Arlington Catholic High School announced the fourth quarter honor roll for 2022. The honor roll includes Watertown residents Andrew Airasian, Matthew Brown, and Donald MacMillan. All three students received grades of B or better in all classes during the fourth quarter.
Charlie BreitroseWatertown Superintendent of Schools Dede Galdston. Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston received good marks on her annual performance evaluation from the School Committee. The School Committee discussed their job review for the leader of the Watertown Public Schools on Monday night. On the overall performance, Galdston received two “exemplary” evaluations (the top mark) and five “proficient” (second highest), said School Committee Chair Kendra Foley. “This is a very positive evaluation.
The City of Watertown released the following job description:
The City of Watertown seeks to hire School Crossing Guards to work under the supervision of theWatertown Police Department. Responsibilities include monitoring vehicle and pedestrian traffic at assigned crossings to assist school children crossing the streets, while providing for the orderly movement of traffic. Must be able to communicate effectively with school children, parents, and drivers, ensure that children cross the street properly and safely. Must be able to stand for the entire shift and to tolerate exposure to all types of weather conditions, maintain a high level of awareness, be reliable and can use judgement and work independently. Required Qualifications
The following announcement was provided by MassBay Community College:
MassBay Community College is set to receive $735,000 as its share of a state-funded Workforce Training Grant. The funds are intended to create and expand training programs in high-demand industries, while helping populations who have traditionally experienced higher rates of unemployment and barriers to employment. “These funds are of tremendous benefit to us at MassBay,” said David Podell, President. “For more than six decades MassBay has been providing the education students of all ages and backgrounds need to fill the jobs of the emergent economy and to embark on sustainable careers. These funds come at a time when the industries of MetroWest need skilled workers more than ever, so the timing is impeccable.
Ai3 ArchitectsAn illustration of what the outside of the new Watertown High School will look like. The cost of constructing the new Watertown High School has risen since the budget was sent to state officials, and one of the steps to cover the gap of $14.47 million was taken Tuesday when the City Council approved transferring $4.175 million
City Council President Mark Sideris, who chairs the School Building Committee, said that the rising cost of construction was a major part of the increase in the project budget over the $138.6 million budget approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. “We on the School Building Committee have been working since 2018 on school projects. Our first set of projects went very well, and are still on, or slightly under, budget and came in earlier than expected,” Sideris said. “When we got to the high school COVID happened.
St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary SchoolHoury Boyamian announced her retirement as principal of the St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School in Watertown. The longtime principal of the St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School in Watertown announced she will be retiring.
Watertown Youth CoalitionThe Watertown Youth Peer Leaders pose with the staff from the Watertown Youth Coalition after the peer leaders received their awards at the 2022 Community Spirit Awards. For the first time since 2019, on June 8, the Watertown Youth Coalition along with Wayside Youth and Family Support Network hosted their yearly Community Spirit Awards ceremony and reception at Arsenal Park in Watertown. The event was put together by Watertown Youth Coalition (WYC) Peer Leadership Advisor, Zhane Goode, and WYC Program coordinator Stephanie Sunderland, who had to miss the ceremony due to unforeseen circumstances. Zhane, who has been working with all of the honored students for a few years, was very happy to finally be able to hold the awards in person and noted that the students were especially excited to get to celebrate together with their friends and family. For Zhane herself, she began her work at the WYC during the pandemic, so she said it was really nice to see everyone all together as a community.
The event has not been held in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was attended by many members of the community, including the honorees, those who nominated them for spirit awards, and families, friends, and other Watertown citizens who came to celebrate their achievements.
The group exploring vocational and technical education options for Watertown students has found a variety of possibilities, but the ad hoc committee has not come up with recommendations yet. Watertown could look to join a vocational high school district, join into an agreement with another community that has a vocational program, expand the number of offerings at WHS, or use a combination of those options, said School Committee member David Stokes, who chairs the Vocational Technical Ad Hoc Committee. “It seems like we haven’t gotten very far, but we have done a whole lot,” Stokes said. “We are farther along than a lot of people think, because we haven’t produced anything yet, but it is coming shortly.” The committee was formed after students seeking vocational or technical education programs struggled to get into Minuteman High School in Lexington.