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This week our faculty had the pleasure of hearing from a student panel of multilingual learners. These students expressed appreciation for the supportive community of Watertown High School and had some great suggestions of how to improve multilingual education. Hearing from students directly is such an important part of what we do and is the best way for us to improve.

We will be practicing our off-site evacuation tomorrow after lunch. This drill will involve all students walking to St. Patrick's Church on Main St., escorted by staff and administrators. The Watertown Police Department will be assisting in stopping traffic to ensure the safety of our students and staff. Conducting this drill helps us practice and find weaknesses in our processes. Please note that the school will be empty and students will be unreachable from approximately 1:00pm-2:00pm.

One important lesson our students learn in school is the ability to advocate for themselves. Beginning in September, Grade 10 students began a respectful conversation with administration around the possibility of allowing Grade 10 students to travel off campus during lunch. After several meetings with Grade 10 student leaders, the WHS Operations Team, conversations with the superintendent, feedback from many families during the call-a-thon, as well as discussions with local business owners and neighbors, we have made the decision to allow off-campus lunch privileges for Grade 10, starting Wednesday, November 15th, as a pilot program. We did not take this decision lightly and there have been several ways the decision, the expectations, and the consequences for abuse have been communicated, including a whole school announcement you can read here.

I want to be very clear: YOU MAY OPT OUT OF YOUR STUDENT USING THE LUNCH PRIVILEGE. To do-so, please email Ms. Sulzman at Hope.Sulzman@watertown.k12.ma.us AND tell your student they are not allowed to go off campus for lunch. The majority of our students use our "cafeteria", especially as the cold has set in. The students that do go off campus use three businesses, predominantly (Metro Mini Mart, Mimi's Subs, and Dunkin Donuts). All of these businesses are within approx 100 yards of the school. Two of them do not require students to cross Main St. Many days, I am stationed on Main St. making sure students are crossing safely and behaving. We have received many compliments from business owners about how kind and respectful our students are. We will try expanding our off-campus privileges and report back with our findings. Please have a conversation with your student to echo the expectations outlined in the letter linked above. Finally, please note that 9th grade is NOT included in this shift and will not be receiving off-campus privilege.

Our first Coffee with the Principal is scheduled for Thursday, November 16th at 9am! This is a time for families to have an open discussion with a light agenda. Example discussion topics include updates on our new building, general student questions, and how to get involved with WHS events. This is an in-person event at the high school with coffee and bagels.

Grade 10 and 11 students who took the PSATs last month should receive an email in the next several days from CollegeBoard with information about accessing PSAT scores. Last week in Advisory, students were given information about how to use their PSAT Score Reports to prepare for SATs and to learn more about their academic strengths and areas for improvement. Students should contact their guidance counselor with any questions.

Picture retakes were cancelled last minute last week due to unforeseen circumstances with the photographers. The new date is Friday, November 17th!

Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, we will have a 1/2 day on Wednesday the 22nd and no school on Thursday or Friday.

Our fall pep rally will be on Wednesday the 22nd at Victory Field. School busses will be picking students up at Victory Field instead of the high school at 12:30pm.

Thursday will be our football game against Belmont High School at Victory Field, 10am! We hope to see you all there!

Please see this message from our Yearbook Coordinator, Mr. Mimms:

Josten's, our yearbook vendor, has a feature in its platform that allows you to submit photos for the yearbook. If you have great photos of school and community events or you and your friends (or your student and student's friends) just having fun, we would like to see them. Help us get as many photos as possible to create a terrific book everyone will want to have. In order for this to work, though, photos must be tagged with the name of the event, year, and names and grades of all students pictured (e.g., Junior Cruise 2023 John Doe (11)). If you have any questions about this, please contact me before uploading your photo(s). You may upload photos here!

Please join us this weekend for our fall play, 12 Angry Jurors! Tickets are $10 for the general public and free for all students. The play will be in the WMS auditorium.

Friday & Saturday: 6pm

Sunday: 2pm

In addition to our high school sport and activity offerings, the city of Watertown also offers recreational activities. See this brochure to check out this winter's recreation programs! Programs start today, November 13, and spots are still open. Spots are first come, first serve.

Wachusett Ski Program Update:

All spots for this year's ski program are full!! You cannot register through Wachusett's website as they will not issue any refunds.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, please contact the recreation department at 617-972-6494 or recreation@watertown-ma.gov

Quarter 1 report cards and honor roll certificates will be distributed on November 17th during advisory.

We know there are a lot of changes at WHS for you and your student. As promised in the beginning of the school year, we are committed to connecting with every family of our 765 students to hear your concerns. This is a huge undertaking, but one we are excited to embark on and one we feel you and your student deserve. You should expect a call coming from the high school sometime within the next three weeks. Don't worry, you're student isn't in trouble, we're calling to briefly ask you how things are going at Moxley. Because these calls are being done by an army of volunteers (teachers, admin, coaches, interns) they will be spread throughout all times of the day. If you miss our call and have nothing to share, no need to call us back. But, if you miss us and want to express a concern or tell us how well things are going, please feel free to call us at 617-926-7760 or complete this form with your information and we will get back to you as soon as we can. As always, the bottom of every smore has a link to give us feedback on how we're doing as a school. It is critical that we hear from you if you have suggestions on how we can do better.

Friday, November 17

Friday, November 10

Thursday, November 17, 9AM

Friday, November 17

Wednesday, November 22, 12:30PM

Thursday, November 23

Thursday, November 30: Moxley High School