Schools

Hosmer Students Participate in Program Designed by Boston Society of Architects

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The following piece was provided by the Leaning By Design organizers:

Students at the Hosmer Elementary School in Watertown recently participated in a 6-week Learning By Design program, which was created using a curriculum provided by the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) Foundation and facilitated by Hosmer parent and architect Dynelle Long, and Hosmer Elementary School art teacher, Hae-In Kim. According to the BSA Foundation, Learning By Design “encourages children to explore and formulate ideas about the people, architecture and design of their own communities as they learn the fundamentals of design thinking through hands-on
experiences.”

The program, held at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, provided 19 students with the opportunity to reimagine the neighborhood surrounding their school. To do that, students participated in an architectural walking tour, identified goals and building types for their community, and worked in teams to create a scaled box-city model of Mt. Auburn Street with recyclable materials. Students used their math, science and technology skills to analyze what works well about their current community, generate design concepts for their new plans, evaluate their design work, and share their reimagined community with classmates and guests.

Letters

LETTER: Exhibit Shows Examples of High Quality Early Childhood Education

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I have been a Preschool and Pre-K teacher for 15 years. I am happy that the scientific and economic research that shows the life long positive impacts of quality early childhood education is starting to lead to more investments and expansion of early childhood programs in Massachusetts. However, I am always leery this will come with a push down of the K-12 education model of education into early childhood. High quality early childhood education is not tracing letters, using flash cards, sitting still for long periods, or preparing kids for future standardized tests. High quality early childhood education allows young children to build on their innate curiosity about the world to become mini-researchers who are guided in their research by well-trained early childhood educators.

Schools

New Principal Selected for Watertown Middle School, Along with Lowell Assistant Principal

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Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston announced appointment of the new Watertown Middle School principal and the new assistant principal at Lowell Elementary School. Donna Martin has been selected as the new WMS Principal. She succeeds Kimo Carter, who is leaving after 13 years to become assistant superintendent in Weston. The superintendent also appointed Candice Whitmore as the assistant principal at Lowell School. This is a new position for the 2018-19 school year (Fiscal Year 2019).

Schools

Conceptual Designs for Renovation of Watertown’s Elementary Schools Approved

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Details of what Watertown’s three elementary schools will look like after they are renovated came more into focus Thursday when the School Building Committee approved the conceptual designs for Hosmer, Cunniff and Lowell elementary schools. With the approval, the architects from Ai3 will move onto the schematic design phase of the project. The conceptual designs provide a guide for where designers will put new additions and which areas will be renovated inside the existing buildings, said Scott Dunlap, principal of Ai3. He added, however, that architects are still “pushing and pulling” the floor plans inside the buildings. Thursday’s meeting began with a walk through of the Hosmer site, where Ai3 had staked out the corners of the proposed new school building that would be built in front of the building with the auditorium and gym, ask you look from Mt.

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.