Schools

First Public Forum on Watertown High School Project Planned

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The new Watertown High School logo, the shield, was approved by the School Committee on Tuesday. Watertown school officials invite the public to hear about the project to rebuild or renovate Watertown High School at a forum on Nov. 19. The Watertown Public Schools sent out the following announcement:

The Watertown High School Building Committee will be holding its first community forum on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m. at Watertown High School to discuss the planning and process around the proposed new high school project.

Entertainment

Watertown High School Students Competed for Spot on WGBH TV Quiz Show

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The team from Watertown High School that competed for a spot on WGBH’s High School Quiz Show. A group of Watertown High School students recently competed at WGBH’s studio to be part of the High School Quiz Show. WGBH provide the following information:

On Sunday, Oct. 20, Watertown High School visited WGBH’s Brighton studios to participate in Super Sunday, the qualification round of WGBH’s High School Quiz Show. High School Quiz Show is a televised quiz competition between Massachusetts high school students entering its 11th season of broadcast on WGBH. On Super Sunday, student teams come to the studio to take a 45-minute quiz with hopes of placing on to the broadcast.

Cunniff School

School Officials Detail Reasons for MCAS Improvement, Areas of Concern

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Watertown Middle School teachers and staff have a plan in place to raise the MCAS scores at the school after a poor performance in 2018. Monday night, the School Committee heard about the strategies being used in the Watertown Schools that led to improvements for the town’s schools on the 2019 MCAS test. The Watertown Schools have made an effort to use data to drive lessons and to address weaknesses in classrooms and even for individual students, said Theresa McGuinness, the district’s Assistant Superintendent for Teaching, Learning & Assessment. “Student performance data is used to identify areas of strength and areas of opportunity, as a district, grade level, cohort and individual in English Language Arts (ELA), mathematics, and science,” McGuinness said. She added that the MCAS data is used in conjunction with other assessment tools used in the Watertown Schools.

Schools

Public Will Have Multiple Chances to Give Input on WHS Construction Project

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Watertown’s School Building Committee has begun looking at the high school renovation/rebuilding project, and the public will have multiple chances to weigh in, beginning in November. The first public meeting about the Watertown High School project will be held Nov. 19 at a time and place to be announced, Town Council President Mark Sideris announced at Wednesday’s School Building Committee meeting. The School Building Committee learned that the process for the WHS project will be different from the one used for the three elementary schools — the other half of Watertown Public School’s Building for the Future. The high school project is part of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) program, which has many requirements and deadlines to meet.

Principal

WHS Principal Retiring, District Starting Process to Find Successor

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Watertown High School Principal Shirley Lundberg announced she will be retiring at the end of the 2019-20 school year. Her successor will be selected after a process that will begin in December and end in February. Lundberg is in her seventh year leading WHS. She announced her retirement to her staff in the spring and to parents in the first newsletter of the new school year. “This school year will be my last with Watertown, as at the end of it I intend to join my husband in retirement.

Cunniff School

Watertown School Recognized for MCAS Results, No Schools Require Intervention

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Hosmer Elementary School in Watertown. The State recognized a Watertown School for its results on the 2019 MCAS test, and Watertown Middle School improved its scores enough so that it will no longer be under special scrutiny by state officials. Superintendent Dede Galdston gave an overview of the Watertown Public Schools’ results on the statewide standardized test at Monday’s School Committee meeting. “We did very well on the exams,” Galdston said. “I am very proud of the work that was done last year, and we will no longer require assistance or intervention (from the state).”

Schools

Architect Chosen to Design Watertown High School Project

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Meet the new architect, same as the old architect. The firm chosen by the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s Design Selection Panel — Ai3 Architects of Wayland — is the same group designing the three elementary school renovation projects in town. The decision, made at a meeting at MSBA headquarters in Boston on Tuesday, pleased Watertown Public Schools officials, said Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston. “We are very, very excited that Ai3 was the top ranked design firm selected to work forward with our high school project,” Galdston said. The panel included 13 members appointed by the MSBA, plus three representatives from Watertown — Galdston, Town Manager Michael Driscoll and Town Council President Mark Sideris.