Around Town

Coat Drive for Kids and Families, Drop Off Site at Watertown Middle School

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Eliot Tatelman, President of Jordan’s Furniture, Arthur Anton Jr., COO of Anton’s Cleaners, and Jack Clancy, CEO of Enterprise Bank have teamed up for Caring Partners’ Coats for Kids & Families. (Courtesy photo)

The following announcement was provided by Caring Partners’ Coats for Kids & Families:

In hard economic times and cooler weather, a warm coat isn’t a luxury… it is a necessity. In every community, there are thousands of children and adults who may otherwise not have access to warm winter coats this winter. As New England’s largest coat drive for nearly 30 years, Caring Partners’ Coats for Kids & Families collects gently used coats of all sizes and for all ages from October 2nd through January 7th. After collection, the coats are professionally cleaned by Anton’s and given to local nonprofits, social service agencies, and schools for distribution.

Around Town

Council Approves Funding for A/C at Middle School, Printers for City Clerk’s Office

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Photo by Charlie BreitroseWatertown City Hall

The basement and first floor of Watertown Middle School will be getting air conditioning after the City Council approved funding last week. Over the last few years the Middle School’s HVAC system has been updated floor by floor, and the basement and first floor are the final areas to be upgraded, said City Manager George Proakis. On Oct. 10, the Council approved borrowing $315,000 which will be used by the Public Buildings Department to design and complete the work by the spring of 2024. There was already $72,000 in funding for the project in the City’s Capital Improvement Plan.

Schools

Changes to Watertown Schools Attendance Policies, Other Policies at Middle and High Schools

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The new school year brings new policies for the Watertown Public Schools, including families being asked to report student absences with an online form, new rules for tardies at the high school, and actions for middle school students failing math and English Language Arts. The School Committee heard about changes to the student handbooks at Watertown Public Schools starting this fall at the Aug. 21 meeting. Absences

Superintendent Dede Galdston said that the big change for the procedures when a student is absent is filling out and sending in a Google form online. “If you have an excused absence, any absence, you have to fill out a form, a Google form, instead of an email or phone call,” Galdston said.

Around Town

Siblings Advocating for LGBTQ+ Rights at Watertown’s Schools

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Ashe and Vivian Flan have been advocating for Watertown’s LGBTQ+ students at their schools’ GSAs as well as in regional and statewide groups. (Photo courtesy of Alison Coleman-Hardy)

In the post-COVID times, the number of students coming out as gay, lesbian, non-binary, and trans has been on the rise, and a pair of siblings has been actively promoting awareness and seeking rights for members of LGBTQ+ in the Watertown Public Schools. Vivian and Ashe Flan are presidents of the Genders Sexuality Alliance (GSA) at Watertown High School and Watertown Middle School, respectively. While just four years apart in age, they have seen the difference in attitudes, and willingness for students to come out at an earlier age. Vivian, a WHS junior, who identifies as nonbinary and uses the pronouns they/them.

Schools

Busing Available to High School Moxley Campus, Fewer Spots for Hosmer Bus Next Year

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by Pixabay

Students living more than three-quarters of a mile from the temporary Watertown High School campus at Moxley Field will be able to ride the school bus for free next year. The School Committee also heard that the number of seats on the bus to Hosmer Elementary School will be reduced starting in the fall. Superintendent Dede Galdston said that while the free busing to the high school will be available, it is intended for students would ride it regularly. “It is for students committed to riding the bus for the school year. It is not public transportation.

Schools

Watertown Schools See Influx of Students at Elementary, High School Levels

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Charlie BreitroseThe new school building at Cunniff Elementary School, along with the new Hosmer School have seen an increase of enrollment this fall. Watertown High School has also grown. More students arrived at the Watertown Public Schools than expected this fall, requiring the addition of some new classes, teachers and support staff. Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee on Monday that she believes the district’s new schools are part of the draw. The 2022-23 school year is the first that students will spend the whole year in the new Cunniff and Hosmer elementary school buildings.

9/11

Watertown Students Create 9/11 Tribute With Help of Public

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Students from the Watertown Middle School’s Project 351 Team created a tribute to the Massachusetts residents lost on 9/11. A colorful arrangement of rocks sits in front of the Watertown Free Public Library, with each rock representing one of the 206 Massachusetts residents who lost their lives in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The installation was created by a group of Watertown students, who got a hand from the public, said Montserrat Llacuna, a freshman at Watertown High School who led the Middle School’s Project351 Watertown Team to create the tribute. Each of the 206 rocks were painted an have messages of hope, courage and support.

Capital Projects

Capital Projects Include Community Path, Work at Middle School, Reuse of Old Police Station

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The City Council approved the recommendations for the Fiscal Year 2023-27 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which includes extending the Community Path, improvements to Watertown Middle School, reusing the old Watertown Police Station, along with road repair and other projects. The 34 recommendations of the FY23-27 CIP includes $27.6 million in capital spending in Fiscal year 2023, which would be 7.71 percent of the total projected City revenues not including the funds for the Building for the Future school projects (16 percent with them). That figure fits within the City Council’s budget guideline to spend between 7.5 percent and 8 percent of the City Operating Budget on capital projects, said Council Vice President Vincent Piccirilli. Community Path

Three of the CIP recommendations related to extending the Community Path, which currently goes from Arlington Street, behind Target to School Street, and runs along Arsenal Street. The path will be extended from Taylor Street (off Arsenal Street) to Saltonstall Park.