Watertown Middle School Building Project

Statement from the City Manager on the Middle School Feasibility Study

September 9, 2025

In the fall of 2024, the City Council and I undertook a thoughtful discussion about whether to pursue the renovation of the Watertown Middle School. The City’s ability to renovate and rebuild four of the five public schools in Watertown over the last several years has been a truly remarkable success story. But, while we originally intended to only do modest upgrades to the Middle School, in 2024 we sought to determine if we could add the middle school to the list of those successes in the Building for the Future project.

Recognizing the economic uncertainty we faced at the time – and continue to face – we set a budget of $84.7 million for the project and set out to determine if it would be feasible to renovate or rebuild the school within that budget in a way that met the needs of the Watertown Public Schools.

The School Building Committee selected architecture firm Ai3 to undertake this feasibility study. Working together, they spent the last eight months conducting meetings and visioning sessions to understand how to create a 21st century learning environment at the current middle school location.

Unfortunately, it has become clear through the feasibility study process that this project would exceed the established budget by nearly $30 million. I have therefore come to the conclusion that it would be fiscally irresponsible to move a significant middle school project forward at this time.

I am requesting that the School Building Committee use the existing $15.2 million in the middle school stabilization fund, plus approximately $2 million in funds remaining from the three elementary school project, to address the most pressing and cost-effective improvements that our current middle school building needs to maximize its effectiveness as a learning space for the next decade and beyond. In making this shift, we have the opportunity to not only make meaningful improvements to our middle school starting in 2026, but we also create additional financial capacity for other important items in our capital plan.

It is my duty as your City Manager to maintain the health of our City’s fiscal position while fulfilling the needs of our community. In the face of growing economic and financial uncertainty, I feel confident this is our best option forward to both improve our middle school and address other needs across our community.

See the Middle School Slides - as presented to the City Council (PDF)

Watch the September 9, 2025 City Council meeting video

Watertown Middle School photo

To reach the liaison for the School Building Committee with general questions about to the Middle School project, please email sbc@watertown-ma.gov.

Visit the Building for the Future website.

Invitation to participate in the Educational Visioning Workshops for the Watertown Middle School WMS) Construction Project

You are invited to be part of creating the educational vision for the Watertown Middle School construction project!

During the months of March and April 2025, the Watertown Middle School (WMS) Educational Visioning Group (EVG) – a group of (40-60) Watertown Public Schools and WMS school administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community partners will participate in three Educational Visioning Workshops run by Ai3 Architects and New Vista Design. Each workshop will be a collaborative session designed to inform the design of the renovated and/or new WMS facility. Participants will be led through a step-by-step visioning process aimed at capturing their best thinking about WMS’s current and future educational goals and priorities and connecting them to best practices and possibilities in innovative facility design.

Workshops One and Two will take place virtually on Zoom, and Workshop Three will take place in person at WMS. Workshops are designed to be highly participatory, engaging, and informative. Because they build upon one and other, it is necessary to be able to participate in all three. The educational and architectural goals set during these workshops will have a direct and tangible impact on the design approach and features of the renovated and/or new school facility, so please come and add your voice and ideas to the conversation. Meetings will start and end on time. EVG Workshop dates and agendas can be found below.

Educational Visioning Group (EVG) Workshop Dates and Agendas

Workshop One will take place virtually on March 18, 2025, from 4:30-7:00 PM and will explore the following topics:

  • Priority Goals for WMS educational programming and the renovated and/or new facility
  • Future-Ready Teaching and Learning Practices that WMS envisions for the present moment and future
  • Portrait of a WMS Graduate that distills the group’s best thinking about WMS’s current and future learning goals

Workshop Two will take place virtually on March 27, 2025, from 6:00-8:30 PM and will explore the following topics:

  • Strengths, Challenges, Opportunities, and Goals (SCOG Analysis) associated with WMS’s current and future academic and extracurricular programming
  • Architectural Design Patterns that innovative middle schools throughout the U.S. have put into practice
  • Design Pattern Priorities for the renovated and or/new WMS facility

Workshop Three will take place in-person on April 10, 2025, from 3:00-6:00 PM and will explore the following topics:

  • Guiding Principles for the design of the renovated and/or new facility
  • Blue Sky Ideas that participants would like to see in new school program and facility
  • Bubble Diagramming of conceptual design ideas for the renovated and/or new facility

If you are interested in volunteering to be part of the team to create the vision for the WMS construction project, please fill out the Google Form or contact Dede Galdston, Superintendent of Schools at deanne.galdston@watertown.k12.ma.us

Watertown Middle School Official Scoring Totals from Procurement - January 13, 2025 (PDF)