Dear Families,

Today was a heartwarming day devoted to spreading kindness and love throughout our entire school community.

We kicked off the day with a delightful breakfast for our teachers, graciously sponsored by our ISP Team. The atmosphere was beautifully set with our Heartfelt Theme, creating a cozy and welcoming environment for everyone.

Our dedicated Lowell Leaders took the initiative to meet before school started, crafting thoughtful Valentine’s Day cards for every member of our staff. Their effort added a personal touch to the day, making sure every staff member felt appreciated and cherished.

The school gathered for a special assembly focused on promoting kindness and connection. We enjoyed reading "A Little Spot of Love on Valentine’s Day," a book that perfectly encapsulates the day's spirit. Students also learned how to express their good wishes by saying "Happy Valentine’s Day" in American Sign Language. Additionally, we were inspired by a pep talk from the Kid President on how to be everyday heroes.

To top off the day's festivities, students received a small treat, spreading smiles and joy throughout the halls.

We hope your day and vacation are filled with happiness, love, and joy!

With Gratitude,

Stacy and Tara

We are excited to share wonderful pictures capturing the Spanish book project celebration from last week, held in Ms. Talamas's first-grade classroom.

A heartfelt thank you goes to Ms. Corcoran and Ms. Cachimuel’s fourth-grade classrooms for participating in this delightful buddy activity. The event was a heartwarming collaboration where fourth-grade students took the time to read Spanish books to their first-grade buddies. It was truly extraordinary and inspiring to witness the fourth graders enthusiastically read in Spanish to their younger buddies, showcasing their impressive language skills and growing confidence.

This interaction fostered a nurturing environment of learning and mentorship, promoting literacy and language development across different age groups. We are grateful to all the teachers and students who contributed to making this celebration a memorable and educational experience for everyone involved. Keep an eye out for the amazing photos that beautifully capture these precious moments! A big shout out to our Spanish Teachers for naturing all our students in a love of learning Spanish and learning about the latin culture. Thank you Ms. Quesada and Ms. Mitchell!

The Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Team encouraged students to participate in a heartwarming activity by inviting them to share kind statements with fellow students, teachers, or staff members. Each student then had the opportunity to write their thoughtful message on a heart-shaped paper and proudly display it on our vibrant "Kindness Tree" located outside the guidance office.

Take a moment to admire the incredible array of kind words and positive messages that now adorn the tree, showcasing the power of compassion and the impact of small acts of kindness in our community!

Please view the amazing slide show created by Ms. Burton's fifth grade students showed during our assembly today!

There will be NO after-school program at Watertown Boys & Girls Club on Wednesday, March 5th, 2025 as we are hosting our annual Youth of the Year celebration at the Club that evening. As such, we kindly request that WPS does NOT transport students from our elementary schools to the Club via the normal bus service on 3/5/25 only.

Parents should plan on pickup directly from school for all children who normally take transport to WBGC that day. We will communicate this schedule change directly with all our member families but would appreciate you sharing this message with them also.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reviews English Learner Education (ELE) programs every six years to ensure they meet state and federal requirements. This involves a self-assessment, a visit from the Office of Language Acquisition (OLA), and a plan for continuous improvement.

Watertown Public Schools recently completed this review process. They successfully implemented most ELE requirements but noted areas needing improvement related to their online registration system, ESL curriculum, and ensuring teachers are properly endorsed in Sheltered English Immersion (SEI).

To address these issues, Watertown plans to provide registration forms in Portuguese and Spanish, refine the ESL curriculum, ensure English Learners can participate in language classes, and require teachers to complete their SEI endorsement by the end of the school year. Most teachers have already met or are on track to meet this requirement.

Actual Program Review:

Every 6 years the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reviews English Learner Education (ELE) programs. There are 12 ELE criteria that target implementation of the requirements related to ELE programs under state and federal law and regulations:

Targeted and Focused Monitoring includes a self-assessment, a verification process including a visit by the Office of Language Acquisition (OLA), and a Continuous Improvement and Monitoring Plan (CIMP) process where the OLA makes recommendations to the school district. The Watertown Public Schools ELE program completed their self-assessment in the spring of 2024 and OLA visited our programs in the fall of 2024. We have received 4 items of feedback in 3 areas:

SUMMARY OF COMPLIANCE CRITERIA RATINGS

English Learner Education Requirements

IMPLEMENTED

PARTIALLY

IMPLEMENTED

The findings were about our online registration system, our ESL curriculum, the ability of ELs to participate in Spanish classes, and ensuring that all teachers have their SEI Endorsement (meaning they have training on working with ELs).

To address the findings we plan on doing the following:

• having both Portuguese and Spanish registration forms in place for 2025-2026 school year registration.

• reconvene our Curriculum and Program Review team to make our current ESL curriculum more consistent

• have all eligible ELs who have completed their ESL minutes to have access to FLES (Foreign Language in Elementary School) and World Language in middle school

• notifying teachers who are missing SEI endorsement that they must complete their endorsement by the end of the school year to be eligible to work in the Watertown Public Schools for the subsequent school year. To date, the vast majority of teachers missing SEI endorsement have completed their coursework or plan to by the end of the year.

* ELE Requirement Areas:

ELE 3: Initial Identification of English Learners (ELs) and Former English Learners (FELs)

ELE 5: ELE Program and Services

ELE 14: Licensure Requirements

Dear Watertown Parents and Caregivers,

Over the next month, teachers, instructional assistants, and students across the district will have an opportunity to participate in the 5Essentials Survey. This survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of your child’s school. All teachers, instructional assistants, and students in grades 4-12 will be responding to this survey.

As a parent or caregiver, you also have the opportunity to share your thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness as part of this survey about your child’s school.

The 5Essentials Survey will be administered online by UChicago Impact. The 5Essentials gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains.

These five indicators that affect and predict school success are:

• Effective Leaders
• Collaborative Teachers
• Involved Families
• Supportive Environments
• Ambitious Instruction

Prior research has shown that schools that were strong on at least three of these “5Essential” indicators were 10 times more likely to improve student learning gains in math and reading than those that were weak on three or more Essentials.

Your participation in the parent/caregiver survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child. If at least 20 percent of Watertown Public School parents and caregivers complete this survey, a parent/caregiver survey report will also be generated.

The Parent/Caregiver Survey will be open from February 4th – March 7th, 2025. To take the survey please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/watertown/survey/parent/.

Sincerely,

Dede Galdston, Superintendent of Schools

Mid Year Data Review

Update on Equity Work

Curriculum Update

Do you work collaboratively with others for the good of the Watertown community? Have you wondered how to facilitate productive conversations that make sure everyone's voice is heard?

Watertown Community Conversations (WCC), a community leader working to increase understanding through the use of dialogue, will host its next Facilitator Training for Small Group Dialogue on Friday March 7th (5:30 - 7:30 pm) and Saturday March 8th (9:45 am - 4:00 pm), 2025 here in Watertown at the Marriott Residence Inn.

In this training you will learn:

• The purpose and methods of community dialogue

• Foundational methods and skills used to facilitate small group discussions in a variety of professional or volunteer settings – including as a volunteer WCC small group dialogue facilitator

• The role of facilitators in strengthening public discussions

Please register here by February 28th. The cost is $12 to cover food and materials, or pay what you can.

Attached is a flyer that you can share with people you know who might like to become a WCC-trained facilitator.

If you have any questions, please contact wcc@watertownconversations.org and a member of the training team will get back to you.

Best wishes,

The WCC Training Team:

Liz Aeschlimann

Stephanie Venizelos

Mary Truscott

2025 April Vacation Week Program Registration Opens on Thursday, February 27th!

Online registration for Watertown Community Education's 2025 April Vacation Program - Heroes Week, being held at the Hosmer Elementary School, opens at 7:00 PM on Thursday, February 27th! Spaces are limited, please register early. Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Click the link to the 2025 April Vacation Week Program Smore Flyer for full details including cost, dates, daily sub-themes, and to access the online Google Form registration link https://secure.smore.com/n/ne8qz

Please reach out to Debi Cornelius at debora.cornelius@watertown.k12.ma.us and Jeff Bodner at jeffrey.bodner@watertown.k12.ma.us with any questions regarding the 2025 April Vacation Program.

Registration is open and will run until 10:00 AM on Tuesday, February 25th. Please use the catalog link below to view an electronic version of flier. Paper fliers will be distributed to students beginning next week.

Courses for the spring session include:

Thursdays 2:30-3:30 PM

8 Thursdays: 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 5/29 (no class on 4/24)

• Artemis Yoga (grades K-2)

• Little Veterinarian’s School - Cats (grades K-5)

• Chess Wizards (grades 1-5)

• Calm Creations (grades 1-5)

• Minecraft Coding and Design Studio (grades 2-5)

Fridays 2:30-3:30 PM

8 Fridays: 4/4, 4/11, 5/2, 5/9, 5/16, 5/23, 5/30, 6/6 (no class on 4/18 or 4/25)

• Minecraft Explorer’s Club (grades K-1)

• STEM FUNdamentals Using Lego Materials (grades K-3))

• Buildwave | A Hands-On Building Game (grades K-5)

• Karate (grades 1-5)

• Art Adventures: Inspired by the Masters (grades 3-5)

Use the links below to see the full course catalog and to register online. Please note that there is a max capacity for each course and registration does not guarantee confirmed enrollment. Registration is open until 10:00 AM on Tuesday, February 25th. A lottery will be held for spaces in any course that exceeds its maximum capacity prior to the deadline. Please view the catalog link below for more information

Lowell CFK Spring 2025 Catalog

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KqfY1kM6F-salYYsiQb6f9YK5rMBTnCZ/view?usp=sharing

Lowell CFK Spring 2025 Online Registration Form

https://forms.gle/f9ZNEeykNrHTASMq7

Dear Caretakers of prospective Preschool or Pre Kindergarten students:

The Application Period for the 2025 - 2026 school year is open on January 27 - February 28, 2025. It is not on a first-come, first-served basis. The application period remains open for 4 weeks.

• A lottery takes place following the application period, only if there are more requests than spaces.

• Returning students and siblings are given first priority.

If you missed the Virtual Information Night on January 14th, or the In-Person Visiting Day for Caregivers of Prospective Students on January 22, you may want to review the information shared below.

• Click the link for the slides presented at the January Early Steps Application/Registration Information Night.

The Early Steps Registration Information/Process for the 2025 - 2026 School Year including the Application Link will be available on the Early Steps registration page on January 27th by 9:00 AM. Here is the link to our webpage. The first day of school for all Preschool and PreK students is September 9, 2025. After 9:00 AM on January 27th:

• Click here for the Application for your child to attend Pre Kindergarten (PreK) in the Fall, 2025.

• Click here for the Application for your child to attend Preschool in the Fall, 2025

For questions, please contact: Tricia D’Amelio, Administrative Assistant to the Principal

tricia.damelio@watertown.k12.ma.us

If you are potentially interested in playing in the Watertown Parents Softball League

Spring 2025 Season, please sign up on the link below. We are currently heading into

our fourth year and it has been lots of fun so far!

https://forms.gle/UBd215yHWxaFNtjp8

If you have any questions please email Jesse Fenichel at jfenichel@gmail.com

NEW STUDENT 2025-2026 Kindergarten info night will take place on Wednesday, March 5th, from 6:30-7:30 pm. It will be an in person event. Caregivers should attend the information session at their respective neighborhood school. Lowell will host in the Learning Commons. All are welcome to attend. More information will follow.

J.R. Lowell Elementary School

123 Lowell Ave.

Watertown, Ma 02472

Phone: 1-617-926-7770

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JRLowellElementary

Website: https://watertownjrlowell.ss19.sharpschool.com/

Principal: Stacy Phelan

stacy.phelan@watertown.k12.ma.us

Assistant Principal: Tara Rufo

tara.rufo@watertown.k12.ma.us

Administrative Assistant: Kara Flynn

kara.flynn@watertown.k12.ma.us

Receptionist: Jim Swift

james.swift@watertown.k12.ma.us

Nurse: Kristen Thibodeau

kristen.thibodeau@watertown.k12.ma.us

Guidance Pre-K - 2: Melina Jacovides

melina.jacovides@watertown.k12.ma.us

Guidance 3-5: Brian Connors

brian.connors@watertown.k12.ma.us

School Psychologist: Kelley Starrett

kelley.cochrane@watertown.k12.ma.us

Special Education Team Chair: Greg Roberts

gregory.roberts@watertown.k12.ma.us

LEDP Site Coordinator: Adam Vachon

adam.vachon@watertown.k12.ma.us