Schools

School Committee Wants to Hear from Public About Hiring Next Superintendent

By |

As the search begins for Watertown’s next Superintendent, the School Committee wants to hear from parents and community members about what they want to see in the next leader of the town’s schools. 

The Watertown Public Schools sent out the following announcement:

The Watertown School Committee is interested in getting feedback on the superintendent search process. There are several ways to participate, including live focus groups for the community scheduled at the following dates and times:

Tuesday, January 10, 2017: 8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017: 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 12, 2017: 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

The focus groups will take place in the Innovation Lab, Third Floor, Phillips Building, 30 Common St., Watertown. In addition, you can go to the following link and participate in an on-line survey that includes ample space for your open responses. That link is:   https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WPS2017

Schools

Parents, Community Members Sought for Superintendent Search Committee

By |

The School Committee will be forming a search committee to help find Watertown’s next superintendent, and parents and community members will be a part of the group. 

School Committee Chairman John Portz said the Search Committee will have three parents, three teachers, two administrators, a high school student, two community members and two to three School Committee members. The parents and community members will be selected from people who apply to participate in the process. The teachers will be appointed by the Watertown Educators Association. School Committee member Eileen Hsu-Balzer wondered if someone who is a teacher who also lives in town could count as a community member. She wanted to make sure no group is over represented on the committee.

Schools

Watertown’s Superintendent Invites Residents to Have Coffee With Him

By |

sInterim Superintendent John Brackett announced he will host his first Coffee with the Superintendent on Dec. 14 to meet with parents and residents. The coffees provide an opportunity for parents, resident and others to talk to Bracket about their concerns and questions about the Watertown Public Schools. He will host two session on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Both will occur in Room 101 on the ground floor of the Phillips Building, 30 Common St., Watertown.

Schools

After a Delay, School Committee Adopts Goals for Watertown Schools

By |

After months of contemplation and delays due to changes in the district, the School Committee adopted the district’s Goals and Priorities at Monday night’s School Committee meeting. The Watertown Public School’s three strategic goals are: Support High Academic Achievement, Foster the Capacity for Life-Long Learning and Promote Local and Global Citizenship. The goals normally come out early in the school year, but School Committee Chairman John Portz said there have been some delays this year. “The process started in August. It started as goals for the superintendent, but then we we had a transition,” Portz said, referring to Jean Fitzgerald’s sudden retirement in October.

Schools

See How You Can Support the Friends of Watertown Music

By |

To support music in Watertown’s schools, Friends of Watertown Music was formed in the summer of 2011 in response to severe budget cuts in the Watertown Public Schools music program, the said in an announcement. Since then, through the generosity of our donors, we have awarded three major grants and several small grants totaling over $18,000 to the Watertown Public Schools in order to expand and enhance music instruction. Additionally, through grants from outside institutions, we have acquired approximately $15,000 worth of new instruments to be used by students in all of Watertown’s public schools. Friends of Watertown Music continues to prioritize using donations to make grants that expand teaching staff and support teacher-student interaction. We also seek grants from outside sources to provide instruments to expand opportunities for students to learn to play instruments. As this year comes to a close, won’t you please consider joining us in our efforts to continue to enrich, sustain, and develop the music program in the Watertown Public Schools?  We have five donor levels:  Soprano (up to $25), Alto ($50), Tenor ($75), Bass ($100), Conductor ($250) or Maestro ($500 and up) and your generous contribution will be acknowledged in our Sixth Annual MusicFest program book.  (Save the date:  March 31, 2017!) You can donate with PayPal or any credit card on our website: https://watertownmusic.org/donate/ or checks may be sent to Friends of Watertown Music, 43 Paul St., Watertown, MA 02472
Thank you all for your support,
Friends of Watertown Music

Highlights from 2016
• Our 2015-16 grant for a 0.1 FTE (full-time equivalent) teacher for adaptive music has been incorporated into the school budget for 2016-17.

Belmont

Lowell School Students Send a Message of Peace Before Thanksgiving

By |

Lowell School took one of their core values and ran with it, creating a bit of a Facebook sensation. The day before Thanksgiving, the school held a kindness assembly, said Lowell’s interim principal Phil Oates. “It was facilitated by Eileen Donahue, our physical education teacher,” Oates said. “She taught the kids a rhyming kindness message that we all said together as a school.” Donahue, who is also coach of the Watertown High School field hockey team, took photos of children doing acts of kindness and featured them during the presentation.

Schools

School Committee Chooses Same Search Firm That Found Last Superintendent

By |

The Watertown School Committee decided to use the same search firm that they used the last time the town sought a new superintendent. 

After interviewing three firms, the School Committee members agreed on using the Massachusetts Association of School Committees as the consultant in the superintendent search. This was also the firm Watertown used when they promoted Jean Fitzgerald from interim superintendent to permanent superintendent in 2012. She retired in October after 4.5 years as superintendent, and following a tumultuous summer when a group of parents called for a vote of no confidence in her by the School Committee. Along with MASC, the School Committee also heard from representatives from the New England School Development Council and Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates. Town Council President and School Committee member Mark Sideris said he knows MASC Executive Director Glenn Koocher, who will lead the search, because he deals with him frequently as the head of the group that assists School Committees.

Letters

LETTER: Watertown Schools Could be Renovated Without Major Tax Increase

By |

To the Editor,

Why is a tax override or debt exclusion needed to fund the renovation and upgrade of the 5 Watertown Public Schools? During this recent election season, tax increases were discussed with a lot of passion both for and against the proposed surcharge to fund the Conservation Preservation Act (CPA). Another discussion conflated the CPA tax and a tax override or debt exclusion to pay for proposed renovations to Watertown’s aging schools. The message presented was that if the CPA passed, residents would be facing a second tax increase to pay for the schools. I disagreed with the premise that an override/exclusion was necessary and the only option to fund the school upgrades (http://www.mass.gov/dor/docs/dls/publ/misc/levylimits.pdf).