Around Town

3 School Reopening Plans: No Full In-Person at WHS, Max. 4 Hours a Day for Elementary, WMS

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No matter what option the Watertown School Committee chooses, when classes begin in September the town’s schools will not look like they do in normal years. Students will be attending schools on different days, or in staggered shifts with at most four hours in school each day. Also, Watertown High School will not have a full in-person option due to a lack of space in which to socially distance, Superintendent Dede Galdston said during a School Committee meeting on Monday. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is requiring all districts to submit plans for three scenarios of operating schools this fall, while adhering to COVID-19 safety guidelines. The options are in-person, remote learning, or a combination of the two — called hybrid.

Around Town

Sen. Markey Addresses Opioid Crisis at Watertown Campaign Stop

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U.S. Sen. Edward Markey speaks with Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, right, and Town Council Vice President Vincent Piccirilli before an event in Watertown. Former State Rep. Rachel Kaprielian is standing next to Markey. Even as people face a pandemic, U.S. Sen. Edward Markey said another epidemic continues to threaten the health of people in Watertown, Massachusetts and across the nation: opioid addiction. The Democrat attracted to a few dozen supporters (and a couple detractors passing by on Main Street) to a campaign event at a balmy Saltonstall Park on Monday afternoon. Markey recalled how in 2014 he was in Taunton to address a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event and when he asked the Town Manager what the biggest problem in town was, he was told that they were having a rash over overdoses.

Arrests

Police Log: Nearly $10K in Jewelry Stolen, Multiple Time Shoplifter Nabbed

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

July 16, 2:37 p.m.: A man came to the Police Station because he heard he might be wanted on a warrant. Watertown Police confirmed he had an active warrant. The 33-year-old man from Warwick, R.I., was arrested on the warrant for violation of a harassment prevention order out of Waltham District Court. July 18, 12:12 p.m.: Security at Target spotted a man who they had observed shoplifting dozens of times from March to July 2020.

Schools

School Committee Discussing Scenarios for Reopening in the Fall

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The School Committee will be discussing the possible scenarios for opening the Watertown Schools in the fall at a meeting on Monday, July 27 at 7 p.m.

On July 13, Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee about three options being considered: in-person education, remote learning, or a combination of the two where students would attend school in-person on a rotating basis. The School Committee will hear an update on the process on Monday, and are expected to have a decision at their next meeting in August. The School Committee will be meeting in the Phillips Building, but attendance will be limited to the Committee and school officials. The public can participate via Zoom at https://bit.ly/2E9O78y (Meeting ID: 946 2116 9656) or by phone at 1-646-558-8656. The meeting will be shown live on WCA-TV (Comcast Channel 99, RCN Channel 13) or at wcatv.org.

Entertainment

Watertown Summer Concert Series is Back, Starts This Week

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The Blues Dogs will be the first band to play in the Watertown Summer Concert Series on July 29. The following announcement was part of the Town Manager’s COVID-19 Update. (See the whole update by clicking here) Attendees should follow the latest social distancing and face covering requirements:

Great news! Concerts are still happening! This year marks twenty-one years that the Saltonstall Park Concert Series has provided free music and entertainment in Watertown’s historic Saltonstall Park.

Around Town

Demolition of Hosmer School Will Begin Soon

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A map of the area around Hosmer Elementary School, including the traffic plan for the fall. The section of the school in the dark green area will remain after the rest of the school, to the left, is demolished this summer. The demolition of a portion of Hosmer Elementary School will begin on Monday, July 27. Project Manager Thomas Finnegan, from Hill International, sent a letter to school and town officials, and others, updating them about the reconstruction project. The auditorium and cafeteria will be torn down as part of the demolition work, which will take about four weeks.

High School Project

Forum on Watertown High School Planned; Building Committee Doesn’t Like Renovation Option

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A mockup of what Watertown High School could look like if the current school was renovated and expanded. A new gym would be built on the Phillips School site, and a parking garage would go on the corner near Barnard Avenue (bottom right). An option of renovating and expanding the existing Watertown High School got bad reactions from the School Building Committee Wednesday night. The committee also saw more details of building a new school on part of the Victory Field complex. The planning for rebuilding or renovating the high school will be discussed further during a virtual Community Forum to be held on Wednesday, July 29 at 6 p.m. During the forum, the public will have a chance to voice its opinions on the options.

Schools

Two Watertown High Students Receive Newspaper Awards

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Watertown’s Sarah Vail and Toni Carton received Headliners in Education Honors for their work on the Raider Times. Headliners in Education honored two Watertown High School seniors for their work in high school journalism, and presented them with $500 awards. Sarah Vail and Toni Carlton each received Headliner in Education Honors, and were the first two to garner the awards from the non-profit organization which supports journalism in schools. The group received official approval to be a 501 3(c) non-profit organization in March. The same month, founder John Vitti, a Boston Globe editor who lives in Watertown, received a Community Service Award from SXSW (South by Southwest), which came with seed money for Headliners in Education.