James Zanghi
jameszanghi202@gmail.com
781-697-4386
Hello, my name is James Zanghi, and I am running for Waltham School Committee to provide a new voice and a fresh vision for the future of Waltham Public Schools.
This campaign is not about me, it is about the future of the city: Waltham Students. By working together for our schools, we can all set out to build the educational community we envision and empower our youth to accomplish their dreams and pursue their full potential in the world.
As a Waltham Public Schools Alum (Plympton, Kennedy, Waltham High ’16) & 4th generation Waltham resident, I am the first in my family to graduate from college with a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s from American University in Washington, D.C.
Raised by a single mother and my grandmother, the values of kindness, hard work and public service were instilled in my life. I continue these life lessons each day in my work for the City of Waltham.
As a recent graduate of the Waltham Public Schools, I understand the current state of our school system from inside the classroom and will be committed to working together with all our students, educators, parents, guardians and administration officials as a School Committee Member.
What do you love most about Waltham?
There are many things I love about our city, our vibrant arts scene, our expansive history as the birthplace of the industrial revolution & labor movements, being a center of entrepreneurial innovation today, and our culturally diverse community from all over the world. The Waltham Schools were my second home growing up and gave me the hope to move forward to pursue my educational pursuits, being the first in my family in over 100 years to leave the City of Waltham to go to college, becoming a first-generation college student. The Waltham Public Schools enrich our students’ future, allowing our community to be a city of opportunity and growth that welcomes people from far and wide, and our acceptance of uplifting each other as a community is a shining example to always be there for each other, in both good and difficult times.
What would you change if you could?
Bolster and increase funding to career pathways in the guidance counselor department. With each guidance counselor having over approximately 100 students, we need to increase funding and resources for these critical positions that help students discover their chosen career paths.
I would like to increase and bolster the before and after school programs, increasing affordability for working families to access this resource, particularly in Elementary Schools and Pre-K. Often times, Pre-K schooling and after-school programs remain too high a price and families often rely on grandparents or family members to look after children. But some families do not have additional family members to rely on and therefore an increased presence of these programs will allow more students a place to be until they are picked up from school.
What is one burning issue you plan to address if elected?
Working with elected officials, educators and state administrators in a collaborative and positive atmosphere to analyze the recent data from Waltham High School being placed in the bottom tenth percentile of performance for High Schools across the State. The Waltham High School has incredible staff, educators, programming and curriculum that make it a fantastic institute of knowledge and learning. The data from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education here does not tell the whole story of our community. There are still areas we need to work on such as improving attendance rates in a positive way and finding a permanent Superintendent to be the best fit for Waltham.