Holyoke School Committee Meeting, October 28, 2024
6:00 pm Fifield Room @ William J Dean Tech High School
1045 Main St, Holyoke 01040
MEETING NOTICE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE AGENDA
DATE: October 28, 2024
TIME: 6:00 PM
LOCATION: Fifield Room, HOLYOKE HIGH DEAN CAMPUS, 1045 MAIN ST, HOLYOKE, MA 01040
Members of the public can access the meeting here: https://hps-holyoke-ma-us.zoom.us/j/85266232176?pwd=ci9tWEs3cG81SkQxdXZrWW5GenBXQT09
(Spanish Interpretation will be available).
On March 29, 2023, Governor Healey signed into law An Act Relative to Extending Certain State
of Emergency Accommodations, which, among other things, extends the expiration of the
provisions pertaining to the Open Meeting Law to March 31, 2025. Specifically, this extension
allows public bodies to continue holding meetings remotely without a quorum of the public body
physically present at a meeting location, and to provide “adequate, alternative” access to remote
meetings. The Act does not make any new changes to the Open Meeting Law other than
extending the expiration date of the temporary provisions regarding remote meetings from
March 31, 2023, to March 31, 2025.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH CHAPTER 28 OF THE ACTS OF 2009, SECTIONS 17-20 (FORMERLY SECTION 23B OF CHAPTER 39) OF THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL LAWS, THAT A REGULAR MEETING OF THE HOLYOKE SCHOOL COMMITTEE WILL BE HELD ON October 28, 2024.
- CALL TO ORDER ~ ROLL CALL ~ PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
- Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30A, s. 20, I am hereby informing all attendees that a video and audio recording is being made of the meeting and the meeting is being live-streamed and run live on the City’s community TV channel.
- Election of Vice-Chair Pro-Tem for October 28, 2024 regular meeting of the Holyoke School Committee as per Policy BDA: School Committee Organizational Meeting
“In the absence of the Vice Chairperson at any meeting thereafter, the Committee shall elect, in the manner outlined, a Vice Chairperson pro-tem.”
- Student Showcase – None
- Public Comment- Members of the public wishing to submit public comments can email ifeliciano@hps.holyoke.ma.us no later than 3:00 p.m. Monday, October 28, 2024.
- Comments will either be displayed or read during the meeting.
- Communication Reports-
- Student Reports
- HHS North-Student Representative
- HHS Dean Campus- Student Representative
- Superintendent’s Report – N/A
- Vice Chair Report
- Reminder: November 12, 2024 at 6:30pm Superintendent Evaluation Training. This training will take place immediately following the regular meeting of the Holyoke School Committee which will start at 6pm.
- Subcommittee Appointed List Updated
- New Business-
- Holyoke High Dean Campus Admission Policy
RECOMMENDATION: That the School Committee refer the admission policy of Holyoke High Dean Technical to the Policy and Governance Subcommittee for discussion and recommendations if warranted.
- Orders
- Introduced by Committee Member John Whelihan, that the Receiver/Superintendent provide an update to the School Committee on activities done throughout the district to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month September 15-October 15.
- Updates of Committees
- Policy and Governance Subcommittee
- Finance and Operations Subcommittee
- Joint City Council/School Committee
- Local Control Subcommittee
- Leadership, Accountability and Measurement Subcommittee
- Ongoing Business
- MASC Resolutions
ACTION: School Committee to provide feedback to the Delegate and Alternate Delegate of the Delegate Assembly. No motion required.
- Announcements
- Trunk or Treat- SEPAC, October 29, 2024 from 6pm to 7pm.
- Holyoke High School theater “Miss Nelson is Missing”, November 13, 14, 15th starting at 6:30pm at John F. Sears Auditorium (Holyoke High School)
- District Parent Advisory, November 13, 2024 via Zoom
- Middle School Building Committee, November 14, 2024 via Zoom
- Sports Event Calendar
Order filed for Hispanic Heritage Month |
Dear School Committee Members,
Here is the requested overview of how Holyoke Public Schools recognized, celebrated, and educated about Hispanic Heritage Month, which is nationally recognized each year from September 15 through October 15.
Schools held their own events and programming, which included parades, assemblies, specialized lesson plans, and family events. While all schools did something to acknowledge the month, the following is what was submitted to the communications team for coverage:
- STEM Academy and HHS Dean Tech Campus had themed morning announcements with facts about each Hispanic country and shared curated playlists. Dean’s culinary students also made themed dishes.
- Sullivan Middle School had an educational bulletin board contest, and an after school event for families that featured food, dancing, and art.
- Metcalf Middle School had an assembly/pep rally that featured remarks from the Mayor, a ceremony listing each Hispanic country, and performances by two different dance troupes.
- Lawrence School spent a week (October 15-18) learning about the 21 different Hispanic countries, with each classroom picking one country to learn about. The students then gave a hallway parade for families, followed by an assembly where students presented what they learned to the rest of the school, practicing public speaking with a microphone.
- Kelly School had a car parade where families and community members decorated their cars for different countries and drove by for the students.
- Morgan School had a read-aloud event where older students read relevant Hispanic Heritage Month titles to younger students, had a number of educational bulletin boards up, and did a special morning broadcast on October 15 to wrap-up the month.
District wide, the communications team highlighted the month by providing news coverage about school events, sharing the Superintendent’s letters that emphasize the importance of the month, and sharing pieces of Holyoke’s history in the Together For Holyoke newsletters and on the district website. Additionally, a celebration of our Language Access team and a new video about the positive impact of our Dual Language program for Latino educators tied into the month’s theme. A roundup of these news stories and newsletter editions includes:
- News story on 9/16/24: National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations begin at HPS
- Together for Holyoke newsletter on 9/23/24: Hispanic Heritage Month, fall open houses, and progress on the new middle school in this edition of Together For Holyoke
- News story with video on 9/25/24: Dual language program teaches so much more than English and Spanish
- News story on 9/30/24: Translation team ensures ‘no one is left behind due to language barriers
- News story on 10/11/24: HPS celebrates Holyoke’s rich history of Hispanic and Latino leadership
- News story on 10/18/24: Holyoke schools celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with learning, dancing, and more
The official district social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube) amplified a number of the above events, and shared some additional pieces of content, including profiles of Jasarah Burgos and Yadilette Rivera-Colón, a call for heritage recipes from FoodCorps, and a video about Sullivan School’s bulletin board contest. Links to that content can be found here:
- 9/16/24 Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM) Announcement post
- 9/18/24 Puerto Rican Parade post
- 9/20/24 Post about Jasarah Burgos
- 9/26/24 Post about Dr. Rivera-Colón
- 10/2/24 Share of FoodCorp’s HHM recipe book project
- 10/9/24 Post about Sullivan’s HHM open house
- 10/14/24 Post about Metcalf’s HHM assembly
- 10/15/24 Call to join Kelly’s car parade
- 10/16/24 Sullivan’s bulletin board contest winner video
- 10/17/24 Call to join Lawrence School’s educational assembly
- 10/22/24 Post about Lawrence’s assembly and parade
Please let me know if you need any other information regarding how schools across the District celebrated this month.