Schools

Watertown High School’s New Principal Introduced, Has Local Ties

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Watertown High School’s next principal, Joel Giacobozzi, right, shown with WHS students on the day he visited the school for his final interview in January. Watertown High School’s next principal has a wide breadth of educational experience, and also has ties to town. The School Committee formally met Joel Giacobozzi at Monday night’s meeting. Superintendent Dede Galdston picked Giacobozzi from the three finalists, who visited Watertown at the end of January. He currently serves as associate head master at Boston Latin, and previously was assistant principal at Scituate High School and took part in the principal internship program in the Boston Public Schools.

Around Town

Watertown Journalist, Teacher Being Honored at South by Southwest

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John Vitti, center, will receive a Community Service Award at the South by Southwest festival in March for his work with school newspapers in Watertown and many other communities. Here he is shown with students on Watertown Splash, the newspaper at Watertown Middle School. John Vitti’s professional life has been all about journalism, and since his children’s elementary school days he has shared his love and knowledge for reporting with students in Watertown. An editor with the Boston Globe, Vitti helped create the school newspapers at all five of Watertown’s public schools, and his venture now stretches more than 125 schools around the Boston area. For his work, he will receive a Community Service Award at South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, in March.

Dede Galdston

Universal PreK in Watertown: the Superintendent Would Like to See That

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Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston spoke at the 2020 Unity Breakfast about her desire to have universal PreK. Equity has been a big push for the Watertown Public Schools, and Superintendent Dede Galdston said that part of giving students an equal opportunity is to provide universal Pre-kindergarten to the students of Watertown. Galdston spoke of universal PreK during her talk a the 2020 Watertown Unity Breakfast, of which she was the honorary host. She said Martin Luther King Jr. not only inspired her with his Civil Rights work, but also in his study of education. “Why not give every child equal opportunity to start school at an equal level?”

Charity

Watertown Schools Collecting Gift Cards, Donations for Fire Victims

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After the devastating fire that displaced 31 Watertown residents on Friday, the Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) at the schools in town leapt into action to collect items to help those affected. The parent-teacher groups at the town’s three elementary schools, the Middle School and the High school all started collections over the weekend. “I am beyond overwhelmed with the response we have received to our call for donations!!!” wrote School Committee member Lily Rayman-Read on Facebook. “****A HUGE shout out to all the PTOs and the WHS PTSO for their incredibly hard work on organizing and setting everything up for donations.

Schools

Kids & Parents Can Join Science, Tech & Art Camp Over February Break

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The following information came from the Watertown Public Schools:

Watertown Public Schools is collaborating with PTO’s and C-STEAM Futures to host a FREE, Innovative, 3 day, Parent-Child February vacation camp for students in grades 3-5. The WPS Family STEAM+CS (Science Technology, Engineering, Art and Math + Computer Science) program is designed to engage children in the interdisciplinary world of STEAM & Computer Science and aim at engaging them in hands-on creative problem solving and computational thinking. Activities include:

Introduction to Basics of 3D Modeling & Printing Designing interactive circuits with Makey MakeyIntroduction to important coding and STEM concepts with Osmo Awbie and Scratch Jr.Designing a Fitbit prototype using Micro Bit microcontroller

Seats are limited so we urge you to please register soon. Registration Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3qx5iLqwwPbsYAhGFtjIl3ipC43bOGBDWU6zf0BsWOVtBxw/viewform

Registration link will be open until February 5th.

Schools

Parents Say Watertown Schools Not Doing Enough to Stop Bullying

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The School Committee got an earful at their most recent meeting from some parents about what they see as an inadequate response to bullying that occurs in the Watertown Public Schools. Maria Hinkson, the mother of two girls, told the School Committee Monday night that she believes the Watertown Public Schools are not doing enough to stop students from being bullied. Her younger daughter, who is at the middle school, has not been bullied, but her eldest, who is now in college, dealt with bullies from the third grade through high school. “No one has taken any action. I made calls, sent emails, argued, fought for years,” Hinkson said.

Schools

Watertown Parents Invited to Kindergarten, PreK Information Nights

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Parents and guardians interested in enrolling their children in Watertown’s kindergarten or PreK program can learn more at upcoming information nights. Each of the three Watertown Public Schools’ elementary schools will hold kindergarten info nights on Jan. 16. On Jan. 14, there will be an informational session about PreK at Hosmer School.

Schools

Deadline for Watertown Parents to Enter Student Information Online Approaching

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The Watertown Public Schools is going digital when it comes to registration forms filled out by parents and guardians about their children. The deadline for filling out the online forms is Friday, Dec. 13, 2019. School Committee member Amy Donohue reminded her colleagues, and parents, about the upcoming deadline to fill out the forms on the Watertown Public School’s online system. Superintendent Dede Galdston said the effort is to get all the information on the district computer system, and will make it easier in the future.