Attached is this week's schedule of Holyoke School Committee Meetings. The Agenda will follow as soon as possible- I am having difficulty scanning it.
Highlights:
Monday’s meeting will offer updated information in a number of areas. HPS Transportation Manager David Wagner provides a written report about the reduction in bus passes resulting from the use of more precise monitoring software. You may note that nearly half of the students at Holyoke High School lost access to free bus passes (note-not free to the city-we pay a monthly fee) when the software discovered many lived within two miles of the High School. A smaller number at Dean also were removed from the list of students entitled to passes. Dean, of course, is in a less central location. Mr. Wagner will answer the Committee’s questions at the meeting. We will also receive more information about the School Lunch Program, and a Mentoring Program newly instituted by the New England Farm Worker’s Counsel.
On Tuesday, at my invitation, Lt. Gov Murray will visit Peck School and get an introduction to the Transitional Opportunity Program. TOP has been an especially effective innovation in our district and I am hopeful that by getting a first hand view of what we do the Patrick administration will be helpful to our efforts in this area.
On Wednesday, Officials from the Massachusetts School Building Authority will visit Lawrence School, which we hope to replace with a new K-8 structure. The agenda package includes a detailed memo from the head of that agency, about the process and the number of district across Massachusetts with which we are competing. You may also be interested in an article in today’s Boston Globe about the sorry state of many High School science labs. Adding a modern science wing is a major priority of Holyoke’s School Building Needs Committee.
For the second year, the Holyoke Rotary Club is sponsoring the delivery of dictionaries to every third grade student in Holyoke, Granby & South Hadley. Rotary Club Members, myself included, will be bringing the dictionaries to many Holyoke Schools this week.
It has been an especially good couple of weeks for the Holyoke Public Schools in the press, thanks to Holyoke High School’s exemplary results in its accreditation review, and the success of EN White, Sullivan & McMahon Schools in improving MCAS results. Let’s all hope this is evidence of positive momentum, rather than a pleasant change of pace.
I have created a website which compiles my previous comments, which can be found if you click here: http://mmoriartyhps.blogspot.com/ . This is a companion to the archive of previous agendas and minutes, which you can always access here: http://www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/sc_agenda_minutes.htm
I will have a Spanish Language version as soon as my schedule allows.
