Minuteman High School

Minuteman Draws Dozens of Watertown Students, but Access May Become Limited

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Minuteman High School has 16 towns that are members of its regional school district, but the town that sends the second most students to the vocational technical school is a non-member: Watertown. While Watertown High School remains the school of choice for those from town going to public school, about a 10th go to Lexington to attend Minuteman. The school currently has about 70 students from Watertown this year. The students choose to attend the public school for a variety of reasons, but the primary reason is to take advantage of the 15 career programs.
Traditional and Modern Career Paths
These include the ones many are familiar with, such as plumbing, electrical, culinary and cosmetology. Other programs have been added to meet current needs and interests.

Schools

Options to Reduce Overcrowding Discussed, Modulars Won’t be Ready By Sept.

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The overcrowding in Watertown’s elementary schools tops the list of School Committee concerns these days, and Monday night Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald warned modular classrooms – if that is the solution – won’t be in place for the beginning of school. There are several options being explored, but Fitzgerald said the final plan won’t be made until all the factors are weighed, including enrollment, space at each school and new spaces, including potential rental spaces or installing modular classrooms.

The School District has hired an enrollment consultant – Decision Insite – to get a detailed enrollment projection, and it has began working with the town’s on-call architect on ways to reconfigure space and to find potential sites for modular classrooms.

The latest enrollment projection for the fall (which does not include information from the consultant) includes three classes of 24 in the third grade at Lowell Elementary School. “That’s not OK with us,” Fitzgerald said. One option which Fitzgerald said she thinks would be unpopular would be to change the schools from neighborhood ones to having all of one grade at one school. One would be Pre-K to 1, another grades 2-3 and fourth and fifth grade at the third school.

Around Town

Future Direction of the Watertown Community Path to be Discussed

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The Town Council’s Public Works Committee and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee will talk about the designs for linking the Community Path in the Watertown Square area on Thursday night. 

Currently the path runs east to west from Arlington Street, behind the Watertown Mall, and onto School Street. From there it runs along Arsenal Street and will end at Irving Street after the new apartments are built on Arsenal Street. On the other side of town, the Community Path starts up again behind Town Hall and goes to Waverley Avenue and continues near Moxley Park. However, there is no direct link between the two sections. There are a few options for link, with scenarios focusing on the areas east and west of  Watertown Square.

Fire

Fire Destroys 2 Boats at Yacht Club Across River from Watertown

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A fire at the Newton Yacht Club destroyed two boats on the Charles River just across the way from Watertown. 

The fire erupted in the early hours of Tuesday morning and firefighting efforts were hampered by the long distance to the nearest fire hydrant, according to the Boston Globe article. The Yacht Club is located on Nonantum Road, across the river from Perkins School for the Blind. See the whole Globe article here.

Around Town

Forum Draws Attention to Need for More Affordable Housing in Area

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With housing in the Boston area one of the most expensive in the nation, the need for more affordable housing has become critical, said presenters at the Tri Community Coalition to End Homelessness event last week. Chrystal Kornegay, Undersecretary for the State Department of Housing and Community Development was the keynote speaker at the event organized by groups from Watertown, Belmont and Waltham, and was held at St. Joseph’s Church in Belmont. Kornegay said the Boston area has the fourth most expensive housing prices in the United States and the ninth highest rents. A person or family spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing is considered housing “burdened.”

Police/Fire

Police Respond to Call, Find One Car Missing, One With 2 Stolen Plates

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A Watertown resident thought her car was stolen by a man she had hired to paint her house and his girlfriend, but it turned out the car they arrived in was the sketchy one. 

On April 21 at 3 p.m., a Fairfield Street resident called police to report that her car was missing and the man she leant it to also had a bank check she had given him, said Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor. “During the day she let they guy and his girlfriend take her vehicle to get supplies for her job,” O’Connor said. “Later in the day, when the people didn’t come back, she called police and at the time reported the vehicle stolen and he had a bank check and a small amount of cash.” She was able to cancel the bank check. At about 5:30 p.m., she called Police again to report the vehicle had been returned.

Business

Russo’s Owner: Rumors Not True, Store Will Remain Open for a “Long Time”

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The owner of Russo’s & Sons Market responded to rumors and said there are no plans to close the the destination market and garden store in Watertown. The rumors of Russo’s closing surfaced over the weekend, and spread online. Principal owner Tony Russo said he heard about them, but said there is no truth to them. “We’re not closing,” Russo said. “We have no immediate plans to sell the stand.”

Sports

Play Ball! Watertown Little Leaguers Celebrate New Season at Casey Field

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More than 400 boys and girls marched from Watertown Square to Casey Park for the Watertown Youth Baseball and Softball celebration Saturday morning. The season is a few weeks old, but that did not stop the youngsters from enjoying the festivities. New Watertown Police Chief Michael Lawn threw out the first pitch. He said he missed his time on the diamond, both as a player and a coach. “I played for the Cubs at Bemis (Park) and I live in just over the border Waverley, and was heavily involved in the league over there,” Lawn said.