Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/category/schools/page/32/)
Arlington Catholic High School recently released the latest members of the honor roll, including a trio from Watertown. The following Watertown residents were named to the second quarter Honor Roll at Arlington Catholic High School:
Andrew Airasian
Matthew Brown
Donald MacMillan
Superintendent Dede Galdston will recommend that the School Committee allow mask wearing for students to be optional, as long as the COVID-19 cases trend continues “in the right direction.” Currently, students must wear a face covering in the classroom at all times, and during breaks and lunch, except when eating or drinking. The presentation will be made at the School Committee’s meeting on March 7, Galdston said in an announcement. She noted that unlike past vacations, the district did not see an increase in cases after February break. “Based on our pool testing and parent/staff reporting, we only have six known active COVID cases in the district,” Galdston said in the announcement.
Ai3 ArchitectsAn illustration of what the outside of the new Watertown High School will look like. The plan to build new Watertown High School passed the last major hurdle when the state approved the project on Wednesday. The Massachusetts School Building Authority voted to approve the project on March 2. The new school will be built on the same location as the current school, and architects projected the cost at $201 million at the Dec. 15, 2021 School Building Committee meeting.
The following announcement was provided by the University of Maine:
The University of Maine recognized 3,102 students for achieving Dean’s List honors in the fall 2021 semester. Of the students who made the Dean’s List, 2,025 are from Maine, 1,009 are from 39 other states and 68 are from 25 countries other than the U.S.
One student on the Dean’s List was Watertown’s Caileigh Sullivan. To be eligible for the Full-time Dean’s List, a student must have completed 12 or more calculable credits in the semester and have earned a 3.50 or higher semester GPA. Students who have part-time status during both the fall and spring semesters of a given academic year are eligible for Part-time Dean’s List. They must have completed 12 or more calculable credits over both terms and have earned a combined GPA in those terms of 3.50 or higher.
A Watertown-based non-profit group seeks to make sure that students learn about the messages they are getting from television, video games and social media, and how they impact their lives. Media Literacy Now was started by Erin McNeill who first became aware of the impact of media on children in 2011. “What really pushed me to do this was I could see what was happening to my own kids, and how much they were influenced by messages they were getting: mostly at that time from television, and then as time went on, video games and now it has gotten more extreme — wall-to-wall messages,” McNeill said. “The messages tell kids who they are and what they should be. They are powerful, parents are powerful too, but multi-million dollar corporations are influencing children.” McNeill knows about the media having worked in the industry, including covering policy and how it is made in the United States while working for Congressional Quarterly.
Ai3 ArchitectsThe outdoor space around the new Watertown High School will include an amphitheater west of the school, an outdoor learning area to the east, and a grassy area to the south. Designs for the new Watertown High School are coming together, but the School Building Committee would like some more specifics about the area east of the school. Landscape architects made some changes of the outdoor area along Common Street, said Arthur Eddy of Traverse at the Feb. 16 School Building Committee meeting. “You asked us to reduce paving within the site along Common Street,” Eddy said.
The following announcement was provided by the Charles River Regional Chamber:
The Charles River Regional Chamber will be awarding a scholarship this spring to a graduating high school senior from Watertown. To qualify a student must either live in Watertown and/or attend school in Watertown. The recipient will have a check (approximately $2,000) sent to their college or university to be applied toward tuition upon successful completion of their first semester. “The Chamber had been offering a scholarships to a high schoolers in Newton and Needham and Wellesley. We’re now adding Watertown to the mix, following our expansion into the community last summer,” said Chamber President Greg Reibman. With the expansion into Watertown, the Chamber has added Mike Albano, EVP & CFO at Mount Auburn Cemetery — who used to lead the former Watertown-Belmont scholarship program — to the scholarship selection committee.
The ad hoc committee that will study vocational and career education available to Watertown students will have four members of the public, and a consultant will assist members. The Vocational, Technical, and Career Education Options Ad Hoc Committee will have a total of nine members, and will meet monthly from February to June. Ultimately, it will come up with recommendations to the School Committee. The committee was formed after access to Minuteman High School was reduced for Watertown students after the vocational school opened its new campus in September 2019. Watertown is not a member district, but instead pays tuition for students to attend the school located in Lexington.