Letters

LETTER: Parent Pushes for Later Start Times at High School, Middle School

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I am very happy to see that Watertown is considering moving start times later for both the Middle and High School. Thank you to the Wellness Committee and to everyone that worked on this initiative. While any movement towards later start times is a positive development, I would like to show my support for moving start times to 8:30 a.m. If we are going to make a change, why not go for the best solution possible? According to the survey data, 50 percent or more of students and parents are either neutral or in favor of moving start times as much as 45 minutes later, and that was with little to no district-wide education on the benefits. The survey cited that one of the major stumbling blocks was perceived to be conflicts with after school sports.

Letters

LETTER: Watertown Middle and High Schools Need to Start Later

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Watertown should move the middle and high school start times to 8:30am or later to support students’ health and academic performance. Currently the middle school starts at 7:40 a.m. and the high schools starts at 7:55. The superintendent will report on a survey of Watertown parents, students and teachers regarding potential new school start times at the School Committee meeting to be held on Monday, May 2, 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Middlesex district superintendents released a statement in March agreeing to consider moving high school start times to between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. by fall of 2017. Over the last decade, and increasingly across the country, school districts are looking at starting school later.

Schools

Watertown School Start Time Might Change So Buses Will be on Time

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The start of school may change next year at the two Watertown schools so that students do not have to endure long waits for the bus after school. 

Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald said the changes will be proposed as Watertown prepares to bid for a new school bus contract. To allow the buses to have more time, school officials have proposed starting school at Hosmer 10 minutes later, and start Watertown Middle School 10 minutes earlier. The same buses that deliver students to and from Hosmer also serve Watertown Middle School. While the mornings have gone well, the afternoons have been regularly late picking up Hosmer students after the afternoon run at the middle school. There are three buses serving both schools, and one bus has been at least five minutes late every day, and a second more than two-thirds of the time, including one day when it was more than 20 minutes late.