Around Town

Watertown Preschool Embraces Imagination, Nature

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Tucked away in the bustle of Watertown Square sits a place where young children can play, learn and grow. The Russell Cooperative Preschool opened in 1975 and since the early 2000s it has made its home in the basement of the First Parish of Watertown. The preschool is big on parent participation, nature and it encourages children to be creative and use their imaginations, said Director Sara Andrikidis. The cooperative part of the school includes having parents help out at the school regularly. “One parent a day comes in to help with daily tasks, such as snacks, setting up, clean up and getting beds ready for rest time,” Andrikidis said.

Schools

Superintendent Receives New Contract and Big Raise

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Watertown Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald will be around for some time, and will receive a raised of more than $20,000 after the School Committee approved her new contract. At Wednesday night’s School Committee meeting the board approved a five-year contract with a salary of $180,000 in the first year, which starts on July 1, 2015. “I am honored to be superintendent in Watertown,” Fitzgerald said. “I promise to do my best for the students in the school district for the next five years.”
School Committee Chairwoman Eileen Hsu-Balzer said the contract is typical for school districts in the region. “The salary range in this general geographic area, according to figures we have from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, averages $187,568,” Hsu-Balzer said.

Entertainment

WHS Drama Putting Final Touches on “Our Town” Production

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Beth Peters has directed the fall play at Watertown High School for 10 years, and the school had not done the classic American play “Our Town.” This is the year! The Thornton Wilder play is both a simple production, but one where the student actors must dig deep emotionally, said Peters, who also teaches drama at an elementary school in East Boston. WHS junior Zoe Grodsky, who plays Emily Webb, said there are some very sad scenes in the play. “It’s a tough show.

Schools

Teachers Added to Reduce Class Sizes, Other Positions Unfilled

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Each of Watertown’s elementary schools received a new teacher to help reduce the size of classes, but the district did not hire all the teachers it had hoped. Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald discussed school enrollment and new hires at Monday’s School Committee meeting. Hosmer School has 850 students this fall, Lowell School has 388 students and there are 312 children at Cunniff School. “At each school, class size was something very important to parents – and to all of us,” Fitzgerald said. “Each school got an additional general education teacher to help with class size.”

Government

See How the Schools Used Nearly $1 Million From the Town

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At Monday’s School Committee meeting, Watertown School officials detailed how they used an infusion of nearly $1 million it received from the town budget last spring. The one-time funds were provided as a boost to the curriculum. The money went to upgrade technology and to update curriculum materials, said Assistant Superintendent Dari Donovan. The district received $210,000 from the Fiscal 2014 budget and $750,000 from the Fiscal 2015 budget. Due to tight budgets, curriculum materials have not been updated in some time, Donovan said.

Police/Fire

Watertown Schools, Police, Fire to Discuss School Safety on Wednesday

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Find out about how the Watertown first responders would deal with an emergency at a school during the School Safety Parents Night. The Watertown Public Schools will host the event on Wednesday, Oct. 2 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Watertown Middle School. The panel that evening will include Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald; Jason Del Potro – WMS Assistant Principal and Chair of the district’s Critical Incident Team; Barbara Gortych, K-12 Coordinator of Guidance and Assessment; Watertown Police Lt. Daniel Unsworth; Watertown Police Sgt. George Demos and Watertown School Resource Officer Kerry Kelley.

Food

Watertown Schools Looking for Tastier Lunch Items

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In an effort to boost sales of school lunches, Watertown’s new Director of Food Services will be introducing some new, hopefully more enticing meals for students. Guy Koppe, the new director, told the School Committee he has already started testing new dishes. “We have done taste testing with students where they can sample the new items and fill out surveys,” Koppe said. “They can also say what they would call it if they had a chance to name it.” The dishes that are popular in the taste testing will slowly be introduced to the menu. Among the dishes Koppe will test are broccoli with garlic and parmesan, shepherd’s pie and lemon oregano chicken.

Schools

School Officials Have Plan to Avoid Financial Problems This Year

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Last school year, the Watertown Public Schools had to freeze spending when they had a major mid-year deficit, but they ended up with a large surplus. The Fiscal 2014 budget looked like it could be a major problem for Watertown school officials, who froze spending in January when the school budget ran $926,000 in the red, said Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald. The district turned it around, but officials still appeared to have a major problem in June when they though they needed to make up a shortfall in the special education budget of about $640,000. It turns out the money was not needed. At Monday’s School Committee meeting, Watertown Director of Business Services Charles Kellner said the district ended the year with a $770,00 surplus.