Schools

Find Out Why Campers Were Evacuated from Middle School Monday

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A blown fuse resulted in the evacuation of children from Camp Pequosette to be evacuated on Monday. 

The fuse blew while workers were doing work on the on the roof of Watertown Middle School, said Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald at Monday’s School Committee meeting. When the electricity went out, not only the lights but also the air conditioning went down. Workers started to restore air conditioning on Monday, Fitzgerald said, but she was not sure if the work had been completed that day.

Government

Middle School Window Replacement Approved by Town Council

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Watertown Middle School

Hundreds of windows that leak, let in breezes and do not connect well to the building will be replaced at Watertown Middle School in a project jointly paid for by the town and the state. 

Tuesday night, the Town Council approved the town borrowing $3.08 million, of which 48.47 percent will be reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The price of the project grew from about $300,000 to over $3 million after the state’s project manager, Gale Associates, examined the school and found that 207 windows, instead of just a few dozen, needed replacing. Some windows let in water, others have gaps that let in the cold in the winter and some are permanently closed, said Siva Sivalogan, of exPERTcon Inc., who will serve as owner’s project manger on behalf of the Watertown Public Schools. “(The middle school) is solidly built, unfortunately the windows are not in good shape, to the extent that they are not compliant (with state standards),” Sivalogan said. Sivalogan showed photos of windows that show they are not well connected to the building.

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.