Schools

Watertown Field Hockey Coach Up for USA Today Coach of the Year

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USA Today High School Sports is looking for the high school coach of the year and Watertown High School field hockey coach Eileen Donahue is one of the 20 nominees. Besides receiving the honor of being coach of the year, if Donahue wins the WHS athletic department would receive $1,000. The school of the second place coach gets $500 and the third place one gets $250 for the athletic department. Donahue and the Raiders have compiled quite a resume, with seven straight state titles and the national record for the longest unbeaten streak, that stands at 160 after the end of the 2015 season. Voting began on Thursday and runs through Thursday, July 21, 2016 at 2 p.m.

To vote, go to: http://contest.usatodayhss.com/

Lowell School

Interim Principal Named for Lowell School After Principal Takes New Job

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The Lowell School will have an interim principal next fall to replace Elizabeth Kaplan, who has taken another job in the district. 

Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald announced this week that Philip Oates will be taking over as interim principal at the Lowell School. “He comes to this job with 10 years teaching experience and a deep commitment to the students of the Lowell community and Watertown,” Fitzgerald said. “I would like to thank the search committee for their dedication and hard work during the search process.” Oates has worked as a seventh grade math teacher at Watertown Middle School. He was brought in after Kaplan was named the Watertown Public School’s K-5 Math and Science Coordinator.

Letters

LETTER: Commentary on Student Placement Decision Process

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The Watertown Strong Schools parent group wrote up this summary of the recent School Committee Policy Subcommittee meeting, and added commentary at the end. Unofficial Minutes: Meeting of the Policy Subcommittee on 07/06/2016 – Key Points and Commentary

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

Committee members: Dr. Guido Guidotti, Chair; Liz Yusem; Eileen Hsu-Balzer; Dr. Jean Fitzgerald, Superintendent. Audience members: Donna Ruseckas, Director of Wellness and Extended Services; John Portz, School Committee Chairperson; Lisa Feltner, Town Councilor; David Stokes, WSS; Stephanie Venizelos, Live Well Watertown and WPS Wellness Committee; Laurie McManus, former School Committee member; Charlie Breitrose, Watertown (MA) News; and one other community member.

Enrollment

Policy Changes Will Allow Superintendent to Place Students to Avoid Overcrowding

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In hopes of avoiding situations like last year at Cunniff School when classes got overcrowded the School Committee’s Policy Subcommittee approved recommendations to allow the superintendent to place students out of their neighborhood school if it avoids large class sizes. In June, the School Committee requested that Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald freeze enrollment at the town’s three elementary schools, and not place students coming in over the summer until August. They also requested that the Policy Subcommittee come up with a policy to place the students. On Wednesday afternoon, the Fitzgerald told the subcommittee she thought that the current policies regarding attendance areas and assignment of students to schools gave her the tools she needed to make the placement. Students will still be placed in their neighborhood school when possible, Fitzgerald said, but if classes are too large at the school, they will be placed in other schools.

Government

A Few Meetings That Might Interest You This Week

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The Fourth of July Week is not all about vacations and beaches. Town and Watertown School officials have a few meetings that could be important to you. Transportation Projects
Tuesday night the Town Council’s Transportation subcommittee will discuss two major transportation proposals – the Transportation Demand Management policy and the Transportation Management Association. Transportation Demand Management is a proposed policy to require new developments to reduce the number of people commuting alone in cars. The policy has five main components:

Threshold for requiring a TDM
Traffic management targets
What does the program achieve
Monitoring the progress after implementation
Consequences for not meeting the targets

The issue was first discussed in April, and details will be discussed at the meeting.

Letters

LETTER: Lack of Participation & Info in Planning for Future of Town Schools is Worrisome

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Hi Folks,

Here’s my take on the 6/29 Monday night First Community Forum to discuss the framework for evaluating Watertown’s aging school buildings and facilities in light of changing educational needs, teaching modalities, and enrollment numbers. Some topics that were touched upon: What is a Master Plan? Existing Conditions, 21st Century Skills, 21st Century Design Patterns. There was a bit more but without a written agenda, I’m sure I missed something. There were no handouts regarding the power point presentation that often could not be read on screen.

Schools

Parents, Public Asked About What They Want to See from Schools, Education

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This summer will be an important one for the future of the Watertown Public Schools, and a first step toward designing new schools for 21st century learning was taken Monday night. Parents and community members gathered in the Watertown High School Auditorium for the first of three community forums being held as to help come up with the School Facilities Master Plan. Those at the forum were asked to try to think about the schools of the future, and how they might be built using the current schools or in new ones. Also, organizers wanted to know what educational qualities people want to see in Watertown’s schools. Michael van Hamel of  SMMA, the group doing the master plan for the district, showed some modern classrooms. They are designed to be more flexible, with more natural light and allow for more movement by students.

Schools

Perkins School for the Blind Celebrates Graduation for the Class of 2016

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The Class of 2016 celebrated graduation day recently at Perkins School for the Blind. The school based in Watertown held the big event in historic Dwight Hall, and when the 12 graduates took the stage to, “the room erupted in camera flashes and cheers, with a few high-fives mixed in,” according to the school. Two members of Perkins’ Class of 2016 delivered remarks, including Ashley Riva, a student in the school’s Deafblind Program, who delivered her speech using sign language. Senior Class President Brendan Flynn about the opportunities he received at Perkins, including vocational training that prepared him for life in the real world, according to Perkins. Read more about the graduation by clicking here: http://www.perkins.org/stories/news/celebrating-the-perkins-class-of-2016?utm_campaign=infocus%20june2016&utm_source=in%20focus&utm_medium=email