Schools

Architects Vying to Design New Watertown High School Narrowed to Finalists

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The quality of the of architects seeking to design the new Watertown High School pleased Watertown officials as well as members of the state board that chose the finalists. The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Designer Selection Panel met Tuesday and heard presentations from eight firms vying to be the designer for the WHS project. Three finalists were chosen.

At Wednesday’s Watertown School Building Committee meeting, Superintendent Dede Galdston said the crop of architects impressed the panel, which works with communities from around Massachusetts that have been selected to be in the state school building program. “The Designer Selection Panel said this is the best pool of architects they have seen in quite some time,” Galdston said. “This leads us to believe that Watertown is a hot commodity and people want to work here.”

Schools

Several Architecture Firms Interested in Designing Watertown High School Project

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The search for the architecture firm that will design the new Watertown High School has begun, but they decision will not be completely up to local officials. The project to rebuild or renovate WHS will be part of the Massachusetts School Building Authority process. Through the program, the town will receive significant reimbursement from the state (close to 50 percent) but the MSBA process is a very prescribed one. Watertown has been accepted into the program and the next step is to select the firm for design services. The selection will be made by the MSBA’s Design Panel, which is made up of 16 people.

Building for the Future

Watertown High School Project Moving Forward, Public Meetings Planned

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The multiyear process that will result in a new or renovated Watertown High School got rolling last week when the School Building Committee heard about what it will take to make the project a reality. On July 11, the Owner’s Project Manager for the Watertown High School project, Compass Project Management, met with the School Building Committee to talk about some of the projects they have worked one, and the schedule for the project. Compass is working on a five-phase, 18-month construction project at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Natick, said Tim Bonfatti, president of Compass. “Much like the current Watertown High School it is on a very constricted site, with limited options around it,” Bonfatti said. “And the solution that is going to be built there is going to be built in phases because we can’t complete it within the constrained footprint of that site.”

Bilteracy

Watertown High Students Will Be Able to Show They are Bilingual on their Diplomas

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Watertown High School students will soon be able to have the Seal of Biliteracy on their diplomas and transcripts. Students in the Watertown Public Schools speak 59 languages, Kate Phillipson, director of English as a Second Language Coordinator told the School Committee Monday night. Some learn a language in school, others speak a language other than English at home, and still more take language classes outside of school. “The State Seal of Biliteracy is a nationally and state recognized seal that recognizes graduates that speak, listen, read, and write proficiently in more than one language,” said Adam Silverberg, the district’s World Language Coordinator. The seal will be placed on diplomas and transcripts, Silverberg said, and students could be recognized during graduation.

Christine Zhu

Watertown High School’s Class of 2019 Celebrates Graduation

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Members of Watertown High School’s Class of 2019 celebrate graduating on Friday evening. The student speakers at Watertown High School’s 2019 graduation shared memories of their four years at the high school, remarked on the students’ ability to adapt and thrive, and shared advice about how to be better people. The WHS Class of 2019 celebrated the culmination of four years of hard work, fun and congeniality during Friday evenings graduation ceremony at Victory Field. See the graduate list here. Valedictorian Joshua Theodore said the Class of 2019 is part of the generation that exists in two realities: in real life and on social media.

Class of 2019

Congrats to the Watertown High School Class of 2019!

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The Watertown High School Class of 2019 celebrates graduating by throwing their hats in the air at Victory Field on Friday. The senior class officially graduated from Watertown High School on Friday evening. The 147 members of the Class of 2019 received their diplomas at a ceremony held at Victory Field on Friday evening. Watertown High School Class of 2019

Armand Suren AckanAria AghaeeJose Abraham AguilarElizabeth Bridget AllenGiovannie AntenorHovanes Harout AroyianJuliana Angela ArrudaPeter AthanasopoulosSukeina Mohamed AttarJorge Alexander Barrientos AmbrocioJack David BarryOlivia Leslie Beauvoir HaggertyJoseph Carl BiagiottiMary Maria BoyajianMaxsym Kenton BrinkleyKyra BruggerMax Arthur Bunnell Meaghan Teresa BurnsMange Charles Kamborian CamaraJimena Canales-AlfaroRifat Ali CancaLucia Walter Capone +*Michael Alexander Charles CaseAnthony Abdo ChebliMary Cimen *Lauren Michelle ColeCatherine Theresa ConnorsPatrick John CorbettDavid Y DanielianEmily Danielian +*Vahe DanielyanGeorge Andrew Darmody *Renata Ferrazoli Beltrami DaSilvaAhmed Ziad DawLuiz Eduardo De Souza CamposJaylene Catalina DeJesusMohammad B DiaAurora Hope DominguezIgor Furtado Dos SantosEidy Enrique DuarteShannon Mary DunnJafiah River EdwardsAlex William EganSandro Emmanuel EymaBenjamin Michael FandettiJulia Brooks Farry +*Noah Echt FerraressoBryan Sales FerreiraNathan Johnson Follett +*Albert FounEmily Pauline FurtadoMelanne Diana Ghahraman *Danielli Santos GomesMarissa Elizabeth Gorman +*Dante Christian GrecoJulia Neve Greim +*Mary Kate GriffinAva Anastasia GrilloMarlena Nichole HachePiper Liehla HadleyMeron Demsash Hagos +*Yoseph Assad HamadNiki Hamidi *Levon HaroutunianCourtney Marie HarshAndrew Jay Hayek +*Brian Hidalgo MonterrosaCatherine Lenore Holt +*Shannon Janell HughesReem Hussein *Christopher Joseph Iannetta *Jhonatan Ramos Inacio *

Watertown High School’s Class of 2019 Celebrates Graduation

Shariel Lydie JosephMaxwell Phillips JuscenXhonatan KadiRuben Gevork KarapetyanVishan Kavidhu KarunaratneBandna Kaur *Graeme Sutton KelleherChristopher James KerriganEva Fawaz KhalilHana KhanSajjad KhanOdai Amer KhudariSelin KuguOlivia Jane Lampasona *Jennifer Catherine LawlorRobert Christopher LeonardJoseph David LessardMarco Philip LibertiniMarcela Yolanda Lopez-RomeroAshley Raquel Lopez-VasquezDerrick LwanjoJalen Cassidy MacDonaldSeyedsepehr MadaniNeila Coralie Magloire *Tyler William MalovichMichael Armani Manoukian *Diana MargaryanAshley Hassy MawandaNicolas David McDermottEmma Margaret McGoldrickMacayla Elizabeth McNamaraGaro Nareg MelkonianJohann Dayan Mendez JuliaoSamuel Charles MikulkaShannon Rose MungerLuke James MurphyKate Somers Myler *Irene Lynn NagawaNicholas James NardoneShayla Leandra NealSleemy NicolasGabrielle Marie NolanSawaira NoorFernando NunesCaleb Thomas Karl OrvikDavid Lucas Bastos OuelletHaralambos PapadopoulosMiten Dharmesh PatelLoreto Carmen PellegriniAbigael Elizabeth Rose PetersonChristopher Ryan PetersonHonor Segal Petrie *Shelby Elizabeth PirozziHina Khan Rafiq *Vanessa RomeroTrevor Daniel RussoPamelaly Michelle SantosRuben Oscar Sanchez Sara *Phen Kirian Walters SarlesAndre Aersalan Shirevani HarandiMohamed Hussein Shuman *Sourin Ohanes SimonyanAlessandra Claudia SolariJason Tyler StarnesBrett Michael SutherlandMillena Fagundes SzytkoJoshua Robert Theodore +*Seren Dala TheriaultKristen Elizabeth Tracy *Daniel Hunter VanRynGabriella Rose Venezia +*Justin Joseph Viasus +*Ehsan Ahmad YaqhubiHagop YazjianChristine Zhu +*

+ Cum Laude Society

*Natinoal Honor Society

Police/Fire

Watertown Police Arrest 16-Year Old for School Threat Made on Social Media

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Watertown Police arrested a 16-year-old Watertown boy for allegedly making threats toward a school on Friday, May 31 after the teen sent a Snapchat message that was received by students at Watertown High School and Watertown Middle School. Watertown Police received word of the threat from Watertown Public School officials Friday morning, said Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor. The message was sent via the Snapchat social media app, and contained a list of emojis, O’Connor said. “From what police could tell, the Snapchat message went to over 100 students at Watertown Middle School and Watertown High School,” O’Connor said. “It contained emojis of a picture of a school, a bomb, an explosion, a gun and an emoji of someone running.”

Election 2020

Watertown High School Students Got Up Close and Personal with a Presidential Candidate

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Presidential candidate Wayne Messam, mayor of Mirimar, Fla., stopped by Watertown High School on Wednesday to speak with some students. On Wednesday morning, a group of Watertown High School students got to have their questions answered by someone who could become the Commander in Chief and Leader of the Free World. The WHS students took time away from their normal lessons to hear from presidential hopeful Mayor Wayne Messam. The Florida Democrat stopped by between campaigning in New Hampshire and an interview with a Boston Public Radio station. Messam shared his story of how he went from humble beginnings to being a football player at Florida State University, then started his own environmentally conscious construction company, become mayor of Mirmar, Fla., and now is running for the highest office in the land.