Letters

LETTER: School Committee Member Proposing Change to Athletic Subcommittee

By |

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.

Letters

LETTER: Watertown Youth Coalition Thanks Attendees of Youth Risk Behavior Event

By |

To: The Editor

The Watertown Youth Coalition held an informative town meeting on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at the Watertown Public Library. The event titled “The Well-Being Of Watertown Youth presented the 2014 Youth Risk Behavior Survey results which included an interactive presentation and conversation. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation and thanks to ALL the educators, parents, peer leaders, students, law enforcement officials, town elected officials and concerned citizens for attending and helping us create such a successful event. We would especially like to thank the following restaurants for their generous food contributions, which so many folks raved about. It was all so delicious!

Letters

LETTER: Parent Pushes for Later Start Times at High School, Middle School

By |

I am very happy to see that Watertown is considering moving start times later for both the Middle and High School. Thank you to the Wellness Committee and to everyone that worked on this initiative. While any movement towards later start times is a positive development, I would like to show my support for moving start times to 8:30 a.m. If we are going to make a change, why not go for the best solution possible? According to the survey data, 50 percent or more of students and parents are either neutral or in favor of moving start times as much as 45 minutes later, and that was with little to no district-wide education on the benefits. The survey cited that one of the major stumbling blocks was perceived to be conflicts with after school sports.

Letters

Watertown Strong Schools Minutes: Council Committee on Education & School System Matters

By |

Watertown Strong Schools, a parents group focused on the Watertown Public Schools, attends meetings and writes up a summary and commentary. These are NOT official minutes. Committee members: Michael Dattoli, Chair; Aaron Dushku, Vice-Chair; Lisa Felter, Secretary. Audience members: Mark Sideris (TC), Tony Palomba (TC), Dr. Jean Fitzgerald (Superintendent), John Portz (SC), Liz Yusem (SC), Kendra Foley (SC), Candace Miller (SC), Guido Guidotti (SC), Steve Magoon (Assistant Town Manager/Director of Community Development & Planning), Kate Coyne (WSS), Alyson Morales (WSS), David Stokes (WSS), Mike Shepard, Gretchen Neely, and Charlie Breitrose. The agenda was to discuss current enrollment projections and physical space for the district. Councilor Dattoli opened the meeting by thanking the Superintendent and School Committee members for attending and that he was hopeful that this meeting would be the start of a town/school partnership to help solve the space issues facing the district.

Letters

LETTER: Watertown Middle and High Schools Need to Start Later

By |

Watertown should move the middle and high school start times to 8:30am or later to support students’ health and academic performance. Currently the middle school starts at 7:40 a.m. and the high schools starts at 7:55. The superintendent will report on a survey of Watertown parents, students and teachers regarding potential new school start times at the School Committee meeting to be held on Monday, May 2, 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Middlesex district superintendents released a statement in March agreeing to consider moving high school start times to between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. by fall of 2017. Over the last decade, and increasingly across the country, school districts are looking at starting school later.

First Parish Church

LETTER: Group Invites Residents to Join Mother’s Day Walk for Peace

By |

On Mothers Day, May 8, 2016 please join a group from Watertown and thousands of other walkers for the annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace. The walk will start in Fields Corner, Dorchester and end at Boston City Hall, a route of 6.8 miles. You are invited to walk for all or part of the route. Buses will leave Watertown for Fields Corner at 7:15 am from the parking lot at the First Parish of Watertown, 35 Church St., Watertown. Opening remarks begin at Fields Corner at 8 a.m.; the walk begins at 8:30.

Letters

LETTER: Watertown Parents Group Wants Solution to Overcrowded Schools, Soon

By |

For the past several years, the growing student enrollment numbers in Watertown, particularly at the elementary level, along with the demands of good quality 21st Century general and special education, have placed increasing space pressures on our school buildings.  We have reached a point where our three elementary schools are out of space. Addressing these space issues has been on the back burner for far too long; we need to make major progress in the near term. To date, we have placed the responsibility for managing these space constraints and for maintaining safe and effective learning environments on the school principals and faculty.  They have done and continue to do a tremendous job – showing remarkable flexibility, creativity, and care to try and give all students a positive educational experience. We have reached a point where the physical space limits exceed their ability to solve the problem in both the immediate and longer term at the school level. There are several classes in each Elementary school that are projected to be above Watertown’s unofficial class size guidelines (18-24 students depending on grade level) next year, and quite a few that are right on the cusp of turning into a situation like what the Cunniff is facing right now.

Letters

See Watertown Strong Schools’ ‘Unofficial Minutes’ on Overcrowding, Other Issues

By |

This is the first publication of the “Unofficial Minutes” created by Watertown Strong Schools. The group of concerned parents who follow the Watertown Public Schools attend meetings and write-up summaries, and at the end, provide their commentary on the issues of the night. 
Unofficial Minutes: Buildings & Grounds Subcommittee Meeting on 4/11/16 – Key Points and Commentary
Note: These are NOT official minutes. Subcommittee members: Jean Fitzgerald, Superintendent; Charles Kellner, Director of Business Services; Liz Yusem, Chair; Kendra Foley, Eileen Hsu-Balzer

Audience members: John Portz (SC), Candace Miller (SC), Guido Guidotti (SC), Mark Sideris (TC/SC), Vincent Piccirilli (TC), Aaron Dushku (TC), Michael Dattoli (TC), Lisa Feltner (TC), Tom Tracy (Auditor/Assistant Town Manager for Finance), Stephen Romanelli, Director of Facilities and Transportation, Brandt Brisson (WSS), James Cairns (WSS), Kate Coyne (WSS), Angelo DeFrancesco (WSS), Margo Guernesey (WSS), Diego Hammerschlag (WSS), Chris Lowry (WSS), David Stokes (WSS), Alyson Morales (WSS), Bob LaRoche, Hosmer Principal, Mena Ciarlone, Cunniff Principal, Robert Varnum, Lisa Hayward, Bruce Colton, Elaina Griffith, Mike Shepard, and others. Approximately 40 people were in attendance. Plaque Honoring Mr. John R. Burns

2 former students representing a much larger group came from NYC so that they could ask to place a plaque in the Middle School (to be chosen by WPS) honoring Mr. John R. Burns, a former Watertown Middle School teacher and principal, who passed away in October 2015.