Building for the Future

School Renovation Projects to be Discussed When School, Town Officials Meet

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All five Watertown public schools will be renovated over the next several years during the Building for the Future project but before the work can begin projects must be approved not only by the School Committee, but also the Town Council. Ultimately Watertown voters will have to approve funding. On Thursday, July 27, a joint meeting of the School Committee and Town Council will be held to start discussions of the school renovation projects. Consultants Ai3 will present their recommendations at the meeting, which will be at 6 p.m. in the Council Chamber in Town Hall, 149 Main St., Watertown. According to the timeline created by Ai3 (see the timeline here), the three elementary would be worked on first.

Schools

Watertown Schools Get Bomb Threat by Email, Police Find No Devices

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Watertown Public School officials said they received an email with a bomb threat directed toward all the Watertown schools Friday morning, but police found nothing when they searched the campuses. Most of the schools are not being used this summer, but Watertown Police searched each of the schools, said Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor. “We checked all the schools and nothing was found,” O’Connor said. The Hosmer School is hosting the Watertown Recreation Department’s Pequossette Summer Program, so the school will be monitored through the day, said Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston in her letter to parents. Similar threats have been made in recent days to schools in nearby communities, O’Connor said, including Newton, Waltham and Belmont.

Colleges

Watertown Student Makes Dean’s List at University of Maine

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The University of Maine recognized 2,303 students for achieving Dean’s List honors in the spring 2017 semester, including one from Watertown. Of the students who made the Dean’s List, 1,727 are from Maine, 533 are from 29 other states and 43 are from 22 countries other than the U.S., the university announced. Listed below are students who received Dean’s List honors for spring 2017, completing 12 or more credit hours in the semester and earning a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Watertown: Cody Orvik

Please note that some students have requested that their information not be released; therefore, their names are not included. About the University of Maine:
The University of Maine, founded in Orono in 1865, is the state’s land grant university, with research and community engagement classifications awarded by the Carnegie Foundation.

Charity

Watertown-Belmont Chamber Awards Four Scholarships to High School Seniors

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The Watertown-Belmont Chamber of Commerce awards scholarships annually to Belmont and Watertown high school seniors planning to attend college. The WBCC announced the winners. This year the Chamber received multiple applications from Watertown and Belmont seniors. A volunteer scholarship committee comprising members of the Chamber’s board of directors, Katherine Rafferty, Mount Auburn Hospital; Pamela Giannatsis, Tufts Health Plan; and Sandy Penchansky, of Watertown Savings Bank read each application and selected the award recipients. Here are this year’s award recipients:

WBCC Scholarship

o   $1,000 to a Watertown High School (WHS) senior and Watertown Resident: Bailey Herrera Samayoa

o   $1,000 to a Belmont High School (BHS) senior and Belmont Resident: Colleen Murphy

The Barclay Good Citizen Scholarship

o   $500 to a High School senior boy and Watertown Resident: Sam Carton

o   $500 to a High School senior girl and Watertown Resident: Stella Varnum

Congratulations to our recipients!

Interim Superintendent

Here Less Than a Year, Interim Superintendent Has Had a Profound Impact

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When John Brackett was appointed Watertown’s interim superintendent the town’s schools faces many issues – a leadership vacuum, schools needing modernizing and expanding and someone to oversee the finances. Last week, the School Committee said goodbye to Brackett, and lauded him for not just keeping the Watertown Public Schools in the same shape he found them but leaving them in a position to take the next step forward. Brackett was hired in late October 2016 following the sudden retirement of Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald in September and he will end his tenure on June 30, 2017. The Watertown Schools needed to hire not only a permanent superintendent but also a school business manager, prepare the district to renovate or rebuild all of its schools along with the business of running the schools each day. All of those have been accomplished or in the case of the school renovations, have made significant progress.

Schools

Watertown Students Make Dean’s List, Graduate from UConn

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The University of Connecticut recently announced its dean’s list and graduates for the spring of 2017 and students from Watertown were part of both groups. Dean’s List

Melanie Kahn Chollette, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Liana Sandell, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Graduate

Ryan Philip DelRose, Bachelor of Arts, Applied Mathematical Sciences and Economics

Schools

Watertown Schools Moving Toward Starting High School, Middle School Later

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Students at Watertown High School and Watertown Middle School will likely have more time to sleep in beginning the fall of 2018, and that’s a good thing, school officials say. This week, the School Committee heard a presentation from a committee asked to look at the mechanisms for starting school early and what problems could arise from changing the start time at Watertown’s secondary schools. Last year the school’s Wellness Committee recommended that the district move to an 8:30 a.m. start time for middle and high school based on research about teens sleep habits and circadian rhythms, also known as the body clock. “Teen circadian rhythms shift later with the onset of puberty and causes them to stay alert until about 10:30 to 10:45 (at night),” said Watertown MiddleWatertown Middle School Principal Kimo Carter, who chaired the School Start Time Implementation Task Force. “The change happens as the get older, it just happens – they can’t control it.”

Schools

Watertown Middle School Classroom Kitchen Gets An Overhaul

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A kitchen used by students in the special education program at Watertown Middle School got a partial upgrade and improvement recently, bringing it into the current century. The kitchen is left over from a now defunct program at the Middle School, said Principal Kimo Carter. “Fifteen years ago we had a home economics program that got discontinued,” Carter said. “This room and the one beside it were the home ec rooms.” The room has counters, cabinets, a stove, refrigerator and microwave.