With the school year less than two months away, the Swampscott Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) is seeking more households to join its Family Friends Program.

“It’s a way to support our Boston families and students, and we do that by pairing up families with students,” said METCO co-director Krista Lynch.

Primarily based in Boston, METCO enrolls city students in suburban public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. METCO is the largest continuously running voluntary school desegregation program in the country, as two students who will be joining Swampscott in the 2025-26 school year will be third generation METCO students. The program provides Boston students with access to stronger educational opportunities while also promoting diversity and reducing racial isolation in the participating suburban schools. 

The Family Friends Program is a voluntary initiative designed to build community between Swampscott families and METCO students. It’s a chance to “create this relationship and bridge for our Swampscott families too,” according to Martha Raymond, the assistant superintendent of student services.

The level of support gives METCO students a chance to have a “home away from home.”

One of Rebecca Spellios’ host students recently graduated from Swampscott High School. After having the student in her home for the past few years, she was invited to their home to celebrate with their family. 

“The relationship is the important part,” Spellios said.

She had one student “stay over a lot last summer” for football practices.

“The way the football practices was that there was a 6 a.m. lift,” Spellios said. “He was staying with us about four nights a week, going to lift, then he was taking a train to Boston to work and then taking the train back out so he could go to lift. Fortunately I had a neighbor who was on the football team, so I didn’t ever have to drive him. It was just having a place to sleep, but part of it was we just started out with me driving him to the football field because that’s what he needed and then we developed a relationship that was meaningful.”

Spellios said the relationship with the students “grows naturally.” METCO Co-director Temi Bailey said the connection also grows with the entire family.

“It’s an amazing part of your life that you would’ve never had this experience if you were not involved in this,” Raymond said. “It makes your life fuller.”

Some METCO students face commutes of over 90 minutes each way, according to Lynch. Students involved in extracurriculars often spend 12-hour days in Swampscott, from 7:45 a.m. to 8 p.m., getting home around 10 p.m. and starting all over again the next morning, Bailey said.

Lynch noted how events like Juneteenth within the town as well as eighth grade graduation, being on the same day and both hours after school, often does not coincide with schedules for parents who live in Boston. 

“By the time they would get back to Boston, I don’t even know if they would make it back,” Lynch said. “So they went to a host family’s home, and there was space for them to get dressed. They got ready, and they were brought back to the high school. That’s it.”

The level of support each host family provides depends on the individual needs of the METCO student, Lynch said.

“It’s what support would be helpful for them to be a part of this community,” Raymond said. “Whether they’re able to participate in a sport that would be really difficult for them to participate in or be in a theater production. When you think about what keeps kids in school, it’s often their extracurricular activities that make them love school, and it’s hard for them to participate because of the distance from their home.”

Spellios also tries to match students with families who share similar interests, such as connecting athlete students with football team members to help foster organic connections.

“We all need parents to help us out,” Erin Wilson, the associate director of special education, said. “I’m here but I need help. You can call your neighbor, and your kids don’t have to be best friends but it’s just somebody that you can call.”

Bailey added that sometimes there are emergencies that a host family is able to get to the student quicker than someone living in Boston. Once a student was injured and needed to go to the hospital, and he said the host family ended up staying with them and communicating with their family about what was happening. Other instances like missing a school bus or forgetting a change of clothes can happen too, but it’s unrealistic for a Boston resident to drive out to Swampscott when a host family can quickly help.

“These relationships you develop, the parents develop them too,” Spellios said. “There’s just different ways that people need help.”

To sign up as a host family, residents can contact Rebecca Spellios, Temi Bailey, or Krista Lynch at rspellios@gmail.com, tbailey@swampscott.k12.ma.us, or klynch@swampscott.k12.ma.us.

As students are still enrolling within Swampscott, Lynch said there is a need for at least 20 more families to join in the host program, especially for middle school students.