Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/category/schools/page/25/)
“A true measure of any society can be found in how well it treats its most vulnerable members,”Mahatma Gandhi
I’m not a photographer. This will be obvious. When Highland Street repairs were announced, I was very happy. I mentioned to our Councilor that there was a real safety issue at the school crossing at Copeland and Highland streets. This would be a very good time to fix this, I said.
The temporary campus for Watertown High School at PFC Richard Moxley Field opened after a ribbon cutting on Aug. 31 by, from left, Superintendent Dede Galdston, Principal Joel Giacobozzi, Assistant Superintendent Steve Magoon, and City Council President Mark Sideris. (Photo by Maya Shwayder)
The huge, empty hallways smelled like the wood aisle at Home Depot. Large boxes – empty and not – lined most corridors, and all the computers and monitors in the media room were still wrapped in plastic. But nonetheless the modular Watertown High School at PFC Richard Moxley Field held its grand opening five days before the first day of school, complete with a red ribbon and giant scissors to cut it.
Enrollment is up at Watertown High School, despite moving into the temporary location at PFC Ricard Moxley Field. (Courtesy by City of Watertown)
Watertown’s schools are growing at all levels, and some classes at two elementary schools are near or at capacity, Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee. The biggest growth, however, is at the secondary level. Typically, School officials wait until September to provide the first enrollment report to the School Committee, Galdston said, but she wanted to inform members before school started incase they receive questions about it. “Our enrollment is up,” Galdston said.
The following information was provided by Watertown Cooperative Nursery School:
Watertown Cooperative Nursery School is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a free event that is open to the public. StoryFest will take place on Saturday, Sept. 9 from 9 a.m. to noon. Founded in 1952 by a group of parents affiliated with MIT, Watertown Cooperative Nursery School (WCNS) remains dedicated to making families an integral part of their children’s preschool experience. Parents volunteer as classroom helpers and board members.
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.
Superintendent Dede Galdston announced the hiring of Dr. Ceronne Daly as the Watertown Public School’s Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Galdston announced the hiring to staff on Monday. Daly has worked in the Boston Public Schools for more than 10 years, most recently as the Managing Director of the Office of Recruitment, Cultivation, and Diversity Programs.
Daly will officially start working in October, but will be attending events starting this week, Galdston said in her statement. Daly succeeds Kimberlee Henry, who was the first Director of DEIB. The School Committee approved the creation of the position in 2020.
A view of the temporary Watertown High School at Moxley Field from a presentation to the School Building Committee. (Courtesy of the Watertown Schools)
The public can get an inside look at the place where Watertown High School students will call home for the next three years. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at the Watertown High School at Pvt. First Class Moxley Field on Thursday, Aug. 31 at 4:30 p.m.
“The public is welcome and invited to see what beautiful work has been done there for our temporary high school,” City Council President Mark Sideris said.
A view of the temporary Watertown High School at Moxley Field from a presentation to the School Building Committee. (Courtesy of the Watertown Schools)
The final touches are being made on the temporary campus in preparation for Watertown High School students to return to class on Sept. 5, and the students and staff alike will have to adapt to their new digs, which include sites outside the modular campus at Moxley Field. Principal Joel Giacobozzi told the WHS community that they will have to adjust to a new way of “doing school,” in the introduction in the student handbook (see below). Meanwhile, construction crews continue to work to get the two-story school made from prefabricated modules ready for class.