Westford Academy is implementing Wayfinder, a curriculum program designed to help students with life skills, in advisories for the first time this school year.
According to Westford Public Schools Director of Special Education and Social Emotional Learning Gerard Coughlin, the program was incorporated in an attempt to have a consistent social-emotional learning curriculum.
“Nationwide and local data indicate clearly there is a growing challenge with mental health and social-emotional wellness among young people today, and we wanted to respond to that and try to find ways in which we could support our students socially and emotionally at all grade levels here in Westford,” Coughlin said.
The planning process for Wayfinder’s use at Westford Public Schools (WPS) has been ongoing for the past two years, beginning with a series of meetings and presentations concerning social and emotional learning curricula and learning tools.
The program was first used at Westford Academy during advisory on Nov. 12, when students were encouraged to take a mental health survey through the website. According to Coughlin, WPS had a different curriculum in place before Wayfinder, known as Panorama, which was replaced due to its lack of comprehensibility with daily curricula.
Prior to implementing Wayfinder at Westford Academy, Coughlin and his team had two Westford elementary schools use Wayfinder during the spring of 2025 to test the site before letting the program go district-wide.
“[We saw an] enormous positive [reaction from] students and teachers at the two schools. [They responded] extremely well and so that led us to the decision to utilize it for the district,” Coughlin said.
During the November advisory, advisory teachers were told to ask students to take a brief mental health survey and, if there was enough time, to do a quick activity featured on the program. Most were unable to do the activity, so there is currently limited experience with Wayfinder’s different features at Westford Academy.
According to Coughlin, the platform can be used in several different ways, including implementing short lessons or lengthier, year-long programs that can be used weekly or monthly as necessary.
“We can individually and collectively make it whatever we want to make it,” Coughlin said.
However, based off of the glimpse of Wayfinder WA has already experienced, advisory teachers and students have mixed feelings. Advisory and chemistry teacher of sixteen years, Timothy Knittel, is one such individual.
“I feel like homeroom isn’t used very well,” Knittel said. “A lot of times […] we just sit in the homeroom. And I think [administration’s] answer to that is ‘We’re going to do these surveys instead’ and to me, I don’t know if that’s the right answer.”
According to Knittel, he believes that mental health is important, but forcing students to discuss topics they may be uncomfortable talking about is not the right way to focus on the subject.
By contrast, junior Meher Pillai believes that the program is not a big change from previous years and therefore is not a large issue.
“I think the Wayfinder survey is fine,” Pillai said. “It didn’t take a crazy amount of time, and it was basically the same thing as what we’ve already been doing.”
According to the website’s homepage, Wayfinder is in use by hundreds of school districts across the country, including Pittsburgh Public Schools, Dallas Independent School District, Chicago Public Schools, and more. The page boasts statistics from these districts as well.
Wayfinder will continue to be used throughout WPS during the 25-26 school year, and is set to be used repeatedly in advisories in years to come.
“The biggest con is that it is new and unfamiliar to students and teachers […], but thankfully, folks in the district have been willing to try to work through these snafus, and that patience and collaboration [are] what [make] Westford so great,” Coughlin said.
