Schools

Watertown Alums Want to Honor Former Principal With Plaque at Middle School

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A group of students who attended the old West Junior High School wanted to honor their former principal, Jack Burns, and decided to pay for a plaque at the middle school. Earlier this month June Ford and Mike Younger, who attended West Junior High from about 1975-77, appeared at the School Committee’s Building and Grounds Subcommittee and Ford made an emotional plea for permission to install the plaque. “You were never a number for him. He cared about you,” Ford said. “He not only cared about you as a student, but as a person.”

Schools

Last Chance to Catch Lion King Jr. at Watertown Middle School

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Tonight is the final performance of Watertown Middle School’s production of Lion King Jr.

The middle school sent out the following announcement:

Final Chance to catch the Lion King Jr., a truly colorful Watertown Middle School musical that is not to be missed! The last performance is tonight, Friday, March 4. The preshow — which features some spectacular African drumming and dancing – starts at 6:30 p.m., and the show itself starts at 7 p.m.  Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, available at the door. Refreshments and t-shirts are also available.

Government

Council Grudgingly Supports School Project After Price Tag Soars

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The Town Council will consider adding millions to the price of the window replacement project at Watertown Middle School after the scope of the project was changed. 

The proposed project calls for replacing 207 plexiglass windows in the old section of the middle school. The estimate for the cost of replacing plexiglass windows at the middle school was $302,642 but after the owner’s project manager appointed by the state studied the project the cost of the project jumped to between $2.6 million and $2.9 million. The change in price was due to a change in the scope of the project, said Councilor Vincent Piccirilli, chair of the Budget and Fiscal Oversight subcommittee – the committee which voted to recommend the council endorse the project with the new budget. The project has been submitted to and accepted by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). This means the state will reimburse Watertown for 48.47 percent of the cost of the project, and that the town must follow the MSBA’s rules and even what will be included in the project. Council Vice President Steve Corbett said he was shocked to see such a miscalculation.

Schools

Google Laptops a Big Hit with Watertown Middle School Students

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This year, each eighth-grader at Watertown Middle School has his or her own laptop to use at school, and the reviews have been very positive from both students and teachers. 

As part of the pilot project known as the 1:1 Chormebook Initiative, the students get to use a Google Chromebook while they are at school. They also have access to the Google Drive to look up assignments, organize their papers and keep track of the assignments, a group of students told the School Committee Monday night. WMS Student Council President Susie Howard said the students save about 15 minutes per class by not having to pick up, turn on the Chromebooks at the start of class, and then put away and make sure the wires are plugged in at the end of class. A feature called Google Classroom allows student to look up homework assignments so that they do not lose them or forget about them. Students said as long as they have internet access, they can use the Chromebooks anywhere, anytime.

Schools

Watertown Schools Have Plan to Improve the Few Lower MCAS Scores

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Watertown’s students performed better or the same as the state average on the most recent MCAS test, except for in middle school science. The district has already started rolling out ways to improve those results. Watertown students fared better than the state average on the 10th grade MCAS math test with 82 percent compared to 78 percent for the state in the Proficient or Advanced categories, which are passing scores. The 10th graders were just below the state average on the MCAS English Language Arts (ELA) with 90 percent passing, compared to 91 for the state. In fifth grade math, Watertown was above the state on the MCAS, with 52 percent passing compared to 51 percent for the state.

Charity

Watertown Eighth-Grader Met the Governor, Ran Kids Clothing Drive

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Eighth-grader Honor Petrie was chosen to represent all of Watertown Middle School in a statewide event – Project 351 – where she got to meet Gov. Charlie Baker. This spring, she organized a clothing drive at the school that collected dozens of bags of clothes to give to Cradles to Crayons, a children’s charity. 

Watertown News asked Petrie about her experiences as Watertown’s ambassador to Project 351 and her clothing drive. Q: How were you chosen to represent Watertown Middle School for Project 351, and why did you want to become an Ambassador? A: I hadn’t ever heard of Project 351 until I was called down to the office one day at school, and my principal (Mr. Carter) explained to me what Project 351 is, and why I was chosen to be Ambassador. I was really surprised and so excited.

Schools

Taste Some Beer and Raise Money for Watertown Middle School

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Celebrate the kids return to school and benefit the Watertown Middle School at this adults-only PTO sponsored beer-tasting and fundraiser! 

The fundraiser will be held Tuesday, April 28 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Miller’s Ale House, 617 Arsenal St, Watertown

Your ticket includes:

• complimentary appetizers

• 4-flight beer-tasting (first flight starts at 7 p.m.)

• 50/50 raffle

• select batch of silent auction items ( 4 Red Sox Tickets behind home plate, 6 pack of passes to Patriots Place Hall, Local Restaurant Gift Cards, Golf Foursome at the Miller Tracy Golf Tourney June 11, Tupperware chip and dip set, and more!)

Buy tickets in advance for $18 or at the door for $20

https://tapintothewms-pto.eventbrite.com

This fun, community building event will raise funds to support WMS classrooms, students and teachers.

Charity

Win a Tesla Test Drive at the Pennies for Patients Basketball Game Tonight!

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On Thursday, March 27, at 6 p.m. Watertown Middle School hosts a charity basketball game to raise money for Pennies for Patients – which provides funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The game between students and staff is a rematch of a contest earlier in the year which went to three overtimes and ended in a tie! Tesla of Watertown has donated a 24 hour Tesla test drive which will be awarded to the winners of a silent auction at the game. Tesla will have a car on display in our parking lot. The lobby and auditorium at the middle school are dedicated to Peter Clough who died at 32 of Lymphoma 20 years ago. Several members of the Clough family will be attending the event.