Planning Board Approves St. Stephen's School Addition

Planning Board · Meeting of October 14, 2026

Watertown's Planning Board unanimously approved a site plan review permit for a three-story addition to St. Stephen's Armenian Elementary School. Chair Janet Buck led the four-member board, which needed only a simple majority because the project qualifies as a protected educational use under the Dover Amendment.

The roughly 31,000-square-foot building will let the school move its elementary program out of rented space at the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center; enrollment in grades one through five has grown from 52 to 80 students. Traffic engineer Kirsten Braun projected about 15 new morning peak-hour trips and four afternoon trips from a planned sixth grade. The board added conditions requiring an updated play-area plan and allowing "up to 15 feet of additional height" for rooftop screening.

No residents spoke in opposition, and one board member called the design "fabulous."

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Source: the Planning Board meeting of October 14, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.