Charter Review

Charter Review: Town Manager Won’t Have to Live in Town, New Communication Requirements Proposed

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Watertown’s Town Manager would no longer be required to live in town if voters approve the recommended change approved by the Charter Review Committee. The group, which is reviewing the document which defines how the Town’s government works, also approved recommended new requirements for the Town Manager related to communicating with the public. At the June 1 meeting, the Charter Review Committee tackled a number of sections of the Town Charter related to the Executive branch. In Watertown, the executive is the Town Manager. Discussion some other items impacting the Town Manager were not completed and will be discussed at future meetings.

Election 2021

LETTER: Candidate Declares Her Run for Watertown School Committee

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Rachel Kay is running for Watertown School Committee. The following announcement was provided by Rachel Kay:

Over the past year, we have all experienced great challenges. Those of us caring for school-aged children have watched them struggle with isolation, academic losses and for too many students even harm to their mental health and well-being. As I have watched Watertown Public Schools grapple with the difficult decisions they had to make this year, I have felt obligated to advocate for the needs of all our children, as well as for working families. I learned that I have a unique perspective to share, and that I will add to discussions including the critical challenge our schools now face in overcoming the educational debt our students have sustained over what was for some of them a lost year.

Schools

Congrats to the Watertown High School Class of 2021! See the List of Graduates

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Charlie BreitroseA 2021 Watertown High School senior waves toward the stands at Victory Field before Saturday’s graduation ceremony. Watertown High School seniors celebrated their graduation on Saturday at Victory Field. Honors:

+ Cum Laude Society

^ National Honor Sociey

* Seal of Biliteracy

# Seal of Biliteracy with Distinction

Watertown High School Class of 2021

Pargol Akbari *

Miar Amleh

Elaine Andrade ^

Leticia Andrade

Zainab Attar ^*

Emily Azevedo ^*

Christopher Baba

Zakary Babali

Leah Bailey +^

Jesse Bartolozzi

Cody Begg ^

Shabnam Begum

Morgan Beirne

Ahmed Bekdash ^

Jazmine Blaine-LaSanta

Louis Blaine-LaSanta

Dyanne Bonyuet +^*#

Jack Bunnell

Benjamin Burns-Shipps

Alexandra Calix

Kenan Canca ^

Kelly Caravantes

Wender Carlos *

Cavan Catalano

Nicholas Cavarretta

Gabriel Cinar

Kapriel Cinar

Madison Colon

Poppe Constable

Sebastian Correa

Paulo Costa

Jenna Cotter

Aidan Curry +^

Leah D’Amico ^

Grace Darmody ^

Sergey Davtyan

Kaylan De Sousa

Ana Vittoria DeFaria *

Nicole Delgado ^*#

Theodore DeRocher

Anthony Diallo

Nicholas DiPace

William Dolan

Kayleigh Dore ^

Seamas Doyle ^

Zoe Doyle ^*

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Watertown News (@watertownmanews)

Kimberly Ellis

Audrey Ferguson

Tessa Ferrandi

Natalie Finton ^*#

Cole Fitzgerald

Allison Fitzpatrick ^*#

Iona Fleming ^

Rebecca Folse

Emma Forde

Dylan Francione

Christopher Gagnon

Lisandro Galdamez

Declan Gallagher

Lavender Gasciogne

Mario Greco

Damian Guanumen Parra ^

Stephanie Guler

Carolyn Gulley +^*

Rita Hackett +^

Angelina Halibian

Allend Hassan

Eva Henry *#

Bryan Hernandez

Jeremy Herrera

Adam Houjazy

Arman Hovhannisyan *

Dominick Howe

Joseph Ignacio *

Shakel Inniss

Lea Rena Jorekjian ^*

Shamaelle Joseph

Theresa Jumba

Amad Kabir *

Irene Kandilas ^

Miriam Karachi

Alicia Karunaratne ^

Tanya Kaya ^

Lauren Kempton

Shant Keshishian

Ahmed Khan

Fizza Khan

Waqas Khan

Sudais Khan

Caiden Kiani +^

Jonathan Kimera

David Kinnear

Raffi Lachinian

Christopher Lanni

Kaue Leal

Emily LeBlanc

Jaqueline Leitner

Ryan Leonard +^

George Lithotomos

Sean Loughran

Roberto Maguire

Justine Makisimu

Leyla Mandel +^

David Manoukian +^

Pablo Marques

Nelson Marquez

Nicole Matevosian

Lukas Matton

Danilsh McKoy

Enid McLawrence Toribio *

James Meehan

Karina Melkonian

Deborah Mendez-Capello

Arthur Metzker *

Katrin Mikaelyan

Teodora Misic +^*#

Suren Mkrtchyan *

Eva Morrissey

Javier Mota Lopez

Hannah Moylan

MaryKate Munroe

Niamh Murphy ^

Mira Musallam

Charlie BreitroseA member of the Watertown High School Class of 2021 gives an elbow bump after receiving his diploma. Harriet Neeley +^*

Maud Neeley +^*

Jamal Nelson

Julie Ngan

Jack Nicolas

Patricia Nsubuga

Matthew Oliveira De Mattos

Nicolas Oteri

Katelynn Palmer

Gleb Partensky

Atin Patel

Alexander Peters

Cooper Petrie ^

Jenna Petrie +^

Patricio Pino +^*#

Patcharaporn Pochaithong

Thomas Powderly +^

Sana Rafiq

Hina Rahman ^*

Jeffrey Ramirez

Giovanni Reyes

Juliana Reyes

Liana Rice ^*

John Riley

Matheus Rocha

Douglas Rodas Gonzalez

Giulia Salvucci +^*

Leticia Santos *

Rene Sargsyan

Oliver Schatzle

Caden Schultz

Lydia Seki

Nathan Sergi

Sabreena Shah

Maxim Sharapov

Sophie Shepard

Arlette Shirinian

Colin Simpson

Marcos Soares

Luis Solano Ramos

Olivia Sorensen

Gabriely Souza Nunes

Gabriel Spinelli

Daniel Stefano *

Bridget Sullivan

Anastasia Symonenko *

Wesley Szeto +^

Sarah Tabbara

Lana Taffel +^

Isabella Tancredo +^

Parsa Tehrani

Salar Tehrani

Janoah Thomas

Hrachya Tonyan ^

Nathan Valstyn

Suwapich Virojanadul *#

Gavia Vosbigian +^*#

Calvin Walter

Ryan Webber

Haley Wolff

Henry Yusem +^*

Christina Zouein ^

Arrests

Police Log: Man Arrested for Taking Part in Scam of Grandmother, Bikes Stolen from Movie Theater

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests

May 26 , 11:33 a.m.: Police received a call from a UPS employee about a suspicious situation with a package. The package was suspected to be involved in an incident in which an 85-year-old Florida woman had been scammed by someone saying her granddaughter needed to be bailed out of jail because she was involved in a drunk driving accident that killed a child. The woman’s granddaughter had not been arrested and heard her grandmother talking to the scammer, who had asked her to send $1,000 in cash to an address in Massachusetts. The package was one of 12 containing a total of $150,000 sent between May 6 to 25.

Schools

Watertown High School Class of 2021 Celebrates Graduation After a Very Challenging Year

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Charlie BreitroseA Watertown High School senior celebrates after receiving his diploma at the 2021 graduation ceremony. A celebration for the 2021 Watertown High School senior class was a long time coming, having endured the COVID-19 pandemic, remote learning and wearing masks in class. The grads had to wait an extra day due to weather concerns, but the delay did not dampen their spirits during Saturday morning’s graduation ceremony at Victory Field. WHS Class of 2021 Valedictorian Caiden Kiani, who also served as senior class president, said he has seen a lot of what goes on behind the scenes to make WHS run. He thanked a variety of people, including administrators, parents, counselors and others, but wanted to give some special thanks: the nursing staff, “who have helped us feel safe during the pandemic,” and the custodial staff, “who has worked extra hard to keep every room COVID free.”

Fire Award

Watertown Resident Receives Award for Bravery During a House Fire

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Watertown Fire DepartmentTeflon Donovan, center, receive the Medal of Commendation from Watertown Fire Chief Bob Quinn, left, and Watertown Fire Capt. Eric Allen, right, for saving a life during a house fire in April. The Watertown Fire Department awarded a resident for his quick action and bravery which prevented another resident from being harmed in a fire in April. On April 13, Teflon Donovan was sleeping in his home on Swetts Court when he awoke to the smell of smoke and the sound of a smoke alarm. He got up to investigate where the smoke was coming from. Donovan thought it was from the stove, but when it checked he found that was not the source.

Around Town

Watertown DPW Hosting Styrofoam, Textile Recycling Event with Paper Shredding

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Recycle your Styrofoam at the special DPW event. The following information came from the Watertown Department of Public Works:

There will also be Textiles, Paper Shredding and Styrofoam Recycling for Watertown Residents only on Saturday, June 12, 2021 from 10AM-2PM. Please enter at Stanley Ave. These items can be dropped off at the Jewish Day School parking lot at the entrance of Stanley Avenue. 

This is a free event for Town residents only – please bring an ID with you. For all standard recycling, please enter on Green River Way.

Homepage Featured

Watertown High School Design Approved, Will Use Moxley Field for Temporary Location

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Ai3 ArchitectsA rendering of what the new Watertown High School could look like. The view is from Common Street. {Updated June 4, 2021 at 9 a.m. The name of the temporary high school was corrected to the PFC Richard Moxley Watertown High School.}

The proposal to build a new high school on the current Watertown High School location was approved Wednesday night, along with using Moxley Field as the temporary site for WHS during construction. School Building Committee members also supported naming the temporary campus for the Marine for whom the field is dedicated. The Committee unanimously approved what is called plan 1H, which would create a single school building on the property between Common and Columbia streets.