Schools

Watertown Schools Starting 2021 Remotely, COVID-19 Testing Available for Students

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Public School:

Due to our desire to kick-start our new year off well, we will be focusing on testing students and staff who may have traveled or spent extended time with people outside of their immediate household prior to the return to in-person learning. In order to accomplish this, we will start the year in our remote learning model, Monday, January 4 through Wednesday, January 6, with a return to in-person learning on Thursday, January 7. In addition to our protocols for social distancing, PPE, handwashing, and staying home when sick, student testing is one of the safety measures that has allowed us to remain open. To date, we have processed 3698 staff tests, with 5 positives, and 317 pools of up to 10 students in each pool withonly 3 positive pools. The indication from these tests is that less than .15% of our students and staff that are part of our testing program have tested positive.

Government

Council Joins Effort to Prevent Racial Harassment in Watertown Schools & Beyond

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Watertown Town Hall

The Town Council will begin looking at ways to help the Watertown Public Schools address racial harassment and bullying following reports made a middle school student about her experiences at Watertown Middle School. At Tuesday night’s meeting, the Council voted to start discussions about how they could help the Schools with racism issues. Also at the meeting, the Council adopted a proclamation opposing racism and bulling in Watertown. The School Administration and School Committee will take the lead on how to deal with racial harassment, said Town Council President Mark Sideris, who is also a member of the School Committee. Superintendent Dede Galdston announced she will be putting together a a citizens advisory board which will include parents of children who have been harassed, Sideris said.

Schools

Watertown Schools to Conduct Outside Review of Bullying & Discipline Policies After Racially-Motivated Incident

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The Watertown Public Schools hired outside experts to review the district’s bullying and disciplinary policies following a student’s report of racially-motivated bullying. In November, a 13-year-old girl who attends Watertown Middle School reported being harassed online and by phone after putting up posts supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. In another response to the incident, the Watertown schools will host a community forum to discuss racism and bullying in the Watertown Schools on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 6:30 p.m. The public can join the form, which is being held virtually on Zoom, by using this link: https://watertown-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/94875621016

Superintendent Dede Galdston said the decision to have a review of how the district handles bullying, and specifically racially-motivated incidents, was made after hearing about the experience of Watertown Middle School student. “Recent events have given me significant pause, and while I do not believe the Watertown Public Schools is alone in responding to acts of hate and racism, it is simply not enough to say ‘we did our best’ or ‘we followed our usual policies,’ We must be willing to review our practices and procedures,” Galdston said.

Schools

NBC News Features Watertown School’s COVID-19 Testing Program

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A screenshot of Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston’s appearance in an NBC Nightly News piece. A national newscast spotlighted the Watertown Public School’s COVID-19 testing program on Monday. Wearing a Watertown Middle School face mask, Superintendent Dede Galdston was interviewed by NBC Nightly News about the testing program, where students can be tested for free. She described the return of the schools to partial in-person teaching with the district’s hybrid program. “People haven’t said we can’t do this, they said, wow, this is hard, but how can are we going do it?”

Letters

LETTER: Former Teacher Concerned with Health of Schools During COVID-19

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Editor,

The Watertown Public Schools have had unsafe buildings for years. The school Administration and Town officials since spring of 2017 have denied, deflected, or ignored-the concerns of Watertown parents, faculty and students. The goal of creating safe buildings has been our petitioners goal from the start. Please read our petition to learn more about W.P.S. building conditions and the years of asbestos compliance violations. https://www.change.org/p/mark-sideris-asbestos-and-other-dangers-in-the-watertown-public-schools

I’d add that our petition group thinks all of this takes on a more immediate importance given the short-term latency effects of the COVID-19 virus.

Schools

Schools Providing Chromebooks for All Students, Support for Families

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A screenshot of the Watertown Public Schools Ed Tech help page for families. All students are starting the year remotely, and will use Chromebooks provided by their schools. Watertown students will be attending school remotely to start the year, and will do so on Chromebook laptops loaned to them by the district. To help parents and students navigate the virtual world, School officials have set up a tech information website. Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee Monday that all students in grades 1-12 will receive a Chromebook from their school to use when attending classes remotely, Galdston said.

COVID-19

Metrics Look Good for Schools to Move to In-Person Classes, For Now

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A map from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health showing the levels of COVID-19 in communities. Green means fewer than 4 cases per 100,000, yellow between 4 and 8 per 100,000 and red more than 8 per 100,000. Grey is less than 4 per 100,000. If the COVID-19 rates were they same as they are this week, Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee Monday that the Watertown will start in-person hybrid classes in late October for the elementary students, late November for the middle and high school. The Watertown Public Schools decided in August that the first day of school will be on Sept.

Schools

Watertown Schools Set Later Start Date, Staff to Use Extra Time to Prep for COVID-19 Learning

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The School Committee voted Monday night to move the first day of school to Sept. 22, 2020, but teachers and staff will return to work before Labor Day. The time before classes start will be used for training and preparation for teaching during COVID-19. This includes starting with virtual learning for almost all students. This model will continue until students can return to school in smaller numbers than a typical school year.