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Date: 11/8/2022
HOLYOKE – The Holyoke Public Schools (HPS) have announced an update on their much-anticipated rezoning project, which is set to go into effect beginning with the 2023-2024 school year. As part of the updated rezoning, Lt. Clayre P. Sullivan School will become a full-time grade 6-8 middle school instead of the K-8 school it has been. The Marcella R. Kelly and Maurice A. Donahue schools will remain elementary schools. Dual language programming will be available in full at Edward Nelson White (E.N. White) school, and partially in both Kelly and Sullivan.
The decision was made through collaborative meetings between the district and families in order to find the best way to shuffle the multiple grade configurations across the schools and to redraw boundary lines to better meet students academic and social-emotional needs.
More than 900 people attended the multiple meetings over the course of the last few months and nearly 450 people took a survey to share their opinions on how to best move Holyoke to separate elementary and middle schools. Superintendent Anthony Soto expressed gratitude for parents participating in these meetings and called the district’s decision “stronger for it.”
“I’ve made these decisions after extensive input, research, analysis and reflection,” said Soto. “I am holding a core belief – students are at the center of everything we do – in this decision and the others ahead. I am also pleased to share that the School Committee unanimously supported this decision because they agree it is best for our students and our community.”
Chief of Strategy and Turnaround Erin Linville said the district has been impressed with the stakeholders they’ve received feedback from on the direction of rezoning. She added feedback showed stakeholders were overwhelmingly in favor of Holyoke moving to separate elementary and middle schools.
“They know that this is a crucial step forward to providing our students with the education they need and deserve,” Linville said. “Even though change can be difficult, we really appreciate how so many people are focusing on the hope and promise of what this means for all of our students, today and in the years to come.”
In looking to improve the academic standing and social-emotional well being for students, the district has worked on designing schools tailored to elementary or middle school grades, staffing each grade with a complete team of teachers who collaborate together, and expanding the learning opportunities of students through dual language and offering varied enrichment opportunities to students.
Soto said this decision and new path forward combines elements of all three rezoning scenarios that were publicly presented this fall. According to the feedback received by the district, most people who took the survey and participated in community conversations preferred the Sullivan Middle School scenario due to its location, facility and other factors.
After additional feedback, the district revised the Sullivan plan to further strengthen the scenario. Compared to the original scenario, the revised version has the all-school dual language program at E.N. White that allows for stronger dual language programming in later elementary since the school has PreK-5 dual language programming already.
This maintains choice for Kelly families who can choose between dual language or traditional monolingual programming. The revised scenario also has plans for a stronger balance of demographics between the two long-term middle schools Sullivan and William R. Peck. Students who will eventually go to Peck will be split between Holyoke STEM and Metcalf Middle until 2026 or 2027 while a new Peck school building is attempted to be secured.
“Sullivan is an excellent choice to be a middle school in fall 2023, though I do recognize that it means that many elementary students and families who love their school will need to attend another school,” Linville said. “People shared that Sullivan was their top choice due to its central location, the facility itself and the overall evaluation based on the rezoning guidelines.”
Linville added people liked that with Sullivan being a middle school, students in elementary school could follow their peers to middle school. It also had the most balanced enrollment and demographics at the middle school level, and it maximized the likelihood of neighborhood-based Pre-K across the city.
The revised plan also draws school boundary lines in a way that allows for more walkers at the majority of elementary schools and allows more students who live close to Peck school to attend Peck, which will be especially important if and when a new middle school is built.
“I want to recognize that change is hard. This announcement may result in relief for some, anxiety for others and more questions for all. We will work through this together and I’m here to support you,” Soto said in the announcement.
Phase 2 outreach efforts for the rezoning process begin this month and the district will look to solicit feedback on the proposed boundary maps, facility improvements at Sullivan Middle School, and how to ease transitions for students and families.
On Nov. 1 there was a tour of the Sullivan School building as well as an in-person meeting after the tour. Two more meetings were hosted virtually on Nov. 8 to discuss the proposals further. On Nov. 21, there will be a discussion during the School Committee’s meeting.
“The all-stakeholder meetings provide an excellent opportunity for people to get their questions answered, as well as provide input on the final outcome,” Linville said. “We are especially looking for feedback on how to redraw the school boundary lines, possible facility improvements at Sullivan and how to ease the transition to a new school for students, families and staff.”
Linville added that the district has launched a survey that can be found at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebITdcFLLhLsHY6WP0MflDHvYx3UhsskzJ2nYAfXgI6qGrpw/viewform. This survey is open until Nov. 14 and asks various questions for stakeholder feedback.
The district is still eager for community feedback according to Linville and said she hopes families, students, staff and community members all know that their voice matters and was critical in this process.
“Juntos Podemos! Together We Can!” continues to be the district’s motto for the rezoning efforts as they continue to encourage the community to get involved in this process in the best interest of the city’s students.
“When I took on the superintendent role, I heard from so many people that they were pleased to have a district leader who is from Holyoke, who understands Holyoke, and who will listen to all Holyokers,” Soto said. “I feel we have made good on that promise as evidence by all of the input that ultimately led to this decision.”