Schools

Master Plan Answers Some Questions on Rebuilding Schools, Creates More

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The School Master Plan presented to a joint meeting of the School Committee and the Town Council provided some insight into Watertown’s schools, but opened many more questions. 

The Master Plan incorporated the work of the Master Plan Steering Committee, which included parents, staff and elected officials, as well as, input from three community meetings and interviews with school staff and administrators, said School Committee Chairman John Portz.  

Representatives from SMMA, the firm hired to create the master plan, included cost estimates for three different options for improving the schools. Option 1 would be bringing the schools into good working conditions, but would not make major changes to the current configurations. Option 2 would renovate the schools and would make some changes inside so the buildings can handle 21st Century education, with more group and project learning and flexible spaces. Option 3 would be to build brand new buildings.

21st Century Schools

School Renovation Master Plan Includes Cost Estimates, Sequence Undecided

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Watertown’s master plan for renovating the town’s five public schools is almost complete, but school and town officials – and the community – must decide which order to do the work and what to what extent the renovations should go. The Watertown Schools Master Plan Steering Committee wrapped up months of work Wednesday night by giving their final thoughts about the draft of the master plan being put together by consultants from SMMA. “It has been a great group, with lots of perspectives,” said School Committee Chairman John Portz, who chaired the group that began meeting in June. The plan includes an estimate for renovating Watertown High School, Watertown Middle School, and the three elementary schools – Cunniff, Lowell and Hosmer. Basic renovations, just to fix current issues, would cost about $160 million at current construction costs, while improving them to meet 21st Century standards the cost would be $200 million in current costs, said Town Councilor Vincent Piccirilli, who is on the Steering Committee.

School Facilities Master Plan

Consultants Wrap Up School Master Plans, Some Want More Discussion

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The School District’s consultants wrapped up the third and final community forum looking at the future of Watertown Public Schools facilities Wednesday night, but some at the meeting said they think the master plan has been rushed and needs more work. Michael van Hamel, an architect with SMMA, presented the costs for three options for upgrading Watertown’s schools: 1) a basic renovation, 2) a renovation with reconfigured layouts designed for 21st century teaching and learning, or 3) a brand new school. In new construction, state official have more say over what can be included, and for instance van Hamel said usually they do not allow auditoriums in elementary school. This is a feature at each of the Watertown elementary schools. At the Hosmer School, the district is considering moving all the Pre-K classes in the district into a wing of the school, or possibly adding a universal Pre-K program, which would need space for an estimated 400 students in the Universal Early Learning Center.

School Facilities Master Plan

See Options for Modernizing Watertown High and Middle Schools

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With some major changes inside the buildings, Watertown High School and Watertown Middle School could be remodeled to handle all the students coming through the town schools, an architectural consultant told the School Facilities Master Plan Steering Committee. The outsides of the buildings would look much the same, but architect Michael van Hamel of SMMA said the schools could be brought up to modern standards without building brand new schools. He went over options during Wednesday night’s Steering Committee meeting which is planning for the master plan, due to come out in September. He plans to reinvigorate space at the schools that are seldom used or not being used to their potential. At the middle school, van Hamel said, the lower gym could be turned into a library and maker space.

Schools

Consultant Reveals Options for Expanding Watertown’s Elementary Schools

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The process for coming up with a master plan to remodel or rebuild Watertown’s schools to handle more children and modern education is nearing its end and Wednesday night the district’s consultant discussed ways the current schools could be renovated to do the job. 

One major change will be making the number of students at each elementary school more even. Cunniff would have more than 100 additional students with about 400 students. Lowell would have a capacity of 450 students, about 30 more than this fall. Hosmer, on the other hand, would drop by about 80 students to 500. All the schools would get reconfigured classroom wings, where the traditional rooms coming off a hallway would be changed to have rooms of different sizes and community space to allow classes to be brought together.

Letters

LETTER: Lack of Participation & Info in Planning for Future of Town Schools is Worrisome

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Hi Folks,

Here’s my take on the 6/29 Monday night First Community Forum to discuss the framework for evaluating Watertown’s aging school buildings and facilities in light of changing educational needs, teaching modalities, and enrollment numbers. Some topics that were touched upon: What is a Master Plan? Existing Conditions, 21st Century Skills, 21st Century Design Patterns. There was a bit more but without a written agenda, I’m sure I missed something. There were no handouts regarding the power point presentation that often could not be read on screen.