Building for the Future

Residents Excited About Concepts for New Schools at 2 of 3 Watertown Elementary Sites

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The proposal to build a new building at Cunniff School would place the school on the side near the cemetery. On the right is a conceptual drawing of a floor plan for the second story. Wednesday night, the School Building Committee saw the first concepts for how new school buildings could fit onto two of the three Watertown elementary campuses, and the board and public, alike, responded enthusiastically. Project designers from Ai3 Architects presented the concepts they came up with for where a new school building would go on the Cunniff and Hosmer school sites, and showed what the planned renovation of Lowell School would look like. They were given the charge in December after the School Building Committee learned that the price difference for new schools would not be that much higher than doing wholesale renovations.

Schools

Watertown Senior Named Student of the Term at Minuteman

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Darian Casseus of Watertown, center, was named Student of the Term at Minuteman High School. He is pictured with Principal Jack Dillon, left, and Assistant Principal Brian Tildsley. The following announcement was provided by Minuteman High School:

Minuteman High School has named four outstanding students as Students of the Term for Term 1 of school year 2018-19: freshman Dylan Higgins of Acton, sophomore Angelina Amico of Stow, junior Julia (Jewels) Andersen of Belmont and senior Darian Casseus of Watertown. This honor is awarded to one student from each grade level based upon nominations from teachers and other staff members. The criteria include academic achievement and good citizenship, according to Assistant Principal Brian Tildsley.

Government

Council Subcommittee Wants Funds to Fix Longer Roads, Unsure About Prioritizing Streets Near Schools

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A road after being milled and prepared for overlay of new asphalt.

Last week, the Town Council’s Public Works subcommittee approved a set of roads to be reconstructed in 2019, but the list was limited to smaller, neighborhood streets. During the meetings, Councilors discussed ways to find money to do the longer roads leading from neighborhoods to the main arteries. One of the limitations for reconstructing secondary arteries is money. Council Vice President Vincent Piccirilli said it may be time for the Council to designate funds for rebuilding these roads, also known as collector roads. For the past several years, the Town’s budget has included $2.5 million for road and sidewalk construction.

Around Town

OP-ED: Steps to Stop Your Kids from Drinking, Using Drugs

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The following piece was signed by: Michael Lawn, Chief of Police, Laura Kurman, Senior Program Director, Wayside Multi-Service Center, Dede Galdston, Superintendent of Schools, and Larry Ramdin, Director of Public Health:

With the holiday season underway and the opening of retail marijuana shops in Massachusetts, adults are urged to pay special attention to teenagers’ behavior around alcohol and other drugs. The Watertown Youth Coalition’s (WYC) partner agencies, Wayside Multi-Service Center, and the Watertown Police, Schools and Health Departments remind adults that teen alcohol and marijuana use can lead to unsafe behaviors that put their health and safety at risk. After all, it is all our responsibility, as a community, to help teens make healthy decisions and stay safe. Underage substance use affects everyone in the community and delaying use has shown to be protective as every year a teen does not use alcohol, the odds of lifelong dependence decrease by 15 percent. In the most recent Watertown Youth Risk Behavior Survey, administered to middle and high school students last year, of those who reported drinking, most reportedgetting alcohol from older siblings /friends or from home without their parents’ knowledge.

Around Town

Public Gets Preview of New Minuteman High School Building Due to Open in 2019

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An illustration of what the new Minuteman High School building will look like when it is completed. The Lexington-based vocational technical school is attended by dozens of Watertown students. The following piece was provided by Minuteman High School:

Members of the public recently toured the new Minuteman High School during an Open House, and by all accounts, they were overwhelmingly impressed with the $145 million, state-of-the-art facility, which is still under construction. It is scheduled to open in the early summer of 2019. “All day long, people described the new building as awesome, gorgeous, and unbelievable,” said Minuteman Assistant Director of Admissions and Outreach Maggie F. Miller.

Schools

Anti-Semitic Graffiti Found at Watertown Middle School

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Watertown Middle School

School officials are investigating anti-Semitic graffiti that was found at Watertown Middle School, and have been holding conversations with students about the incident. This is the second such incident in the district this year. Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee about the incident at Monday’s meeting. A swastika was found in a boys bathroom at the middle school, Galdston said. It was removed promptly after being discovered.

MSBA

Rebuilding of Watertown High School Moves a Step Forward with State Board’s Vote

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Plans to renovate or rebuild Watertown High School cleared a major hurdle Wednesday when State officials voted to move the project to the next step — doing a feasibility study and create a schematic design

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Board voted at a meeting held in Boston on Wednesday. The WHS project now moves to the second step in a series of eight. The School Building Committee will hire an owner’s project manager to oversee the design and construction, and hire a project designer. 

Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston announced vote on Wednesday in a statement in which she wrote:

I am pleased to share with you that the Massachusetts School Building Authority unanimously voted to invite the Watertown High School building project into Feasibility at their board meeting today.  In attendance were Senator Brownsberger, Mark Sideris, Michael Driscoll, Shirley Lundberg, Heidi Perkins, Steve Magoon and me.The next step in the process is the selection of the Owner’s Project Manager which will begin soon.  Once the OPM is in place, the designer will be selected through the MSBA’s Designer Selection Panel process.  These steps are considered Module 2, which should be complete within four to six months.  This is great news for our community!  

The MSBA’s vote came after the Town Council voted to spend up to $1.6 million on an owner’s project manager and to hire a designer at a meeting in late November. At that meeting, Galdston showed what she called a “best case scenario” timeline, in which students and staff would move into the new school in the fall of 2023. A feasibility study will be created, which will include examining possible locations for the school and what the new construction and/or renovation will include.

Schools

Big Shift Coming to Watertown High School Class Schedule

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Watertown High School students and teachers will have to adjust to a very different class schedule beginning in the fall of 2019. School officials say the new schedule will allow for more projects, longer times for labs and pefromances. Currently, the high school has a schedule with six equal length class periods which meet in the same order every day. It is on a seven-day cycle in which advisory meets once a week. 

The current schedule has been in place for 20 years, but there has been a desire for some time to change it, Watertown High School Principal Shirley Lundberg told the School Committee Monday night. Discussions began last year, but the decision was made to delay making the change until the fall of 2019.