Entertainment

Watertown High School Presenting “Mamma Mia!” at Mosesian Center

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This year’s Watertown High School musical, “Mamma Mia!” will be performed at the Mosesian Center for the Arts on March 27-29. See more information from WHS, below. Get ready for our highly anticipated spring musical production of Mamma Mia! Please join us on Friday, March 27 or Saturday, March 28, at 7:00 PM or on Sunday, March 29, at 2:00 PM at the Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts!

Schools

New Watertown High School Nearly Done, Remains on Budget

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The new Watertown High School is approaching completion, with teachers expected to move in after school ends in June. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Wednesday afternoon, School Committee members, City Councilors and others got to see the new classrooms, theater, gym, and media center that will be enjoyed by Watertown High School students starting in September. The school is taking shape, with the walls and floor covering completed on the upper floors of the four-story structure, and a fresh coat of varnish still drying on the floor of the gymnasium at the new Watertown High School. A view of the gym floor at the new Watertown High School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

Construction should be completed in the next few months, said Christy Murphy of owner project management firm Vertex.

Schools

WHS Medical Assistant Students Practiced What They Learned in Class in the Real World

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A Watertown High School student conducts medical tests during a community health clinic run by the school’s Medical Assisting Program. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

City employees had the opportunity to get free checkups from some aspiring medical professionals during a clinic run by the Watertown High School Medical Assisting Program. The students learned to take vitals, take a blood test, and other procedures as part of the program that was added a few years ago, said teacher Melissa Burke. “So these are our students who have committed to doing full three years on top of their regular high school curriculum, doing medical assisting training,” Burke said, adding that after they have completing the course the students can take the exam for national medical assisting certification. Workers for the Watertown Public Schools, as well as the Police and Fire, Public departments received invitations to get a free checkup.

Schools

LEGAL NOTICE: Watertown Public Schools to Hold Public Hearing on Fiscal Year 2027 Budget

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Public Schools:

Legal Notice

WATERTOWN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 30 COMMON STREET, WATERTOWN, MA 02472 – In accordance with provisions of Chapter 71, Section 38N, the Watertown School Committee will hold a Public Hearing on its proposed Fiscal Year 2027 Budget, on Monday, March 23, 2026, at 7:00 PM in the Learning Commons, Lowell Elementary School, 123 Lowell Avenue, Watertown, MA 02472, or via Zoom at https://watertown-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/86275618951

A copy of the FY27 Proposed Budget will be available to the public in the Office of the Superintendent of Schools and on the Watertown Public Schools Website, www.watertown.k12.ma.us, forty-eight hours before the date of the public meeting.

Around Town

Hear High Schoolers’ Perspectives & Experiences at Community Forum

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The following announcement was provided by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment:

Come engage with students from Watertown High School in a community forum focusing on student perspectives and experiences. Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment will be featuring student voices at our next quarterly meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 8th from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Watertown Savings Bank room at the Watertown Free Public Library.  

The forum’s focus is to promote dialogue between high school students and community members. Students will highlight what is working for them in Watertown as well as what can be improved. The key question is “How can adults in Watertown support our youth?” Other questions that will be addressed include: What challenges/issues/concerns are young people facing in Watertown? How does Watertown provide support for young people? What do you want community members to know about youth today?  

Participants will be able to engage with students in small discussion groups. Community members are encouraged to register in advance and to include any questions for the students with your registration. Registration is encouraged, not required. The evening is free and open to all interested community members. Refreshments will be served. Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment (WCPJE) is a non-profit, community-based organization that works to protect the environment, promote sound environmental practices, oppose war and aggression, cultivate peace and security, and advocate for social and economic justice. For more information about WCPJE visit our website: https://watertowncitizens.org/.

Government

Detailed Designs of Middle School Being Created to See if City Can Afford a New School

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A vision of what a new Watertown Middle School could look like created by Ai3 Architects and presented to the School Committee in June 2025. Architects have started creating detailed designs for a new Watertown Middle School to determine how much a new school would cost, and that information will be used by the City to see whether Watertown’s budget can handle a project expected to cost significantly more than $100 million. On Feb. 18, the School Building Committee voted to approve the contract to hire a designer to come up with plans on which a detailed budget can be based upon. When the designs are completed and priced out the City will determine if it is feasible for the City to afford the project, Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee on March 2.

Entertainment

Performers Wanted for 13th Annual Watertown MusicFest

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The Annual Watertown MusicFest is coming up and musicians can now sign up to take part in the event that supports the music program in the Watertown Public Schools. See more in the announcement from the Friends of Watertown Music, below. Calling all musicians: Friends of Watertown Music invites performers to register for our 13th Annual Watertown MusicFest. Deadline: March 26th — performance slots are limited. Our Annual MusicFest is a fun community event, offering something for everyone with over 40 performances, across 3 stages, to be held this year on Friday, April 10th, from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. The variety of performers often includes student musicians, Watertown Public School teachers, local rock bands, established musicians, a vignette of musical theater, and more. Performances run from 5 to 20 minutes, so attendees have the chance to see as many acts as they wish.

Schools

School Committee Votes on Watertown Middle School Start Time for 2026-27

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Watertown Middle School (Courtesy of Watertown Public Schools)

The debate over when to start the day for middle school students returned to the Watertown School Committee this week, focusing on what time the school day should begin for the 2026-27 school year. The discussion has been complicated by impact on after-school sports and the shortage of fields in town. The issue of later start times for middle schoolers was discussed in 2017, with the recommendation to move the start time for middle schoolers to from 7:40 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. based on research about teens sleep habits and circadian rhythms, showing that students in middle school do better with later start. In 2018, the start of the school day at Watertown Middle School moved to 8:30 a.m.

In the fall of 2023, the start time moved back to 7:45 a.m. when the high school moved to the temporary campus on Moxley Field so that the two schools did not have drop-offs and pick-ups at the same time. With the new WHS opening in the fall of 2026, there had been discussions about when to start the Middle School in 2026-27.