Schools

Watertown School Committee Says Goodbye to Two Members

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The two School Committee members who served their last meeting on Monday may have only served one term, but their colleagues made it clear they will be greatly missed. Julie McMahon and Michael Shepard have made some major contributions over their four years on the board, said School Committee Chairwoman Eileen Hsu-Balzer. “Julie is enthusiastic, insightful and empathetic. She does the difficult work behind the scene and lets others have the face time,” Hsu-Balzer said. “Mike is a relentless worker on the Building and Grounds and Budget and Finance subcommittees.

PARCC

Watertown Gets PARCC Test Results, Officials Critical of Lack of Details

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Watertown students who took the PARCC test for the first time last year fared better than the state average, but school officials say they have little information to work with to analyze where students can improve or even what they were tested on. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test is proposed as a national standardized test and was taken by Watertown students in grades 3-8 last spring. Overall, 66 percent of Watertown students scored in level 4 or 5, which would be meeting or exceeding expectations, for English Language Arts (ELA), and 52 percent of students reached level 4 or 5 on the math tests, said Barbara Gortych, the district’s director of Assessment, Guidance, and Mental Health. Statewide the figures were 60 percent for ELA and 52 percent for math. In MCAS, a level 4 would be “Proficient” and level 5 would be “Advanced.”

Moxley Field

New Fitness Equipment at Moxley Field Has Kids Sliding to Fitness

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A new set of stairs now stands on Moxley Field that appear to go no where, but Watertown School and Recreation officials hope they will lead to fun and fitness for the town’s children and adults, alike. The multi-fitness apparatus made by Colliseum is much more than a set of stairs. It also has a slide to shoot down after running a set of steps, and on other sides users can do pull ups, dips and push ups. The stairs appeared the week of Thanksgiving, and on Monday, creator Collis Brown came out for a grand opening celebration with some students from Watertown Middle School and the Watertown Boys and Girls Club. The equipment was purchased by the town with funds from the Carol White Physical Education Program Grant, or PEP Grant. Brown taught physical education teacher at Norwell High School, and coached high school football teams there and at Brookline High School first created the stairs with a slide when he was looking for a way to improve his players’ speed.

Police/Fire

Schools, Police Respond to Threat at Middle School via Social Media

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School official removed a Watertown Middle School student from the school who reportedly sent a threat on social media last week. 

The threat occurred on Instagram on Nov. 30, but school officials did not hear about it right away. When they did, they contacted the Watertown Police, Watertown Police Lt. Dan Unsworth said at Monday’s School Committee meeting. “Early on it was determined it was a 13 year old student at the middle school,” Unsworth said. “We don’t believe it was directed at anyone.”

Schools

Watertown SEPAC Event Features Lawyer Who Works on Special Education Cases

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Watertown’s Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) welcomes Attorney Daniel T.S. Heffernan who will present “Special Education Law – Recent Developments and Future Trends.” The free event will be on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the library at Cunniff, 246 Warren St. A SEPAC business meeting will begin at 6 p.m.

Heffernan, of Kotin Crabtree & Strong, has extensive trial experience and since 1995 he has served on the board of directors of the Federation of Children with Special Needs, and served as president from 1995-2007. In 2002 he and his wife, Julie, received the Dr. Allen C. Crocker Award for Excellence from the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.

Around Town

Come Try Out the New Fun Fitness Equipment at Moxley Field

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The new Multi Fitness Stair Trainer will be unveiled at Moxley Field on Monday, Dec. 7 at 2:30 p.m.

As part of the Wellness the Watertown Way campaign, the schools purchased the equipment using money from the federal Carol White Physical Education Program Grant, or PEP Grant. Director of Wellness & Extended Services Donna Ruseckas said the equipment has a stair climbing element along with a slide. This was put in by the designers at Colliseum so instead of having to go back down on the stairs, which puts strain on knees and other joints, they slide and have some fun too! The equipment also includes other work out stations where students can do pull ups, dips and bounce a medicine ball off a wall off.

Government

Council Approves Middle School Windows Despite Jump in Price

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An increase in the cost of replacing the windows at Watertown Middle School gave the Town Council some pause, but councilors ultimately unanimously approved the cost of designing the project, in part because the state will pay for nearly half the bill. Originally, the cost of the windows was estimated at slightly over $300,000, but when representatives from the Massachusetts School Building Authority came to look, they decided to increase the scope of the project can with it the price tag – which is now $2.7 million to $2.9 million. Last week the council was asked to approve $224,400 to cover the schematic design costs of the project. The windows cover the old portion of the middle school, and are a few decades old. Teachers said they are a distraction at best, and can be a real obstacle to learning at times.

ChopChop

Parents Invited to Workshop Featuring Live Cooking Demonstrations

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The Watertown Public Schools has joined with local partners to promote healthy eating and cooking, and will present a healthy cooking workshop with live demonstrations and tastings, plus activities for kids. 

Parents are invited to participate in presentations from WPS Food Service Director, Garden Coordinator, ChopChop, Live Well Watertown, and Metrowest Nutrition, 0n Tuesday, Dec. 1 from 5:30-7 p.m in the cafeteria at Lowell Elementary School, 175 Orchard St.. ChopChop sent out the following information:

ChopChop Kids, the non-profit behind ChopChop: The Fun Cooking Magazine for Families has joined forces with Watertown Savings Bank and the Watertown Wellness Committee to promote healthy eating and cooking in the town of Watertown. ChopChop will be distributed to all elementary school students in the Watertown Public Schools for the 2015-2016 school year. In addition, each issue includes lesson plans for teachers to use ChopChop in the classroom. “The bank is pleased to be able to support this program,” said Carole Katz, VP of Marketing at Watertown Savings Bank.