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.

Government

Town Seeking State Money to Repair Watertown Middle School

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It’s time to replace the windows at Watertown Middle School and the town hopes to get help from the state to pay for the work. Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald told the Town Council that the school has 207 windows which are 36 years old. On Tuesday, the Council approved the School Department’s application to the School Building Authority’s accelerated repair program. The School Committee then approved the application at a special meeting on Thursday scheduled just to take the vote. The estimated cost of the project is $310,000. If successful, the town would get nearly half the project paid for by state funds.

Charity

Watertown Middle School Seeks Help in Effort to Win National Contest

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Watertown Middle School’s project to fix up an old home economics kitchen has been selected as a semifinalist in a national competition and now organizers need help from businesses and people in the community. The school entered the Ultimate Neighborhood Give Back Challenge, in which projects from around the country compete to be selected to win a $50,000 prize to help make the project a reality. The money would be used to buy new appliances, counters and more to fix up an unused home economics kitchen. The updated kitchen would be used in the Integrated Life Skills program, which teaches students with special needs to be self-sufficient by focusing on personal responsibility, independence and appropriate interactions. One part of the program is learning to cook.

Schools

School Committee to Discuss Raising Athletic Fees

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The Watertown High School athletics budget could be well in the negative next year, so the School Committee will discuss increasing the athletic fee on June 25. The athletics budget for the middle and high schools combined is over $890,000, but the shortfall could be in the $100,000s. The School Committee will discuss athletic fees at the meeting on Wednesday, June 25 at 7 p.m. in the Watertown High School Lecture Hall. The agenda also includes reviews of the Fiscal 2104 and 2015 budgets, and a discussion of having the school budget reviewed by an independent auditor. To see the whole agenda, click here.