Letters

LETTER: School Committee Member Proposing Change to Athletic Subcommittee

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School Committee member Candace Miller will propose the following change to the Athletic Subcommittee into a Student Development Subcommittee at Thursday’s Policy Subcommittee at 10 a.m. in the Phillips Building. I am proposing to broaden the current Athletic subcommittee into a Student Development subcommittee which would focus on health and development issues that are fundamental to student academic performance and achievement. Topics to consider include social-emotional learning, physical and mental health, and extracurricular activities such as athletics, the arts, and other clubs and teams. I envision the subcommittee would strengthen existing partnerships and forge new links between WPS, town departments, Wayside Youth Services, the Watertown Boys and Girls Club and other public and private groups across Watertown working to improve student health and development from early childhood to young adulthood. Within the education field, there is a growing body of evidence on the fundamental importance of social-emotional learning and optimal health to students’ academic performance and long- term success. [Footnotes 1,2] Put simply, happy and healthy students learn better.

Overcrowding

School Officials Planning to Use Phillips School to Stop Overcrowding

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Monday night, Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald shared a plan to renovate rooms at the Phillips School to move pre-school classes to free up spaces at an elementary school to relieve the enrollment pressures at all three elementary schools. The shuffling of plans is a complicated one, Fitzgerald explained at the School Committee Building and Grounds Subcommittee meeting. It begins with the Early Steps Preschool program from Hosmer School to the Phillips Building. Three classes will go into a renovated maintenance area on the first floor
one class will go into a room used as a conference room by the Watertown Public Schools
a full-day preschool class and a Connections class (which includes mainstream and  special needs students) will use two classrooms that had been used by the Growing Places preschool before it moved out

The rooms at Hosmer that had been used for the preschool will house four classes, including some from other schools:

a Lowell Pre-K class,
a Cunniff Pre-K class
a Cunniff kindergarten
a Hosmer English Language Learner (ELL) class
one extra room at Hosmer will remain and could take another room if enrollment keeps growing

Meanwhile, the spaces freed up at the elementary schools will allow for additional classes. the Lowell Pre-K room will become a new first grade classroom
the Cunniff Pre-K room will become a special education classroom
the Cunniff kindergarten room will become a new third grade classroom
the Hosmer ELL room will become a new fourth grade classroom

Fitzgerald said she would rather spend money on property the district owned, rather than renting space or modular classrooms. She added that she expects the Phillips School – which has two more floors – to become a school down the line as the district grows.

Government

Town Receives Large Number of Tax Abatement Requests for 2 Family Homes

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The tax rate for two-family homes jumped up this year, and that resulted in a larger than normal number of tax abatement requests to the Town Assessor’s office. 

When the tax rates were set in November 2015, the rates for single family homes dropped 4.85 percent, the rate for two- and three-family homes went up 8.43 percent. Councilor Angeline Kounelis had previously expressed her concern about the large increase in tax rates for two-families and requested information on the abatement requests. Town Assessor Francis Golden said his officer received 61 abatement requests for two-family homes and 56 were approved. The average abatement was $56,229 off the original assessed value, with a couple properties being abated over $100,000, according to Golden’s report. The town was re-evaluated in 2016, and a representative from the Department of Revenue joined Watertown representatives on a tour of the town to look at the neighborhood grades, conditions and boundaries, Golden explained in a letter to the Town Council.

Around Town

Kayakers Hit the Charles River in Watertown During New Program

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The Watertown Dock lived up to its name Saturday when scores of people launched onto the Charles River in kayaks, and paddled up and down the waterway. The kayaks came to Watertown through a joint effort by the Watertown Recreation Department and Live Well Watertown. Spots in the boats filled up quickly, said Stephanie Venizelos of Live Well Watertown. Recreation Director Peter Centola said 92 people kayaked on Saturday. The boats were brought to town by Charles River Canoe and Kayak.

Around Town

‘Patriots Day’ Crews Back in Town to Film at Old Police Station

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Film crews set up at the old Police Station Monday afternoon to shoot another scene from the Boston Marathon Bombing moving “Patriots Day.” Actors wearing Watertown Police uniforms filmed a scene outside the old station, and crews shuttled in and out of the building, too. While no stars were spotted as of 4 p.m., Watertown Police Sgts. Jeffrey Pugliese was on the set, who is being portrayed in the film by Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, who was in town last week shooting a scene at Main Street Mobile.

Around Town

Watertown Writer’s First Novel Based on Her Family’s Experiences as Refugees

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Kathleen Spivack faced many obstacles to publishing her first novel, but the award-winning writer and writing teacher had her book published this year despite being hit by a car while walking to the big meeting with her publisher. While this is her first book, the 77-year-old is far from a newbie when it comes to writing. “They keep saying I’m a debut novelist at 77, but I’ve been writing all my life,” Spivack said, sitting in the living room of her Watertown home. Most of Spivack’s work has been poetry and short stories (she has eight other books and had poems and stories published hundreds of times). Her latest work is a novel called “Unspeakable Things,” which will be reading from on Wednesday, June 1 at 7 p.m. at Newtonville Books, 10 Langley Road in Newton Centre.

Development

Councilors Interviewing Planning Board Nominee Same Night as Meeting on Arsenal Mall Project

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A Town Council subcommittee will interview a nominee for an opening on the Watertown Planning Board on the same evening that redevelopment of the Arsenal Mall will be discussed across town and the nominee is a familiar face around the mall. 

The Committee on Economic Development and Planning will interview Janet Buck for an opening on the Planning Board. The board will have the final approval of projects in the Regional Mixed Use District, of which the mall makes up a significant portion. Buck currently serves on the town’s Stormwater Advisory Committee. She is also volunteer coordinator for HATCH, the Watertown Free Public Library’s makerspace that uses space in the Arsenal Project (formerly the Arsenal Mall). The interview will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18 at 6 p.m. in the Town Council Office on the second floor of Town Hall.

Real Estate

These 3 Watertown Homes Sold in This Week

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A two-family home and two townhouses sold this week in Watertown. $730,000 – 29-31 Ladd St. 2 unit, 10 total room, 8 total bedroom, 2 Family multi-family home

$800,000 – 9 Purvis St. Unit 9, 9 room, 4 bedroom, 2 full & 2 half bathroom, Townhouse condo/townhouse

$717,000 – 47 Quincy St. Unit 47, 8 room, 4 bedroom, 2 full & 1 half bathroom, Townhouse condo/townhouse

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