Schools

Town Council Approves Funding for Study & Schematic Design for New High School

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A significant hurdle was cleared on the path to building a new, or renovating the current, Watertown High School when the Town Council approved $1.6 million in funding for the project’s feasibility study and schematic design. 

Last week, the Town Council unanimously approved the funding for what is the end of the first of eight modules required by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), said Superintendent Dede Galdston. The high school project was accepted into the MSBA’s process in December 2017. Since that time school officials have been taking the necessary steps, including creating a school building committee (the same one as for the 3 elementary school projects), documenting maintenance practices, and setting an enrollment. Galdston said, when completed, the high school will be able to accommodate 720 students. Currently the high school has about 660 students.

Schools

Watertown High School Robotics Team Excels at Beantown Blitz Competition

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On Oct. 6, the Watertown High School Robotics Team competed in Beantown Blitz in Revere where after a long day of competition they were able to advance to the final match and achieve a second place alliance finish in a closely contested final! Seventeen teams from around the New England region attended the competition and joined in three team alliances against other alliances to score points with their robots by strategically and efficiently placing game cubes in Exchanges, Switches and Scales. After competing in nine qualifying matches, the team moved on to the elimination matches. In the semi­final match, the WHS Robotics team’s alliance handily won the round 2­0 in a best of three.

Cunniff School

Elementary, High School Projects Take Steps Forward at School Building Committee

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Two votes by the School Building Committee on Wednesday night moved the projects at Watertown’s three elementary schools and at the high school a step closer to being a reality. The projects to renovate and make additions to Hosmer, Lowell and Cunniff elementary schools, which have schematic designs, are ahead of the Watertown High School project, for which designs have yet to be drawn up. High School Project
Wednesday night, the School Building Committee, which oversees the projects, gave its approval to spend $1.6 million on the preliminary design and hiring an owner’s project manager for the WHS project. The Town Council will be asked to give final approval for the money at its Nov. 13 meeting, said Superintendent Dede Galdston.

Government

DPW Announces Temporary Walking Routes to WHS During Common Street Project

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The Watertown Department of Public Works provided this update on the Common Street road project:

Over the summer, the Town has begun construction along Common Street from Mount Auburn Street to the Church Street/Orchard Street intersection, including portions of Columbia Street and Spring Street as part of the Common Street improvement project. The scope of the project includes the full reconstruction of each roadway with the objective of increasing safety and improving operations for all users within this corridor. General information is available at the Town’s web-site: http://www.watertowndpw.org/173/Common-Street

Construction will continue during the fall. As students are heading back to school, safety through the active construction zone is paramount. DPW, working with the School Department and Police Department Traffic Division, has developed a temporary pedestrian safety and control plan (See photo above).

Around Town

Watertown High School Strives to Bring Attention to Faded Banner Honoring WWI Veterans

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Hidden in plain sight at Watertown High School is a banner dating back 100 years, made to honor the town residents who went to serve in World War I, as well as, those who died in the “War to End All Wars.” The banner is located in a glass case, not far from the top of the central staircase on the second floor of the high school. It caught the interest of Kraig Gustafson, the AP U.S. History teacher and the district’s grade 6-12 Social Studies Coordinator. He also wanted to do something to honor others who served in the military at that time and since then. Once bordered with bright red with a white center and hundreds of stars some of which form the letters W-H-S, the banner now appears in different shades of gray.

Schools

WHS Class of 2018: A Tight Knit Group of Students Who Care About Each Other

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The message from the graduation speeches on Friday evening was that Watertown High School’s Class of 2018 is a tight group that supports and celebrates each other, putting the whole group ahead of any one individual. When describing the graduating class, Principal Shirley Lundberg used a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote that finishes: “… To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, that is to have succeeded.” “Class of 2018, you have not only only embraced that philosophy, but as a class you have made it your mission,” Lundberg said. This year’s senior class has shown how much they care about each other, Lundberg said.

Schools

Congratulations to Watertown High School’s Class of 2018!

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Congratulations to the members of the Watertown High School Class of 2018 on their graduation on Friday evening! The 158 graduates received their diplomas at Victory Field in front of stands overflowing with family and friends. 2018 Watertown High School Graduates

(+ Cum Laude Society, * National Honor Society)
Alexander Abrahamyan +*
Jillian Anissa Achbady

Muhammad Ahad

Melanie Elizabeth Alberico

Evan James Aldridge

Hakeem Alhady

Amelia Blake Allison *

Mosab K. Amleh

Yaiza Andujar

Akram Mohamed Babali

Anthony Edward Bedrosian

Madiha Begum

Sarah Meehan Benites *

Christina Shirley Borelli *

Benjamin Thomas Bresnee

Angus Hugh Gorman Brouillard

Gabriella Ann Cacia *

Alexis Ann Caira *

Liz Krystal Cam

Timothy Nicholas Camelio

Aiden Isabella Carroll

Sandra Maria Chacon

Joseph Alexander Chau *

Sepahn Chiloyan

Gabriel Giovanni Cimino *

Ruby Charlotte Cohen

Nicholas Cameron Cordeiro +*

Caroline Grace Costa +*

Julia Cottone

Gabriel John Craig

William Israel Cruz

Arianna Virginia Curry

Caroline Theresa D’Amico

Nelziclea Lima Da Silva

Robert Danielian

Julie Maryam Der Torossian

Lori Anne Dorian

Katherine Ann Eaton

Harry Peter Edgely

Lauren Ann Ellis

Fernando Alexander Escamilla Flores

Daniel Louis Fabrizio

David Mark Fabrizio

Hadi Hassan Farhat

Rafael Servare Faria

Alexander James Feltner Harrison *

Edward Gomes Ferreira

Michael James Flynn

Meghan Mary Foley *

Liam Sean Forde

WHS Class of 2018: A Tight Knit Group of Students Who Care About Each Other

Julio Fulcar

Jacquelyn Marie Furbish

Claire Hennacy Gabel +*

Valentina Javiera Gaete Hurtado

Owen Patrick Gallagher

Camilla Alejandra Gana

Michela Josephine Gardner

Jaylene Janayna Garzon

Anna Katerina Gellerman

Natali Gevorgyan *

Valerie Gladun

Siobhan Maureen Greene *

Elian Alexander Guerrero

Melanie Halibian *

Nicholas Patrick Hatfield

Miles Benjamin Hohmann

David Ramos Inacio

Dida Jajan

Rebeka Kadi

Saro Karaguesian

David Alexander Kennedy

Jonna Renee Kennedy *

Conor Michael Kennelly

Hovhannes Khacheryan

Risa Maryam Kiani

Michaela Araxi Kinnear

Elizbeth Ann Knell

John Butler Korte

Christopher Anastasios Koufos *

Emily Rose Koufos *

Andrew Charles Koutroukas +*

Benjamin Patrick Landry

Stephanie Athanasios Laskaris

Katherine Olivia Lawn *

Madelyn Alyssa Leitner

Elijah Asher Bertram Levy

Amanda Virginia Lewis

Jaime Leanne MacDonald

Bryan Anthony MacKenzie

Claudia Lilian Marr Calderon

Jake Ryan Matton

Zachery Richardson Mazzie-Smith

Spencer Margaret McClellan +*

Eva Madeleine McDonald

Brianna Grace McKaughan

Cali Anne McMahon

Jose Luis Mendoza Corea

Camryn Rose Moschella

Diego Alejandro Moscoso

Rachael Takyuka Nakato Mukuye

Ruth Mirembe Babirye Mukuye

Matthew Paul Muldrew

Harrison John Myler

Vazken Ariss Nalbandian

Patra Lillianne Namuddu

Jeannie Ngan *

Mark Joseph Nilan

Katherine Nilov +*

Jonathan Antoine Normilus

Taylor Michelle Nygren

Anahid Lily Ohanyan

Jeremy Oliver Sherry Ornstein +*

Anthony Robert Panza

Ioannis Papadopoulos

Styliani-Eleni Papadopoulou *

Stamatios George Papastamatiou

Catherine Anna Papayannopoulos *

Tia Marisa Pellegrini *

Katlin Dorothy Pelletier *

Daniel Stephen Perry

Carolina Pesqueira

Lauren Rose Petrillo +*

Isaiah Thomas Pierre

Stellios George Pistoftzian

Sydney Yolande Poulin *

Elizabeth May Powderly +*

Ayah Rahim

Kian Abe Rice *

Mariam Hassan Roda *

Wenston Andre Rodriguez

Molly Anne Ryan *

Olivia Gail Ruan

Sergio Salas

Kelsey Adriana Sanchez Coronado

Destiny Marie Santalucia +*

Anna Carolina Bomfim Santos

Christine Saroufim *

Julian Giovanni Schepis *

Ana Isabel Murray Scott *

Artur Sedrakyan

Tigran Levoni Shahnazaryan

Elza Arkadievna Shakhverdova *

Ribina Goharik Simikyan

Brianna Cailtin Sullivan

Timothy Tat *

Michael Alexander Thompson *

Li Ping Elizabeth Titterington

Kerrianne Toland

Kaitlin Marie Tracy +*

Adriana Stephania Villa-Perez

Isabella Marion Vitti *

Rubina Rita Vosbigian *

Connor Daniel Walsh

James Daniel Walter

Mehmet Akif Yagcioglu

Albert Stephan Yildirim

Nicholas Anthony Zegarelli

Ana Houri Zoubian

Schools

Hosmer Proposed as Swing Space During School Construction Projects

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The architects for the renovation or rebuilding of Watertown’s three elementary schools presented refined conceptual drawings of the schools, and proposed to the School Building Committee that students from other schools go to school at Hosmer School while their school is being renovated. The conceptual plans for Lowell, Cunniff and Hosmer elementary schools includes some new construction and some renovation at each school. Architects from Ai3 shared a schedule that would stagger the start of construction at the three schools so that the new construction at Hosmer would be finished first, freeing up the old section of the school for other schools to use for a few months. Saving money on the project has been a focus since it was discovered that the construction cost estimates in the School Facilities Masterplan done by SMMA in 2016 were much lower than is realistic. Town Manager Michael Driscoll has pledged $120 million for the three elementary schools that would come out of the Town’s budget, and not require a tax increase, but Ai3 estimated the cost of the project would be as much as $180 million.