Lending Library so that learners can access devices for classwork.
- Spanish language classes/programs.
- Opportunities for adult learners to enroll, including people from immigrant communities, offering tools for civic participation, professional or personal growth.
Beauvais emphasized that empowering adult learners helps entire families, enabling better engagement with schools and strengthening community ties.
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Community Response and Looking Ahead
Attendees at Thursday’s event expressed enthusiasm for the chance to meet local resources face to face, ask questions, and learn about programs they didn’t previously know existed.
Revere Public Schools plans to continue the Family Engagement Nights throughout the year, with future sessions likely to focus on topics such as student wellness, housing & food insecurities, immigration, and more.