2026 - 2027 Programs

RECENT Programs (2025-2026)

SpeakOUT Boston Returns to Winchester!

Panelists from SpeakOUT Boston, a nonprofit organization that supports LGBTQIA+ community members, returned to Winchester and shared their personal stories. Following the panel, attendees participated in a Q&A and listened to honest, genuine and heartfelt answers. We hope you’ll join us as we continue to learn how to have safe, candid and supportive conversations about LGBTQIA+ issues with our friends, family, and community.

Real Choices and “Dream Schools”: Helping Your Child Find the Right College Fit with Jeff Selingo

The college admissions process has never been more complex - or stressful - for families. New York Times bestselling author and college admissions expert Jeff Selingo joined us for an engaging conversation about how parents can best support their children through today’s admissions landscape. Drawing on years of research, Jeff shared practical insights to help families reduce stress, look beyond “dream schools,” and focus on finding the colleges where students will truly thrive.

Transition to Kindergarten Panel and Resource Fair, 2026

Parents and guardians joined us for an interactive panel to learn about the non-academic aspects of transitioning to kindergarten. Following the panel and Q & A, they visited the Community Resource Fair to learn about after-school opportunities for your school age child. Panelists included Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Hackett, School Nurse, Kindergarten Teacher, School Psychologist and Elementary School Principals. The Community Resource Fair included parent representatives from all five elementary schools, enrichment opportunities and after-school care.

An Evening With The Superintendent, 2026

Winchester Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Hackett provided an informal and interactive forum with Q&A for parents and caregivers to hear about a wide range of topics and issues in the schools.

The Privates Rule Workshop: Realistic Strategies to Prevent Sexual Abuse with Dr. Nora Shine, Child and Family Psychologist

In this workshop, Dr. Shine shared a set of research-driven, realistic strategies that parents, caregivers, and educators can use to prevent sexual abuse of children. Her workshop helped participants feel empowered as they learned; facts about child abuse and effective prevention strategies, ways to recognize and confidently address adult behaviors that raise concern and how to increase communication with children so they feel safe, supported, and protected.

Managing Anxiety in Our Children (and Ourselves) with Lynn Lyons, LICSW

In this presentation, national expert, Lynn Lyons offered practical strategies to reduce anxiety and promote resilience in children from preschool through high school. She discussed ways to: prevent anxiety and teach young people to connect with others and manage emotions in an effective way; gave step by step instructions for helping a child suffering from anxiety; and how to help children manage social pressures, including social media and screens. Her latest book for adults and teenagers is The Anxiety Audit: Seven Sneaky Ways Anxiety Takes Hold And How to Escape Them. She is also the co-host of the popular podcast Flusterclux. Click Here for more resources, including her books, videos and webinars. Click Here for more information about Lynn Lyons, sign up for her newsletter and link to her podcast. This program was co-sponsored in partnership with the Winchester Coalition for a Safer Community. Thank you to the John and Mary Murphy Educational Foundation for their generous support of this program.

Digital Well-being: How can we help kids navigate a world where everything is shared and compared? with Dr. Devorah Heitner, Author of “Growing Up in Public: Coming Of Age In A Digital World”

Dr. Devorah Heitner shared her insights on how to help tweens and teens navigate boundaries, identity, privacy, and reputation in their digital world. She addressed ways to help kids be authentic when everything can be shared and compared, how to help kids/teens find balance between active and tech time, and why mentorship is better than just monitoring. A Q&A followed the presentation. CLICK HERE to download a copy of the discussion guide for her book. CLICK HERE to sign up for her newsletter. Thank you to Winchester Co-operative Bank for their generous donation to this program!

2024-2025 Past Programs

SpeakOUT

Once again, Parent to Parent is started our Pride Month celebration in May! Attendees heard the incredible personal stories of LGBTQIA+ community members. Panelists from SpeakOUT Boston, a nonprofit organization that supports LGBTQ+ community members and works to create positive change, shared their personal stories. Audience members asked questions and listened to honest, genuine and heartfelt answers. Discussions focused on how to have safe, candid and supportive conversations about LGBTQIA+ issues with friends and family members. More information about SpeakOUT can be found HERE!

THE SANDWICH GENERATION: Finding Balance While Raising Children & Supporting Aging Parents

A Parent to Parent, Winchester Council on Aging, and Jenks Partner Presentation, this program was a dynamic conversation with Liz O'Donnell, Caregiver, Local Expert and Author of the Nationally Recognized Wellness Book, "Working Daughter: A Guide to Caring for Your Aging Parents While Making a Living.” The book can be ordered at BookEnds. Liz addressed the unique and sometimes competing challenges of caring for your children and aging parents, including; how to balance responsibilities and commitments while maintaining your well-being; start crucial conversations with aging parents around issues of independence and safety, such as downsizing and driving; build a network of support with family members, siblings and friends for the care of your parents; and navigate the challenges with humor, resilience and self-compassion. Caregiver Resources mentioned during the program: Click Here for the Caregiver Resource Page from Liz O’Donnell. Click Here for a digital resource directory provided by the Council on Aging and Winchester Seniors Association at The Jenks. 

An Evening With The Superintendent, 2025

Winchester Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Hackett provided a forum with Q&A for parents and caregivers to hear about a wide range of topics and issues in the schools.

Transition to Kindergarten Panel and Resource Fair, 2025

Parents and guardians joined us for an interactive panel to learn about the non-academic aspects of transitioning to kindergarten. Following the panel and Q & A, they visited the Community Resource Fair to learn about after-school opportunities for your school age child. Panelists included Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Hackett, School Nurse, Kindergarten Teacher, School Psychologist and Elementary School Principals. The Community Resource Fair included parent representatives from all five elementary schools, enrichment opportunities and after-school care.

What if I say the wrong thing? How to respond to grieving kids and teens with Jen Noonan, Program Director, MSW and Jonathan Gay, Executive Director of The Children’s Room

When a child or teen experiences a loss, we are often unsure what to say or do, especially since grief manifests differently depending on the child’s developmental stage. Jen Noonan and Jonathan Gay, grief experts from The Children's Room, provided an interactive program for participates to learn how grief shows up for kids and teens. This virtual program offered some practical tips and tools about what to say and do, and how to help when someone has experienced a loss. The program will included an extended Q&A with participants. The Children’s Room creates safe, supportive communities, so that no child, teen, or family has to grieve alone. Based in Arlington, MA, The Children's Room offers in-person and virtual programs for children, teens and their families designed to create connection and community after the death of a parent or sibling.  All groups and services for families are provided free of charge so that families have no financial burden.  Click Here to learn more about our speakers. Watch Recording Here!

Are The Kids Alright? Smartphone Sense with Dr. Allison S. Baker

Dr. Allison Baker joined us and the Winchester Coalition for a Safer Community for an in-person discussion identifying the effects of social media, personal devices and technology on youth mental health. She shared the importance of free play, independence and sleep for our kids, as well as connection and parent support for a healthier community. Here are some resources that were mentioned at the program: Common Sense Media; Protect Young Eyes; Office of the Surgeon General-Youth Mental Health and Social Media; and Clinic for Interactive media and internet disorders Boston Children’s Hospital.

Helping Teens Find Their Balance: Mastering Time, Tasks, and Well-Being with Sarah Ward, M.S., CCC/SLP

Many middle and high school students struggle to balance homework, extracurriculars, sports, social lives and other responsibilities. Parents frequently witness their children feeling overwhelmed by procrastination, deadlines, and the constant need to refocus. This lecture provided parents with practical, research-based strategies to help their students develop the independence and executive function skills needed to thrive. Parents learned how to: help their kids plan effectively when they have more work than time, factoring in due dates, task importance, and point values; teach kids to recognize not just a daily schedule but to truly sense how much time they have available, including all the “hidden” time needed for preparation, travel, and potential time robbers; parents were provided tools to guide their kids in planning study time, identifying what and how to study, and learning from previous test experiences to improve future performance; and help kids understand how distractions break up their time and how constant refocusing eats into their productivity. To learn more, please click here for Cognitive Connections Website

2023-2024 Past Programs

SpeakOUT

We listened to the incredible personal stories of LGBTQ+ community members and learned how to have safe and honest conversations about LGBTQ+ issues with our friends and family members.

Let’s Be Honest: Communication in Families That Keeps Kids Healthy

Parents of all age kids joined us for an interactive workshop with Ana Maria Ramos, Community Health Educator for Planned Parenthood, who provided parents and caregivers with age-appropriate strategies for responding to kids’ hard-to-answer questions as well as techniques for talking about sexuality in a skilled and comfortable manner.

Transition to Kindergarten Panel and Resource Fair, 2024

Parents and guardians, joined us for an interactive panel to learn about the non-academic aspects of transitioning to kindergarten. Following the panel and Q&A, they visited the Community Resource Fair to learn about after-school opportunities for their school age child. Panelists included the Assistant Superintendent for Personnel & Elementary Education Laurie Kirby, School Nurse, Kindergarten Teacher, School Psychologist and Elementary School Principals. Community Resource Fair included parent representatives from all five elementary schools, enrichment opportunities and after-school care.

An Evening With The Superintendent, 2024

Winchester Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Hackett provided a forum with Q&A for parents and caregivers to hear about a wide range of topics and issues in the schools.

You and Your Adult Child: How to Grow Together in Challenging Times by Laurence Steinberg, PhD

Dr. Laurence Steinberg shared his research and knowledge about ways our parenting role can evolve to offer our kids support and encouragement in their independent, adult lives. Dr. Steinberg discussed when parents should express their opinion and when they should bite their tongue, how to know if an adult child is floundering and how to help, whether to continue supporting an adult child financially and ways to navigate the grandparent-parent-grandchild relationship. His book: You and Your Adult Child: How to Grow Together in Challenging Times is available at Book Ends.

Debbie Reber: Accepting and Showing Up for the Child You Have

Nearly all parenting challenges are rooted in a disconnect between our expectations for who we think our kids “should be” or what our experience as parents “should” be like, and what’s actually happening in the day-to-day. But when we make the conscious choice to lean into and accept who our kids inherently are, things start to feel so much better. In this presentation, Debbie Reber talked about the power in parenting the child we actually have, and shared strategies for just how to do that. When we commit to this parenting lens reframe, we can build stronger connections with our kids, reduce conflict in the home, foster our kids’ sense of agency and confidence, lessen our own sense of overwhelm and burnout, and find more joy in our families.

Quiet Kids: How to Parent When You or Your Child is Introverted in an Extroverted World — with Susan Cain

We listened to a fireside chat on Zoom where Susan Cain, bestselling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, shared her research and knowledge about ways to support and encourage introverted children to help them thrive and succeed.

Parent to Parent Book Group

Parents joined us for a discussion of the book LETTING GO: A Parents' Guide to Understanding the College Years. Parents shared stories, insights and concerns around communication, keeping in touch, making plans and setting boundaries with their college aged children. They offered each other support and suggestions throughout the conversation.

2022-2023 Programs

Celebrate Pride Month with SpeakOUT!!

We listened to the incredible personal stories of LGBTQ+ community members and learned how to have safe and honest conversations about LGBTQ+ issues with our friends and family members.

Romaine Calm! Tips to Feed Your Family For their Health — with Tara McCarthy, MS, RD, LDN., Clinical Nutrition Supervisor at Boston Children’s Hospital

Parent to Parent and Family Action Network co-sponsored this program at Wright-Locke Farm where Tara McCarthy, Clinical Nutrition Supervisor at Boston Children's Hospital, provided parents both tools and confidence to give their child the nutrition they need to grow and thrive. In addition, she guided parents with children who have to eliminate foods from their diet for different reasons.

Transition to Kindergarten Panel and Resource Fair, 2023

Parents and guardians, joined us for an interactive panel to learn about the non-academic aspects of transitioning to kindergarten. Panelists included Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Hackett, School Nurse, Kindergarten Teacher, School Psychologist and Elementary School Principal. Resource Fair included parent representatives from all five elementary schools, enrichment opportunities and after-school care for school-aged children.

An Evening with the Superintendent, 2023

Winchester Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Frank Hackett, provided an informal forum for parents and caregivers to hear about a wide range of topics and issues in the schools.

Social Media, Skills and Relationships: Digital Wellness in a Post Pandemic World — with Dr. Elizabeth Englander

Dr. Englander, founder and director of the Massachusetts Center for Aggression Reduction Center, and a nationally recognized expert on cyberbullying, shared her research on teenage cell phone use. She helped parents learn how to: provide guidelines for healthy cell phone use; respond to cyberbullying; and talk to their child about sexting. She also discussed the pandemic’s impact on children’s mental health and social relationships as well as the consequences of increased screen time.

Teach ChildrenTo Manage TheirTime, Space And Materials (and keep their emotions in check!) — with Sarah Ward, M.S., CCC/SLP

In this talk, Ms. Ward helped parents: develop a solid understanding of what the executive function skills are and how they impact your child's academic and personal performance;; learn how to promote the development of executive function skills by weaving them naturally into everyday activities; learn easy to implement methods to help your child to initiate tasks, follow routines, think in an organized way and encourage self-initiative to manage homework and tasks independently; and learn many strategies to show your child the process of how to plan and complete homework with less supervision and fewer prompts.

Michelle Icard: The Essential Parenting Conversations – and How to Have Them

Based on her most recent book, Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen, Michelle guided parents of tweens and teens past their fears and challenges around covering “the important stuff” with their kids and into a confident enough position to have meaningful conversations where their kids will actually engage. In addition to learning general Dos and Don’ts for communicating successfully with increasingly resistant adolescents, Michelle got into the specifics of what parents need to know on certain hot topics: Becoming Independent, Keeping Creativity Alive, Taking Care of Yourself, Living with Technology, and Helping Others.

2021-2022 Programs

SpeakOUT’s Alphabet Soup: Understanding Gender and Sexuality

Members of SpeakOUT Boston joined us to teach participants more about the LGBTQIA+ community. Panelists shared the truths of their lives through telling their personal stories, with the hope of creating an understanding of differences and spreading acceptance.

Rethinking Parental Pressure: A Positive Approach to Encouraging Your Child to Be Their Best Self with Dr. Chris Thurber

In this presentation, Dr. Thurber, co-author of the book, The Unlikely Art of Parental Pressure, suggested breaking with convention by asking not, “How much pressure should I put on my child to succeed?” but, rather, “How do I transform that pressure into a positive force?” He discussed how to reframe unhealthy parental pressure into a guiding force that will help any child navigate their life more effectively, and in the process, boost the quality of the parent-child relationship. Co-sponsored by the Winchester Co-operative Bank.

Transition to Kindergarten Panel, 2022

This interactive panel provided a way for parents to learn about the nonacademic aspects of transitioning to kindergarten. Panelists included: Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Frank Hackett, an elementary school nurse, a kindergarten teacher, a school psychologist and a principal. The program concluded with an opportunity to connect with parent representatives from all five elementary schools.

Peggy Orenstein, Author of “Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape”

Inspired by her  New York Times best seller, Orenstein shared about her work with high school and college girls to reveal how they understand and negotiate the new rules of physical and emotional intimacy.  She helped parents understand: the impact of the hookup culture on girls; how pop culture and pornography put undue pressure on girls to look and act sexy; how girls navigate between being called a “prude” or a “slut;” and how parents can talk to girls (and boys) about sex authentically. Thank you for the generous support from The John and Mary Murphy Educational Foundation and The EnKa Society. Book Available at BOOK ENDS

Understanding Friendship… And All Of Its Complexities with Emily Ward, MSW

Emily Ward, MSW, Winchester Public Schools Adjustment Counselor/Social Emotional Learning Coach, discussed how friendships are essential to our well-being and how it takes work to foster healthy relationships – for kids and adults. We learned about friendship skills and explored the friendship scale between true friend and frenemy. She discussed relational aggression and toxic versus healthy relationships and shared tools to help us help our kids expand their thinking from “do they like me?” to “what am *I* looking for in a friend?” Co-sponsored by Winchester Coalition for a Safer Community

An Evening with the Superintendent, 2022

Winchester Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Hackett, provided an informal and interactive forum for parents to hear about a wide range of topics and issues in the schools including district goals, COVID mitigation, equity and inclusion.

Community Group for parents of elementary and preschool children.

Participants connected with other parents of elementary and preschool aged children, discussed topics that are currently relevant to their families and learned more about Parent to Parent.

Raising an Organized Child: Teaching children to solve problems and grasp the big picture with Damon Korb, M.D., F.A.A.P

Dr. Damon Korb, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician and the father of five, discussed his five steps to raising kids who are confident, independent and self-reliant. He offered insights and strategies to help parents and caregivers develop their children’s organized thinking skills and executive function. His book Raising an Organized Child: 5 Steps to Boost Independence, Ease Frustration, and Promote Confidence (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2019) is available at Bookends

For more information about Dr. Korb’s programs: www.devminds.com www.raisinganorganizedchild.com

The Sport Parent’s Playbook with Dr. Adam Naylor

In this interactive presentation, Dr. Adam Naylor, CMPC, shared strategies for and answered questions about how parents can best support their student-athlete. Specifically, ways to support their love for their sports while also protecting their physical, emotional or social health. This program included the latest research and science in sport psychology to elevate parents understanding of raising a healthy and well-performing student-athlete and provided some practical tools parents could use for this upcoming season. His book The Sport Parent’s Playbook is available through https://telos-spc.com/