Schools

School Committee Looking at Changing School Start Times in Fall 2017

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Watertown Public Schools officials will investigate starting the day for the high school and middle school later each day in the fall of 2017, however a change could be coming for middle schoolers in the fall of 2016. The School Committee’s Policy Subcommittee took up the issue Thursday morning and gave their OK for Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald to look at moving the school day later. The move has been looked at because research has shown that teenagers’ body clock has them staying up later and they need more than eight hours sleep. The current start time for high school (7:55 a.m.) and middle school (7:40 a.m.) are earlier than the research recommends. A survey of Watertown parents found them more supportive moving school start time back 15 minutes than 30 minutes, or more, to get to the 8:30 a.m. start time school officials are looking at.

Schools

Watertown Junior Chosen as a Winner in National Essay Contest

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The international nonprofit organization Facing History and Ourselves today announced the seven student winners of The 2016 Facing History Together Student Essay Contest. The winning students – including a Watertown junior –and their classrooms and teachers will receive over $9,000 in scholarships and prizes. This year’s contest, “Student Voices: To Kill a Mockingbird in Today’s World,” invited students to reflect on the themes, characters, and settings from Harper Lee’s classic American novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, in order to make connections to their own experiences. Nearly 4,000 seventh-12th grade students from across the U.S. submitted an essay. Meet the Winners:
Cicada Scott, Senior
Manitou Springs High School, Manitou Springs, Colorado
“Congratulations!

Schools

Watertown High Welcomes Three Guest Speakers for SPEAK Week

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The annual SPEAK Week is back at Watertown High School (WHS) March 28-April 1!! SPEAK (Sharing Personal Experiences and Knowledge) Week is organized by Wayside Multi Service-Center’s Watertown Youth Coalition (WYC) Peer Leaders from WHS, the WYC announced. Every year WYC Peer Leaders organize a fun filled week with special guest speakers, activities and knowledge building that relate to helping youth make positive healthy choices. This year SPEAK Week welcomes three guest speakers:

Get Real Teen Council, presenting on healthy relationships and consent, brought by the WHS Feminist Group. Dr. Bernard Lafayette, civil rights activist who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, brought by World of Watertown, Watertown Public School Department, and the Watertown Police Department, discussing nonviolent conflict reconciliation.

Schools

Grades May Shift to Different Schools to Relieve Overcrowded Classes

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The grades served by each school in Watertown schools could change significantly in an effort to relieve overcrowded classrooms, Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald told the Town Council Tuesday night. Watertown School officials got their request to apply for state money to rebuild or renovate Watertown High School approved by the Town Council Tuesday night. The new high school building would also be used for other grades, resulting in fewer students at the middle school and the three elementary schools. The town’s elementary schools, particularly the Cunniff, have become overcrowded, but Fitzgerald said the high school was identified as the building in greatest need of replacement, according to a consultant’s study a few years ago. She has a plan that to use the new school to help other schools.

Accreditation

Watertown High School Preparing for NEASC Accreditation Visit

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Every 10 years, Watertown High School goes through the accreditation process, and the staff has been busy preparing for a four-day visit by a team which begins on Sunday. A team from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) will be at Watertown High School starting March 13, said Maureen Regan, Grades 6-12 English Language Arts Coordinator, who co-chaired the accreditation preparation with guidance councilor Adrienne Eaton. Preparation
The preparation began three years ago when the school staff did a self study, Regan told the School Committee Monday night. The first step was to create school-wide learning expectations, which had two main focuses: effective oral and written communication, and college, career and life skills readiness. In the fall of 2014, the Endicott College Opinion Survey was given to students, parents and faculty.

Art

Local Gallery Exhibiting the Work of Watertown High Art Students

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A Watertown High School art class and a local art gallery will team up to give the students an unusual experience for artists their age – their very own art exhibition. Starting on Feb. 4, ROOM 83 Spring will host the exhibit of works created by the advanced art class at the high school. WHS art teacher Donna Calleja and her class has visited the gallery run by Ellen Wineberg and Cathleen Daley on Spring Street, and they decided to take it a step further. “I’ve been taking the class over there the last year-and-a-half, and last spring (Ellen and Cathleen) said why don’t we see how we can host a high school exhibit,” Calleja said.

Schools

Stories by Two Watertown High Journalists Featured on National Site

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Raider Times reporters have produced two recent stories that have been featured on a site that highlights the best high school journalism from across the country. In November, Watertown High School’s Rebecca Grossman chronicled the efforts of WHS science teacher Jennifer MacDonald to cut back on the number of one-use cups from places like Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks. MacDonald, who teaches AP environmental science and is the mentor for the high school’s Environmental Club, banned single-use cups from her class. At the same time, the school has put in water fountain that has a spigot to fill water bottles. Grossman reports that the new fountain had saved about 7,000 bottles by early November.

Fab Lab

Fab Lab Inspiring Watertown High School Students to Learn, Explore

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A once quiet corner of the Watertown High School Library is now filled with enthusiastic students making their visions come to life in the school’s new Fab Lab. The library staff removed 12 large bookcases with out-of-date books on them and the area now has two 3-D printers, a vinyl cutter and a laser cutter, with a computer station to send their designs to the machines. In addition there is a wood router in the Career and Technical Education room and some old school machines in the library – two sewing machines. While the books are gone, the Fab Lab is another way for students to approach things, said WHS Library Media Specialist Erin Piazza. “The library is a place students use to find information, prepare projects or reflect what they learn,” Piazza said.