Entertainment

WGBH’s Camp TV Offers Educational Activities for Kids

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The following information was provided by WGBH Channel 2:

Summer is here at last, but Massachusetts parents are feeling the burden of juggling work and childcare as the coronavirus continues to impact the support structures they rely on – from daycare to summer camp to assistance from grandparents. To help, Boston public media producer WGBH has three free resources for a range of ages that I thought might be of interest to your readers: Camp TV;  Beyond the Page: Young Adult Book Club; and Family Fun at Home. You can find more information about each one below. Please let me know if I can answer any questions. If you are considering a story on resources for families this summer, I hope you’ll consider including this information.  

Camp TV

This 1-hour television day camp experience invites “campers” at home to meet enthusiastic head counselor, Zachary Noah Piser, and experience summer camp activities to learn through play. Camp TV will air weekdays at noon ET on WGBH 2 beginning Monday, July 13. Silly Hat Day awaits!

Around Town

Watertown’s School Meal Pickups Extending Through Summer

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The Watertown Public Schools will continue to provide free breakfasts and lunches through the summer, but will be distributing meals on different days. Since the shutdown of schools due to COVID-19, the Watertown School Nutrition program has been giving out meals from the parking lot at Watertown High School to families in need. The program is funded through a Federal grant provided to districts in Massachusetts. During the school year the meals were distributed three days a week, and more than 200 families took part. Over the summer they will be handed two days a week — Tuesdays and Fridays.

Schools

Officials Celebrate Groundbreaking for Construction of 2 Watertown Schools

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Watertown school and town officials put shovels in the ground at the official start of the construction project Cunniff Elementary School. The ceremony also marked the beginning of the Hosmer School project. Standing next to the first of Watertown schools to be torn down and replaced with a state-of-the-art facility, Watertown School and Town officials celebrated the beginning of what will be several years of construction at school sites around town. Officials posed in hardhats, holding shovels during the official groundbreaking of the project at Cunniff Elementary School on Wednesday afternoon. The ceremony also marked the start of the project at Hosmer Elementary School, which will take place simultaneously.

Schools

Mass. Seeks to Bring Back Students in Fall, Classes Will be Social Distanced

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Lowell School in Watertown, and all Massachusetts schools, will operate differently in the fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Massachusetts school officials seek to bring back “as many students as possible to in-person school settings” in the fall, but the classrooms will look different with schools being required to adhere to social distancing guidelines. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has put together its Initial Fall School Reopening Guidance, which is expected to be discussed by Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday. The plan, of which the Boston Globe obtained a copy, says getting students back into the classroom is the goal. Education and medical officials weighed the risks of COVID-19 as well as the impact of keeping students at home.

Hosmer School

Groundbreaking Ceremony Planned to Kick Off Cunniff School Project

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The latest rendering of the new Cunniff Elementary School, with the solar array in the parking lot. The first of Watertown’s new school projects will kick off Wednesday, June 24 with a groundbreaking ceremony at Cunniff Elementary School. The School Building Committee invites public is invited to the event, which begins at 4:30 p.m. at the school, located at 246 Warren St. in Watertown. Those who attend must wear a mask of face covering due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Schools

MassBay College Offering Online Summer Courses for High Schoolers

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The following information was provided by MassBay Community College:

MassBay Community College will add five online and remotely-formatted courses this summer to be offered for high school students, exclusively. The six-week courses start on July 6, 2020 and include Entrepreneurship, Principles of Management, Creative Writing, Drugs and Society, and Security Awareness (course descriptions are below). High school students can also enroll in other MassBay courses. “Due to the coronavirus, many high school students and their families have been contacting us to enroll in summer classes as they face limited job prospects, many uncertainties, and an empty summer calendar. Taking one or more college-level courses over the summer is great way for high school students to jumpstart their college education,” said Interim Vice President of Enrollment Management, Alison McCarty.

Schools

Members of Class of 2020 Receive Their Diplomas — Social Distancing Style

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A Watertown high School senior smiles for photos after getting his diploma during a unique graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020, standing next to WHS Principal Shirley Lundberg. Watertown High School’s seniors claimed their diplomas in person at Victory Field on Saturday, but that was about all that was normal about graduation day for the Class of 2020. The atmosphere around Victory Field because the frenzy of activity was just spread out throughout the day as Watertown Public School officials put on a socially distanced ceremony to comply with the state’s COVID-19 guidelines. Each half hour a set of cars pulled up, the graduate stepped out and walked up to a small stage where Principal Shirley Lundberg waited with a diploma. Meanwhile, the family could stand along the small fence along the baseball field to cheer and take photos.

Class of 2020

School Committee Decides Not to Attend Watertown High Graduation; Looks Toward Reopening

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One of the signs that went up around town to celebrate Watertown High School’s graduating seniors. The School Committee will not be attending Saturday’s Watertown High School graduation after most members thought it was not appropriate to be there when so many cannot attend. They also heard about the planning for reopening schools in the fall, which may include reduced numbers of students on campus each day. Traditionally, the School Committee has taken part in the WHS graduation, with one of the members standing on stage shaking the hands of graduates when the students receive their diplomas. June 20’s graduation, however, will not be a traditional one.