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Watertown expands summer offerings, adds special‑education classrooms and a pre‑K-to‑K bridging pilot
Summary
District officials reported enrollment for multiple summer programs, announced expansion of special‑education summer classrooms, and said a three‑day pre‑K‑to‑K bridging pilot will run at North Elementary.
Lynn Gaffney, assistant superintendent for instruction, reported summer‑program enrollments and described new and expanded offerings for 2025.
Gaffney said enrollment counts include 74 students in elementary summer school, 143 in grades 2–4 STEM camp, 67 in grades 5–8 STEM camp, 15 in a new communications and multimedia camp for grades 5–9, 59 in extended school year services, and 83 in multiple bridging programs that ease transitions between grade bands.
Nut graf: The district is increasing summer special‑education capacity and piloting a short pre‑K‑to‑K bridging program at North Elementary to support transitions; administrators said these steps are part of efforts to improve continuity between buildings and provide more inclusionary summer services.
Gaffney announced that, for the first time, the district will offer a pre‑K bridging pilot at North that runs three days and is staffed by two kindergarten teachers and support staff. She also said the district is expanding its special‑education summer placements: in addition to established 12:1 and 3:1 self‑contained programs, the district will add 12:1:1, 6:1:1 and 15:1 classrooms — the expansion will add four classrooms located at Wiley for summer services.
Officials said they will run summer programs out of Wiley, the high school and Case Middle School; pre‑K bridging will operate out of North. A board member asked whether gyms would be open for informal community use during the summer; administrators said they would consider the request but must weigh staffing and open‑day constraints.
The board approved a set of summer camps and clinics (including basketball, volleyball, competitive diving and swimming clinics) as part of the consent/board action items. A motion to approve the camps carried by voice vote at the meeting.
Administrators also said the district is advertising scholarships and financial assistance for camp fees and will continue to post openings for staff positions required to run programs.
