Around Town

See Winners of the Watertown Savings Bank High School Photo Contest

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A dozen high school students from high schools in and around Watertown were selected as winners in the Watertown Savings Bank 2014 High School Photo Contest. The winners were honored at an awards night held in June at the Watertown Free Public Library. The 12 winning photos will make up the 2015 Watertown Savings Bank calendar. “The Bank received 105 terrific submissions from high school students; it truly was a task to narrow it down to just 12,” according to the announcement from the bank. The winners were: First Place Winner Chris Owens, Belmont High School; Second Place Winner Jay Sullivan, The Arlington School, Belmont; Third Place Winner Paulina Romero, Newton North Hight School; Katie Goodwin, Lexington High School; Jen Mitchell, Lexington High School; Nicole Acero, Waltham High School; Emma Taylor, Belmont High School;  Aaron Schwartz, Newton North High School; Betsey Donham, Arlington High School; Bimini Horstmann, Newton South High School; Mackey Howe, Newton North High School; and Liam Shanny, Newton South High School.

Schools

See What Watertown High School Seniors Thought About Their Education

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School officials surveyed graduating seniors at Watertown High School to find out how they felt about their education experience in the Watertown Public Schools. The survey helped school officials measure one of the district goals – self actualization. The definition being used by the district is “The realization or fulfillment of one’s talents, potentialities, esp. considered as a drive or need present in everyone.” Last year, a subcommittee decided to give the survey to have a way to measure whether the district is meeting the goal.

Schools

See How Much Athletic Fees Might Go Up Next Year

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Parents of Watertown middle and high school athletes may be shelling out more for their children to play sports in the fall. The increase has been proposed by Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald to cover a shortfall of $90,000 in the athletic budget. The Watertown School Committee will debate whether to increase the athletic fees and by how much at their meeting on Aug. 5. The recommended increase is $125 at the high school, which would make it $325.

Schools

Problem with Fire Sprinklers Floods the Lowell School

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A problem with the fire suppression system over the weekend at the Lowell School damaged parts of the building, said Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald. At Monday night’s School Committee meeting Fitzgerald said that the school is not accessible because of the damage. “It caused significant damage and right now we can’t go in at all,” Fitzgerald said. The power has been shut off and the boiler room was flooded, she said. The school had a new boiler delivered, but it has not been installed yet, Fitzgerald said.

Development

Councilor Warns Building Moratorium Could Impact Town, School Budget

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Residents concerned about the pace and size of development in Watertown have requested a building moratorium on Arsenal Street, but a Town Councilor said stopping the projects could impact the town and school budgets. The town relies heavily on property tax revenues to fund town departments, including the Watertown Public Schools. Town Councilor Vincent Piccirilli said that new development is one of the keys to increasing the budget. The schools too rely heavily on the town’s appropriation. “The school appropriation increased almost 7 percent (for Fiscal 2015), and how were we able to do that under Proposition 2 1/2, was though new growth through new development in town,” Piccirilli said.

Government

Schools Looking for New Ways to Fund Middle School Sports Program

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Parents of middle school athletes could soon face higher fees if the school system can’t find outside help to plug almost $100,000 in cuts to athletic programs in the Fiscal 2015 school budget. The school committee unanimously approved the proposed Fiscal 2015 cost center budget on Wednesday. The $39,232,000 budget is an increase of $2,557,000 from the Fiscal 2014 budget, but includes $92,000 in cuts to the middle school athletic program at the high school and middle school. While the school budget for Fiscal 2015 budget is an increase of $2,557,000 from the FY 2014 budget, it is still below the $6,186,507 increase the committee requested from the Town Council. According to the budget passed Wednesday, the School Committee allocated $598,057 for athletic programs throughout the school system.

Government

Town Will Hire Third Party Auditor to Look at School Budget

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After a long and detailed look at the Watertown Public Schools budget this year left Town officials with questions, an outside auditor will be hired to look at the school budget – particularly the special education portion. The rising cost of special education this year concerned Town Councilors. School officials said the district had an unusual number of new students move in with high-cost special needs, plus the town has had a spike in students who need special needs services. Part of this was due to the students who lived near the area of the shootout with the Boston Marathon Bombing suspects having emotional problems. (Read more here). After the Fiscal 2015 was approved, the Town Council voted unanimously to approve Town Manager Michael Driscoll’s request to hire a third-party auditor to examine the school budget.

Schools

Watertown High School Honors Athletes Who Played Sports Every “Season”

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When Watertown Athletic Director Michael Lahiff took over he saw that some WHS teams lacked numbers so he created an award for people who played sports in all three seasons in each of their four years at the high school. 

The numbers have fluctuated through the years. Two years ago there were 17, last year 12 got the award and this year 11 seniors were honored at a recent School Committee meeting. The Athletic Director’s Award winners this year are:

Matt Donnell

Greg Dorian

James Garbier

TJ Hairston

Casey Halle

Joe Kelland

Jessica Lamposano

Eliza Portz

Jessica Rodriguez

Marrisa Russo

Daniel Shin