Schools

Watertown Schools Select New Director of Equity & Inclusion

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Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston announced the selection of the district’s first Director of Equity & Inclusion. The School Committee approved the creation of the position in December following racial bullying incidents that took place at Watertown Middle School in the fall, which led to a highly attended meeting of parents calling for action. Galdston included the following statement in her Superintendent Newsletter:

Introducing Our New Director of Equity & Inclusion

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Dr. Kimberlee Henry was selected as our new Director of Equity & Inclusion for the 2021-2022 school year and beyond. Dr. Henry is a strategic and creative leader who is dedicated to advancing the District’s equity work in this leadership role to help Watertown Public schools become an anti-racist and anti-biased school system. Dr. Henry’s background in public schools as a teacher and principal at both the elementary and secondary levels, and present role as the Principal at the STEM Academy in Lowell, MA have provided her with extensive experiences to take forward in her new role.

Schools

Watertown Schools Requiring COVID Pool Testing for Students Attending In-Person

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Watertown students who attend school in-person will be required to be part of the district’s COVID-19 pool testing when they return to five-days-a-week classes. The School Committee approved the requirement on Monday night. Superintendent Dede Galdston said that the move will help keep students and staff safe. “We have all the strategies in place to prevent infections, but it is a highly infectious disease and our students are not vaccinated yet,” Galdston said. “Let’s do what we can across the board to keep our students and our community safe.”

Schools

Minuteman Student from Watertown Wins Medal at SkillsUSA Competition

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A Watertown student was one of more than a dozen from Minuteman High School who won medals at a recent SkillsUSA Massachusetts competition. The school sent out the following announcement:

Minuteman High School students recently competed against 13 other high schools and were awarded 18 medals in the SkillsUSA Massachusetts District 3 Competition for demonstrating knowledge in their career technical area of study, employability skills and safety. Minuteman brought home six gold medals, seven silver, and five bronze. Twelve students of the 18 students will advance to the SkillsUSA MA States competition to be held in late April at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School. The winners are listed below, those with asterisks will continue onto the state level competitions:

Competition: Advertising Design

GOLD: Ariana Calder, Design and Visual Communications career major, grade 12, Lancaster*

Competition: Auto Service Technology

BRONZE: Ryan Breen-Aronson, Automotive Technology career major, grade 10, Arlington

Competition: Cabinetmaking

GOLD: Olivia O’Neill, Carpentry career major, grade 10, Lexington*SILVER: Annie Brosnan, Carpentry career major, grade 10, Arlington*

BRONZE: Caleb Begley, Carpentry career major, grade 10, Arlington

Competition: CNC Milling

GOLD: Ellie Vail, Advanced Manufacturing career major, grade 12, Arlington*

SILVER: Jonathan Corbett, Advanced Manufacturing career major, grade 12, Watertown

Competition: CNC Turning

GOLD: Henry Price, Advanced Manufacturing career major, grade 12, Brookline*

BRONZE: Bradley Winters, Advanced Manufacturing career major, grade 11, Lexington

Competition: Commercial Baking

SILVER: Alex Findeis, Culinary Arts career major, grade 10, Belmont*

Competition: Culinary Arts

SILVER: Josh Formaggio, Culinary Arts career major, grade 10, Acton*

Competition: Early Education

BRONZE: Maria DaSilva, Early Education and Teaching career major, grade 11, Arlington

Competition: First Aid

SILVER: Sophia Magdeleno, Health Assisting career major, grade 10, Stow*

Competition: Plumbing

SILVER: Harrison Hathaway, Plumbing and Heating career major, grade 11, Newton*

BRONZE: Marc-Andre Noel, Plumbing and Heating career major, grade 10, Medford

Competition: Robotics and Automation

GOLD: Gabriel Herbertz, Robotics and Automation career major, grade 12, Stow*

GOLD: Peter Loschen, Robotics and Automation career major, grade 12, Winchester*

Competition: Welding

SILVER: Nathan Doherty, Metal Fabrication and Welding career major, grade 12, Lancaster*

Minuteman’s Faculty Advisors for the SkillsUSA Club are Denise D’Ambrosia, teaching assistant, and Clifford Keirstead, carpentry teacher.

Schools

School Building Committee Leans Toward Single Building on Current High School Site

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A rendering of what a two-story modular building could look like (in white) on Moxley Field. It would be the temporary location for Watertown High School while a new school is constructed. Watertown Middle School can be seen behind the modular campus. The School Building Committee told designers that they like the direction they are going with a single building on the current site for the new Watertown High School. That design would require students to go to a swing space during construction, and Moxley Field has been identified as the preferred temporary site.

Business

Watertown Company Teams Food Trucks, Schools to Put on Fundraisers

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Watertown-based Food Truck Ventures teams up food trucks and schools for fundraisers. Here a food truck visits Wellington School in Belmont as part of the StrEATS for Schools program. The pandemic has made fundraising for schools and PTOs more challenging, but a Watertown-based company has provided a way for schools to bring in money and also provide a tasty meal. This school year, Food Truck Ventures started offering StrEATS for Schools, where food trucks can come to the school or neighborhood and provide food and bring in some funds. Several schools in the area, including Lowell Elementary School in Watertown, have taken advantage.

Schools

Find Out About Wellbeing of Watertown’s Youth at Virtual Town Hall Meeting

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Youth Coalition:

A Town Hall Meeting about the wellbeing of Watertown’s Youth will be held on March 31 at 6:30 p.m.

The event is hosted by the Watertown Youth Coalition and Wayside Youth and Family Support Network in partnership with Watertown Community Foundation & Watertown Public Schools. Register by visiting: https://zoom.us/…/tJEtduyoqD0oE9H8HoibNMWq1ZZ3dJlwxx7f

Police/Fire

See Photos from the 2 Rallies Near the Watertown Police Station

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The sun sets as crowds disperse after the two rallies Thursday in front of the Watertown Police Station. Hundreds of supporters from two groups gathered on either side of Main Street in dueling rallies in front of the Watertown Police Station on Thursday afternoon. The pro-police supporters outnumbered those supporting the teacher who showed the controversial video at Watertown Middle School. Supporters of the Watertown Police waved flags and held signs on Thursday afternoon. Many came to support the Watertown Police, in a “Back the Blue” rally following the showing an anti-police video at Watertown Middle School.

Police/Fire

School Committee Statement: Supports Anti-Racist Work & Watertown Police

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The following piece was provided by the Watertown School Committee:

The Watertown School Committee is committed to becoming an anti-racist school system by acknowledging the structural and institutional racism that is pervasive throughout this nation and its many institutions, and also consistently working to present that reality and incorporate those lessons into the Watertown Public Schools’ curriculum. We also support the Watertown Police Department and acknowledge their work with our schools to create transparent and safe community relations between the Police Department and the WPS. These two statements are not at odds with one another, despite the growing public divide: We can both support the important work of the Watertown Police Department and condemn long standing institutional and systemic racism. Recently our community has been challenged and hurt by an incident at Watertown Middle School involving a video played to a group of students. Instead of fostering open discussion in the classroom, this video sparked divisions in our community, particularly around policing and, by extension, the Watertown Police Department.