Schools

See Who Made the Honor Roll at Watertown High School

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Watertown High School released the first term honor roll lists – see who made it during the fall of 2014. Ninth Grade – High Honors
Evan Aldridge, Amelia Allison, Joseph Chau, Nicholas Cordeiro, Caroline Costa, Jacquelyn Furbish, Claire Gabel, Anna Gellerman, Siobahn Greene, Melanie Halibian, Emily Koufos, Katherine Lawn, Spencer McClellan, Katherine Nilov, Jeremy Ornstein, Sarah Pardo, Lauren Petrillo, Elizabeth Powderly, Darlyn Ramirez, and Destiny Santalucia. 
Ninth Grade – Honor Roll
Alexander Abrahamyan, Hakeem Alhady, Madiha Begum, Sarah Benites, Christina Borelli, Gabriella Cacia, Liz Cam, Gabriel Cimino, Julia Cottone, Arianna Curry, Nelziclea Da Silva, Julie Der Torossian, Hailey DiBacco, Daniel Fabrizio, David Fabrizio, Hadi Farhat, Alexander Feltner Harrison, Meghan Foley, Julio Fulcar, Owen Gallagher, Natali Gevorgyan, Didar Jajan, Jonna Kennedy, Christopher Koufos, Amanda Lewis, Jie Sen Lian, Jeannie Ngan, Anahid Ohanyan, John Papadopoulos, Stella Papadopoulos, Catherine Papayannopoulos, Tia Pellegrini, Sydney Poulin, Kian Rice, Molly Ryan, Sergio Salas, Christine Saroufim, Ana Scott, Elza Shakhverdova, Rubina Simikyan, Brianna Sullivan, Timothy Tat, Kaitlin Tracy, Isabella Vitti, Rubina Vosbigian, Connor Walsh, James Walter, and Ana Zoubian. 10th Grade – High Honors
Evamarie Alessandroni, Samuel Carton, Alexis Catsoulis, Alexan Cinar, Julia Dunoyer, Nicole Frisoli, Michael Guyumdzhyan, Sara Gyulakian, Rosdom Kaligian, Stefanos Kiorpes, Thayna Marcos, Hovig Margosian, Lily Mills, Shannon Murphy, Ryan O’Reilly, James Piccirilli, Ruby Rosenwasser, Alex Smith, Stella Varnum, and Olivia Venezia. 10th Grade Honor Roll
Mahdi Alhady, Brian Amedio, Faryal Amin, Elizabeth Arauz, Andres Arenas, Ani Aroyian, Sarine Ashjian, Christopher Baccari, Natalia Balan, Emma Bannon, Robert Belli, Larissa Bittencourt, Benjamin Bunnell, Lauren Burns, Anthony Cardarelli, Daniel Carito, Joseph Chomthakham, David Conlon, Julia Dario, James DeRocher, Maksim Doe, Aurora Fidler, Colin Gardiner, Isaac Gibbons,  Sarah Greim, Artem Grigoryan, Mayra Guerra, Isaac Huff, Sabir Hussain, Kaysa Jinan, Nareg Kalaydjian, Lisa Kalies, Leslie Kay, Yasir Khan, Zelal Kort, Fatima ez Zahra Kouchaoui, Eli Krieger, Lance Kuo, Catherine LeBlanc, Tatum Lee, Benjamin Lowry, Karina McAdam, Samantha McFarland, Hanna McMahon, Jenna McMahon, Lisa Nantongo, Emerson O’Connor, Vicky Orellana, Marina Osipova, Gabriel Pino, Vasiliki Pistoftzian, Talene Pogharian, Max Potseluev, Nayara Ribeiro, Zachary Rimsa, Fatima Roda, Elizabeth Santourian, Reid Shanabrook, Brendan Shanahan, Lori Shirinian, Aidan Sullivan, Janaki Thangaraj, and Emmanuel Theodore. 11th Grade High Honors
Nelli Balian, Niko Carvajal-Janke, Karl Elbakian, Kyle Foley, Karina Franca, Tyler Gardiner, Zoe Grodsky, Julia Harrington, Sabiha Khalid, Erika Libertini, Austin Lin, Joanna Lopez Ordonez, Steven Mey, Cristopher Patvakanian, Christopher Rohlicek, Arshdeep Singh, and Deanna Solari.

Letters

LETTER: Your Gift Can Support Music in Watertown Schools

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Dear friends,

Friends of Watertown Music was formed in the summer of 2011 in response to severe budget cuts in the Watertown Public Schools music program.  Since then, we have raised funds and awarded grants that include salaries to expand teaching positions, teacher initiatives for their classrooms, and instrument needs.  By offering partial funding for critical needs in the music program, we create immediate music opportunities for students and provide the Schools a way to incorporate the full cost into the general school budget. Please consider joining us in our efforts to continue to enrich, sustain, and develop the music program in the Watertown Public Schools.  May we include your name in our 4th Annual MusicFest program?  We have four donor levels:  Soprano (up to $25), Alto ($50), Tenor ($75) and Bass ($100 or more).   You can donate with PayPal or any credit card on our website:  http://watertownmusic.org/, or checks may be sent to Friends of Watertown Music, 43 Paul St., Watertown, MA 02472

This year we have been pleased to award a $5,863 grant to the WPS music program to ensure that all elementary students receive music education classes with an appropriate student:teacher ratio.  This support will help reduce the burden on overextended music teachers throughout the system by adding a new teacher.  The Schools are matching our funds in a 2.5 to 1 ratio, creating a 0.4 FTE at the Hosmer School that also includes pre-school and pre-kindergarten music classes. The Middle School Jazz Band, originally funded by a 2012-13 Friends of Watertown Music grant of $6,800, is now fully integrated into the music program.  One of our key goals has been to fund initiatives that are then sustained in the general school budget.  We have every expectation that this year’s grant will also function as seed money and allow the cost of the new position to become a permanent part of the music program. Friends of Watertown Music, Inc., incorporated in 2014, is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.  All donations are fully tax deductible within the limits of the law.

Schools

Watertown Students Get a Taste of Computer Programing

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Students of all ages tried their hands at computer programing when the Watertown Public Schools participated in the Hour of Code. The world-wide event attracted millions of people to spend an hour learning about computer coding. In Watertown, students in elementary, middle and high school participated in the Hour of Code. The skill is one that could be very important in the future of these students, said Education Technology and Library Coordinator Toni Carlson. “There is going to be a huge need for computer programing,” Carlson said.

Government

School, Town Discuss Reasons for Last Year’s Budget Freeze

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School and Town officials have been looking into why the school budget got in such bad shape that a spending freeze was put into place, and then why the schools ended up with a budget surplus. The budget appeared so out of balance in January that freezes were made on most purchases, including paper for classrooms. This move was made after Town Auditor Tom Tracy recommended the School Administration do so. Special education costs also came in higher that expected, and on May 20, 2014 Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald reported a $640,000 shortfall. A week later the deficit has been adjusted to $355,000 and by June 2 the “perceived deficit” was gone, according to a report by the Council’s Education and School Systems Matters Committee. In August, the School Department reported a surplus of $770,000.

Schools

Congresswoman Clark Visits New Class at Watertown School

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Congresswoman Katherine Clark recently made a special visit to Watertown’s Cunniff Elementary School to see a new program where special education and mainstream students work together in the same class. The inclusion class at the Cunniff, which started this fall, allows special education students to spend more time in with their classmates, and in some cases mean they do not have to go to specialized programs located outside of Watertown. In her latest email update, Clark references her visit to Watertown. “I had a great visit with students and teachers at Cunniff Elementary School in Watertown,” Clark’s email reads. “Cunniff’s mission is to provide a supportive and challenging learning environment to maximize academic achievement, social responsibility and lifelong learning by attending to the intellectual and developmental needs of all of our students.”

Schools

Watertown Before, After School Program Fees Rising Jan. 1

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Monday night, the School Committee voted to raise fees for the district’s Before School and After School programs so they can qualify for state reimbursements. Starting Jan. 1, 2015, the rates for the Watertown Community Education Before and After School Out-of-School-Time Programs will rise. “We have to raise some of our rates to get the maximum voucher from the state,” said School Committee member John Portz. Programs that receive state reimbursement must charge a rate equal to or greater than the state subsidized rate for the same service, Portz said.

Charity

Watertown High School Students Raise Cash for Cancer Reserach

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A group of Watertown High School students decided to raise money to fight breast cancer and they were able to bring in more than $1,000 to fight the disease. The Think Pink drive in October raised money to fight breast cancer, said WHS Senior Class President Kayla Johnson. “I know five brave women battling this terrible disease,” Johnson told the School Committee earlier this month. The group made up T-shirts and sold pink ribbons. They also asked students and faculty to donate change.

Schools

Watertown Students Receive Nation Merit Honors

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Watertown High School can boast five students who received honors from the National Merit Scholarship program this year. The program honors students who have excelled on the PSAT exam, taken by students in their sophomore year. The top

For the 2015 National Merit Scholarships, approximately 1.4 million students from 22,000 high schools took the PSAT. The top 50,000 students are recognized for their accomplishment. The top 16,000 are selected as National Merit Semifinalists.