Letters

Watertown Strong Schools Minutes: Council Committee on Education & School System Matters

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Watertown Strong Schools, a parents group focused on the Watertown Public Schools, attends meetings and writes up a summary and commentary. These are NOT official minutes. Committee members: Michael Dattoli, Chair; Aaron Dushku, Vice-Chair; Lisa Felter, Secretary. Audience members: Mark Sideris (TC), Tony Palomba (TC), Dr. Jean Fitzgerald (Superintendent), John Portz (SC), Liz Yusem (SC), Kendra Foley (SC), Candace Miller (SC), Guido Guidotti (SC), Steve Magoon (Assistant Town Manager/Director of Community Development & Planning), Kate Coyne (WSS), Alyson Morales (WSS), David Stokes (WSS), Mike Shepard, Gretchen Neely, and Charlie Breitrose. The agenda was to discuss current enrollment projections and physical space for the district. Councilor Dattoli opened the meeting by thanking the Superintendent and School Committee members for attending and that he was hopeful that this meeting would be the start of a town/school partnership to help solve the space issues facing the district.

Schools

Survey Finds Most WHS Students Drink, Many Use Marijuana and Some Use Heroin

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A survey of Watertown students found that some students are taking “hard” drugs, while rates of alcohol and marijuana remains steady and depression and even suicidal thoughts can start in middle school. However, fewer students are smoking. 

Every two years the Watertown Youth Coalition (WYC) surveys students at Watertown High School and Watertown Middle School to find out what risky behaviors they are or are not participating in. The WYC is part of the Wayside Multi-Service Center. The dozens of people who showed up for the Watertown Youth Coalition’s The Well Being of Watertown Youth Report event at the Watertown Library split into groups and tried to tackle some weighty subjects. The survey included 539 students form the high school (73.3 percent of the school) and 480 middle schoolers (88.7 percent of WMS). For all of the areas, people agreed that while the schools could do more, it is also very important for parents to get more involved and make sure they know what is happening in their children’s lives.

Letters

LETTER: Watertown Middle and High Schools Need to Start Later

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Watertown should move the middle and high school start times to 8:30am or later to support students’ health and academic performance. Currently the middle school starts at 7:40 a.m. and the high schools starts at 7:55. The superintendent will report on a survey of Watertown parents, students and teachers regarding potential new school start times at the School Committee meeting to be held on Monday, May 2, 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Middlesex district superintendents released a statement in March agreeing to consider moving high school start times to between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. by fall of 2017. Over the last decade, and increasingly across the country, school districts are looking at starting school later.

Schools

Perkins School Gets Grant From Google to Help the Blind Locate Bus Stops

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Google has provided Perkins School for the Blind with a $750,000 grant to develop a cell phone app to help blind people find bus stops and other specific spots. 

The grant comes from the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities, and will be able to be more precise than the GPS available on cell phones, according to the article on Perkins website. Designers will work on the app over the next year. Read the entire article by clicking here.

Schools

Watertown Students Earn Student of the Term Honors at Minuteman

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Minuteman High School in Lexington announced the four outstanding students as Students of the Term for Term 3 of school year 2015-2016: freshman Fae Eisenheim of Arlington, sophomore Mia Ramos of Watertown, junior Alexander Gonzalez of Watertown and senior Andrew Battcock of Billerica. This honor is awarded to one student from each grade level based upon nominations from teachers. The criteria include academic achievement and good citizenship, according to Assistant Principal Brian Tildsley. All four attended a luncheon in their honor at the Fife & Drum Restaurant at Minuteman recently and were given certificates in recognition of their achievement. Fae Eisenheim “is an overall great student, teammate and friend,” said Nichole Devereaux, her math instructor and basketball coach.

Schools

Watertown Youth Coalition Will Discuss the ‘Well-Being of Watertown Youth’

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Every year or two, the Watertown Youth Coalition and Wayside Youth & Family Support Network surveys the town’s youth to find out how they are doing, and what risks they face from alcohol, drugs, depression and eating disorders, among others. The results will be revealed soon. The public is invited to “The Well-Being of Watertown Youth,” A Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, April 27 from 6-8 p.m. at the Watertown Free Public Library. The group sent out the following announcement:

How well are Watertown youth doing with regard to their health and well-being? Come join us for the release of the most recent Watertown Youth Risk Behavior Survey results.

Arabic

Watertown Student a Winner in the National ‘I Speak Arabic’ Contest

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It was no easy assignment to complete – or language to learn – but after more than 90 online video submissions, and over 55,000 votes tallied, three American students have been named as winners of Qatar Foundation International’s (QFI) I Speak Arabic web contest, including one from Watertown! Qatar Foundation International sent out the following information:

Anderson Wang, from Roseland, New Jersey, and current student at New York University, who submitted a video expressing his love for the Arabic language and his excitement to study Arabic at NYU Abu Dhabi, won QFI’s grand prize, receiving a $500 award and QFI “I Speak Arabic” memorabilia. Teacher Georges Chahwan’s Arabic language students from Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, and Sana Rafiq from Watertown, Massachusetts, also received second and third place prizes. In celebration of the diversity of languages across the globe, QFI announced the winners on April 16, World Languages Day. Maggie Mitchell Salem, QFI’s Executive Director said:

“We have been absolutely thrilled with the level of interest and number of submissions that we received since launching the I Speak Arabic web contest in December.

Schools

Three Watertown Students Honored in the Will McDonough Writing Contest

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Watertown High School had three students selected as honorees in the Will McDonough Writing Contest, including two first place winners. 

The contest, named after the former Boston Globe sportswriter, received more than 1,200 entries from students around the area this year, and Watertown had its share of success. Watertown’s Sofia Farhadi received first place in the 12th grade contest, and Nicole Frisoli got first place in the 11th grade competition. Also honored was senior Nathan Ryan, who received an honorable mention. The first place winners were honored at a ceremony at the The Sports Museum at the TD Garden in Boston. Longtime sportscaster Sean McDonough (son of Will McDonough) spoke to the winners and the ceremony also featured appearances and speeches from his sister Erin McDonough, sportswriter Jackie MacMullan, and Celtics Vice President of Media Services/Alumni Relations Jeff Twiss, according to The Sports Museum.