Schools

Start Time for Watertown High School Moving Later Starting Fall of 2018

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Watertown High School will start 35 minutes later starting in the fall of 2018 after the School Committee voted to approve the school start time change on Monday night. 
Both the high school and Watertown Middle School will start at 8:30 a.m., while Cunniff, Hosmer and Lowell elementary schools will start at 8:15 a.m.

Research shows benefit of moving the start of school later is that high school students will be more ready to learn because it is more inline with adolescents’ biological clocks, said School Committee Chairman John Portz. “In the education world often times with research you have conflicting opinions. This is an issue where there is very little conflict,” Portz said. The change was made after more than two years of discussion and research by Watertown School officials. After an initial study by the School Start Time Task Force, the same group was asked to come up with recommendations for how to implement a time change and how it would impact other schools in town.

Schools

Asbestos Found in Walls of Watertown High School, Effort to Remove it Underway

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An inspection of Watertown High School discovered that the plaster on the walls contain asbestos, Superintendent Dede Galdston announced Monday, and the district has started determining the best way to deal with the hazardous material. 

The inspection was conducted by a firm hired by the Watertown Public Schools as part of complying with the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). Galdston sent a letter about the asbestos to Watertown High School parents, and read it at Monday’s School Committee meeting. “During these inspections it was determined that the skim coat plaster at the high school contains some amount of asbestos,” Galdston said. “While previous reports did not identify asbestos in the plaster, more recent sampling and analytical methods have improved such that the levels of asbestos in plaster can now be detected.” All the plaster in the school is being examined to determine the extent of the asbestos, Galdston told the School Committee.

Elections

School Committee Hopefuls Air Their Views at Candidate Forum

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The six people running for School Committee shared their views on a variety of subjects during the School Committee Candidate Forum co-hosted by Watertown News and Watertown Cable Access Television on Thursday night at the Watertown Free Public Library. Three challengers – Amy Donohue, Michael Shepard and Lily Rayman-Read – appeared along with the three candidates seeking re-election – Guido Guidotti, Liz Yusem and John Portz. The candidates shared similar views on several questions, including:
• Wanting to renovate or rebuild schools that will be able to provide a modern education
• Seeking to improve communication with parents and with the school administration
• Continue to expand the Spanish lessons for elementary students up through fifth grade
• The start time for the middle and high schools should be moved later
• Watertown should explore joining the Minuteman Vocational District, or find another way to offer vocational education
Each candidate had their own views on certain subjects. Cutting Costs if the Schools Have a Budget Shortfall
Guidotti, a healthcare management consultant who seeks a second term, said that he thinks there is always room for more efficiency in the schools, but said the tough thing is to find efficiency without “cutting the lights off” for important people and programs.

Shepard, who served one term on the School Committee previously, said he wants to save the district money by leasing equipment, particularly technology, instead of purchasing it. By purchasing items outright, the district is stuck with the maintenance and upkeep, he said, but the district should see if any efficiency can be gained by leasing.

Schools

WHS Guest Speaker Tackles Some Tough Subjects as Part of the SPEAK Project

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Michael ‘Mykee’ Fowlin returned to Watertown High School on September 25th to perform his one-person show, “You Don’t Know Me Until You Know Me,” for an all-school assembly, the Watertown Youth Coalition announced. As a professional actor with a doctorate degree in clinical psychology, he combines his skills and expertise to encourage people to transform the world by turning hurt into self-reflection, healing, and then action. The performance touched on topics including bullying, xenophobia, racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, dating and sexual violence, suicide, and more. While he didn’t shy away from difficult subject matter, he was able to do so in a way that connected with the students, moving the room from thoughtful quiet to roaring laughter throughout the performance. He urged students to respect each other and to celebrate both their differences and shared experiences.

Building for the Future

Town Manager: Town Can Build 3 Elementary Schools Within Regular Budget

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Few towns can afford to pay for a major school project within its operating budget, let alone three, but Town Manager Michael Driscoll announced that the town would be able to finance the renovation or reconstruction of all three elementary schools without having to add to tax bills by passing a debt exclusion, Tuesday night. 

Driscoll discussed the financing of the Building for the Future school building program when he presented the Fiscal 2019 Preliminary Budget overview to the Town Council. His budget drew applause from the audience in the Town Council Chamber. “I am pleased to inform you we are proposing a plan which you will see whereby financing of the potential Elementary Schools Project estimated at $80 million t0 $120 million is included in the Debt and Interest Forecast beginning in Fiscal Year 2020, all of this to be done within the confines of Proposition 2 ½ and all of this to be done without the need to request debt exclusion financing from the taxpayers of Watertown,” Driscoll said. The announcement left grins on the faces of all the Town Councilors and the department heads at the meeting. Town Council Vice President Vincent Piccirilli estimated that paying for the project with money borrowed through a debt exclusion would have added $500 annually to the property tax bills of the average Watertown residential property owner.

Schools

Minuteman High School to be Featured on PBS Documentary This Week

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Minuteman High School is one of three vocational technical high schools in Massachusetts featured on “Job Centered Learning,” an upcoming, hour-long PBS television documentary about career and technical education by award-winning filmmaker Bob Gliner, the school announced. It is scheduled to be broadcast on PBS World stations in much of the nation. Locally, it will be shown on the WGBH World station on Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. and will be rebroadcast on October 14 and 16. Viewers can find the exact station number in their area by going to worldchannel.org and clicking on
“Select Station.”

The two other vocational technical high schools in this state that are showcased on the program are Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School in Bourne and Greater Lowell Technical High School in Tyngsborough. “Job Centered Learning” demonstrates how the intensive career and technical education students receive at high schools like Minuteman helps to close the skills gap between the abilities and knowledge which job seekers possess and the credentials and experience that employers want in the people they hire.

Entertainment

Watertown Family Network Hosts Touch the Trucks Event

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On Nov. 4, the Watertown Family Network will host a Touch the Trucks event in the parking lot behind the Senior Center and Watertown Public School offices. The Watertown Family Network sent out the following announcement:

TOUCH THE TRUCKS

This is an opportunity for you and your children to see big trucks, a school bus, police car, moving van among others up close. See what it is like to be in the driver’s seat of these big and exciting vehicles and introduce your children to our community helpers. Saturday, November 4th, 2017 10:00 to 11:30 am in the parking lot of 30 Common St.