After a much-needed summer break, I am filled with gratitude for our community and excitement for the year ahead. The first days of school are always filled with possibilities, and this year is no exception. Whether your child is just beginning their journey in Early Steps, continuing through our elementary and middle schools, or preparing to graduate from high school, we are honored to partner with you in creating a learning experience that is engaging, supportive, and filled with opportunities to thrive.
We are thrilled to welcome 40 new educators, along with new Instructional Assistants and support staff, to our Watertown Public Schools team. Their arrival brings new energy and ideas, which will complement the wisdom and dedication of our returning faculty and staff. We are also welcoming several new leaders: Watertown Middle School Principal Jeff Gaglione, 6–12 Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator David Bedar, and Early Steps Early Childhood Principal Chrissy Gibelli. Together, this balance of fresh perspectives and experienced guidance makes our community stronger than ever.
This year also marks important milestones for Watertown. We are now in Year 3 of our district-wide implementation of Restorative Practices, deepening the ways we build community and strengthen relationships across all schools. We continue to move forward with ourStrategy for Success, ensuring that every student is challenged, supported, and given authentic opportunities to learn and grow. And perhaps most exciting, we look ahead with great anticipation to the opening of the new Watertown High School in April 2026. This state-of-the-art facility will be a source of pride for our city and will give students a learning environment designed for innovation, sustainability, equity, and excellence for decades to come.
As we step into this school year, our theme—One Community, Many Stories, Limitless Possibility—reminds us that every child’s story matters, and together, those stories shape the future of Watertown. Guided by our mission and core values of Equity, Excellence, and Community, we will work to ensure that every student feels safe, supported, and inspired to achieve their fullest potential. With your partnership, I know that this year will be filled with joy, growth, and accomplishment.
With deep gratitude and genuine excitement,
Dede Galdston, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Our beautiful learning gardens are awaiting our students!
We are ready! Teachers and Support Staff Prepare to Welcome our Students
This week marked an inspiring start to the 2025–26 school year for our educators. On Monday, we proudly welcomed our 40 new teachers and staff, beginning their journey as part of the Watertown Public Schools community.
From Tuesday, August 26 through Thursday, August 28, all faculty and staff engaged in preparing classrooms, participating in professional learning, completing required trainings, and, most importantly, beginning the work of building strong classroom and school communities.
Together, we grounded ourselves in our vision, mission, and educational framework, with a focus on creating equitable, challenging, and innovative learning environments where every student feels they belong and is empowered to shape the world around them.
As we launched into this year’s theme—One Community, Many Stories, Limitless Possibility—we recommitted to our core values of Equity, Excellence, and Community, and to our shared priorities: cultivating belonging and social-emotional wellness, challenging all students with rigorous instruction while providing appropriate support, creating authentic and engaging learning opportunities, and ensuring resources align with student needs.
These opening days set the tone for a year of joy, growth, and connection. We are grateful for our dedicated educators and staff who bring our mission to life each day, and we look forward to all that we will accomplish together in the months ahead.
Watertown's New Educators for 2025
Teachers and Support Staff Engage in Professional Learning
Important: Please Fill Out Your Student Verification Forms Next Week!
The Watertown Public Schools Annual Student Verification forms for the 2025–2026 school year will open during the week of September 2. Each year, families are required to complete this process through our online registration system to confirm and update student demographic, health, family, contact, and permissions information. Accurate and up-to-date information is essential for ensuring that you receive important district communications and that we have the correct records on file for your child.
As part of the verification process, families are also asked to acknowledge receipt of the WPS Handbook, Part 2, which outlines important district-wide policies and procedures. A link to the handbook is provided below, and it is also available on the District website. In addition, each school publishes its own individual handbook.
Per School Committee policy JF, this year, families of students entering Grades 5 and 8 must also provide updated residency verification. This step is required to confirm continued eligibility for enrollment in the Watertown Public Schools.
Detailed instructions on how to complete the form, including your child’s unique snapcode link, will be sent directly to you. Please complete your student’s verification form no later than October 15, 2025.
Watertown High School Piloting Revolutionary Cell Phone Technology
In an effort to address the negative effects of cell phone use during school hours, Watertown High School will debut first-of-its-kind technology that limits the use of cell phones in classrooms.
Watertown High School is the first public high school in the country to pilot use of the Doorman app, which uses VPN technology to temporarily “brick” a smartphone by redirecting the phone’s web traffic through a restricted, encrypted server. This app will prevent students from texting, accessing distracting apps, or engaging with other web-related content while in class.
When students enter class, they will tap their phones on a “DoorTag.” These devices simultaneously log student attendance and restrict use of applications and other smartphone features, while still allowing phone calls in and out. Doorman also allows for the use of approved apps, such as Google Classroom, or any other phone functionality as chosen by school officials.
The Doorman app is synchronized with Watertown High School’s class schedule and automatically restores full functions to the phone once a class period is over. Students must “tap in” to each class in order to activate the restrictions on their phone. The app never automatically engages. Teachers and administrators will have a dashboard where they can track a student’s tap-ins and attendance, and this dashboard also monitors any attempts at circumventing the Doorman app or the school’s cell phone policy.
WPS Makes Summer Successful
The Summer Success program once again provided an empowering learning experience, allowing students to build confidence in themselves and grow academically. This fun environment provides targeted instruction, small group interventions, community activities, and support services for rising 1st through 9th graders. The goal of the program is to serve students who need further instruction to master the grade-level curriculum, as well as our Multilingual learners to continue building their English proficiency.
Students were actively engaged in thematic units designed to enhance their skills, focusing on topics such as the continents, the sea, good eating, and extreme environments. Our middle school literacy cohort concentrated on reading one of the One-School One-Question Books and successfully completed their summer learning. We were fortunate to have the Bookmobile visit, providing library cards to dozens of students. Additionally, students enjoyed weekly Music classes with Mr. Saunders. At the end of the program, we held a showcase where students presented their culminating projects from their time with us.
In total, approximately 275 students participated in the Summer Success program, which ran from July 7–31. A heartfelt thank-you to our incredible Summer Success staff for making this year another success for our students!
We are equally proud of the nearly 205 Pre-K through Grade 12 students and staff who participated in our Extended School Year Program. In addition, Watertown High School continued its strong summer program, offering students the opportunity to reinforce their learning before the new school year began.
Altogether, Watertown Public Schools supported the continued growth and success of more than 500 students this summer. Great job, everyone!
Summer Explorations
Thank you to everyone who made the annual Summer Explorations Program possible!
The Summer Explorations Program is a safe, fun, and engaging summer program for elementary school students offered by Watertown Community Education.
During the full-day program, students participate in hands-on activities including arts and crafts, STEM, sensory, and critical thinking projects all related to the week’s theme. Students also enjoy various social, movement, and creative activities such as sports, minute-to-win-it challenges, music and dancing, and plenty of time outdoors.
This year, Summer Explorations served approximately 70-100 students per week from July 7th through August 15th. There were 145 total individual students enrolled in the program.
This summer’s themes included: Treasure Hunters Week, Simple Machines Week, Need for Speed Racing Week, Groovy 70's Week, Nature Adventure Week, and Shark Week. Each week included a theme-based featured event or activity including: a field trip to The Painting Place 4 Fun to paint treasure boxes and mine for gems, a visit from Snapology who led the students in a Lego engineering build to make working spin art machines, a visit from Big Daddy's Racing who set up a giant remote control car track, video games and a light up cone game in the gym, a 70's disco black light dance party, a field trip to Ward's Berry Farm to pick blueberries and harvest carrots, and a visit from Knucklebones for an outdoor water obstacle course and games.
Career and Technical Education Advisory Committees
Watertown High School is seeking community professionals, students, and parents to participate in an advisory capacity about the design and development of curriculum and equipment for WHS's career and technical education programs.
The Program Advisory Committees will play a key role in decision-making and planning for the Engineering, Digital Media Communication, Medical Assisting, and Early Childhood Education pathways at WHS.
The time commitment is only twice per year, a Zoom meeting in the Fall and an in-person student award ceremony/meeting in the Spring. If you are interested, please contact the WHS CTE Director, Laura Alderson, at laura.alderson@watertown.k12.ma.us or by phone (617) 926-7760, X.35314.
Emergency Planning Guide for Parents and Guardians
The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has distributed an emergency planning guide for parents and families who may be concerned about their immigration status. PDFs in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Haitian Creole are linked below.
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