School building committee narrows middle-school approach; district reports visioning work and community forum plans
Summary
District staff reported visioning work for a new Watertown Middle School and said the school building committee recently voted to focus on staying at the current site using modular classrooms as swing space. A community forum is planned for June and the school building committee will receive options at its June 18 meeting.
At the May 5 School Committee meeting district staff summarized recent visioning work around a future Watertown Middle School and reported a recent decision by the School Building Committee to concentrate design efforts on remaining at the current middle-school site while using modular classrooms as temporary swing space.
Staff said more than 50 community members participated in three visioning sessions to identify priorities for a new middle school, and a smaller group of administrators and consultants visited recently built middle schools in Scituate, Beverly and Natick to gather ideas. A district staff member told the committee that the team of architects and project managers presented three site options to the School Building Committee and that the committee “chose to have them focused on remaining at the current site while using the modulars as temporary classrooms during that process.” The speaker said that vote occurred last month.
Next steps outlined in the meeting: a preliminary presentation to the school building committee in May, a community forum in June, and the school building committee’s presentation of options at its June 18 meeting. District staff also announced an extended high-school tour for committee members and city council on May 21 (time to be confirmed).
The district also noted a climate sustainability milestone: Watertown was recognized as one of 19 climate leader communities, and staff highlighted that the soon-to-be-occupied new high school is a LEED Platinum, net-zero high school (described in the meeting as the first of its kind).
