Event raises $375,000 for Walker
May 22, 2013
The Walker community celebrated the strength and resilience of Walker families at the annual Lives In Bloom Gala Saturday, May 11, at the Westin Boston Waterfront. Four hundred guests filled the Grant Ballroom in joyous celebration of the Walker mission.
This year Walker honored the Hamel family – Paul, Cheryl, Michael, and Matthew – with the Walker Distinguished Community Leadership Award for their commitment to bettering the lives of our citizens, especially children, youth, and families. Michael Hamel graduated from...
January 14, 2013
Walker is a comprehensive array of special education and mental health services that provides intensive therapeutic and academic programs for children, adolescents, and their families. Walker’s innovative care and flexible individualized programs build on evidence-based practices and extend specialized therapeutic environments beyond classrooms into family homes, public schools, and communities.
Walker programs provide meaningful therapeutic learning and living environments and experiences that help children and adolescents build on their...
January 14, 2013
Walker transforms the lives of children and youth who are dealing with complex emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges, by partnering with these children and youth, their families, and communities to nurture hope, build strengths, and develop lifelong skills.
Core Values
Child Centered & FamilyDrivenSafetyRespectStrengths-basedExcellenceContinuous Learning
Guiding Beliefs
Child Centered & Family DrivenWe believe that…
Belonging to a family is central to a child’s identity, well-being,...
Walker Family Fun Day provides needed relief
October 23, 2012
Fourteen years later, Ken and Susan Meharg still remember how Walker helped their family while their then nine-year-old adopted son was a student here and enrolled in the residential program.
Through Ken’s business, New England Trade, the Mehargs continue to show their gratitude by helping current students and their families forget some of their challenges, even if only for a few hours. The Mehargs sponsor the annual Walker Family Fun Day, which turns the Needham Campus into a carnival complete with a bounce house, mechanical bull, cotton...
September 26, 2012
We are deeply grateful for the generosity of our many friends and supporters who contributed to such a wonderful year for Walker. You, our many benefactors, play an integral role in the current and future success of our programs. Thank you for joining us in our commitment to helping children, youth, and families heal, learn, and grow. The enthusiasm of so many for Walker ensures our continued growth and strength for years to come. We hope the 2011-2012 Annual Report provides insight into the richness of the Walker community, and the successful...
Walker School students tour Red Sox home
August 23, 2012
Baseball is full of traditions, and one that is taking hold on Walker’s Needham campus over the past four summers is a tour of Fenway Park for some of the children in our Summer Program.
This year 10 boys, accompanied by Day Program Coordinator Kevin Vacaro and Day Treatment Specialist Brian McCarthy, enjoyed “America’s Favorite Ballpark” on a bright, sunny day – a perfect day for baseball!
The students sat atop the Green Monster seats, got a sense of what the view feels like from the bullpen for a relief pitcher, sat high on the...
Excitement builds as new academic year approaches
August 23, 2012
Life at Walker is never dull. Graduation season blends right into the summer term at Beacon High School, where students attend classes until the end of July. On the Needham campus, children participating in our Summer Program head off on field trips, nature walks or excursions to local swimming holes, or participate in arts and crafts projects. And there always is the buzz of young boys and girls splashing in inflatable pools and racing around the playground.
But as we move closer to September and summer fades into fall, there is a...
August 16, 2012
An enthusiastic group of old and new Friends of Walker celebrated summer on Tuesday, August 14, at Dillon’s on Boylston Street, and raised more than $500 for Walker Programs. The Friends of Walker provide critically important help through fundraising, volunteering, and hosting fun activities for children and youth. Want to get involved? Visit www.walkerschool.org/help/friends
Register for the Walk for Walker, work out for free in August
July 24, 2012
Want to help children and families, and feel good doing it?
The Fitness Club for Women in Wellesley is offering a free one-month membership in August for anyone who registers online for the third annual Walk for Walker and Fun Fair, a 5K fun walk through Needham on September 23. The event raises awareness of, and support for, programs provided by Walker. Founded in 1961, Walker is an array of professionals and programs thatprovide world-class mental health services, state-of-the-art special education, expert professional training and...
Volunteers provide help on Needham Campus
July 11, 2012
Walker welcomed 16 volunteers from Liberty Mutual to our Needham Campus for the nationwide Serve With Liberty event in June. In celebration of 100 years, tens of thousands of Liberty Mutual employees across the globe participated in a day of service to help the communities and neighborhoods they call home.
Under the direction of Sonny Decues of the Walker Facilities Department, the hard-working volunteers painted the first-floor corridor and a stairwell in The Walker School on Walker’s Needham Campus, as well as a self-soothing...
Awards, diplomas conferred in moving graduation ceremony
July 02, 2012
Beacon High School Director Pam Travers walked up the school’s central staircase with the Class of 2012 behind her, like a proud mother duck with her ducklings all in a row. The graduates – 19 young men and women, festooned in white gowns and mortarboards – walked single file through the main door, past teachers, guidance counselors, and clinicians, and out into the bright, warm sunshine of the mid-June evening.
Waiting for them were their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, and sisters, all gathered under a tent...
Twenty-one receive diplomas at commencement ceremony
June 27, 2012
On the first full day of summer – temperatures soaring into the mid-90s and the Needham campus awash in brilliant sunshine – 21 students received diplomas in front of proud parents, grandparents, friends, and staff at the Walker School’s annual graduation ceremony.
Several students, showing confidence that perhaps was once unimaginable, spoke to the gathering with heartfelt words about how Walker has transformed their lives. One student said, “I hope Walker is here for decades to come to help future generations.”
Walker School...
Gift from children of Walker to Dr. Small highlights ceremony
June 07, 2012
Children, parents, grandparents, and Walker staff officially opened the new Playground of Possibilities at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, June 6.
The playground, built by Northeast Playground Builders, LLC,was developed by the entire Walker community: students, families, staff, and the Board of Directors. It is intended to meet the specific needs of the children at Walker by improving self-esteem, social and sensory skills, and alleviate stress and fatigue.
Cindy Gruber, a member of the Walker Board of Directors and Chair of...
Three runners needed for Falmouth Road Race
June 04, 2012
Walker has been invited to participate in the 2012 New Balance Falmouth Road Race’s Numbers for Non-Profits program. We are looking for three runners (first-come, first-served) to run for Walker on Sunday, August 12. Walker runners receive a free entry into the race and are exempt from the lottery, in exchange for agreeing to raise a minimum of $1,000 for Walker.
If interested, please contact Mark Gough in Institutional Advancement at 781-292-2158 or by e-mail at mgough@walkerschool.org.
Matt Cooney says farewell to Walker
June 01, 2012
Director of Residential Services Matt Cooney will begin a new chapter in his life on Monday, June 18, when he takes on his new position as Executive Director at the new Brookline Teen Center (BTC).
It is clear, however, that the past eight years at Walker (the first two as program director) will forever be part of Matt’s future.
“The thing I love about Walker is that we always go that extra step,” he says. “Nothing is ever good enough; we’re always trying to do better here. That has been ingrained in me.
“Walker is quirky at...
