Around Town

Watertown School Committee, School Administration Release Statements on George Floyd

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Members of the School Committee and Watertown school officials separately put out statements about the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and racial inequity. John Portz, chair of the Watertown School Committee, read the following statement on behalf of the School Committee at Monday night’s meeting:

The tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the demonstrations that have followed across the country are witness to the racial injustices that continue in our society. As Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote many years ago, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” 

As a school committee, we share the outrage over Mr. Floyd’s death and the frustrations felt by many in failures to address long-standing injustices and inequities in American society. 

As a school district, we continue our commitment to equity and respect for differences, through the Responsive Classroom curriculum, Kingian Non-Violence work, the Anti-Bias Coalition, and other district activities in the classroom, in the curriculum, and in all ways that we conduct ourselves as a district. 

We stand together denouncing these continued acts of racism and violence against people of color across our country. The following letter was provided by the administration of the Watertown Public Schools:

Dear Watertown Public Schools Community,

We are profoundly disturbed by the tragic and unnecessary death of George Floyd as well as Ahmaud Arbery’s killing in Georgia and Breonna Taylor’s in Kentucky. We are all negatively impacted by such acts, whether as victims, perpetrators, or bystanders. The families, friends, and community members of these individuals, and the countless others who have been lost to violence, are forever impacted. To our Black Families, Students, and Community Members, although we recognize and empathize with the hurt and the fear you live with on a daily basis, we know we need to and can do more. Please know, we will work every single day with others throughout our strong Watertown community to make our schools and community places for all of us to thrive and prosper, regardless of race or any other aspect of human diversity.

Entertainment

Watertown Schools’ Art Show Goes Online, See Visual Art from All Grades

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A piece made by a Watertown High School Student in the Studio Art class. For many years, the Watertown Public Schools Art Show has been displayed at the Watertown Mall, but the Coronavirus has forced the district to find a new venue — a virtual venue. The Connecting Through Creativity – WPS Virtual Art Show 2020 can now be seen online, and features works from every grade at every school in the district. The Watertown’s Coordinator of Fine, Applied, and Performing Arts Magen Slesinger provided the following information:

The Watertown Public Schools Visual Art Department is proud to present our first ever Virtual Art Show! When looking at visual art, we are often looking at the beautiful end product.

Around Town

School Officials Discuss Construction Projects, Remote Learning on Cable Show

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The latest episode of Inside Watertown focuses on the Watertown Public Schools during COVID-19, and what’s going on with the school construction projects. Superintendent Dede Galdston and Town Council President Mark Sideris joined co-hosts Charlie Breitrose and John Airasian via Zoom to talk about the schools. Galdston discussed the evolution of remote learning in Watertown after the COVID-19 outbreak closed the schools. She also touched on planning for next fall, when she hopes students and teachers will be back in their classrooms.

Meanwhile, the construction of the new Cunniff and Hosmer schools are moving full speed ahead. The episode was filmed before the School Building Committee approved the $103 million contract with Brait Building Corp.

Schools

Elementary School Projects Preparing for COVID-19 Issues; Will be Highly Energy Efficient

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The latest rendering of the new Cunniff Elementary School, with the solar array in the parking lot. Watertown will build two new elementary schools and, despite an estimated $1 million for additional costs of construction during the COVID-19 outbreak, the project came in under budget. The new Cunniff and Hosmer elementary schools will have enough solar panels to make them net-zero-energy buildings. Wednesday night, the School Building Committee voted to approve the hiring of Brait Building Corp. to construct the new Cunniff and Hosmer elementary schools.

Government

School Committee Meeting Online Monday, Rec Department Hosting Facebook Live Open Forum

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The Watertown School Committee will hold its May meeting as an online meeting on Monday night at 7 p.m. and the Recreation Department will host an Open Forum session on Facebook Live. The School Committee’s agenda includes a presentation about the Phase 3 of remote learning in the Watertown Public Schools, information about WHS seniors and an update on the Building for the Future school building projects. See the entire agenda here. The meeting can be viewed live on WCA-TV (Comcast Channel 99, RCN Channel 13) and on Zoom at: https://bit.ly/3f7AAfy (Meeting ID: 926 0404 0459, Password: 142869). Recreation Department Meeting

On Tuesday night, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Recreation Director Peter Centola will hold an open forum on Facebook live.

Schools

See How the School Committee Voted on Whether to Keep Spring Break

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Watertown students will continue with their online learning next week after the School Committee voted Monday night to skip April Vacation. The decision will mean students will continue their remote lessons with teachers for four days next week, April 21-24. They will be off Monday for Patriot’s Day. The decision does not add more days to the school year, and now the Watertown Public Schools will end on June 16, rather than June 22, according to Superintendent Dede Galdston. The idea of cancelling spring break did not come up until Gov. Charlie Baker declared all schools in the state closed through May 4 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Galdston told the School Committee.

Schools

School Officials Debate Keeping Spring Break, School Committee to Meet Monday

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With schools closed at least through May 4 due to the Coronavirus outbreak, Watertown Public Schools officials unveiled the second phase of the virtual learning for students, and are debating whether to keep spring break. The School Committee will meet Monday, April 13 to discuss spring break, the budget for the 2020-21 school year budget and hear a presentation phase II of the district’s Extended Learning Plan. (See information about watching and participating in the meeting below). In a letter to families and staff sent out earlier this month, Superintendent Dede Galdston said that students will have more interactive time with teachers, “requiring students to participate in the learning provided to the extent that is possible.” Teachers reached out to families this week with more details about the schedule and plans.

Schools

Watertown Schools Look to Adjust to Extension of School Closings for COVID-19

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The following letter was sent out on Wednesday by the Watertown Public Schools Administration:

Good evening,

I want to provide you with the recent announcement this afternoon by Governor Charlie Baker that Massachusetts schools will remain closed until May 4. We will follow up later this week with further information about the implications of this extended closure, but be assured we will continue with the excellent plans in place for the WPS community. As we learn more about the opportunities as well as the limitations that remote learning presents, we will all become more skilled as partners on this journey to keep the learning moving forward even when our school buildings are closed. Attached you will find a joint statement from the twelve communities that comprise the Middlesex League about our shared vision and goals for the extended closure. Our primary goal for the remainder of this week is to identify students who still need access to online learning and to provide continued support for all of our families. Originally, our focus was on families with limited access to devices or the internet.