MSBA

Rebuilding of Watertown High School Moves a Step Forward with State Board’s Vote

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Plans to renovate or rebuild Watertown High School cleared a major hurdle Wednesday when State officials voted to move the project to the next step — doing a feasibility study and create a schematic design

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Board voted at a meeting held in Boston on Wednesday. The WHS project now moves to the second step in a series of eight. The School Building Committee will hire an owner’s project manager to oversee the design and construction, and hire a project designer. 

Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston announced vote on Wednesday in a statement in which she wrote:

I am pleased to share with you that the Massachusetts School Building Authority unanimously voted to invite the Watertown High School building project into Feasibility at their board meeting today.  In attendance were Senator Brownsberger, Mark Sideris, Michael Driscoll, Shirley Lundberg, Heidi Perkins, Steve Magoon and me.The next step in the process is the selection of the Owner’s Project Manager which will begin soon.  Once the OPM is in place, the designer will be selected through the MSBA’s Designer Selection Panel process.  These steps are considered Module 2, which should be complete within four to six months.  This is great news for our community!  

The MSBA’s vote came after the Town Council voted to spend up to $1.6 million on an owner’s project manager and to hire a designer at a meeting in late November. At that meeting, Galdston showed what she called a “best case scenario” timeline, in which students and staff would move into the new school in the fall of 2023. A feasibility study will be created, which will include examining possible locations for the school and what the new construction and/or renovation will include.

Schools

Big Shift Coming to Watertown High School Class Schedule

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Watertown High School students and teachers will have to adjust to a very different class schedule beginning in the fall of 2019. School officials say the new schedule will allow for more projects, longer times for labs and pefromances. Currently, the high school has a schedule with six equal length class periods which meet in the same order every day. It is on a seven-day cycle in which advisory meets once a week. 

The current schedule has been in place for 20 years, but there has been a desire for some time to change it, Watertown High School Principal Shirley Lundberg told the School Committee Monday night. Discussions began last year, but the decision was made to delay making the change until the fall of 2019.

Schools

WHS Robotics Team Will Demonstrate its Robots at Driveathon

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The Watertown High School Robotics Team will be demonstrating their robots at the WHS Gym 

The Watertown High School Robotics Team sent out the following information:

Come join the WHS Robotics Team for a Drive­a­thon, Alumni Reunion & Robot Rodeo on December 15, 2018 at 11 a.m.

Students, mentors and alums will divide into three member drive teams to see how many laps they can drive a robot around the course on the basketball court, including traversing obstacles during a five minute time period. Pledges can be made for the number of laps completed by a drive team within the time limit or a lump sum donation made. Several team robots will be on display for family, friends and sponsors to view. Why not give driving a robot a try too? All are welcome!

Schools

Watertown May Build Two New Elementary Schools Instead of Renovating Them

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The option of building new buildings at two Watertown’s three elementary school appears to be back on the table, after Town Council President Mark Sideris announced that they may fit within the town’s budget during Wednesday’s School Building Committee. Originally, the School Building Committee previously went in the direction of renovating the current schools and putting on additions at Hosmer and Cunniff elementary schools to save money. However, the cost estimates for doing so has risen significantly. Sideris and Town Manager Michael Driscoll discussed other options, and decided that the possibility of building new schools may be within reach, Sideris said. The decision came after hearing from parents and neighbors of the schools, many of whom worried about the loss of green space with the proposed school expansions.

Around Town

Learn About Early Literacy Development at Event at Watertown Library

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The following information was provided by the event organizer:

Lecture and Discussion: Early Literacy Development (Birth To Age 5) at The Watertown Public Library 

On Saturday Dec. 8, a lecture and discussion about early literacy development at the Watertown Public Library at 1 p.m. will be led by Teddy Kokoros, a Pre-K Teacher at Transpiration Children’s Center and adjunct early childhood education professor at Fisher College, Lesley University, and UMass Boston. The event will be at Watertown Public Library’s Lucia Mastrangelo Meeting Room and is free and open to the public. http://reservations.watertownlib.org/reservation/40734

This event will go over how teachers and parents of young children can best support young children’s early literacy development. Topics covered will including finding quality picture books, dialogic reading, vocabulary development, reading comprehensions skills, phonics and decoding.

Schools

Parking, Drop Off at Lowell School Concern Residents, Some Oppose Location of Additions

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Parking dominated the discussion of the plans to renovate and expand Lowell Elementary School at Wednesday night’s community meeting. The School Building Committee presented the latest designs for the renovated Lowell School at the community meeting. The school will be expanded so it can handle up to 550 students (the school currently has about 420), and update the current classrooms and facilities to provide a 21st century education, said Superintendent Dede Galdston. The Lowell library was filled with both parents and nearby residents. The topic of parking, and the drop off and pickup of students, were among the topics discussed by the attendees.

Arts

Watertown School Staff Putting on Play with 1 Day Prep to Raise Money for Band Trip

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Some familiar faces in the Watertown Public Schools will have just one day to prepare a play for a performance on Saturday night. The proceeds from the event will help defer cost of the Watertown High School music program’s trip to New York. 

The Mystery Staff Show features 16 members of the WPS staff, who will not know what they will be performing until just 27.5 hours before they go on stage at the Watertown High School auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.

Tickets cost $10, and the money raised will help cut the cost of the every-other-year trip to New York by Watertown High School’s music program. Members of the band, orchestra and chorus head to the Big Apple for a weekend that includes performances, a trip to a play, and visits to tourist spots. The cast includes: Zack Allen, Heidi Baildon, Laurie Brackett, Culley Byham, Holly Cachimuel, Megan DiDuca, Aine Dirrane, Jess Donato, Amy Donohue, Chad Foster, Chris McDermott, Pat O’Neill, Nyssa Patten, Magen Slesinger, Siran Tamakian, and Sarah Thiemann.

Schools

School Committee Votes Against Seeking Membership to Minuteman Vocational District

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The Town of Watertown will not seek to join the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School District, at least not this year. 

The School Committee voted last week to follow the recommendation of a subcommittee that looked into whether to join the regional district which runs the vocational high school in Lexington. Watertown has consistently sent more than 50 students to Minuteman each year over the past 10 years. This year there are 56 students, or more than 10 percent of the total enrollment (516) and sends more students than all but one community. Arlington, a member community, sends 119 students this year. There are 10 member towns, and students from those communities are accepted before the school looks at out-of-district applicants, Minuteman Superintendent Edward Bouquillon said at the joint Budget & Finance and Curriculum subcommittee meeting.