Around Town

State Looks to Fill Job Openings in Tricky Economy, Offering Programs for Career Changers & Immigrants in Shelters

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Lauren Jones, State Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, spoke at the Charles River Regional Chamber event at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Watertown on Feb. 6. (Courtesy of Charles River Chamber)

Massachusetts finds itself in an unusual job market in the post-Pandemic period. The state added more than 50,000 jobs from 2019 to 2023, but at during the same period the workforce declined by 113,000 people, creating a tight job market. Last week, Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Lauren Jones spoke at an event hosted by the Charles River Regional Chamber at Watertown’s Hampton Inn & Suites.

Schools

Information About Watertown’s Free PreK and Preschool Programs

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On Monday, the School Committee approved Superintendent Dede Galdston’s plan to provide free universal prekindergarten in the Watertown Public Schools beginning in the fall of 2024. Galdston provided more information about the program in an announcement sent out this week, see it below. Watertown Public Schools is pleased to announce that PreKindergarten and Preschool classes will be tuition-free for children who turn 4 by August 31, 2024. Applications for the 2024-2025 school year have already begun, and we are excited to be able to offer up to 40 additional spaces for Watertown children in our prekindergarten and preschool classrooms.

Here is more information about our Early Steps PreKindergarten program and process:

PreKindergarten is for students who turn four by August 31. The classroom has 18 students in it with 1 certified teacher and 1 instructional assistant. The curriculum is age-appropriate with an emphasis on socialization, early numeracy, and early literacy skills.

Government

Watertown’s Building and Inspectional Services Departments Moving Out of City Hall

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Another Watertown City department will be moving out of City Hall and into the Parker Annex building. The Health Department and the Information Technology departments have already made the move south of the Charles River. The City of Watertown sent out the following information:

Watertown Building/Inspectional Services is moving on Thursday, February 22, 2024 and Friday February 23, 2024 to the Parker Annex Third floor, room 3D, located at 124 Watertown St., Watertown, MA 02472. They will still have the same phone number of 617-972-6480, the same contact information, and the same webpage. The staff will not be available for in-office face-to-face interactions starting at 11 a.m. on Thursday the 23rd and all-day Friday the 24th.

Around Town

Changing Main Street: Post Office Closes (for Now), Restaurants Coming and Going

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Crown CafeDiners enjoy a meal at Crown Cafe on Main Street. The restaurant will soon close after getting a notice to vacate to make way for a new development on Main Street. Over the past couple of weeks, the section of Main Street near Watertown Square has gone through more changes than it has for many years, with the Post Office closing — at least temporarily — restaurants opening and closing, and a new development starting construction soon. On Jan. 26, the Main Street Post Office closed for at least two years.

Sports

Watertown High School Athletes Gearing Up for State Tourney, Some Along Side Belmont Players

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by Charlie BreitroseSenior Laura Biagiotti and the Raiders’ girls basketball team have had a successful season. Here she plays against Oakmont in the 2023 State Tournament. Watertown High School’s winter sports teams are all on track to make the State Tournament in 2024, and even one group that doesn’t have a team of its own will be playing in the post season. Girls Basketball

The Raiders girls basketball team, under first year head coach Michael Tempesta, has put together two four-game winning streaks on the way to a 10-4 record. Most recently Watertown defeated Stoneham 53-34 at Watertown Middle School (the Raiders home court during the construction of the new high school).

Schools

Watertown Schools to Offer Free PreK Starting in Fall 2024

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(Courtesy of Watertown Public Schools)

Starting next fall, Watertown will offer free pre-kindergarten classes for 90 4-year-olds in town as part of a new universal PreK program. Since she arrived in Watertown, Superintendent Dede Galdston has been talking about offering universal PreKindergarten. She hoped that the district would get financial help from the federal or state government, but that has not materialized. “Sooner or later, if we feel this is something that is true to our core values, we might want to consider doing it ourselves,” Galdston told the School Committee on Monday. “So, I think we are at the moment and time where I think we do so.”

Around Town

New Banh Mi Restaurant Opens in Watertown, Grand Opening This Week

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Watertown has a new destination for Vietnamese sandwiches known as banh mi. Boston Restaurant Talk posted that Banh Mi Cafe has opened at 102 Main Street in Watertown. The location is next to O Some Cafe and is across from the Watertown Fire Station. According to the Banh Mi Cafe Instagram site, the restaurant also serves bubble tea. The restaurant will have a Grand Opening celebration on Feb.

Government

Watertown Appoints New Director of Health Department

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The following announcement came from the City of Watertown:

Congratulations to Abbey Myers, the City of Watertown’s new permanent Director of Public Health, effective, Monday, February 5, 2024. Abbey has been a key member of the Health Department’s staff since she was hired, providing customer service while coordinating many aspects of public health, from updating our COVID policy, to attending emergency management training, building our new rodent policy, establishing better rules for dumpsters, and catching bats (yes . . . bats!). 

She stepped up into the Interim Director role, in August of 2023, where she has served the public well, staffing the Board of Health meetings, managing the Health Department staff, and organizing the Department’s move to the Parker Annex last week.