Announcements

Today marks the beginning of the final week of school for the 2020-2021 school year, and what a year it has been! This fall, we dealt with our first public health crisis – EEE, that upset our plans for outdoor PE classes, recess, and fall sports. Today, we enter the fourth month of isolation to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has taken the lives of almost 120,000 Americans including two deaths here in Holliston. The disruption of our school year has been unprecedented and significant. Despite Herculean effort on the part of Holliston’s educators, it is undeniable that remote learning has not and cannot replace the in-person education experience.

While some restrictions on our everyday living are slowly being lifted, educational leaders from across Massachusetts are being encouraged to develop alternative plans in the likely event that 100% in-person, in-school instruction will likely not be possible at the beginning of next school year. To assist us in this planning, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is supposed to publish guidelines for school districts to follow when planning for the fall. Initially, we were told that those guidelines were expected to be published today, June 15, but in a conference call late last week, the commissioner said that “preliminary“ guidelines would “hopefully be published next [now, this] week, followed by more detailed guidelines coming in early-to-mid July.“ While this news is frustrating, we all have to recognize that, in Massachusetts, these decisions are being informed by the best scientific and medical minds in our country and that a lot will depend on the exact trajectory the virus is taking when school Is scheduled to reopen in late August.

I know the frustration the families are feeling, facing the idea that next school year may look different than “normal“ but without any idea as to what the exact differences will be. With that in mind, I would like to offer a few concepts that are highly likely to pervade the next school year:

1. Students and staff will likely be required to wear masks and practice physical distancing throughout the school day. Parents should expect that it will be their responsibility to provide their students with masks.

2. The availability of morning and afternoon bus transportation may be limited in order to implement physical distancing requirements.Students and staff who are exhibiting any physical symptoms of illness will be expected to stay home.

3. The practice of giving your child some Tylenol when they wake up with a little fever and sending them off to school will not be tolerated, as it now could have life-threatening consequences to others.

4. It is virtually certain that there will be some school days when some students will be required to stay at home and actively participate in remote learning. It is likely that some students will experience this more than others, as we accommodate and adjust our programming to meet individual student’s learning needs.

5. Remote Learning may look quite different next year than it did this year. For example, in the scenario where some students are in school and some are not, the opportunity exists to live stream lessons as they occur in the classroom, where in today’s model that is not possible.

6. Schools and districts may have to adjust their instructional model, moving back-and-forth from 100% remote, to hybrid, to 100% in-school, depending on the status of the virus. For example, if we were to open under a hybrid model (with some students coming to school and some students remaining at home) at the beginning of the school year, we might have to move to a 100% remote model if Massachusetts experiences a second wave of the virus. Similarly, when a vaccine is available and the danger passes, we could move to the 100% in-school model.

These past months have been difficult for all of us. What was once easy is now difficult, or still not possible. This has required us all to demonstrate high levels of patience and understanding as we adjust. When school opens in the fall, I am confident that we will all need to show the same high levels of patience and understanding as we work to bring as many students back to school as possible.

As the state publishes clearer information about their plans for the fall, the Holliston Public Schools will communicate those plans to you as soon as possible.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

We are working to combine pick up of graduation related materials with drop off of school items over the next two weeks. Recognizing that seniors’ last day of classes is Friday, May 29th and that many seniors are hoping to have their caps and gowns prior to the senior car parade on June 7th, we are providing opportunities for this process next week and, if necessary, the following week.

With that in mind, please take some time to check your homes for any books, whether library or classroom, or other school items. Obligation letters were mailed to families yesterday and your senior will need to have all obligations satisfied prior to receiving their graduation items. In addition, as we know there might be financial hardships during this time, please do not hesitate to reach out if you need assistance. If you have any questions regarding the obligation letters or believe it to be an error, please feel free to contact Maryann Schofield at schofieldm@holliston.k12.ma.us.

Student pickup and drop off of items will be curbside and families are asked to remain in their vehicles at all times. As a reminder, face coverings meeting CDC guidelines are required.

Pick up will be curbside at the front entrance of the school by STUDENT LAST NAME:

Thursday, May 28th

1:00 - 2:00 PM: Student last names beginning A-D

2:00 - 3:00 PM: Student last names beginning E-L

Friday, May 29th

1:00 - 2:00 PM: Student last names beginning M-R

2:00 - 3:00 PM: Student last names beginning S-Z

*If you cannot pick up at the school during these days/times please contact Mr. Priest at priestk@holliston.k12.ma.us If necessary, we will be offering a second round of pick up and drop off the following week.

Directions for Pick Up:

• Please proceed to the front of the building, main entrance, and enter the line of cars with items ready to drop off

• Display the student’s first name & last name on the vehicle’s front or rear passenger window

• All occupants should remain in the vehicle

• Face coverings must be worn at all times while interacting with school personnel

Items for Pick Up:

• Caps & Gowns

• NHS Cords (where applicable)

• Yearbook (if ordered)

• Immunization Records

Items for Drop Off:

• Chromebooks/Chargers/Case

• Textbooks/Books

• Obligations: money owed (dues/fees/activities), uniforms, books etc.

Chromebook Information:

When dropping off the Chromebook, please make sure to drop off the device, charger and case. In addition, please let us know if there is anything wrong with the Chromebook, including damage, battery not holding a charge or any other concerns, so that we may address those items that are under warranty or accurately assess the condition of the device.

Naviance Info

All seniors must complete their final survey in Naviance. This information is critical as it identifies where (College/University/Other) the School Counselors should send final transcripts. Students can complete this survey by accessing their Naviance account. The School Counseling Department has sent out a few emails/reminders about this over the last several weeks. If you have any questions please contact Valerie Camiel at camielv@holliston.k12.ma.us.

Scholarship Information

The School Counseling Department is working closely with the Holliston Scholarship Foundation and all donors to process the applications and award scholarships to recipients. Our goal is to have a virtual scholarship event during the week of June 8th and additional information will be shared as soon as possible.

Senior Car Parade Information

The Holliston Police and Fire Departments are working closely with school personnel to identify the parade route and time of the event. More details will be shared in a subsequent email this week. We are excited for this event!

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback in recent weeks as we have grappled with the decision regarding graduation. After much deliberation, the Holliston Public Schools, Police Department and Fire Department have jointly made the decision to hold graduation ceremonies on Saturday, July 25. Waiting until July 25 gives us the best possibility of maximizing the number of students concurrently present for the ceremony. Our hope is that by delaying the date, we will be able to have all the seniors graduate together and in-person. However, we will not know the specific format of the ceremony until the beginning of July, as we will need to assess the then up-to-date guidance from the state.

We are also cognizant of the void left by not holding our traditional graduation ceremony on Sunday, June 7. Therefore, based on feedback received, we will be organizing a senior car parade through parts of Holliston on June 7 to celebrate the culmination of hard work and dedication by our senior class. Details regarding the parade route, distribution of caps, gowns and yearbooks, scholarships and other aspects will be communicated in subsequent emails in the near future. We appreciate everyone's patience as we continue to consult with health and safety officials, school personnel and frequently evolving state guidance to ensure that we can celebrate our seniors in the most inclusive and safest way possible.

Thank you

Nicole Bottomley
Principal

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Mike Cassidy
Fire Chief & Emergency Management Director

Matt Stone
Chief of Police

It has been over two months now since our students and teachers have been face-to-face in their classrooms. Over that period, our students, parents/guardians, and staff have shown remarkable resilience in the face of constant change and frequent challenges. We are incredibly proud of the Remote Learning Plan that our educators developed and even prouder of the efforts of our staff to constantly update and adjust that Plan in an effort to meet the ever-changing needs of our students in this remote learning setting. While it is inarguable that remote learning does not approach the quality of instruction that takes place in our classrooms every day, nonetheless, Holliston’s teachers and staff are working tirelessly to minimize the gap between these two very different models of education. As they always do, Holliston’s teachers are giving it their all, while juggling the extraordinary demands of working at home during a pandemic, and we are deeply appreciative of their efforts and proud of their results.

One month from today, June 18th, will be the last day of the 2019-2020 school year. While we remain committed to adjusting our current practices to ensure the best possible educational outcomes for the remainder of this school year, we are also focusing our attention on planning for the start of the 2020-2021 school year. Today, the Governor is scheduled to announce his plan for re-opening Massachusetts, but this plan will NOT include much, if any, information about how schools will re-open. However, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has formed a large 30-person working group that has been tasked with developing a re-opening plan for Massachusetts’ schools. Unfortunately, this plan is not scheduled to be released until the middle-to-end of June, at the earliest.

It would be irresponsible, however, to sit idle and wait for that plan to be announced. So, the Holliston Public Schools has formed its own team to begin to study the options and develop an understanding of how each of these options would be implemented. The team will initially consist of: the entire senior leadership team of the Holliston Public Schools (Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Director of Student Services, Business Administrator, Director of Technology, as well as the four building principals); Holliston’s Fire Chief (who also serves as Holliston’s Emergency Management Director); Holliston’s Police Chief and the HPS School Nurse Leader. Initially, we are focusing our planning and brainstorming on the issues related to the four most likely scenarios:

• Business-As-Usual;

• Full-Opening with Social Distancing/Safety Protocols and Equipment Required;

• Hybrid Model where only 50% (or some portion) of our students could be physically present in our schools at one time and the remainder would be taught remotely; or

• 100% Remote model, similar to our current situation.

During Phase I of our planning for the fall, we are brainstorming the implications of each of these models on all aspects of our work, such as:

• Student and staff schedules;

• Health and safety protocols;

• Technology needed by students and staff;

• Professional development of our staff;

• Necessary curriculum, instruction and assessment adaptations;

• Student transportation;

• Medical staffing and equipment;

• Special education services;

• Extra-curricular activities;

• Building cleaning requirements;

… just to name a few.

Following our initial brainstorming, our thinking will be shared with our teaching and professional staff in early June for their feedback, discussion and further refinement. Our goal is to have a draft of this work completed when the state announces its plan in mid-to-late June so that we can make revisions based upon useful guidance from the state. Additionally, once the draft plan is developed, we will be formally soliciting feedback from parents/guardians in late June or early July and throughout the summer in order to inform further adjustments to the plan. We then will be ready to spend the remainder of the summer finalizing our preparations for school opening in whatever form it is expected to take.

It is highly likely, however, that the plan announced by DESE in late June will still be built upon a number of assumptions regarding the expected status of the virus when school is scheduled to open on September 1st. As a result, we will likely not know for certain what opening day will look like until mid-to-late August. In addition, even after we open schools in the fall, we are going to need to be prepared to toggle between the various scenarios in response to potential changes in the virus in the area.

We recognize that this is not welcome news for either our parent/guardian community or our staff, each of whom needs to be able to develop family plans for the return to school. If we could make the Holliston Public Schools an island of certainty in the center of all of this uncertainty, we would. But, that will likely not be possible. As we draft this letter on Sunday, May 17th, the Governor is slated to share his initial plan for re-opening Massachusetts tomorrow, yet none of us knows with ANY certainty, what that plan will entail. Whether it’s a state-wide plan to reopen our economy or Holliston’s plan to reopen school in the fall, that plan is driven by the then-current status of the virus.

It goes without saying that all of the HPS administrators and staff eagerly anticipate the time when we can safely return to our school buildings and resume face to face instruction with all of our kids. We will continue to prepare for all possible scenarios and share the status of our planning efforts as the end of the school year approaches and over the course of the summer as well.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Peter J. Botelho, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent

Dear Holliston Parents/Guardians and Staff:

On April 24, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary Secondary Education (DESE) issued new guidance for Massachusetts districts and schools, Strengthening Our Remote Learning Experience. Knowing that our school building would remain closed for the remainder of the school year, this guidance provided another opportunity to reflect and inform the ongoing adjustments to our remote learning programming for students. The attached HPS Remote Learning Plan Phase III Addendum to our Holliston Public Schools Remote Learning Plan, published on April 6, 2020, is intended to highlight how remote learning programming continues to evolve in our district.

The DESE guidance called on districts to focus on two parts:

• Strengthening our remote learning program for all students.

• Developing a system for identifying and supporting students not effectively engaged in remote learning.

With respect to strengthening the remote learning program for all students, DESE divided this section into four parts which are reflected in this document:

1. Prioritizing meaningful connections with educators and peers

2. Provide engaging core instruction focused on the prerequisite content standards that are most critical for success in the next grade

3. Offer opportunities for enrichment, exercise and play

4. Ensure programming is accessible and secure and communication is streamlined for students and their families.

Fortunately, the Department's guidance was strongly aligned to the work already being done to continuously improve our remote learning programming during this unprecedented time. While the hard work, collaboration and creativity of educators throughout the district has been incredibly impressive, we will continue to make adjustments in order to best serve the students of Holliston during this extraordinary time.

We have also begun initial conversations regarding next year. While we hope with all of our hearts to be able to reenter the school buildings next year and see all of our students and educators together again, we will also be preparing for scenarios that might require additional remote learning or other creative solutions if the health emergency has not resolved sufficiently by next year’s opening day. Realistically, however, it will not be until August until we have a clearer picture of what September will look like. However, we will dedicate ourselves to planning for multiple possibilities and will communicate more as we get more guidance from the governor’s office and public health officials in the state.

We appreciate your continued patience and support as we work to continue to improve for the remainder of the year and begin to make plans for next year.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Peter J. Botelho, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent of Schools

Thank you for your patience as we continue to work through the best ways to support our seniors. I have sat down multiple times to write this email over the last week and every time I do, guidelines and advisories change and additional discussion is needed. So I write to you today with a snapshot of where we currently are as of May 1st. The senior class officers and advisors have been meeting regularly and I want to take a minute to thank them for their hard work. When the students ran for office and the advisors agreed to sign on with the class for four years, this was not what they imagined, not what any of us imagined for senior year. Regardless of the obstacles, these hard working seniors and advisors are rising to the challenge every step of the way and should be thanked for their advocacy, dedication and positivity in the face of incredible circumstances.

As one can imagine, converting senior events into a virtual environment is complicated and necessitates quite a bit of planning. One of the biggest challenges is the fact that we have no control over the timeline of restrictions on physical distancing or the "stay at home" order issued by Governor Baker. Many families are struggling with a sense of loss as the image and expectations they had for this time in their high school senior's life is not matching the current reality. Families are trying to understand how to gain a sense of control during this time, how to celebrate the culmination of their senior's high school career and how to navigate so many unanswered questions about the future as they look to their post-secondary plans. Other families are relying on the school district for daily meals as unemployment continues to increase. I have heard from many families that they are overwhelmed by the volume of emails from all aspects of the school and still other families who feel there have not been enough. There is no one-size-fits-all model or blueprint for the response to a pandemic and we are all doing the absolute best we can for our students, our families and ourselves. In addition, it is understandable that families will compare Holliston to other districts or states regarding these events. The problem with these comparisons is that we have to make decisions based on the information we have available to us about the health and safety of our community. Holliston has seen the number of positive cases of COVID-19 double over the last few weeks and the Board of Health is now requiring the use of face coverings at essential businesses and in public spaces. We need to understand that the timeline for a "return to normal events" might look different for our community than for others across the country.

During the past two weeks I have met with the senior class officers, advisors and parents, Chief of Police Matt Stone and Fire Chief & Emergency Management Director Mike Cassidy and a number of school officials to discuss gatherings, graduation and other events related to the senior class and the school as a whole. I can certainly understand the frustration in wanting answers and I can assure you we are working as quickly as we can and we should have information regarding graduation next week.

The following is the current status of various events over the next month:

May 1st:

Typically, this day at HHS is called "Wear Your Future," however, due to the extension of the enrollment deadline for many colleges and universities, what was once a day is now a month-long adventure. As such, the school counselors are planning to collect the plans of seniors along with a picture and will release a fun video to celebrate all futures chosen. If you have other ideas for how to celebrate the futures of our students and the rite of passage in making that decision, please email Mrs. Ross at rossd@holliston.k12.ma.us.

Prom:

The prom which was originally scheduled for May 15th is cancelled and class officers are working to gather feedback from their peers regarding any future events. Whether or not a "Senior Dinner Dance" or some other gathering can take place during the summer is completely dependent on restrictions we have no control over at this point. Further information will be shared next week.

Art Saves Lives:

Art Saves Lives will take place virtually on May 21st this year and will be featured on the Art Saves Lives Website and through Instagram and Facebook.

NHS Induction & Celebration:

NHS Induction will be celebrated online through Zoom on May 27th at 7:00pm. Mr. Kozay and the officers will send out additional information to NHS members after the officers meet next week.

Spring Athletic Fees:

With the cancellation of the Spring Season we are working to reimburse families who already registered and paid. The process of reimbursement for fees must go through the School Committee and their next meeting is scheduled for May 7th. Further communication about this process will be sent out after the meeting.

Retrieving Belongings from the School Building:

Students were sent a Google form through Google Classroom last week and were asked to complete the form if they needed access to the building. Students taking Fine Arts courses who needed their portfolios for Art Saves Lives and students taking Performing Arts courses who needed their instruments were able to come through the building this week. We are working with Athletic Director Matt Baker and Chief Cassidy to set up a time next week for students to access athletic lockers for any belongings they may have left behind and to assess any other needs for access to the building that students may have.

Returning School Items to HHS:

We are working to develop a plan for students to drop off their textbooks, previous uniforms if still at home, Chromebooks and any other school belongings over the next 4 weeks. We will need to stagger these drop offs over the next several weeks to maintain physical distancing regulations and keep the volume of drop offs manageable for main office staff. We will prioritize items for courses that ended Term 3 during our first round of drop offs.

Scholarships:

Please refer to the School Counseling emails that have gone out or contact Valerie Camiel at camielv@holliston.k12.ma.us if you have any questions.

Graduation:

As of now we are still evaluating all scenarios and meeting with Public Safety Officials to fully understand all the possibilities available to us. Our caps & gowns and diplomas had already arrived so we do not have to worry about ordering those items. A lengthy and detailed email will be sent out next week regarding graduation for the class of 2020. We appreciate your patience as this event is clearly the most complicated to plan.

All Night Graduation Party:

The All Night Graduation Party is no longer happening on June 7th.

Additional communication with any solidified details we have will be sent out next week. I truly wish I could change this situation for all of our students, and for my own children, but unfortunately our ability to keep everyone healthy is dependent on respecting the physical distancing restrictions and accepting the fact that returning to a more familiar way of life will take longer than any of us had hoped for.

Thank you

Nicole Bottomley
Principal
Holliston High School

Governor Charlie Baker announced that all Massachusetts school buildings will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. While many of us expected this announcement, the reality that teachers and students will not physically be returning to their classroom for the remainder of this school year elicits a number of powerful emotions, including anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, sadness and loss. This is a normal reaction to the loss of normalcy we are all experiencing.

Over the course of the coming weeks, every one of us, parents, staff and students, will feel many if not all of these emotions and probably more. For this reason alone, it is critical that we continue to focus our efforts on our Remote Learning work to ensure we remain connected with each other and to minimize the impact of this new reality on our students and their growth. While our school buildings are closed, the 2019-2020 school year is not over! We will continue to execute and adjust our Remote Learning efforts to meet the needs of our students for the remainder of the school year. I encourage and expect all students to engage in those activities to the extent they are able.

Over the course of the coming weeks, we will be announcing decisions regarding the status of our traditional end-of-year activities and other important issues that arise as a result of this announcement. In the meantime, please continue to keep your families safe during this pandemic.

Respectfully,
Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Let’s Talk About Pandemic Parenting

DATE: April 27, 2020
TIME: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Zoom Panel Presentation

Holliston Public Schools, in collaboration with HPS SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council and MindShare (the Parent Education arm of the Holliston PTO) invite parents/guardians to join us as we gather for a panel discussion on the experience of pandemic parenting. The intent is to share insights and to provide community support during these unprecedented times.

Superintendent, Dr. Brad Jackson and Director of Student Services, Meg Camire will moderate the discussion. Panel presenters include consulting psychologist to Holliston Public Schools, a parent, school counselor, and Director of Holliston Youth and Family Services. The panel hopes to address questions provided through the link below as well as throughout the presentation.

As parents, administrators, and teachers, we value what is happening in your homes during these unfamiliar times. You are not alone! We are asking for your perspectives, questions, worries, silver-linings, experiences, etc. regarding pandemic parenting in the link below to help drive the conversation.

Let’s Talk About Pandemic Parenting

We are writing to give you a brief update on the status of the prom.

As of right now, the prom is still scheduled for May 15th at Union Station Worcester, Ma. However, as you are all aware, this is a very fluid situation. As we gather more information and insight in the weeks to come, we will be able to better determine any cancellations or revisions to the prom.

The Senior Class Officers, along with The Class Advisors, and School Administration have been meeting regularly and will be meeting once again on 4/22/2020 to discuss how we will proceed regarding this event. Barring any additional information from the Governor, we will send notification by the end of the week (4/24/20) to all parties involved about the final status of the prom and any plans we may have to move forward in an alternative direction.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we do not want to rush these decisions knowing the impact they have on our students.

Sincerely,
Class of 2020

The Holliston School Committee has voted to change the 2019-2020 (current school year) calendar as follows: April 21, 22, 23 and 24, 2020 are no longer School Vacation Days; they are now designated as Remote Learning Days. As a result of this change, the last day of school for students in Grades K-11 has changed from Wednesday, June 24, 2020 and will now be Thursday, June 18, 2020. The last day of school for seniors will remain May 29, 2020.

Since all residents of Holliston (and the Commonwealth) will be under a stay-at-home order during the week when April school vacation was scheduled to be held, I recommended that the Committee make this change. Most families have built their stay-at-home routines with the time for Remote Learning built in. Given that there are few, if any, options, for safe ways to travel, visit with friends or connect in person with remote family members, I felt that the time would best be used continuing the momentum we are building with our new Remote Learning Program. Moreover, the ability to end the school year earlier in June made this choice even more attractive.

Teachers will be issuing complete Remote Learning Plans for the week of April 21-24 and our expectations for student participation will be the same for these days as it is for all Remote Learning Days.

Thank you for your continued understanding and flexibility as we adjust to new issues as they present themselves.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Following up from Dr. Jackson's email this morning, we have updated our Remote Learning website to reflect the plan for HHS beginning on Monday, April 6th. We ask that you take the time to read through it carefully, as this will guide our work over the next few weeks, or longer. It is important that everyone fully understand the plan moving forward and ask any clarifying questions of teachers or the school, so that we are all in a position to navigate our way through the Remote Learning Plan.

There are a few things to keep in mind as we move forward:

• The plans we created when the 2019-2020 school year began are no longer viable and we must adjust

• We are going to need to make some difficult decisions about what constitutes critically important learnings and how we want to spend our valuable time with students

• We have an opportunity to rethink how we reach students, strengthen relationships and value empathy, compassion and health above all else

Considerations in developing the plan moving forward:

• We cannot guarantee that our students will have access or the ability to complete the learning activities we put in place for them

• It is still critically important that the decisions we make as a school and as a district do not jeopardize students' ability to graduate on time

• Students and families are reporting increased anxiety, uncertainty, and mental health challenges that we need to be mindful of as we progress

The website, which we ask you to go through to clarify the unique challenges we are facing, the rationale behind the decision making and which contains the full plan moving forward can be found on the Remote Learning Website. Despite what is covered on the website, we are aware that there are still many issues to resolve, questions to answer, and events to reassess.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation,

Thank you

Nicole Bottomley
Principal
Holliston High School

Dear Holliston Parents/Guardians and Staff:

Three weeks ago yesterday, on March 12th, I cancelled school in Holliston for Friday, March 13th and the week of March 16-20th due to growing public health concerns related to the Coronavirus. On Sunday, March 15th, Governor Baker cancelled school across Massachusetts through early April. On Monday, March 23rd, we began Week one of our two-week Enhanced Learning Program. This program was designed to meet several objectives:

• To assess the digital readiness of our staff and families for future remote learning;

• To re-establish connections between students and their teachers;

• To assess our students social-emotional wellness; and

• To offer students high-quality learning activities that were aligned with then-current DESE advisories that assigned work should be limited to preventing academic regression by reviewing previously-taught material and reinforcing skills already taught this school year and applying and deepening those skills.

On Wednesday, March 25th, 8 days ago, Governor Baker announced a further state-wide cancellation of school, this time through Friday, May 1st. On Thursday, March 26th, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) issued their first set of written guidelines regarding Remote Learning. These guidelines encouraged districts to continue to set the social-emotional wellness of their students as their highest priority, but allowed districts to locally determine the appropriateness of teaching new content moving forward.

After considerable discussion, we have concluded that Phase 2 of our Remote Learning Plan will allow teachers to add new content to their remote learning instruction beginning Monday, April 6th. At Placentino and Miller, where skill development in reading, writing and mathematics have always been the core work our teachers do, this focus will continue. At RAMS, teachers will continue to explore curriculum content through the school-wide lens of “Personal, Local, Global” with the emphasis on deeper, applied learning and deep conceptual understanding continuing to drive the work. New content will be introduced judiciously while reinforcing important concepts and skills.

The changes for Holliston High School students will be much more pronounced:

• HHS will be moving forward in curriculum content beginning Monday, April 6th. Teachers have been asked to be alert to the differentiated needs of their class and offer all necessary accommodations;

• HHS will work on a fixed class schedule beginning at 9:00AM and ending not later than 11:50AM M/T/Th/F where each period will meet twice per week for a class period not to exceed 50 minutes. On the days when the student is not meeting with their teacher, they will be assigned independent work that should require no more than 50 minutes to complete. With this schedule, each student will meet with their Period A teacher for up to 100 minutes per week and have up to 150 minutes of independent work assigned to them.

• Students are expected to complete the work assigned to them and teachers will provide students with feedback on their submitted work.

Additional details can be seen in our comprehensive Remote Learning Plan. You should expect to hear additional details from your school principal by Saturday, April 4th.

In the past three weeks, we have closed school, developed an initial plan for PreK-12 remote instruction, implemented that plan, modified the plan based on feedback and are now preparing to roll-out that revised plan. This has been exhausting work that has required administrators and teachers to put in an extraordinary number of hours to develop and execute these plans. In addition, this work has required a level of flexibility and collaboration between administrators and teachers far beyond the already-high levels Holliston typically sees. Everyone has rolled up their sleeves and pitched in, putting roles and responsibilities to one side, working together to make this happen. I am intensely proud of this work and profoundly proud of the teachers and administrators of the Holliston Public Schools who have worked together to make this happen. I also want to express my personal appreciation to the leadership of the Holliston Federation of Teachers for their flexibility and commitment to ensuring the students of Holliston are well-served through this shutdown.

I thank you for your continued patience and support as the Holliston Public Schools retools and redesigns itself to meet the unique changing needs of our community.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Dear Holliston Parent/Guardians and Staff:

One week after Governor Charlie Baker closed schools across the state to slow the spread of coronavirus in our communities, Holliston Public Schools rolled out a comprehensive set of Enhanced Learning Opportunities for students to use as a vehicle to get re-connected with their teachers and classmates and re-engage with their academic work.

This past Wednesday, Governor Baker announced that schools would remain closed through Friday, May 1, 2020. Then, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released a set of guidelines for districts to use as they develop plans for this extended shutdown period. On Friday, March 27, we wrapped up Week 1 of our Remote Learning Program, with Week 2 beginning today, Monday, March 30^th. This success can only be attributed to the hard work, time, and talent that our district’s entire team has invested in this effort. It is truly a remarkable accomplishment, made even more remarkable when you consider that each of these employees were adapting to their “new normal,” – including working from home, meeting remotely, as well as juggling their responsibilities to care for family and friends, to name a few things.

During Week 1, many of our teachers reached out to students using the tools available through Google Classroom or commercially-available products such as Zoom or FlipGrid. Because many families are working in close quarters, we wanted to be explicit about our expectations of students and their families regarding student privacy. I have attached a document to this email that outlines those expectations with instructions to follow-up, no later than Friday, May 4th if you feel you are unable to meet those expectations.

This week, while staying connected with their students and rolling out Week 2 of our Remote Learning Program, Holliston’s teachers and administrators will be conducting a comprehensive re-assessment of our current program, assessing it against the DESE guidelines and reviewing it for appropriateness knowing that schools will now be closed through at least May 1^st.

At a minimum, we will be looking at the following areas of our current plan and reviewing it against DESE’s new guidelines and our own goals for student learning, including:

• • Providing meaningful and productive learning for approximately half the length of a regular school day;

  • Providing students the opportunity to connect with one or more educators multiple times per week;

  • Provide students with time each day for physical activity based on recommendations from educators;

  • Provide additional time daily for enrichment activities such as the arts;

  • Ensuring teachers are providing valuable feedback on student work completed at home;

  • Reviewing the appropriateness of our current focus on “reinforcing skills already taught and applying and deepening those skills” to minimize the impact that this now-extended closure will have on all of our students, but particularly, on the ability of HHS students to qualify for academic credit for Term 3, Term 4, Semester 2 and courses 3 terms in duration; and

  • Reviewing any proposed revisions that we consider to our current program against the legal and moral imperative that “students have equitable access to learning opportunities during the closure, keeping in mind the variety of technology, health, disability and language challenges” and other unique circumstances facing many of our students during this extraordinary time.

Any changes to our current plan will be shared with parents/guardians at the end of next week with Phase II of our Remote Learning Program going on-line on Monday, April 6.

Holliston Public Schools is not just focused on serving the academic needs of our students during this time. Our talented nurses are working hard to keep Holliston healthy and our incredible School Food Service employees are working hard to feed families-in-need.

Important information from our School Nurses and Food Service staff are attached to this message.

In closing, I want to assure you that the Holliston Public Schools is committed to putting together the most comprehensive, compassionate and flexible plan for remote learning possible to accommodate families during these unprecedented times. It’s important to acknowledge that Holliston, our Commonwealth, our country and our planet are not experiencing an education crisis - we are experiencing a public health crisis that is impacting our public education system. Our decisions must be and will be driven by the needs of our students -- all of our students. We must accept the fact that we will not have the same educational outcomes this June that we have always had. We must accept the fact that the recovery period from a mandated 2-month school closure will last well into the 2020-2021 school year. At the same time, we must, and we will, find a way to minimize the impact that this COVID-19 crisis will have on our students’ futures. We will not, however, achieve this goal by sacrificing those students who are already struggling to catch up to their peers or who are unable to connect with our offerings due to challenges they or their families are facing during this public health crisis. That is not who we are as a community.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

>> Holliston Student Privacy Expectations and Consent

>> Holliston School Nurse COVID-19 Update April 2020

>> Holliston Food Service April 2020 Newsletter

Dear Holliston Parents/Guardians and Staff:

At 3:30 this afternoon, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced that he was extending his state-wide school closure order through Friday, May 1, 2020. This means that the Holliston Public Schools will continue to be closed through that date. The earliest date for school reopening is now Monday, May 4, 2020.

We anticipated that the shutdown period would be extended and the plans we developed to keep our students engaged with learning activities were designed to be expandable to meet the needs of our families and students for a longer shutdown period. In addition, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced that it will be issuing specific guidelines for districts to follow for the remote learning opportunities we provide. Once these guidelines have been shared with us, we will review our current Enhanced Learning Opportunities program and make any adjustments needed to ensure compliance with these new state guidelines. If modifications to the plan are required, we will share those changes with students and parents as soon as possible.

In the meantime, even though many expected that the school closure period would be extended, it is a hard reality to face. We recognize that for many staff, parents and students this new reality will only serve to increase anxiety, concern and a yearning for the return to normalcy. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for the face-to-face, in-person schooling experience and no amount of technology or creativity can ever replace the connections that our students establish when they are physically present in school. Nonetheless, we will do everything we can to establish and maintain meaningful connections with your children during this extended shutdown period. We can not recreate the school experience that existed in February. We are, however, doing everything we can to adapt that model to meet the unique social, emotional and educational needs of our students while we are unable to be together.

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as Holliston Public Schools adjusts to these remarkable, unpredictable and unprecedented events.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

March 23, 2020

ABOUT THIS YEAR'S AP EXAMS

• Traditional face-to-face exam administrations will not take place. Students will take a 45-minute online free-response exam at home.

• Students will be able to take these streamlined exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. Taking a photo of handwritten work will also be an option.

• Students who need mobile tools or connectivity can reach out to to the College Board directly.

• The exam will only include topics and skills "most AP teachers and students" have already covered in class by early March. We don't have exact details on this yet.

TEST SECURITY

• The exam questions are designed and administered in ways that prevent cheating; there are a range of digital security tools and techniques, including plagiarism detection software, to protect the integrity of the exams.

• Scoring at-home work for an AP Exam is not new to the AP Program. For years the AP Program has received and scored at-home student work as part of the exams for the AP Computer Science Principles and AP Capstone courses.

WHAT COLLEGE BOARD IS STILL WORKING ON

• What the exam administration dates and times will be

• What this will mean for the administration of exams for students with disabilities who approved for accommodations

• What this will mean in regards to exams that previously conflicted with each other

INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT

Beginning on Wednesday, March 25^th, students and teachers can attend free, live AP review courses, delivered by AP teachers from across the country. These mobile-friendly classes are:

• Designed to be used alongside work that may be given by schools.

• Will be recorded and available on-demand so teachers and students can access them any time.

• Not dependent on current AP teachers continuing instruction.

• Will focus on reviewing the skills and concepts from the first 75% of the course. There will also be some supplementary lessons covering the final 25% of the course.

Teachers who are providing remote instruction can continue to leverage AP Classroom, which was introduced at the start of the school year.

• Within AP Classroom, free-response questions that were only available for in-classroom use due to security concerns will now be unlocked.

• Teachers will be able to assign questions to students digitally.

Dear Parent/Guardians of Students with Disabilities,

As you are aware, on March 15th Governor Baker issued an Executive Order indicating public and private elementary and secondary (K-12) schools must close through Monday, April 6, 2020. We understand that school closures will have a significant impact on our students and that you may have questions on how to remain working as a team during this time.

The district administrators and staff are in the process of ensuring all students are provided access to educational resources during this closure, and we are hopeful this will allow us to remain connected both academically and socially with students. We appreciate your patience as we work through these unimaginable times.

We are working closely with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as they are providing updated guidance for school districts in accordance with local and nationwide requirements for students with disabilities. The following list includes information from DESE that may answers some questions you have right now:

• All Holliston students, including students with disabilities, will be provided access to educational resources to continue the continuity of learning while schools are closed.
  

• IEP services will not be provided during this time away from school. However, in our efforts to remain connected and part of a team, special education liaisons will be in contact with parents and/or students during this time.

  • Connection and support to learning opportunities may occur in various ways, including but not limited to: telephone communication, email, curated resources on HPS district website, and/or enrichment activities to complete at home.

  • Resource specific information for the following areas will be available on the Student Services website under the Special Education tab: Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Counseling, and nursing. Stay tuned for more information.
    

• Students who are in Out of District Day or Residential Programs will continue to attend school so long as the placement remains open (please note that many Out of District programs have closed or are planning to close). Transportation will continue to be provided to these students as long as transportation companies remain open. If your child attends an Out of District placement and you have any questions, please contact Carol Marble, administrative assistant, at marblec@holliston.k12.ma.us.

• Team Process and Timelines will be put on hold while schools are closed.

  • However, we plan to offer virtual Annual IEP Team meetings to parents/guardians who are interested in that option. This effort is not mandatory but rather an opportunity to remain connected and avoid a significant backlog of Team meetings when school is back in session. Parental consent and participation will be required.

  • All new special education referrals, evaluations, extended evaluations, and re-evaluations as well as all other mandated timelines will freeze while the district is closed.

Upon return to school, it is our plan that all students will begin accessing Individualized Education Program (IEP) services immediately and the Team process will be back in place for students and families. We do not anticipate compensatory services will be required as a result of the closure but we plan to assess the need for additional individual services if need be.

For immediate crisis related services and/or counseling, INTERFACE Referral services continue to be available. The William James INTERFACE Referral Service is a mental health and wellness referral Helpline available Monday through Friday, 9 am-5 pm, at 888-244-6843 (toll free).

Please reference the following documents for further information and guidance:

Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Q & As

Governor Baker's order dated March 15, 2020

Massachusetts Department and Elementary Secondary Education Information and Resources

Thank you again for your patience, understanding, and teamwork during these unimaginable times. Please contact me if you have any questions and continue to look for district and building specific information.

Take Care,

Meg Camire
Director of Student Services
camirem@holliston.k12.ma.us

March 17, 2020

In an effort to allow students and families opportunities to collect essential items that may have been left inside the school last week, Holliston High School will be implementing staggered open building times for families and students to come in to retrieve items (athletic shoes/clothing, musical instruments etc.). The staggered times listed below are to control the numbers of people entering and exiting the building over the next three days in order to adhere to social distancing. Entry into the building is for retrieving items only and people should not remain in the building once they have retrieved their belongings. Staff will not be available to meet or answer questions. The only open door will be through the front entrance and someone in the office will buzz you inside. Please see below for information about the nurse’s office and medication retrieval.

Open Building Times:

Wednesday, March 18

• 9:00AM-10:00AM: Last names beginning with A-H

• 10:00AM-11:00AM: Last names beginning with I-P

• 11:00AM-12:00PM: Last names beginning with Q-Z

Thursday, March 19

• 9:00AM-10:00AM: Last names beginning with A-H

• 10:00AM-11:00AM: Last names beginning with I-P

• 11:00AM-12:00PM: Last names beginning with Q-Z

• Medication Pick-Up for All Families 9:00AM-11:00AM

Friday, March 20

• 9:00AM-10:00AM: Last names beginning with A-H

• 10:00AM-11:00AM: Last names beginning with I-P

• 11:00AM-12:00PM: Last names beginning with Q-Z

Pick-Up for Medications

• We recognize that there are many students who have their medications located at the nurse’s office. We are designating Thursday, March 19th from 9:00am - 11:00am for all families to retrieve any medication they may not want to leave in the office.

  • Ms. T (nurse) will be present but this is not a time for lengthy consultation, rather this is to retrieve medication.

  • Parents/Guardians of students under the age of 18 must be present for the medication pick up as we cannot release medication to those under 18.

  • Please continue to reach out to the school nurse through email until we are able to set up other virtual methods (meetings and discussions ongoing)

• Thursday, March 19: 9:00AM-11:00AM (Open time for all families to retrieve meds)

From the College Board, March 16, 2020

In response to the rapidly evolving situation around the coronavirus (COVID-19) and guidance from public health organizations, the College Board is canceling the May 2, 2020, SAT^® administration. Makeup exams for the March 14 administration (scheduled March 28) are also canceled. We will provide refunds to all students who are registered for May, whose March test centers were closed, or who do not receive March scores due to an irregularity.

Our top priority is the health and safety of students and educators.

We will provide future additional SAT testing opportunities for students as soon as feasible in place of canceled administrations. We have not yet canceled the June 6, 2020, SAT administration and will continue to assess its status. We are working with local partners and will soon share information about weekday school-based administrations this spring of the SAT, PSAT™ 10, and PSAT™ 8/9.

We will be flexible, thoughtful, and collaborative in exploring ways to continue to support student learning and provide opportunities to test during this challenging time. Thank you for your partnership.

Sincerely,
Test Administration Services

Dear Holliston Families:

Holiday Dreams, partnering with Pepperoncini’s of Milford, Anthony's on the Green in Holliston, and the Holliston Public Schools, will offer lunches to families-in-need beginning Wednesday March 18, 2020 through the end of the school closure period. This program is designed to assist all Holliston families who may have a need, regardless of whether or not you have a child attending the Holliston Public Schools. As is the case throughout Massachusetts, we will be using a "grab-and-go" method of distribution in line with the Governor's instructions on social distancing.

Curbside pickup will be available at the Miller Elementary School, 235 Woodland Street from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM to any family who does not have any member of their household who is in quarantine or is showing any symptoms of COVID-19. For those unable to leave their homes, a volunteer will deliver lunch to your doorstep. If you are in need of delivery please email: foodservice@holliston.k12.ma. us by 9:00 PM the night prior. Please provide the following information: your family name, the number of people in need of lunch and your street address. This information will be kept in the strictest of confidence.

This lunch program will be available on the following days:

• Wednesday March 18, 2020 through Friday, March 27, 2020 (excluding Saturday and Sunday, March 21st and March 22nd)

• Beginning Monday, March 30, 2020, we will go to a three-day per week model (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) where we will distribute/deliver lunch for two days at a time.

Community volunteers and employees of the Holliston Public Schools Food Service program will be staffing this program. At this time, community volunteers are not needed. Should this change, we will inform you. Also, unfortunately, we are not able to accept food donations of any kind.

For families in need, this lunch program will likely not serve all of your needs. In these cases, the Holliston Pantry Shelf is ready to help with expanded food delivery services. Please contact them directly for assistance.

Finally, this email is being sent through the distribution system of the Holliston Public Schools and will only reach a subset of our community. Please distribute this information widely.

All community agencies are working together to support the Holliston community.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

March 15, 2020

We are receiving a lot of questions about course selections for 2020-2021 right now. I appreciate that everyone is still trying to assess their learning and request classes that will enhance their interests for next year. I also recognize that students and families have a lot of questions and do not have the same level of access to their counselors. As a result, we are extending the deadline for course selections to March 27th. Although email is a helpful way to contact school counselors, we are currently working to find additional ways to grant access to students and families. I hope to have additional information regarding our efforts by mid-week.

Thank you for you patience,

Nicole Bottomley
Principal
Holliston High School

Dear Holliston Parents/Guardians and Staff:

On Sunday evening, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker ordered ALL schools in Massachusetts be CLOSED through (and including) Monday, April 6, 2020. This means that the Holliston Public Schools will be CLOSED THROUGH MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2020. The earliest date we will be re-opening will be Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

Central Office and Building Administrators have been working throughout the weekend to begin to plan for this likely announcement. Our expectation is that we will begin to provide enhanced learning activities for our students beginning Monday, March 23, 2020. Parents received preliminary information from building principals earlier this weekend and you should expect more information will be forthcoming in the coming days.

In the meantime, it is critical to remember that these are NOT snow days. The reason the Governor took this extraordinary action is to promote thoughtful social distancing to limit exposure to the Coronavirus for our students and their families. Please take these recommendations seriously.

Additional information will be shared as it becomes available. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to react to this rapidly changing set of circumstances.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Dear Holliston Parent/Guardians and Staff:

I am writing to inform you that, while there are still no Coronavirus cases reported in Holliston, there are a large number of school districts in our area that are closed tomorrow and next week. Many of our staff members have children who attend these schools, which will understandably result in an abnormally high level of staff absences. I have concluded that it is unlikely that we would have an adequate number of staff members present to be able to ensure a quality school day tomorrow and over the course of the next week.

As a result, the Holliston Public Schools is cancelling school for Friday, March 13th, Monday, March 16th, Tuesday, March 17th, Wednesday, March 18th and Thursday, March 19th. Friday March 20th is a scheduled Professional Development Day for teachers. There will be no school for students on that day as well. A decision regarding the possible cancellation of the PD Day for teachers will be made next week.

The Holliston Extended Day Program will be closed and will not re-open until Monday, March 23, 2020, at the earliest.

In accordance with the current advisories issued by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Holliston must make up a total of 5 school days lost to either weather or health related conditions. This means that the last day of school will now be Wednesday, June 24, 2020. All total cancelled days beyond 5 do not have to be made up.

Further information will be shared over the next few days should it become apparent additional school cancellations are required.

I sincerely appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we progress through this unprecedented set of circumstances.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

March 12, 2020

Dear Families,

As public conversations around coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) increase, children may worry about themselves, their family, and friends getting ill with COVID-19. Parents, family members, school staff, and other trusted adults can play an important role in helping children make sense of what they hear in a way that is honest, accurate, and minimizes anxiety or fear. The CDC has created guidance to help adults have conversations with children about COVID-19 and ways they can avoid getting and spreading the disease.

Acknowledging some level of concern, without panicking, is appropriate and can result in taking actions that reduce the risk of illness. Helping children cope with anxiety requires providing accurate prevention information and facts without causing undue alarm. It is very important to remember that children look to adults for guidance on how to react to stressful events. If parents seem overly worried, children’s anxiety may rise. Parents should reassure children that health and school officials are working hard to ensure that people throughout the country stay healthy. However, children also need factual, age appropriate information about the potential seriousness of disease risk and concrete instruction about how to avoid infections and spread of disease. Teaching children positive preventive measures, talking with them about their fears, and giving them a sense of some control over their risk of infection can help reduce anxiety.

General principles for talking to children:

Remain calm and reassuring. Remember that children will react to both what you say and how you say it. They will pick up cues from the conversations you have with them and with others.

• Children will react to and follow your verbal and nonverbal reactions.

• What you say and do about COVID-19, current prevention efforts, and related events can either increase or decrease your children’s anxiety.

• If true, emphasize to your children that they and your family are fine.

• Remind them that you and the adults at their school are there to keep them safe and healthy.

• Let your children talk about their feelings and help reframe their concerns into the appropriate perspective.

Make yourself available to listen and to talk. Make time to talk. Be sure children know they can come to you when they have questions.

• Children may need extra attention from you and may want to talk about their concerns, fears, and questions.

• It is important that they know they have someone who will listen to them; make time for them.

• Tell them you love them and give them plenty of affection.

Avoid language that might blame others and lead to stigma. Remember that viruses can make anyone sick, regardless of a person’s race or ethnicity. Avoid making assumptions about who might have COVID-19.

• When tensions are high, sometimes we try to blame someone.

• It is important to avoid stereotyping any one group of people as responsible for the virus.

• Bullying or negative comments made toward others should be stopped and reported to the school.

• Be aware of any comments that other adults are having around your family. You may have to explain what comments mean if they are different from the values that you have at home.

Pay attention to what children see or hear on television, radio, or online. Consider reducing the amount of screen time focused on COVID-19. Too much information on one topic can lead to anxiety.

• Limit television viewing or access to information on the Internet and through social media. Try to avoid watching or listening to information that might be upsetting when your children are present.

• Speak to your child about how many stories about COVID-19 on the Internet may be based on rumors and inaccurate information.

• Talk to your child about factual information of this disease—this can help reduce anxiety.

• Constantly watching updates on the status of COVID-19 can increase anxiety—avoid this.

• Be aware that developmentally inappropriate information (i.e., information designed for adults) can cause anxiety or confusion, particularly in young children.

• Engage your child in games or other interesting activities instead.

Maintain a normal routine to the extent possible.

• Keep to a regular schedule, as this can be reassuring and promotes physical health.

• Encourage your children to keep up with their schoolwork and extracurricular activities, but don’t push them if they seem overwhelmed.

Provide information that is honest and accurate. Give children information that is truthful and appropriate for the age and developmental level of the child. In the absence of factual information, children often imagine situations far worse than reality.

• Don’t ignore their concerns, but rather explain that at the present moment very few people in this country are sick with COVID-19.

• Children can be told this disease is thought to be spread between people who are in close contact with one another—when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

• It is also thought it can be spread when you touch an infected surface or object, which is why it is so important to protect yourself.

• For additional factual information contact your doctor or check the https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html website.

Keep Explanations Age-Appropriate

• Early elementary school children need brief, simple information that should balance COVID-19 facts with appropriate reassurances that their schools and homes are safe and that adults are there to help keep them healthy and to take care of them if they do get sick. Give simple examples of the steps people take every day to stop germs and stay healthy, such as washing hands. Use language such as “adults are working hard to keep you safe.”

• Upper elementary and early middle school children will be more vocal in asking questions about whether they truly are safe and what will happen if COVID-19 comes to their school or community. They may need assistance separating reality from rumor and fantasy. Discuss efforts of school and community leaders to prevent germs from spreading.

• Upper middle school and high school students are able to discuss the issue in a more in-depth (adult-like) fashion and can be referred directly to appropriate sources of COVID-19 facts. Provide honest, accurate, and factual information about the current status of COVID-19. Having such knowledge can help them feel a sense of control.

Know the symptoms of COVID-19.

• The CDC believes these symptoms appear in a few days after being exposed to someone with the disease or as long as 14 days after exposure:

  • Fever

  • Cough

  • Shortness for breath

  • For some people the symptoms are like having a cold; for others they are quite severe or even life threatening. In either case it is important to check with your child’s healthcare provider (or yours) and follow instructions about staying home or away from public spaces to prevent the spread of the virus.

Review and model basic hygiene and healthy lifestyle practices for protection.

• Encourage your child to practice every day good hygiene—simple steps to prevent spread of illness:

  • Wash hands multiple times a day for at least 20 seconds (singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star slowly takes about 20 seconds).

• Cover their mouths with a tissue when they sneeze or cough and throw away the tissue immediately, or sneeze or cough into the bend of their elbow. Do not share food or drinks.

Teach children everyday actions to reduce the spread of germs.

Try to keep information simple and remind them that health and school officials are working hard to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Communicate with your school.

• Let your school know if your child is sick and keep them home. Your school may ask if your child has a fever or not. This information will help the school to know why your child was kept home. If your child is diagnosed with COVID-19, let the school know so they can communicate with and get guidance from local health authorities.

• Talk to your school nurse, school psychologist, school counselor, or school social worker if your child is having difficulties as a result of anxiety or stress related to COVID-19. They can give guidance and support to your child at school.

• Make sure to follow all instructions from your school.

Resources:

• Talking with children about Coronavirus Disease 2019

• Talking to Children About COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

• Coping with Stress during infectious disease outbreaks

• CDC -Coronavirus 2019

• World Health Organization Advice to the public

• Just for Kids- Youtube on explanation of Corona- Gr. 2 and up

• Talking to Kids about Cov8d19 from the National School Nurses Organization (in multiple languages)

• What Kids Want To Know About Coronavirus: An Original Comic : Goats and Soda

• Talking to Kids About the Coronavirus

• How to Talk to Your Kids About Coronavirus

Sincerely,

Jaime Slaney, Principal at Placentino Elementary School
David Keim, Principal at Miller Elementary School
David Jordan, Principal at Robert Adams Middle School
Nicole Bottomley, Principal at Holliston High School

Dear Holliston Parent/Guardians and Staff:

On March 10, 2020, Governor Baker announced that executive branch employees should discontinue all out-of-state work-related travel, cancel conferences or hold them virtually, and not attend external work-related conferences, seminars, or events. While schools are not part of the executive branch, the Governor also urged employers and other large organizations to "limit or eliminate non-essential travel" and "limit or eliminate large events where possible."

In light of this advisory, I am taking several steps to limit possible exposures, particularly from outside elements. Effective immediately:

1. All after-school events, concerts, and exhibitions scheduled to take place between March 12, 2020 and Friday, March 20, 2020 are cancelled. Cancellations are likely to be extended beyond March 20th, but that decision will be made mid-next week.

2. I am respectfully asking parents who are scheduled to volunteer in our schools between March 12th and March 20th to cancel those plans.

3. Any previously-approved use of our school buildings by outside organizations is cancelled for that same time period.

For staff, I am cancelling all attendance at external professional development seminars and conferences through March 19th. At this time, the Professional Development Day, scheduled for March 20, 2020 will proceed as planned.

As of today, our plans for our middle school and high school spring athletic season are not being changed, in order to allow time for the MIAA and/or Tri-Valley League to make some initial determinations.

As expected, as we receive increased reports of either confirmed or suspected cases of Coronavirus in some MetroWest communities, public and private institutions are being asked to curb all but essential elements of their operation. This announcement is aligned with that objective.

Still, this issue continues to evolve at a rapid pace with even more restrictions a distinct possibility. Parents and staff should now begin to consider developing contingency plans should more fundamental changes to our overall operation become necessary.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Dear Holliston Parents/Guardians and Staff:

This is the third update issued by the Holliston Public Schools containing the most up-to-date information available as of its publication.

There are currently 92 confirmed or presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). There are no confirmed or presumptive cases of the virus in Holliston at this time. Health officials report that the risk of contracting the virus in Massachusetts remains "low." In addition, today, Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency for the Commonwealth, effective immediately. This declaration allows the Governor to take state-wide action to address the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts but it has no immediate effects on the day-to-day operations of the Holliston Public Schools. As of today, Holliston schools remain open and operating normally.

I am in daily communication with Health Director for the Town of Holliston, Scott Moles and Emergency Preparedness Director, Fire Chief Michael Cassidy to ensure that we're staying up to date on developments that could affect our community. In addition, a group of MetroWest Health Directors and Superintendents met on Tuesday to share information and work towards developing a common protocol for key decisions we may be facing in the future. I am confident that we're doing everything we can on the local level to keep our students and staff safe and healthy, and I will continue to keep the community updated as this situation develops.

All local actions are being undertaken in accordance with the latest guidelines from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This includes CDC guidance for school administrators.

The COVID-19 situation is very fluid, and new information and guidelines are being posted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on a regular basis. The CDC offers the following guidance for how COVID-19 spreads. The virus is believed to spread mainly from person-to-person, between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet) and through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It may also be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

Today, DESE issued two important advisories that could impact some of our operations moving forward:

1. Districts are urged to cancel any out-of-state travel that they have planned.
   
   Based on this advisory, I have ordered the cancelation of all student and/or staff out-of-state travel plans scheduled to take place in March and April. I have also informed the organizers of the non-school-sponsored trip to Washington DC, scheduled to take place during April vacation of DESE’s advisory. Impacted families should expect to receive communication from the organizers of that event in the next few days. I have instructed staff to review plans for out-of-state travel scheduled for May and June and suggested they begin to consider in-state alternatives should this advisory continue to be in effect through the end of the school year.

2. Districts are asked to encourage older community members and those at increased risk of illness to avoid large school gatherings.

At his news conference this afternoon, Governor Baker emphasized that he was not cancelling large school-wide events, but rather suggested that the population most at-risk for complications stemming from COVID-19 avoid them. I will review scheduled events with building principals and reach out to Holliston Cable Access (HCAT) and ask them to consider expanding the recording of these events so that our at-risk population can continue to access our great concerts, exhibitions and events.

As always, if anyone displays symptoms of COVID-19, including a fever, cough or shortness of breath, they should not come to work or school and they are advised to contact their primary care physician.

Finally, the DPH emphasizes the importance of good hygiene practices, including:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds including under your fingernails. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol content) can be used when soap and water are not available.

• Keep your hands away from your face.

• Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing and coughing with a tissue and discard it immediately. Cough into the sleeve over your elbow instead of your hand. Wash your hands often when coughing and sneezing.

• Stay away from people who are sick and stay home when you are sick.

I will continue to publish updates when conditions warrant. In the meantime, for more information, visit the DPH website by clicking here and the CDC’s website by clicking here.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Dear Holliston Parents/Guardians and Staff:

This email provides you with an update on the current status of Coronavirus preparation and response since my first email to you on February 27^th.

1. The Health Director for the Town of Holliston, Scott Moles, Emergency Preparedness Director, Fire Chief Michael Cassidy, Town Administrator Jeff Ritter and I met this week to review the various advisories we have received from the CDC and Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). We established a parallel reporting system into the DPH, brainstormed plans, options and discussed contingency planning. We have agreed to meet weekly for the foreseeable future.

2. The State of Massachusetts has ordered that all out-of-country school trips that are scheduled to take place before May 1^st be cancelled. This order has no impact on the Holliston Public Schools as we don’t have any trips planned that meet that criteria. While the Governor’s orders are currently limited to only out-of-country trips scheduled taking place before May 1^st, we are currently reviewing all of our plans for overnight trips currently scheduled to take place before June 30^th, including:

a. HHS has a trip to Montreal scheduled for mid/late June. This trip is school-sponsored and we are currently reviewing the details of any Trip Insurance that was included as part of the cost of that trip to determine if there are any deadlines in that Plan that would inform the timeline we’d have to use to make a decision about that trip.

b. RAMS has the annual 6^th grade trip to Nature’s Classroom scheduled for the week after April break. This trip is also school-sponsored, and we are meeting with the Nature’s Classroom people to understand what our postponement/cancellation options could be. THIS IS ONLY CONTINGENCY PLANNING AT THIS TIME as no government agency, as of the date of this writing, has recommended any schools change their plans regarding trips such as these.

c. There is a NON-SCHOOL SPONSORED trip to Washington, DC that many of our 8^th graders are planning on taking during April break. We have reached out to the organizers of this trip and encouraged them to: check their Travel Insurance policy; develop contingency plans, if able; and communicate directly with those families who have children signed up for this trip.

3. On Wednesday, March 4^th at 4PM, the Massachusetts DPH issued a REVISED advisory regarding citizens who have travelled in countries designated Level 3 by the CDC (as of this writing, those countries are China, Iran, South Korea and Italy). This advisory asks people who have travelled to these areas to voluntarily self-quarantine for 14 days from the date you returned to the United States. Within 2 hours, we had contacted all families and staff who we are aware meet this criteria, informed them of the revised advisory and in each instance, received agreement that the traveler(s) would follow the DPH advisory. Moving forward, the Holliston Public Schools strongly urges ANYONE who has recently returned from a Level 3 country to observe the voluntary 14-day self-quarantine period until that advisory has been lifted. For further information regarding this issue, please see the DPH website.

4. Superintendents from across Massachusetts are receiving numerous updates each week as the CDC and DPH learn more about this evolving situation. I will be participating in a telephone conference with the Commissioner of DPH and the Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) today. I will continue to closely monitor changes to their advisories and inform families and staff of any changes to our practices and procedures as necessary.

In the meantime, ALL information provided by the CDC and DPH continue to emphasize the importance of observing these important preventative measures:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If unable to wash, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer;

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth;

• Cover your coughs or sneezes with a tissue or your sleeve (NOT with your hands);

• Stay away from people who are sick and stay home when you are sick.

The last point is important to emphasize. It is critical that NO ONE (parents, students or staff) should come to school when they are ill. If a parent/guardian, child or staff member has any of the following symptoms, please keep them home from school until they have been symptom-free for at least 24-hours:

• Temperature greater than 100.0 degrees (F) prior to the administration of acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil);

• Coughing, vomiting, diarrhea or any rash not yet diagnosed by a medical provider;

• Red or pink itchy eye, and/or drainage from the eye; or

• Any diagnosed contagious illness such as chicken pox, strep throat or flu.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Dear Holliston Staff, Parents and Guardians:

Given the recent uptick in publicity regarding the new coronavirus, now known as COVID-19, some parents and staff have inquired about how Holliston Public Schools is dealing with this potential concern. The purpose of this email is to provide the community with up-to-date information (as of Thursday, February 27, 2020) and some resources to monitor should you require additional information.

Here in Holliston, we are monitoring the situation through the Superintendent’s office, the School Nurse Leader and Holliston’s Emergency Management Director, Fire Chief Michael Cassidy. We are in daily contact with one another and receiving timely updates from both the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, Superintendents from across the Commonwealth are coordinating their local response to insure thoughtful and appropriate actions are being taken to protect our schools and, most importantly, the people who are in them every day.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has shared guidance for school administrators and school health personnel regarding the new coronavirus. As of this writing, Massachusetts has one confirmed case of COVID-19 and DPH states that the risk to Massachusetts residents remains low. In the US, there are only 53 cases confirmed. Only one of these cases was confirmed to be passed through human contact (husband to wife). At the same time, the risk for the influenza virus is very high. DPH advises that residents are much more likely to become sick with a cold or the flu than to be exposed to COVID-19. The guidance letter sent to all schools is available at the DPH website at: www.mass.gov/2019coronavirus. Here is a useful fact sheet in many languages to assist you in learning about this virus: https://www.mass.gov/guides/information-on-the-outbreak-of-2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19#-printable-fact-sheets-

Still, it is important to be proactive. In that spirit, I share the following precautions, recommended by DPH, to help prevent colds, flu and to protect against COVID-19:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If unable to wash, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer;

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth;

• Cover your coughs or sneezes with a tissue or your sleeve (NOT with your hands);

• Stay away from people who are sick and stay home when you are sick.

The last point is important to emphasize. It is critical that children or staff not come to school when they are ill. If a child or staff member has any of the following symptoms, please keep them home from school until they have been symptom-free for at least 24-hours:

• Temperature greater than 100.0 degrees (F) prior to the administration of acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil);

• Coughing, vomiting, diarrhea or any rash not yet diagnosed by a medical provider;

• Red or pink itchy eye, and/or drainage from the eye; or

• Any diagnosed contagious illness such as chicken pox, strep throat or flu.

Our school facilities department is vigilantly disinfecting our educational spaces as we typically do during cold and flu season. We are following all of DPH’s recommended guidelines in this area.

It is clear that the COVID-19 situation is constantly evolving. We will continue to work closely with other local school districts and local Holliston officials, while monitoring the information coming from the CDC and the Massachusetts DPH. We will update parent/guardians and staff should conditions warrant.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

For up-to-date information regarding the 2019 novel Coronavirus, please visit the DPH COVID-19 web site at www.mass.gov/2019coronavirus

More detailed information and additional guidance is available from the CDC at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov

Massachusetts DPH Coronavirus Advisory to Schools