Schools

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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

By |

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.