School Start Time

School Committee Looking at Starting Day Later at the High School & Middle School

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Watertown High School and Middle School students may get to sleep in later as the School Committee considers moving the start of school later in the morning. 

Teens have different body clocks that younger students (or their parents) and research into sleep patterns find that they do not start functioning at full capacity until later in the morning, said Donna Ruseckas, the schools’ Director of Wellness and Extended Services, at Monday’s School Committee meeting. High school students need nine hours sleep and their typical sleep cycle is from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m., Ruseckas said. Studies found about 2/3 of high school students get get less than 8 hours of sleep. Ruseckas was part of the Wellness Committee that looked at the issue, and surveyed students and parents. The high school starts at 7:55 a.m. and the middle school begins the day at 7:40 a.m.
Students and Parents Surveyed
The survey found a majority of high school students (61 percent) and parents (53 percent) responded positively pushing the school start time back by 15 minutes.

Schools

Watertown Junior Chosen as a Winner in National Essay Contest

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The international nonprofit organization Facing History and Ourselves today announced the seven student winners of The 2016 Facing History Together Student Essay Contest. The winning students – including a Watertown junior –and their classrooms and teachers will receive over $9,000 in scholarships and prizes. This year’s contest, “Student Voices: To Kill a Mockingbird in Today’s World,” invited students to reflect on the themes, characters, and settings from Harper Lee’s classic American novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, in order to make connections to their own experiences. Nearly 4,000 seventh-12th grade students from across the U.S. submitted an essay. Meet the Winners:
Cicada Scott, Senior
Manitou Springs High School, Manitou Springs, Colorado
“Congratulations!

Charity

Woman Biking 200 Miles to Put a Salad Bar in the Watertown Public Schools

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Jenn LaVardera of Dole will cycle approximately 200 miles from Napa Valley to Monterey, Calif. on behalf of Watertown Public Schools to raise funds to donate a salad bar to the district. They will both ride as part of the third-annual Tour de Fresh Cycling Event benefitting the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools campaign, which has provided more than 100 salad bars to schools across the country in the last two years – providing tens of thousands of students with fresh produce options on a daily basis. The event, a collaborative effort by fresh produce industry professionals and presented by The California Giant Foundation, will begin in Napa Valley on July 26 and conclude in Monterey, Calif. on July 28 just before the industry’s annual PMA Foodservice Conference.

Letters

LETTER: Parent Pushes for Later Start Times at High School, Middle School

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I am very happy to see that Watertown is considering moving start times later for both the Middle and High School. Thank you to the Wellness Committee and to everyone that worked on this initiative. While any movement towards later start times is a positive development, I would like to show my support for moving start times to 8:30 a.m. If we are going to make a change, why not go for the best solution possible? According to the survey data, 50 percent or more of students and parents are either neutral or in favor of moving start times as much as 45 minutes later, and that was with little to no district-wide education on the benefits. The survey cited that one of the major stumbling blocks was perceived to be conflicts with after school sports.

Schools

MassBay Community College Hosting Spring Open House

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Massachusetts Bay Community College will hold its annual Spring Open House on Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 9:45 a.m. Interim President Yves Salomon-Fernandez along faculty, staff and students will be on hand to greet and welcome prospective students, newly admitted students, and their families to the Wellesley Hills campus. The Spring Open House is an opportunity for prospective students to meet and talk with current students, faculty, and staff to learn about the 80 degree and certificate programs offered at MassBay. Newly admitted students are encouraged to attend to learn more about student clubs and organizations, sign up for placement testing and orientation sessions, and talk with academic divisions. The Open House will include a self-guided tour of campus, mock classes, information sessions, student and alumni panel discussions, information for veterans, financial aid session, on-the-spot admissions, and more. WHAT: MassBay Community College Spring Open House

WHERE: MassBay Community College, 50 Oakland St., Wellesley Hills, MA

WHEN: Saturday, May 7, 2016

TIME: 9:45 a.m. (registration starts at 9AM)

Prospective students can learn more about the event and RSVP at www.MassBay.edu/OpenHouse or call the Office of Admissions at 781-239-2500.

Minuteman High School

Minuteman Draws Dozens of Watertown Students, but Access May Become Limited

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Minuteman High School has 16 towns that are members of its regional school district, but the town that sends the second most students to the vocational technical school is a non-member: Watertown. While Watertown High School remains the school of choice for those from town going to public school, about a 10th go to Lexington to attend Minuteman. The school currently has about 70 students from Watertown this year. The students choose to attend the public school for a variety of reasons, but the primary reason is to take advantage of the 15 career programs.
Traditional and Modern Career Paths
These include the ones many are familiar with, such as plumbing, electrical, culinary and cosmetology. Other programs have been added to meet current needs and interests.

Schools

Options to Reduce Overcrowding Discussed, Modulars Won’t be Ready By Sept.

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The overcrowding in Watertown’s elementary schools tops the list of School Committee concerns these days, and Monday night Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald warned modular classrooms – if that is the solution – won’t be in place for the beginning of school. There are several options being explored, but Fitzgerald said the final plan won’t be made until all the factors are weighed, including enrollment, space at each school and new spaces, including potential rental spaces or installing modular classrooms.

The School District has hired an enrollment consultant – Decision Insite – to get a detailed enrollment projection, and it has began working with the town’s on-call architect on ways to reconfigure space and to find potential sites for modular classrooms.

The latest enrollment projection for the fall (which does not include information from the consultant) includes three classes of 24 in the third grade at Lowell Elementary School. “That’s not OK with us,” Fitzgerald said. One option which Fitzgerald said she thinks would be unpopular would be to change the schools from neighborhood ones to having all of one grade at one school. One would be Pre-K to 1, another grades 2-3 and fourth and fifth grade at the third school.

Charity

Tickets Still Left for Watertown Education Foundation’s Dancing with the Stars

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The Watertown Education Foundation (WEF) will host its third annual, “Dancing with the Stars” (DWTS) event on Friday, May 6, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Hellenic Cultural Center, 25 Bigelow Ave., East Watertown, the Foundation announced. Modeled after the popular television show, the event features Watertown “stars” partnered with professional dancers from Ballroom in Boston located in Allston. The 2016 Stars are: Marianne Cameron, Cunniff School; Chris Crombie, Watertown Boys & Girls Club; Mialisa Depaolis, Mialisa Salon owner, Watertown; David Leon, Watertown resident and former School Committee member; Georgia Mulgrew, Hosmer School; Kim Seacrist, Cunniff parent; Ernie Thebado, Watertown Recreation Department; and Michael Venezia, Watertown resident. “This event the past two years has been a tremendous success,” said Amy Donohue, WEF co- president. “It is a fun night out for the adults, and a wonderful opportunity to support the WEF grant program.