Schools

Watertown High School Student Voices Heard at Recent Community Discussion

By |

The following piece was provided by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment:

On April 8, seven Watertown High School students engaged in lively discussions with the community at the Watertown Free Public Library. Sponsored by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment (WCPJE). Student Voices and Conversation brought together City Councilors, School Committee members, and the general public to hear what is on the minds of local students. Students helped to develop and plan the evening’s structure and led all of the discussions. The event focused on dialogue about what is working for students in Watertown as well as what can be improved. Key questions included “What challenges/issues/concerns are young people facing in Watertown,” “What do students want community members to know about youth today?”

Around Town

See What City Buildings Will be Closed for Patriots Day & How Trash Collection Will be Impacted

By |

Multiple City facilities will be closed on Patriots Day, and trash and recycling will be impacted by the holiday. See more information from the City of Watertown, below. Watertown City Hall, Parker Building, Senior Center, Department of Public Works Offices, and the Watertown Free Public Library are closed in observance of Patriots Day on Monday, April 20, 2026.Please note that due to Patriots Day on Monday, April 20, 2026, trash and recycling pickup will be delayed one day. The pickup schedule is Tuesday, April 21 through Saturday, April 25, 2026. A holiday postpones Trash and Recycling collection by one day.

Letters

LETTER: Numbers, Numbers and is a Parking Garage Coming to the Square?

By |

By Linda ScottWatertown Resident

Is a Parking Garage in Watertown Square’s Future? But first, a Development Timeline, or watch the “magic numbers” grow

If you have already read my previous letter, “City Government – Trust, but Verify,” this letter might seem superfluous. What I’ve tried to do here is reason through what happened to the numbers in the Watertown Square Plan. Then I tie it into plans for a parking garage. Follow along, if you’re interested.

Charity

May is Full of Volunteer Opportunities During Watertown Helps Out

By |

Watertown Helps Out, a chance for people to give back to the community where they live and/or work, returns in May. The Watertown Community Foundation has a list of places to make a difference throughout the months. See more details in the announcement from the Foundation, below. Would you like to give back to the community you love? The Watertown Community Foundation (WCF), along with local sponsors and dozens of neighbors, will be out in the community again during the Month of May 2026, volunteering to make Watertown a nicer place to live and work. 

If you would like to volunteer please take a peek at all of the opportunities available in the month of May. More volunteer opportunities are still to be added, so check back in from time to time. We’re looking forward to a fantastic community Month in Watertown!

Around Town

Sample Produce from the Watertown School’s Freight Farm at Pop Up Farm Stand

By |

Watertown students have been learning high-tech farming in the freight farm that sits in the parking lot behind the Watertown Public School’s Phillips Building. On Thursday, the public can purchase some of the crop raised in the farm at a pop-up farm stand. See more info in the announcement from the schools, below. Join us for a pop-up sale of Watertown Public Schools fresh hydroponic lettuce and herbed sea salt! The event will be held Thursday, April 16 from 4-6 p.m. at 31 Marshall Street.

Business

Watertown Community STEM Night Returns to the Middle School

By |

The showcase of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in the Watertown Public Schools, along with people and businesses in the city that work in those sectors, returns to Watertown Middle School on April 29. See more details in the announcement from the organizers, below. Mark your calendars, Watertown! On Wednesday, April 29th, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, Watertown Middle School is transforming into a hub of innovation, curiosity, and local talent for the 2nd Annual Community STEM Night, presented by the Watertown Business Coalition and Watertown Public Schools! Whether you’re a student with a passion for coding, a parent curious about what’s happening in our classrooms, or a resident interested in the booming life science sector in our backyard, this is an evening you won’t want to miss.

Entertainment

How to Catch the East Coast Premier of Armenian Film “In the Land of Arto”

By |

A still of Camille Cottin from the film “In the Land of Arto,” which will have its East Coast Premier on April 20. The following announcement was provided by Belmont World Film:

As part of Armenian Heritage Month, Belmont World Film’s 24th International Film Series presents the East Coast premiere of the Armenian film In the Land of Arto, on Monday, April 20, at 7 p.m. at the West Newton Cinema (1296 Washington St.). The screening will be followed immediately by a discussion led by Diana Hayrapetyan, Professor of Armenian at Harvard University and a PhD candidate at the Strassler Center for Holocaust Studies at Clark University. The feature film debut of director Tamara Stepanyan is set in in Armenia, including the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the site of the ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until their expulsion in 2023, and the seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbaijanis until their expulsion during the 1990s. The film stars Camille Cottin (Call My Agent, House of Gucci) as a wife who travels to Armenia to legalize her husband’s death, only to learn that he lied about his military service, that he fought in the war, usurped his identity, and that his former friends consider him a deserter.

Letters

LETTER: Prioritize Affordable Housing Over Parking

By |

(UPDATED April 20, 2026, 9:20 a.m.: The authors corrected the percent of renters and homeowners “burdened by unsustainable and rising home costs.”)

Last Monday night, City Manager George Proakis presented a draft proposal to redevelop the parking lot behind CVS in Watertown Square. There was a lot to like. 

Redevelopment of the parking lot, along with several adjacent private parcels of land, would add 200-300 new units of market rate housing, including 30-45 new deed-restricted affordable units through our inclusionary zoning ordinance. And it will add a new public space to the Square in the form of a park or plaza. But this proposal also spends one of our city’s most precious resources — public land — on a construction project that doesn’t make residents’ lives more affordable, doesn’t make financial sense for the city, and that the city’s own reporting says we don’t really need. Housing for Cars Watertown? 

The centerpiece of the Manager’s proposal is a parking garage on city-owned land that contains roughly two hundred metered spaces over first-floor retail.