UPDATED: Catch the Watertown High Musical, “Urinetown,” This Weekend

Watertown High School will present the musical “Urinetown” three times this weekend. (The time of the Sunday production of Urinetown has been updated.)

Watertown High School will present three productions of the musical, Urinetown, this weekend. The WHS spring musical will be performed at the Watertown High School on Friday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m., and Sunday, March 10 at 2:00 p.m.

Musical Theatre International had the following description of the show:

Urinetown, is in fact, a satire of almost every musical you can think of. More than this it parodies the traditions of musicals as a whole in terms of style, structure and story. It also jabs at the legal system, capitalism, corrupt corporation, waste in terms of the environment and our sense of entitlement (amongst other things).

Big Shift Coming to Watertown High School Class Schedule

Watertown High School students and teachers will have to adjust to a very different class schedule beginning in the fall of 2019. School officials say the new schedule will allow for more projects, longer times for labs and pefromances. Currently, the high school has a schedule with six equal length class periods which meet in the same order every day. It is on a seven-day cycle in which advisory meets once a week. 

The current schedule has been in place for 20 years, but there has been a desire for some time to change it, Watertown High School Principal Shirley Lundberg told the School Committee Monday night. Discussions began last year, but the decision was made to delay making the change until the fall of 2019.

WHS Robotics Team Will Demonstrate its Robots at Driveathon

The Watertown High School Robotics Team will be demonstrating their robots at the WHS Gym 

The Watertown High School Robotics Team sent out the following information:

Come join the WHS Robotics Team for a Drive­a­thon, Alumni Reunion & Robot Rodeo on December 15, 2018 at 11 a.m.

Students, mentors and alums will divide into three member drive teams to see how many laps they can drive a robot around the course on the basketball court, including traversing obstacles during a five minute time period. Pledges can be made for the number of laps completed by a drive team within the time limit or a lump sum donation made. Several team robots will be on display for family, friends and sponsors to view. Why not give driving a robot a try too? All are welcome!

Two Watertown High School Students Named National Merit Commended Students

Two Watertown High School seniors received recognition from National Merit Program for being among the top scorers on the PSAT. Nathan Follett and Robert Leonard were named Commended Students in the 2019 National Merit Program, based on their scores on the 2017 PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test), Superintendent Dede Galdston announced at this week’s School Committee meeting. Approximately 1.6 million students took the PSAT in 2017, and the top 50,000 were identified by the National Merit Program. “They are approximately in the top 3 percent of students in the nation,” Galdston said. School Committee Chairman John Portz added, “Congratulations to both of you.

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

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.