Around Town

Watertown Senior Living Community Makes Senior Advisor’s Best of 2017 List

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LCB Senior Living, LLC is pleased to announce that the Residence at Watertown Square has been named in SeniorAdvisor.com’s Best of 2017 List for Top-Rated Senior Care Providers. Owned and operated by LCB, the Residence at Watertown Square is located at 20 Summer St. in Watertown, and offers Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Memory Care residences to seniors. SeniorAdvisor.com’s annual list of Top-Rated Senior Care Providers recognizes and awards senior care providers and living residences who consistently receive high ratings and praise from residents and their families. Winners of the award are chosen from all over the United States, representing the highest level of care and quality of life within the in-home care, assisted living, and senior living industries.

Elections

Town Council Looking for Ways to Make Early Voting Work More Smoothly

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Early voting was a hit in Watertown during the Presidential Election, but the influx of people sometimes overwhelmed the staff of the Clerk’s office. The Town Council began looking for ways for it to work better next time. There were 5,855 early votes cast, with another 796 and 86 e-voters – military service men and women and others who qualify, Town Clerk John Flynn told the Town Council’s State, Federal and Regional Government Committee Tuesday night. That made up 36 percent of the votes cast. That well exceeded the number Flynn expected to see.

Development

New Apartment Complex on Arsenal Street Opens its Doors, Retail Coming

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Gables Arsenal Street, one of the new apartment complexes in Watertown, has opened its first phase, and will eventually add more buildings, including a commercial area which could have a small market. 

The complex, located at 204 Arsenal Street, opened on Oct. 15, and several of the luxury apartments have already been occupied, said Makrina Ormond, Community Manager for Gables Arsenal Street. Gables Arsenal Street will eventually have 296 units, but the first phase has 84 units, Ormond said. There is a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments and one townhouse. The complex is pet friendly – cats and some dogs – and offers amenities such as a pool, a patio with a barbecue and a fire pit, a movie theater style media room, a fitness center and a yoga and spin room, Ormond said.

Schools

Parents, Community Members Sought for Superintendent Search Committee

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The School Committee will be forming a search committee to help find Watertown’s next superintendent, and parents and community members will be a part of the group. 

School Committee Chairman John Portz said the Search Committee will have three parents, three teachers, two administrators, a high school student, two community members and two to three School Committee members. The parents and community members will be selected from people who apply to participate in the process. The teachers will be appointed by the Watertown Educators Association. School Committee member Eileen Hsu-Balzer wondered if someone who is a teacher who also lives in town could count as a community member. She wanted to make sure no group is over represented on the committee.

Around Town

Watertown Woman is Massachusetts’ Pick for Nurse Practitioner Excellence

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Westwood Lodge announced that Komal Kenkare, PMHNP-BC, was selected by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) to receive the Nurse Practitioner Excellence Award for the state of Massachusetts. The Nurse Practitioner Award for Excellence is given annually to just one individual in each state who has demonstrated excellence in NP clinical practice. Kenkare is a Nurse Practitioner at the Westwood Lodge Partial Hospitalization Program, where she coordinates medication management for adult patients who have psychiatric and co-occurring addiction disorders. Kenkare collaborates with outpatient providers to set up community resources for her patients including sobriety meetings and visiting nurse appointments to help facilitate a positive transition back into the community. “I’m very thankful and honored to receive such a prestigious award so early in my career.” said Kenkare.

Around Town

Crowd Gathers in Watertown to Mark 75th Anniversary of Attacks on Pearl Harbor

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Dozens of Watertown’s veterans gathered on the Watertown Square Dock for a somber ceremony to mark one of the most infamous days in American history – the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Across the nation at noon, wreaths were laid in honor of the 75th anniversary of Japan’s sneak attack on the United States’ Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. In Watertown, the wreath was tossed into the Charles River with the veterans and dozens of others watching. The town has a connection to that tragic Sunday morning, said Veteran’s Officer Mark Comeiro. “At about 8 a.m. Japanese planes filled the skies over Pearl Harbor.

Schools

Watertown’s Superintendent Invites Residents to Have Coffee With Him

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sInterim Superintendent John Brackett announced he will host his first Coffee with the Superintendent on Dec. 14 to meet with parents and residents. The coffees provide an opportunity for parents, resident and others to talk to Bracket about their concerns and questions about the Watertown Public Schools. He will host two session on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Both will occur in Room 101 on the ground floor of the Phillips Building, 30 Common St., Watertown.

Schools

After a Delay, School Committee Adopts Goals for Watertown Schools

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After months of contemplation and delays due to changes in the district, the School Committee adopted the district’s Goals and Priorities at Monday night’s School Committee meeting. The Watertown Public School’s three strategic goals are: Support High Academic Achievement, Foster the Capacity for Life-Long Learning and Promote Local and Global Citizenship. The goals normally come out early in the school year, but School Committee Chairman John Portz said there have been some delays this year. “The process started in August. It started as goals for the superintendent, but then we we had a transition,” Portz said, referring to Jean Fitzgerald’s sudden retirement in October.