Schools

BC Study Looks for Ways Watertown Schools Can Connect with Non-English Speakers

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Students from a wide variety of cultures and nations fill the classrooms of the Watertown Public Schools, and a study by Boston College researchers seeks to make sure all families are included in what is going on at school. Wednesday night, Rebecca Lowenhaupt, an assistant professor at BC’s Lynch School of Education, told the School Committee that Watertown parents, in general, have a high participation rate in school activities, but the story is different for recent immigrants. “You have a high attendance of parents at back to school night of PreK through eighth grade – 95 percent were in attendance or reached out at that time,” Lowenhaupt said. “While there is a high attendance rate for PreK-8, there is a lower rate for those who first language is not English.” About 11 percent of the students in the Watertown schools are in the English Language Learner (also known as ESL) program, and they speak 28 different languages, with the most common being Portuguese, Spanish, Armenian, Arabic and Pashto.

Citizens Police Academy

Watertown Police Bring Back Citizens Police Academy, Sign Up Now

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After several years on hiatus, the Watertown Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy is back, and residents can sign up now. 

Classes will begin on Oct. 26, and will be held each Wednesday for seven weeks from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Watertown Police Chief Michael Lawn brought back the Citizens Police Academy as part of the WPD’s community policing effort. “It was a very successful program. People really enjoyed it,” Lawn said. “And with all that’s going on in policing today I figured this is a good time to bring it back.”

Government

State Looks for Ways to Improve Traffic, Transportation on Arsenal Street

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Residents attending the MassDOT’s community forum Tuesday night heard some things they already knew – traffic and bus service is bad on Arsenal Street – and other things they didn’t want to know – it will get much worse unless something is done. 

The Department of Transportation’s consultants from VHB told residents that traffic could increase significantly the next 25 years and that will result in more crowded and more late MBTA buses. They also discussed ways to improve public transportation and traffic on the Arsenal Street Corridor during the second community meeting on improvements to the area. Traffic will increase 17 percent in the morning peak traffic hour and 21 percent in the evening peak traffic hour, said Laura Castelli, a consultant from VHB. Looking at traffic flow, most of the congestion currently is at the two “gateways” to the Arsenal Corridor: Watertown Square and the Western Avenue/Soldier Field Road interchange on the other side of the Arsenal Street Bridge, Castelli said. Currently, 15-35 percent of stops are above capacity the way the MBTA measures it – all seats are full during non-peak time and in peak times, the bus is at capacity for sitting and standing.

Government

Committee Named to Discuss Renovation of Track Area at Victory Field

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Town Council President Mark Sideris named a nine-member committee to examine the renovation of the track and courts area at Victory Field in Watertown. 

The committee will make recommendations on the renovation of the athletic and recreation complex on Orchard Street, with one caveat, Sideris said. The field in the center of the track must remain natural grass, he said, because that was the most controversial part of the first proposal to renovate the area two years ago. The meetings of the Victory Field Ad Hoc Committee will be open to the public. The committee members are:
• District C Town Councilor Vinnie Piccirilli, chair 0f the Victory Field Committee
• Councilor At-Large and chair of the Human Services Committee Tony Palomba, vice chair of the committee
• Director 0f Recreation Peter Centola
• Watertown High School Athletic Director Mike Lahiff
• Community Development & Planning Director Steve Magoon or someone he appoints
• Watertown Youth Soccer President Mark Leonard
• Resident and abutter Elodia Thomas
• Resident Elliot Friedman
• Resident Ann Marie Korte

Entertainment

Lots of Family Events During October at the Watertown Mall

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Join the fun! The Watertown Mall is hosting several FREE events this month. Caterpillars
The Watertown Mall hosts The Caterpillar Lab presenting “Caterpillars” on Saturday, Oct. 8 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Come meet hundreds of native New England caterpillars at the Watertown Mall! Engaging educators from The Caterpillar Lab will be here to tell you all about dozens of species you never knew might be hiding in your own backyard or nearby park.

Government

Town Balks at Request for Temporary Lights for Watetown Youth Soccer

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Town officials denied the request from Watertown Youth Soccer for temporary lights to be placed at a park in town this fall. The soccer program has been growing rapidly, and now has more than 600 children participating. WYS do not have not have enough room on fields during daylight hours to accommodate all the teams.

A proposal to put temporary lights at Arsenal Park was brought to the Town Council from the Human Services committee in September. The Council decided the idea needed more work, and there were questions remaining, such as who would pay for the rental, fueling and operation of the lights. Last week, official met and decided the lights would not be a good idea, said Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon.

Development

Townhouses on Masonic Temple Site Get Approval from Zoning Board

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A five-townhouse development on the Watertown Masonic Temple site got the go ahead from the Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday. The project received unanimously approval from the ZBA, the final approval needed for the project to begin. The development, proposed by PNG LLC, will have two buildings, a three-unit one facing Church Street (across from the First Parish Church) and another two-unit building on the back of the property. ZBA member Jason Cohen said he liked the project, but he had one suggestion about the porches that run along the front of the building, undivided. “This is the kind of housing we are looking for in the town,” Cohen said.

Charity

Watertown Firefighters Raising Money to Support Breast Cancer Patients

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Through the month of October, the Watertown Fire Department will add a touch of pink to their blue uniforms for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and you can get one of their T-shirts, too, and support patients undergoing treatment for the disease. Firefighter Bob Power is organizing the effort this year, and has seen what going through treatment for breast cancer can be like. “My wife was diagnosed two-and-a-half years ago,” Power said. “She has been cancer free for about two years.” The money raised by the WFD is given to those undergoing treatment for breast cancer.