Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/tag/watertown-public-schools/page/9/)
On Aug. 6 at 7 p.m., Watertown Public School officials will present their recommendation for how to reopen the public schools in the fall. They will choose between three options: in-person, remotely or a hybrid of both. The School Committee delayed the decision on which option to use from Monday to Thursday. The meeting will be held online, with option to join by Zoom, phone, or watch on cable.
People kneel in memory of George Floyd and others during a candlelight vigil in Watertown Square co-sponsored by the Kingian Response Team and the Watertown Police Department. Tuesday night, dozens of people gathered in Watertown Square holding lanterns and candles in a vigil for George Floyd and others, and to speak out against racism and bigotry. The event was one of the first efforts of the Kingian Nonviolence Response Team, which grew out of a program that has its roots in the Watertown Public Schools. The Kingian group has plans to work with the Watertown Police Department, the Watertown Public Schools and the Town Council to reduce what they see as systemic racism in these local institutions. And much of the effort is being led by current Watertown students who learned King’s teachings in the Kingian Nonviolence program at Watertown Middle School.
No matter what option the Watertown School Committee chooses, when classes begin in September the town’s schools will not look like they do in normal years. Students will be attending schools on different days, or in staggered shifts with at most four hours in school each day. Also, Watertown High School will not have a full in-person option due to a lack of space in which to socially distance, Superintendent Dede Galdston said during a School Committee meeting on Monday. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is requiring all districts to submit plans for three scenarios of operating schools this fall, while adhering to COVID-19 safety guidelines. The options are in-person, remote learning, or a combination of the two — called hybrid.
The School Committee will be discussing the possible scenarios for opening the Watertown Schools in the fall at a meeting on Monday, July 27 at 7 p.m.
On July 13, Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee about three options being considered: in-person education, remote learning, or a combination of the two where students would attend school in-person on a rotating basis. The School Committee will hear an update on the process on Monday, and are expected to have a decision at their next meeting in August. The School Committee will be meeting in the Phillips Building, but attendance will be limited to the Committee and school officials. The public can participate via Zoom at https://bit.ly/2E9O78y (Meeting ID: 946 2116 9656) or by phone at 1-646-558-8656. The meeting will be shown live on WCA-TV (Comcast Channel 99, RCN Channel 13) or at wcatv.org.
With about eight weeks until the start of the school year, Watertown School officials continue to prepare for three different scenarios — in-person teaching, remote learning, or a mix of the two. Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee Monday that with “the sands shifting everyday” she will not know which of the three will be used until sometime in August. Massachusetts education officials presented district with guidelines and asked them to come up with plans for how to operate schools in each of the three scenarios. Galdston said that while it is not clear which of the three will be used for the district as a whole, the Watertown Public Schools must prepare for remote learning because some students will be choosing that option no matter what. If the schools do return in person, they could try to welcome everyone back, or have students rotate when days they are in school by the day or the week, Galdston said.
On July 13, the School Committee will be discussing how the Watertown Schools will look when classes start in the fall, and the Town Council will discuss a number of items on July 14, including the water and sewer rates. Monday night at 7 p.m., the School Committee will meet virtually. The agenda includes a report from the Reopening Task Force, and a review of how the virtual learning went in the spring. Also on the agenda are a review of the Superintendent’s performance related to meeting the 2019-20 goals, and a discussion of the District Improvement Plan. See the entire agenda by clicking here.
The Watertown Public Schools will continue to provide free breakfasts and lunches through the summer, but will be distributing meals on different days. Since the shutdown of schools due to COVID-19, the Watertown School Nutrition program has been giving out meals from the parking lot at Watertown High School to families in need. The program is funded through a Federal grant provided to districts in Massachusetts. During the school year the meals were distributed three days a week, and more than 200 families took part. Over the summer they will be handed two days a week — Tuesdays and Fridays.
Watertown school and town officials put shovels in the ground at the official start of the construction project Cunniff Elementary School. The ceremony also marked the beginning of the Hosmer School project. Standing next to the first of Watertown schools to be torn down and replaced with a state-of-the-art facility, Watertown School and Town officials celebrated the beginning of what will be several years of construction at school sites around town. Officials posed in hardhats, holding shovels during the official groundbreaking of the project at Cunniff Elementary School on Wednesday afternoon. The ceremony also marked the start of the project at Hosmer Elementary School, which will take place simultaneously.