Three Watertown Soccer Players Make All-Stars, One Garners Eastern Mass Honors

Watertown senior Nick DiPace made the Middlesex Boys Soccer All-Stars and the Eastern Mass. All-Star team. The Middlesex League boys soccer teams featured some of the top high school players in the State, and three Watertown Raiders made the All-Star list plus one also received Eastern Massachusetts honors. Watertown seniors Nicholas DiPace, Caiden Kiana and Kenan Canca made the 2020 Middlesex League Small School All-Star team. The Raiders finished 4-3-1 in the season that was shortened due to COVID-19.

Town Council Puts Eversource On Notice About Double Poles in Watertown

An example of a double utility pole on Main Street in Watertown from 2016

Tired of waiting for Eversource to take action needed to remove double utility poles in Watertown, the Town Council told the utility this week it will not consider requests for Eversource projects in Town until the poles are dealt with. Every few meetings, a utility comes to the Town Council for approval to do work in Watertown, typically putting in an underground trench for wires. Tuesday, Eversource had two such requests, but one councilor brought up his frustration about the lack of action on removing double poles, particularly one problematic one in his district. When a new utility pole is installed, the old one is attached to the new one until the wires are transferred to the new one. There is an order for which wires get moved first depending on where they are on the pole, and who owns the poles.

Four Open Houses to Visit This Week in Watertown

This week’s Watertown open houses features a small number of properties, but includes a single family, two condos and a multifamily home. $999,900 – 37 Langdon Ave., Single Family – Detached Colonial, 2,855 Living Area Sq. Ft., 9 Room, 6 Bedroom, 1 Full & 2 Half Bathroom, Open Houses: Saturday 12-1 Sunday 12-1:30

$1,475,000 – 85 Summer St. Unit 85A, Condo – Townhouse, 3,012 Living Area Sq. Ft.

Town, BB&N Agree to Share Fields at Filippello Park, New Ones School to Build on Grove Street

The Town of Watertown and Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (BB&N) agreed to a field sharing plan where the school would get some use of Filippello Park, while the Town could use new athletic fields to be built by BB&N on Grove Street. Watertown residents will have access to new athletic fields to be built by Buckingham Browne & Nichols School on Grove Street, while the school will be able to use fields at next door Filippello Park as part of an agreement approved by the Town Council Tuesday night. Two full-sized athletic fields, a field house and parking for about 80 vehicles are planned for the 6.1 acres of land that BB&N plans to purchase from Mount Auburn Cemetery. The land directly abuts Filippello Park on the Grove Street side of the park in East Watertown. BB&N recently entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Community Forum on Watertown High School Project Planned for Nov. 30

The Watertown School Building Committee will be hosting its fifth Community Forum on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020 at 6 p.m. via Zoom Meeting. The School Building Committee’s the announcement said: “This is an opportunity for community members to learn more about the option that has been advanced for further study leading up to a final decision and vote of preferred option at the next School Building Committee meeting on December 2.” The presentation for the forum will be posted to the Watertown Building for the Future site prior to the forum to allow the Community to review it in advance or use it to follow along. Here is the link to all agendas and presentations organized by date:https://www.watertown.k12.ma.us/building_for_the_future/meeting_info

To tune in and participate, click use link or telephone number for the meeting below.

Schools Rolling Out Student COVID-19 Testing Week After Thanksgiving

Watertown students will be able to be tested for COVID-19 for free starting the week after Thanksgiving, in an effort to keep schools open for in-person learning and to stop the spread of the virus in the school and broader community. Galdston told the School Committee about the district’s testing program on Monday, the same night that a piece on the Watertown Public Schools’ COVID-19 testing program (for which she was interviewed) aired on the NBC Nightly News. “In the 45 minute interview, that was cut to 30 seconds, we spent a lot of time talking about how Watertown has really gone above and beyond to keep our students and our staff safe,” Galdston said. “Here is just another safety net we have for all of our people within our community.” School Committee member Lily Rayman-Read, who teaches in the Cambridge Public Schools, said the NBC story caught the interest of educators in other communities.

NBC News Features Watertown School’s COVID-19 Testing Program

A screenshot of Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston’s appearance in an NBC Nightly News piece. A national newscast spotlighted the Watertown Public School’s COVID-19 testing program on Monday. Wearing a Watertown Middle School face mask, Superintendent Dede Galdston was interviewed by NBC Nightly News about the testing program, where students can be tested for free. She described the return of the schools to partial in-person teaching with the district’s hybrid program. “People haven’t said we can’t do this, they said, wow, this is hard, but how can are we going do it?”