J.R. Lowell Elementary School

175 Orchard Street

School District

Watertown
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:9
Type

public

School Map for Watertown School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on July 03, 2018

There is nothing special about this school or its approach to learning. It is a very diverse school in terms of student diversity, economics, family values. Some parents seem very engaged while some have no involvement at all. The PTO at this school badly needs new faces and friendly faces too. Some on the PTO are not at all parent friendly. There are some behavior issues with students and that makes classroom learning difficult. I am a mom to 3 children and could never recommend Watertown Public Schools to anyone.
Submitted by parent on May 22, 2016

Update 2016: Principle is still great and the school is really becoming even more of a community. Thankful to have some very excellent teachers too. My later years at Lowell were great too(great teachers). Hope that they keep Math League for both 4th and 5th grades along with add more project base STEAM. Thank goodness for parents/Watertown Strong Schools for advocating for more money and resources to help better our Elementary/Middle/High schools. We are getting better but still have a good way to go. Overall district Administration is not communicative and needs to be more on top of situations before they are in crisis mode. I'm rating this school though, but if I were to rate the Administration I would give them 2 stars...the principle/teachers and all at Lowell are excellent!2012:Lowell school is a good school with a new interm princple this year. SHe is doing a GREAT job transitioning and responding to parents. The kids already love her and she is night and day better than the previous unresponsive prinicple(mentioned in the previous posts). The lower grade teachers so far have been great. I'm not hearing as great a praise for the upper grades but we shall see!
Submitted by parent on May 01, 2015

I love Lowell School! My daugther needed special education and they are awsome!! Unfortunately we had to leave the school because we moved to another state. We miss Lowell school so much!!
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2014

From what we have read and experienced the Lowell School is about average nationally. I sincerely hope this can improve by the time our daughter is old enough to attend.
Submitted by parent on August 21, 2013

Our school is wonderful. The teachers and principal all care about the children. My son has learned so much while being there, not just academically but about community. We are all in this world together and we need to help build each other up. Thank you to all the teachers who work hard in the trenches everyday.
Submitted by parent on August 01, 2013

Lowell School is amazing. They have a great staff on board and i'm choosing to stay in this town to continue the great education my son has been receiving. The individualized support is really thorough and they really care about our kids. I moved to the right neighborhood for sure .
Submitted by parent on June 22, 2013

I have 3 children at the Lowell school. I have to say the principal and teaching staff are doing a tremendous job. They are creative in their approach to meeting the needs of all the students. New initiatives such as the Lowell Learning garden, the Buddy system and newspaper club have been fantastic additions to the school as a whole. The teachers are engaged in their efforts and I have found them open to meeting parents if there are issues or concerns. The Principal is energetic, knows the kids so well, has a happy staff and she is running a tight ship! The PTO and volunteer program is an example of great parental involvement and hopefully it will only get stronger. It takes a village to raise these children and I could not be happier with the community my children belong to..
Submitted by teacher on June 14, 2012

It's wonderful that everyone is happy now. However, the competency, ineffectivness and unresponsiveness of the former Lowell School principal was brought to the attention of the school committe, the former Superintendent and the current Superintendent many times over the years. Nobody did anything about it and a lot of parents, teachers and children paid a price. It's very sad that the current Superintendent chose to ignore parents and their concerns about Donovan's past issues and behavior and appointed her Assistant Superintendent. Isn't that nice: lets give someone a higher position with more money even though they have behaved very badly for years! How can she get a promotion after all of the terrible things that she's done. It's disgusting and appalling. The School Committee is/was aware of her antics over the years. She was appointed this position so that she can retire in three years with a higher pension. She also accepted a position in Newton as principal of an elementary school. As soon as Fitzgerald was appointed Superintendent, Donovan told the Newton that she changed her mind and no longer wanted the job. Hmmmm, sounds like it was planned all along!
Submitted by parent on May 20, 2012

This year is so much better for my kids then years past and I think it has a lot to do with the new principal and the great energy she provides. The former principal was very ineffective as all the other postings have alluded to. I have also heard that in Watertown this is by far the most desirable elementary school. Overall everyone seems happier this year and when teachers are happy then the kids have a better chance of having a fun school year.
Submitted by parent on January 20, 2011

Sorry about the errors, English is not my first language. I have 2 kids at this school and they are very happy.
Submitted by parent on August 17, 2010

There appears to be a pattern - a genuine concern - regarding the Lowell School principal which has not been addressed by the school committee or the superintendent. When there are that many complaints from parents, teachers and kids over the years from bad decisions, to mistreament of parents and teachers, from lying to parents, for poor planning, favoring certain parents, removing regular ed programs, and the list keeps growing then it's time to do something about it. Wake up school commitee and administration, you're hurting our kids!
Submitted by parent on December 15, 2007

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Submitted by parent on May 20, 2007

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