An Update from the School Committee

There has been much to celebrate over the last month at our Watertown School Committee meetings.

We were thrilled to honor Cunniff music teacher Liz Schorr, who was recently chosen as the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress Educator of the Year. Ms. Schorr was recognized for creating a warm and welcoming environment for all students and for passionately advocating for inclusion in the classroom and in the Cunniff choirs and band. We are so proud of Ms. Schorr and we are grateful for all that she does for our students. Ms. Schorr also brought the Cunniff second and third grade choirs into our meeting for a wonderful performance.

We also recognized the Watertown High School field hockey team, who won their fourth-straight state championship a few weeks ago, and head coach Eileen Donahue, who was named the Massachusetts field hockey Coach of the Year by the MIAA. By beating Sandwich in the state championship game, Raiders seniors completed an undefeated high school career, a feat that has only been matched by previous Raiders field hockey teams in Massachusetts field hockey history. It marked coach Donahue’s 22nd state championship in 39 years at the helm. Congratulations to our incredible coaches and players on another unbelievable season.

The City Council took an exciting step towards potentially launching a building project at Watertown Middle School. A feasibility study is being conducted and proposals from architects are due this week. The initial discussion surrounds renovating the 1998 section of the building and replacing the 1922 portion of the building. We are very early in this process, but appreciate the City Council’s continued commitment to high-quality educational spaces for all of our students, teachers, and staff. At the School Committee level, we were presented with the proposed capital improvement plan for FY26-FY30.

Meanwhile, construction continues at the new Watertown High School and the building should be fully weathertight by the end of the month. Crews recently completed construction of the roof.

Our committee reviewed a number of recommended changes to the Victory Field Phase II project. Although Victory Field falls under the jurisdiction of the City Council, the school committee and administration have provided recommendations to the City Council, given the heavy use of the Victory Field facilities by WPS athletics. The following recommendations have been provided to the City Council for their consideration.

Dr. Galdston presented the secondary class size report. Class sizes remain small at Watertown High School, with level 1 courses averaging 18 students, honors classes averaging 16 students, and AP classes averaging 15 students. Student population continues to rise in Watertown, with our district nearing 3,000 students enrolled. In particular, class sizes at the middle school will need to be monitored in the coming years with a larger group of students in the upper levels of the elementary schools on the verge of matriculating to the middle school level.

We also heard a wonderful presentation from the Hosmer school about their buddy program. This pairs older students with younger students and is one of the key school culture initiatives at the Hosmer. Said one Hosmer student, “Being a big buddy is like being a role model. You have to help them with things they don't know how to do yet.” The presentation was truly touching and was loved by our committee.

We began contract negotiations with the Watertown Educators Association (WEA) last month. While the contract does not expire until July 1, 2025, we started meeting informally this past summer to establish ground rules and a proposed timeline that would ensure our shared goal of smooth and productive negotiations. We look forward to continuing these conversations.

The Watertown School Committee will meet twice in January- on the 6th and 27th. We wish you all a safe and happy holiday season!

Kendra Foley

Chair, Watertown School Committee