Letters

LETTER: Disabled Parking Spaces Being Abused in Watertown

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Editor,

The rampant and ongoing abuse of disabled parking spaces around Watertown and particularly by visitors to our schools is not just illegal (it can come with a hefty fine), but also shows no compassion or empathy for those of us who really need these spaces. I am the parent of a seventh grader and fifth grader at Watertown Public Schools, and also a wheelchair user. When I arrived at WMS on Tuesday for my son’s parent-teacher conference there was a car parked illegally in one of the disabled spaces. It did not have a disabled parking permit, and was also parked at such an angle that it encroached by several feet onto the hatched area that separates the two disabled spaces. This area provides essential space for a wheelchair user to get in/out of their vehicle or use a ramp.

Around Town

Watertown Community Foundation Awards nearly $30,000 in School Based Grants

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The Watertown Community Foundation has awarded grants totaling $29,288.21 to initiatives supporting Watertown Public Schools. Grantees were notified just before the end of the 2018 school year. 

Grants will be implemented in spring of 2019 and or fall of 2019.  This latest round of grant making brings the Foundation’s 2018 grant distribution to $148,883. The funds distributed through the School Based Grant Program focus on solely on Watertown’s public schools to support activities that improve instruction and learning.  

2018-2019 Education Grants  

20 Watertown Education Grants totaling $29,288.21 were given to: 

Friends of Watertown Music Purchase and Repair Program District Program for This is Gore Place – 2 nd  year of local history project for third graders.  Growing and Sustaining School Garden ProgramsCunniff School for In-School Enrichment Programs Lowell School Discovery Museum Light and Laser Traveling MuseumHosmer School for International Week, Science Night, Math Olympiad, After School Learning by Design, Hosmer Connections -Motivating Materials for Purposeful Play, Hosmer Welcome ProgramWatertown Middle School for Voice and Choice in Verse, Garden Project, Social Studies Education-Using Google Cardboard, Watertown WeekWatertown High School for Courtyard Update, SPEAK Project (Sharing Personal Experience and Knowledge), College Field Trips, LEAP School Supplies Store, Graduation Night Party

For questions, please contact Jan Singer at  jan.singer@watertownfoundation.org.  

The Watertown Community Foundation, a public, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, works to build and sustain a vibrant, close-knit community in Watertown – now, and for future generations. To accomplish this, WCF raises funds from individuals, families, businesses, and foundations; awards grants to nonprofits and community projects; and builds networks of donors, grantees, program participants, and stakeholders. 

WCF Board of Directors 

David Siegel and Darshna Varia, Co-Presidents; Robert Airasian; Albrik Avanessian; Emily Barclay; Eleanor Donato; William B.  Ford;  Ashley Morris; Mary Ann Mulligan; Anthony Paolillo; Maria Panaggio-Phillips; Lora Sabin; Robert Shay; CL Tian; Elaina Themistos; Lauren Coughlin Unsworth; and Kathryn White.

Schools

Mixed Results on MCAS for Watertown Middle, High School Students

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The MCAS scores at Watertown Middle School and Watertown High School showed both improvements and drops from prior years, as well as compared to the state average. The School Committee heard the report last week, and members were interested in what is being done to improve Watertown’s scores. Interpreting the scores is not as easy as past years, said Theresa McGuinness, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching, Learning and Assessment, because many students took the new version of the MCAS test last year, while others took the old one. At Watertown Middle School, the scores dropped in English Language Arts (ELA) in sixth, seventh and eighth grades, but remained ahead of state average in seventh and eighth grade, said Watertown Middle School principal Donna Martin. In math, the WMS scores were down from 2017.

Cunniff School

Architects Reveal New Design for Hosmer School, Parking Plan for Lowell School

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The designs for Watertown’s three elementary schools have started to become more solid, and in the near future school officials will present them to the communities in and around the schools. Architect Scott Dunlap from Ai3 presented the most recent designs at last week’s School Building Committee meeting. The biggest change comes at Hosmer Elementary School, where the latest design shows a large glassed in area on the northeast corner of the school. “It is an element we are introducing into the front of the building,” Dunlap said. “We are not saying that the glass will go all the way across.

Schools

Neighbors Concerned About Proposal for New Hosmer School, Loss of Field Space

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The School Building Committee debated what the new Hosmer School should look like, but for residents living near the school the more important issue is where the new building will go. The Hosmer School will have a new classroom building, which may or may not be attached to the building with the gym, auditorium and cafeteria. The current classroom building (closest to Chauncey Street), will be torn down eventually, but not until after the school serves as the temporary home for students from Lowell and Cunniff schools while their buildings are renovated. AnnMarie Cloonan lives Winthrop Street, across from the field next to Hosmer where the new school building is proposed to be built. She had not even heard about the plans for Hosmer until recently. Her husband Fred said he thinks the Town should have alerted neighbors about the project.

School Buses

Watertown Schools Looking at 3 Busing Options, One Could Raise Fees $100

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Depending on which school busing option the School Committee adopts, transportation fees could remain the same as this year or increase by as much as $100, and not all students wanting to be transported is guaranteed a spot. The decision will be made with the help of college students participating in a “hack-a-thon.” The School Committee received an update on planning for busing during the 2018-19 school year on Monday night. Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Mary DeLai said the district will enter a five year bus contract if the Town Council gives its approval Tuesday night, but the schedule will change from the current year because the high school and middle school are starting later next fall. Three options will be considered, DeLai said, with different numbers of buses and possibly requiring students to wait after school for the bus to arrive after school.

Ai3

Architect Hired to Design Renovation/Rebuilding of Watertown Elementary Schools

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The Town Council approved $1.378 million to hire an architect to do the schematic designs for rebuilding, renovating and/or adding on to Watertown’s three elementary schools. 

A committee of school and town officials put out a request for proposals and received two bids. The firm they chose was Ai3 of Wayland, the same group that was hired over the summer to advise the Town and Schools about how to proceed with modernizing the town’s schools. The Town Council voted unanimously to fund the architect’s contract on Tuesday night. School Committee Chairman John Portz thanked the Town Council for approving the funding. “It is an incredibly exciting project,” Portz said.

Schools

Timeline Set Out for Hiring Designer for Reconstruction of Watertown’s Elementary Schools

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The School Committee set up a timeline for the planning for the reconstruction of Watertown’s three elementary schools. The Watertown Public Schools have taken the first small steps toward renovating all five schools, an effort known as Building for the Future. The Building for the Future team, a group of 10 school and town officials, laid the next steps in a time table that would have a designer in place by the beginning of December. In August, the School Committee and Town Council decided to start with the elementary schools, continue to seek state funding to help pay for renovation of Watertown High School and work on Watertown Middle School a few years down the line. The schools will likely be renovated rather than being replaced with new buildings, but there will probably be some new additions at some schools.