Letters

LETTER: Parent Skeptical of New Plan to Deal With School Overcrowding

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Watertown Strong Schools, the parent group, attended the Superintendent’s meeting about plans to move some PreK and preschool classes to the Phillips Building. Unofficial Minutes: Superintendent’s Meeting Concerning Short Term Space Proposals 6/8/16 – Key Points And Commentary

Note: These are NOT official minutes. Commentary can be found at the bottom of the minutes. Written by: Kate Coyne

School Administration members attending: Dr. Fitzgerald, Superintendent; Beth Sahakian, Community Education Director; Bob LaRoche, Hosmer Principal; and April Romano, Early Steps preschool Director. School Committee members attending: John Portz, Chair; Kendra Foley, Vice-Chair; Guido Guidotti, Secretary; Candace Miller; and Liz Yusem.

Government

Middle School Window Replacement Approved by Town Council

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Watertown Middle School

Hundreds of windows that leak, let in breezes and do not connect well to the building will be replaced at Watertown Middle School in a project jointly paid for by the town and the state. 

Tuesday night, the Town Council approved the town borrowing $3.08 million, of which 48.47 percent will be reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The price of the project grew from about $300,000 to over $3 million after the state’s project manager, Gale Associates, examined the school and found that 207 windows, instead of just a few dozen, needed replacing. Some windows let in water, others have gaps that let in the cold in the winter and some are permanently closed, said Siva Sivalogan, of exPERTcon Inc., who will serve as owner’s project manger on behalf of the Watertown Public Schools. “(The middle school) is solidly built, unfortunately the windows are not in good shape, to the extent that they are not compliant (with state standards),” Sivalogan said. Sivalogan showed photos of windows that show they are not well connected to the building.

Schools

See the WHS Award Winners, Teacher Honorees from Graduation

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Here are the student award winners and teacher honorees from the 2016 Watertown High School graduation ceremony. ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Valedictorian

Zoe Grodsky

Salutatorian

Christopher Rohlicek

CUMULATIVE G.P.A. OF 4.0 OR HIGHER

Kareem Alhady           Julia Harrington

Olivia Almeida             Sasha Helfner                         

Niko Carvajal-Janke    Jeremy Holt

Karl Elbakian               Robert Kennedy

Sofia Farhadi               Christa Knell

Gabriella Fiorentino   Austin Lin

Kyle Foley                    Hannah McCall

Karina Franca              Cristopher Patvakanian

Sara Fulton                  Kira Peterson

Tyler Gardiner             Rachel Quinlivan

Briana Guillory            Melissa Rose

Arshdeep Singh

 

2016 TEACHER HONOREES

Cunniff School    Ms. Maryann Fitzpatrick & Ms. MaryKate Fitzpatrick

Hosmer School Mrs. Susan Bellis

Lowell School           Ms. Debra Garabedian

Watertown Middle School    Ms. Eleanor Donato

 

2016 RETIREMENTS

Mrs. Joan Corkery, School Nurse

Mrs. Gaylene Fantasia, Ceremony Coordinator

 

2016 ABCD AWARD (Above and Beyond the Call of Duty)

Ms. Adrienne Eaton, Lead Guidance Counselor

 

2016 TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Mr. Charles Duggan, Physics

 

2016 CLASS OFFICERS & EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Farid Mawanda, President     Katelyn Rourke, Vice-President

Tyler Gardiner, Treasurer       Jeremy Breen, Secretary

Kyle Foley, Robert Kennedy, Ally McCall, Hannah McCall, Steven Mey

 

2016 GRADUATION CEREMONY STUDENT PERFORMERS

Rivers and Roads – Zoe Grodsky & Kira Peterson

Never Alone – Jeremy Breen, Niko Carvajal-Janke & Ivana Mendez Juliao

The Call – Dominika Bondaryk & Hannah Cook

See the names of all the graduates here, and check out photos and highlights from the ceremony here.

Lowell School

Students from a Watertown School Place First in National Math Competition

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A packed room at Watertown High School erupted in cheers and applause when it was announced that Lowell Elementary School’s Continental Math League team finished in first place in the national competition during Monday’s School Committee meeting. The 27 fifth graders from Lowell took part in five meets through the course of the year, in which they tackle six questions that require “high-level mathematical skills, critical, intuitive and abstract thinking,” said fifth-grade teacher Debra Garabedian, who oversees the Math League at Lowell. Nationally, more than 400 schools and over 15,000 students participated in the competition. To qualify as a national winner, a school must have a perfect cumulative score of 180 points. This year, the Lowell was one of 13 schools to reach that mark and finish in first place.

Overcrowding

LETTER: Parents React to New Overcrowding Plan & More from School Meeting

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Parent group Watertown Strong Schools submitted this roundup of the School Committee meeting on June 6, where the overcrowding plan, facilities master plan, enrollment and many other items were discussed. 

Note: These are NOT official minutes. Commentary can be found at the bottom of the minutes. Written by: Alyson Morales

Committee members: John Portz, Chair; Kendra Foley, Vice-Chair; Guido Guidotti, Secretary; Eileen Hsu-Balzer; Candace Miller; Mark Sideris; Liz Yusem; Dr. Fitzgerald, Superintendent; Charles Kellner, Director, Business Services; and Craig Hardimon, Human Resources Director. Audience members: Mena Ciarlone, Cunniff Principal; Elizabeth Kaplan, Lowell Principal; Bob LaRoche, Hosmer Principal; Donna Ruseckas, Director of Wellness & Extended Services; Adam Silverberg, World Languages Coordinator; Lauren Harwood, Accountability Data Manager; Vincent Piccirilli, Town Council Vice President; Aaron Dushku, Town Councilor; Lisa Feltner, Town Councilor; Jim Cairns, WSS; Pete Caron, WSS; Julie Cotton, WSS; Kate Coyne, WSS; Rebecca Grow, WSS; Diego Hammerschlag, WSS; David Stokes, WSS; Alyson Morales, WSS, Mike Shephard; and many other parents and community members. Math Olympiad

The Lowell 5th grade Math League was honored along with their teacher Mrs. Debra Garabedian for placing first in the nation in the Continental Math Leauge.

Schools

Watertown Students Among the Minuteman High School Graduates

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Commencement exercises were held for the Class of 2016 from Minuteman High School in Lexington on June 3 at the Tsongas Center at UMass-Lowell. See the Watertown grads below.The occasion featured memorable speeches filled with farewells to dedicated teachers, sage advice for the future, expressions of appreciation to Minuteman for the valuable education it provided and heartfelt final words for the young men and women who have shared the excitement and challenges of the past four years, the school announced. Valedictorian Rachel Toups of Boxborough gave an address that imaginatively compared the function and movement of each finger to each student’s own distinctive history and destiny. “No matter the path we choose, be it a career, continued education, or undecided as of yet, I encourage you to see your hand as a symbol of your life,” she told her peers. “Just as our hands are all unique, so too will be the paths we take from here.”

“This school has been our wonderland, because we have done the impossible,” said salutatorian Tristin O’Connor of Bolton, making a reference to Alice in Wonderland.

Schools

See Photos from the Watertown High School Class of 2016 Graduation

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The Class of 2016 bid farewell to Watertown High School in a way that seemed to fit their class, and the school in general – with some humor, good spirit and kindness. Principal Shirley Lundberg noted that the school had been examined thoroughly by a team of accreditors this spring, who looked at all parts of the school, the classes, the teachers, along with the students and their work. Many of the accreditor team’s tours were lead by WHS students, and afterward they told Lundberg one thing that stood out about Watertown High. “They said their entire team had one large impression. They found community of Watertown High School to be extraordinarily kind,” Lunberg said.

Class of 2016

Congrats to the Watertown High School Class of 2016!

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Congratulations to the 162 members of the Class of 2016 who graduated at Victory Field Friday evening. 

Valeria Alejandra Aedo

 

Liana Aleksanyan *

Kareem Kamel Alhady #*

Jaime Marie Amedio

Mark Gregory Amirbekyan

Michaela Elizabeth Antonellis *

Marvin Aramthip

Shant Ara Arouyan

Nelli Balian

Tina Anahid Barsoumian

Tristan MacPherson Bennie Underwood

Tawhid Bibi

Zoie Star Bleau

Hallie Xiuyan Jaffe Blitzman

Dominika Sylvia Bondaryk *

Kerikor Boyajian

Jeremy Alvaro Breen *

Thomas Joseph Brennan *

Abiral Bhushan Budhathoki

Taylor Venezia Bunnell

Matthew Joseph Busconi

Demba Jake Kamborian Camara

Amanda Cardoso

Niko Daniel Carvajal Janke *

Gabriel Peregrino Cezario

Ryan Daniel Clancy

Abbie Leigh Cleveland

Hannah Grace Cook *

Michael Robert Corvini

Ethan Ernest Cox

Christian Andre D’Amico

Roman Pavlovich Davis

Erin Caitlyn Delong

Joseph Antoine Der Torossian

Ali Mohamad Dia

Derek Jordan DiPietrantonio

Marissa Mae DiVito

Falena Motta Dos Santos

Allison Rose Dowling *

Grace Catherine Duguay

Barry Joseph Dunn *

Mohammed Ahmed Ali El-Sherbini

Karl Elbakian #*

Brian Richard Ellis

Sofia Gloria Farhadi #*

Daniel James Farrar

Shelby Gwen Farrell

Taylor Alexis Ferrante

Santino Fierimonte

Gabriella Holden Fiorentino #*

Kelly Ann Flynn *

Kyle John Foley #*

Evan Tsiu Foun *

Karina Pereira Franca #*

Dylan James Fulton *

Sara Anne Fulton #*

Tyler John Gardiner #*

Antonia Maria Gardner

Arpy Shake Gavlakian

Gabriel Gerhske

Soleen Tamara Ghahraman *

Natalia Maria Gieza

Paige Riley Gilbeau

Michael John Giordano

Jaslyn Elexa Gomez-Jobson

Michael Gorman

Zoe Rosenthal Grodsky #*

Rebecca Annie Grossman *

Briana Rene Guillory

Brianna Jeanne Rose Hache *

Kristine Shake Hagopian

Mackenzie Nicole Hand

Garabed Krikor Haroutounian

Julia Rose Harrington #*

Emily Rose Hart *

Sasha Blu Helfner #*

Jeremy Edward Holt #*

Eric James Hopkins

Jason Richard Hughes

Nazely Ann Iknaian

Vrej Hagop Jamsakian

Kolbey Lee Jumper

Dorothy Kaoma

Abboud Roger Kaouk

Allyson Tamar Kazanjian

Robert Francis Kennedy #*

Olivia DeCarlo Keuchkarian

Sabiha Khalid *

Christa Rose Knell #*

Felicia Marnie Korte *

Joel Andrew Krislov

Anthony James Lacerra

Andrew Christopher Lamarche

Sarah Ann Lampasona

Nicole Maria Lanzo *

Peter Arthur Laskaris

Jake Kenneth Leitner

Samantha Naomi Lewis

Erika Libertini *

Austin Jei Lin #*

Joanna Nataly Lopez Ordonez

Nicholas Peter Martino

Farid Abdallah Mawanda

Ally Kathleen McCall *

Hannah Vaughn McCall #*

Daniel Thomas McCurley

Kelly Breanna McCusker-Brown

Hermes Teixeira Melo

Ivana Michelle Mendez Juliao

Steven Patrick Mey

Riyan Moore

Luis Enrique Moradel

Molly Jeanne Munger

Taylor Rose Nalbandian

Nathan Nebiye *

Patrick Ryan O’Donnell

Olivia Taylor Oakley

Mikayla Gianna Paone

Christopher Gor Patvakanian #*

Lillian Grace Pennington *

Erica Pepe

Keith William Perrin

Sean Cameron Peschier

Kira Elizabeth Peterson #*

Hillary Ximena Ponce

Tyler Thomas Poulin

Noah David Prior

Rachel Margaret Quinlivan #*

Anna Reyes

Kiana Marcela Reyes

Christopher John Rohlicek #*

Romina Romei *

Melissa Marie Rose #*

Katelyn Jean Rourke

Nathan Turner Ryan

Thomas Park Scudder

Ekta Sharma

Arshdeep Singh #*

Samantha Janet Smith

Deanna Rose Solari

Eve Nichole Souliotis

Layza Chalita Souza

Stephen Joseph Strangio *

Leah Nicole Sutherland

Samantha W.S. Tat

Parkev Terzian

Katherine Beach Tolman

Yesayi Tolmoyan

Emmanuel Lagene Torres

Amin Touri *

Ani Vehapetian

Abigail Jean Vershbow *

Edmundo Vangjel Villa-Perrez

Christopher Paul Vincent

Angelik Wannes

Lana Nasser Wehbe

Jason Taylor Wilkins

Erick David Yax-Vidal

Grigor Yeghishyan

 

# Cum Laude Society

*National Honor Society