Dear Cunniff Families,

We hope you have all had a great week - it was wonderful to see so many of you at our PTO and DBC meetings this week!

Please read through for important updates and info.

Thank you, and have a great weekend,

Julia

We are very excited to welcome students, parents/families to the Early Steps Early Childhood Center. While our Preschool and PreKindergarten (PreK) share the goal of preparing 3-5 year olds for kindergarten, more importantly, the experience helps shape students’ view of themselves as successful learners and playful partners, and to realize their individual value within our school community. The fine staff at Early Steps have created a thoughtful, student-centered environment. A few documents to help you learn about Early Steps and upcoming important dates include:

After the January 14th Virtual Information Night on Zoom, if you have further questions, please contact my Admin Assistant, Tricia D’Amelio @ tricia.damelio@watertown.k12.ma.us for assistance.

Kind regards,

Dr. Theresa McGuinness

Online registration for Watertown Community Education's 2025 February Vacation Program - Detective Week, being held at the Hosmer Elementary School, opens at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, January 14th! Spaces are limited, please register early. Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Click the link to the 2025 February 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/q6cfuz.  

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 February Vacation Program.

DESE is doing a regular review of Watertown Public Schools, focused on on special education student identification and special education eligibility timelines; Individualized Education Program (IEP) development; programming and support services; procedural requirements for suspensions and equal opportunity. You can read more about this review here.

We are continuing with our mid-year assessements - we have seen wonderful progress (and lots of focus and hard work) so far, and we are looking forward to continue to gather this data.

What can you do at home to support?

Please make sure your students are getting lots of sleep, eating well, and not stressing. These assessments are really an information-gathering tool for us. However, we do want our students to be their best at showing us what they know!

As we head into some of the coldest days of the year, I want to share what our process is for determining if students should go outside for recess. We turn to our district nursing department for guidance, but our general rule of thumb is that if the "feels like" temperature outside is below 23 degrees fahrenheit, our wonderful nurse, Jen Cullen, will advise an indoor recess.

Please make sure you are sending your students to school with appropriate cold weather gear (coats, gloves/mittens, hats, scarves), so that they can comfortably enjoy outdoor recess. We strongly recommend labeling your student's clothing/winter gear with their name!

Next Friday, January 17, we will be paying each other lots of Cool Cougar Compliments - as your students about it!

The Watertown Free Public Library is seeking community input to guide their 2026–28 Strategic Plan, and all community members are invited to participate in the Library's 2025 user survey! The Watertown Library would love to hear from you and your input is greatly valued! The survey is made available online in English, Portguguese, and Spanish. Paper surveys in English, Español, Português, Kreyol Ayisyen, Русский, 中文, and العربية are available at the Library’s first floor Circulation Desk. The Library appreciates your participation in helping guide its future!

 

Find the survey at watertownlib.org/survey.

The Department of Children and Families is seeking to keep Watertown children in their

schools and communities. In order to accomplish this, DCF is looking for Watertown parents

who would consider opening their homes and hearts to a student in need of short-term

care.

Please complete this brief survey if you are interested in opening your home and your

heart to a student in need.