Schools

Watertown School Committee Puts Hold on Purchasing Vans with End of Year Surplus

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The School Committee balked at using funds remaining at the end of the year on two vans, at least for now, but approved spending money to prepay special education tuition and to add funds to the Town’s Special Education Stabilization Fund. The proposal came Monday night, at the last planned School Committee during Fiscal Year 2018, and if funds are not spent or designated they go back to the Town’s general fund. The Watertown Public Schools is projected to end the year with a $785,928, said School Committee Vice President Kendra Foley. The surplus came about due to lower than expected special education costs, vacancies left unfilled and hires that were not made, Foley said. The School Committee’s Budget and Finance Subcommittee discussed what to do with the funds at a prior meeting, and proposed using $400,000 to prepay special education tuitions for the first three months of the next fiscal year, put $200,000 into the Special Education Stabilization Fund and purchase two 12-seat vans (10 passengers plus the driver and the front passenger seat) with $100,000.

Environment

Teens Spending the Summer Mapping & Indentifying Watertown’s Street Trees

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A group of about a dozen teens from Watertown will fan out around town this summer to find out where the street trees are, and where they could be planted. The Teens for Trees program started last summer, when half a dozen students learned about trees, met with experts and combed the streets of Watertown to find trees in need of help. This year the students will be more focused, said program coordinator David Meshoulam, who said the teens will be mapping street trees in Watertown to create an inventory. “There were 4,000-5,000 trees when the last inventory was done in 2008,” Meshoulam said. “A lot has happened since that time: a lot of development, a lot of trees have been taken down and a lot have been planted.”

Cirque du Soleil

Members of Cirque du Soleil Make a Visit to a Watertown School

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A couple members of Cirque du Soleil brought a little bit big top magic to Watertown this week when they visited Cunniff Elementary School. 

Students in the Extended Day Program at Cunniff greeted Kelly McDonald, an acrobat, and Gracie Valdez, artistic director of the latest Cirque show coming to Boston, called Luzia: A Waking Dream of Mexico. During the visit, the pair answered questions from many students, including a few writing a story for Cunniff Kids News, the school’s online newspaper. The children wanted to know things like how to get into the circus, their favorite place they have performed and what happens if you make a mistake during a performance. McDonald said that the children should find something that interests them and then practice hard. “I practiced gymnastics all the way through high school and continued through college,” McDonald said.

Schools

Watertown Students Graduate from College, Earn Academic Honors

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Graduation season is in full swing, and here are more college graduates from Watertown, along with an athlete who earned academic honors. Southern New Hampshire Grad

Watertown’s Adam Albano received a Bachelor of Science degree in Game Programming and Development from Southern New Hampshire University. The graduation ceremony was held in Manchester, N.H., on May 12. Colby College Grad

Craig Strand of Watertown was one of 482 seniors who graduated from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, May 27, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree at the College’s 197th Commencement. U.S. Senator Susan Collins was the guest speaker.

Schools

Students Have Fun in the Sun During Lowell School’s Field Day

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Last Thursday, the entire student body at Lowell Elementary School marched down the hill and into the Victory Field complex for a day of games and athletic competition. 

The Lowell Field Day is a long tradition at the school, but four years ago the fun moved across Orchard Street to Watertown’s track and stadium complex. When the students arrived, they entered in a procession not unlike the Olympics opening ceremony, complete with the Olympic theme song. The older kids, grades 3-5, took to the track and ran races around the oval, tossed beanbags through holes, tried to kick huge beachballs through hula hoops and more. Meanwhile, over on the stadium side, the younger children (in K-2) had relays around the bases of the baseball diamond, played a parachute, attempted to transport water in cups several yards without spilling and tossed rubber chickens. Lowell Principal Stacy Phelan looked over the hundreds of kids at play around her, enjoyed the nice weather.

Schools

See Watertown’s College Graduates and Dean’s List Members

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Several Watertown students made academic honors lists, and one graduated from college. 

Watertown Student Graduates from Harvey Mudd College

Nicholas Lee Trieu of Watertown graduated from Harvey Mudd College on May 13, 2018. Trieu received a bachelor of science degree with a major in computer science and mathematics, “graduating with high distinction and departmental honors in computer science, in mathematics, and in humanities, social sciences, and the arts.” Trieu attended Buckingham Browne & Nichols School. Harvey Mudd College is the premier liberal arts college specializing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The College’s mission is to prepare engineers, scientists and mathematicians to become leaders in their fields and understand the impact of their work on society.

Around Town

MLK Friend: Watertown Embraces King’s Principles Like No Other Community

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Watertown has embraced the non-violence teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. like no other community, according to a Civil Rights activist and good friend of King. 

On Thursday afternoon a celebration for the dedication of the mural created on the back wall of the Watertown Boys & Girls Club was attended by Dr. Bernard Lafayette. The mural, called “The Time is Always Right,” features bright paints and sections of mosaics which demonstrate the six principles of Kingian Nonviolence (and the words on the mural):

Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people (Have Courage)
The Beloved Community is the framework for the future (Be Kind)
Attack forces of evil, not people doing evil (Don’t Hate, Solve)
Accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve a goal (Stay the Course)
Avoid internal violence of the spirit as well as external physical violence (Love Yourself)
The Universe is on the side of justice (Trust)

Lafayette knows King’s teachings well. He has dedicated his life to spreading the nonviolence movement by teaching others how to use the principles and become Kingian instructors themselves. Two years ago he came to Watertown to teach 24 students, 17 school staff and three police officers. Since then, that group has reached more than 2,500 people in different events, according to Ruth Henry, a Watertown Middle School teacher who helped bring the Kingian principles to town.

Ai3

Architects Cut Millions Out of Cost Estimate for Renovating Watertown’s Elementary Schools

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The School Building Committee had some sticker shock when members saw the original cost estimate for renovating and rebuilding Watertown’s three elementary schools, but architects delved deeper into the project found ways to cut more than $40 million off the cost. On Wednesday night, Scott Dunlap, principal of Ai3 Architects, said designers found an estimated $42.7 million in savings by looking at a variety of areas. The total cost estimate, including contingency funds, design costs and other costs, would be $134.9 million. The cost estimates also include $2,800 per student for furniture, equipment and technology, with half that amount for technology, Dunlap said. A big savings — $11.9 million — would be cut by staggering the construction and using the old part of Hosmer Elemntary School as swing space during construction at Lowell and Cunniff elementary schools. This would shorten the construction schedule and would mean other schools would not need to put up modular classrooms.

This part of the savings became a topic of discussion among School Building Committee members.