Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/category/schools/page/118/)
The start of classes for the Watertown Public Schools is just around the corner, and teachers and staff will be in training starting Wednesday. School starts for students on Tuesday, Sept. 5, the day after Labor Day. There will be six early release days for all schools, the first of which will be on Wednesday, Sept. 20.
The firm hired to advise the School Committee about renovating and rebuilding the town’s schools said a renovated school would be as good as a new one, and showed before and after photos of spaces that had been transformed at other schools the firm had worked on. On Monday night, the School Committee voted to take the first step toward renovating Watertown’s three elementary schools, tasking Superintendent Dede Galdston to work with officials on the Town side to hire an owner’s project manager and a design firm. In July, architectural firm Ai3 presented a potential plan for upgrading the town’s elementary schools which called mostly for renovation of the current campuses with some new additions to the buildings. School Committee Chairman John Portz said since then he has received questions from the community about whether the renovated parts would be redesigned to meet modern standards or just brought up to working condition. Town Council President Mark Sideris got similar calls, wondering why the schools are not being torn down and rebuilt.
Scott Dunlap, principal of architecture firm Ai3, brought some photos showing schools before and after renovations.
The upcoming school year is expected to be another banner one for Minuteman High School, according to its top administrators. “We’re really excited about the 2017-18 school year,” said Principal Jack Dillon. Orientation will be held for new students in grades 9, 10 and 11 on Monday, August 28 from 7:45 am to 12:15 pm. All students will attend on Tuesday, August 29, which will be a full school day. Last year, which Principal Dillon called “the most significant in Minuteman’s history,” was notable for major developments such as changing the school’s regional agreement to include ten towns in Minuteman’s district instead of sixteen.
Half a dozen young nature enthusiasts have taken to the streets of Watertown this summer with a mission of caring for the town’s street trees and spreading the word about the importance of urban trees.
The six teens are part in the Watertown Teen Tree Stewardship Program, which is sponsored by Trees for Watertown, a citizens group committed to protecting and promoting trees in town. Each day, the group has an activity. Sometimes it is looking around town for street trees that are in need of help, other times it is learning about trees and nature, and sometimes they are promoting their program, said David Meshoulam, founder and coordinator of the program. As Meshoulam drives the group around town, the former Newton North High School science teacher points out a “beautiful beech” or a tree that has not been properly planted. The teens have been keeping track of trees around town.
An architecture firm hired by the Watertown Public Schools laid out a vision for how all five of the town’s schools could be renovated so they can provide a 21st century education, and recommended doing all three elementary schools at once followed by the high school and finally the middle school. Thursday night, Ai3 Principal Scott Dunlap presented a plan for upgrading Watertown’s five public schools over the next several years to a meeting held by both the School Committee and Town Council. Timeline
The timeline laid out by Ai3 – a firm that works solely on school projects – would start planning for the three elementary schools immediately with the goal of starting construction in late 2019 and completing the work by early 2021, Dunlap said. Meanwhile, the district would be working with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to get funding for and renovate Watertown High School. Construction would begin at the high school in early 2021. The timeline does not have an end date for work at WHS.
Watertown’s Faryal Amin received a scholarship for nursing school from Mount Auburn Hospital, the hospital announced. Each year, Mount Auburn Hospital awards scholarships to local high school graduates from surrounding towns that are enrolled in Nursing School. Amin, a Watertown High School graduate and Watertown resident, recently received a scholarship from the hospital to study nursing at Regis College in the fall.
Worcester Academy held its 183rd Commencement Exercises June 2 with 135 seniors graduating, the school announced. Among the graduates was Roman Davis of Watertown. He was recognized on the First Semester Honor Roll and Headmaster’s list for 2016-2017. Davis also played on Worcester Academy’s Varsity Boys Soccer Team which enjoyed a successful Fall 2016 season finishing with 19 wins and two losses. The team made it to the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Class A Finals and won the Academy’s first regular season WNEPSSA title in a prep league that includes Choate, Loomis, Phillips Andover, Phillips Exeter, Hotchkiss, Northfield Mount Hermon, among others.
The first candidate for the two-year School Committee seat has been certified to be on the ballot, and the first-time challenger has experience as a Watertown parent and as a teacher in another school system. Lindsay Mosca will run for the School Committee seat being vacated by Candace Miller, who announced she will step down because she is leaving town. The two-year seat will be on the Town Election ballot in November, but will be separate from the four-year School Committee seats. Mosca sent out the following information:
I have lived in Watertown with my husband, Justin, since 2005. Our two young children, Jennie and Jacob (5 and 7 years old), attend the Lowell Elementary School. I teach mathematics at Lexington High School, and my husband is an engineer at VHB in Watertown.