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Date: 7/23/2015
HOLYOKE – Dr. Stephen Zrike, the receiver for Holyoke’s schools is now evaluating the recommendations made by the Local Stakeholder Group (LSG) in a report it released on July 10.
Zrike officially started his job as receiver on July 6 and has been conducting public meetings to hear the opinions of parents and city residents.
Zrike told Reminder Publications, “I am grateful to the LSG for their work to understand the issues facing Holyoke Public Schools and to develop recommendations. I am in the process of reviewing these recommendations along with the information that I am collecting as part of my entry plan. As detailed in the entry plan, I am still continuing to gather a wide range of feedback from parents, teachers, students and community members to ensure that the turnaround plan meets the needs of all students and chart the best path forward for the Holyoke Public Schools.”
In the report, the LSG met for 14.5 hours over a 45-day period to compile the initial report.
“We have sought out a high degree of interaction with the public: all but the first of our meetings were video-taped. Each meeting’s notes, presentations, and draft documents have been posted online (www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/localstakeholdersgroup.htm). With help from Elementary and Secondary Education and Holyoke Public Schools (HPS), we offered translation services to members of the LSG and the public, and translated core documents into Spanish. We have engaged the public at each of our meetings, ranging from 40 to 100 people each time, set up our meetings so that each one included a break to allow for more interaction and consistently made ourselves available for discourse,” the report noted.
The members of the group said there were three “strong themes” that came from their work.
“We believe in this community and in its many strengths, and we believe that building on our strengths is essential for success. In our work, we tackled the hard issues directly, from the unacceptably low academic achievement of our student body, to the inadequacy of our response to the non-academic needs of students and families, to the urgent requirement to recognize and engage the cultural, language and learning differences of students, with high expectations for students and for schools. At the same time, we repeatedly affirmed the assets, resources and capacities of Holyoke Public School and its community. These assets include, first and foremost, our students, intelligent and brimming with potential; our families, whose determination to do the right thing for their children has been a guiding light for this LSG team; our educators, whose efforts on behalf of students are driven by strong commitments to opportunity and by high levels of professionalism; and the diversity of community and civic institutions surrounding the schools. These strengths form an excellent foundation on which to build.
“The educators, families and civic and community leaders of Holyoke and the region – together with their institutions – stand ready to help you. We know that our service as LSG members concludes with this communication to you. However, we do not expect to quit; to a person, each of the members of the LSG has a strong willingness, even eagerness, to continue to support your efforts and the efforts of the Holyoke Public Schools to successfully advance the education of all students. The many organizations that we represent share this feeling.
The evidence is clear: high expectations, collaboration and the willingness to work through differences are the core ingredients to achieving results. We offer our own experience as evidence of the power of this approach. As a diverse team, many of whose members did not know one another before, the LSG is demonstrating what works: intensive, collaborative effort and a shared sense of urgency, all focused on achieving big improvements. We hope this spirit of ambitious, inclusive teamwork will be a powerful common theme in the work ahead.”
Among the recommendations were:
• “In all aspects of its work – from curriculum development, to teaching, professional development, family and community engagement, and all other core teaching and learning activities – HPS actively supports all educators and staff to engage in a steady commitment to culturally sustaining and relevant work.”
• “Place family and community engagement at the center of the HPS Turnaround Plan, regardless of the structures and programs involved.”
• “Coordinate and implement an effective, research-based and culturally responsive K-12 curriculum consistently at all schools, implementing, improving and sustaining it over time.”
• “Give educators at all levels access to robust professional development, models of instruction, opportunities to see exemplars of high quality, and steady support.”
• Focus intently on what HPS can control, and commit to it fully. Re-commit HPS resources to the most successful HPS school-based responses to unmet student needs. Expand partnerships and grant-funded projects with community and regional resource organizations that are expressly designed to meet the demand for student support.
• “Equip educators with the knowledge, skills and resources to adapt instruction and curriculum to meet the unique needs of learners while maintaining the highest expectations for achievement. This means addressing not only the skill-development needs of educators and providing the resources needed, but also sharing a clear belief that high levels of achievement are possible.”
• “Continue to build capacity within HPS, among individual educators and teams of teachers and school leaders, to actively support English language learners (ELLs) in all aspects of curriculum and instruction.”
• “HPS increases seats for pre-K and Kindergarten to the maximum extent possible, partners closely with pre-K and community providers to increase the number of children served, and vigorously supports regional and statewide efforts to expand age 0-5 supports for families.”
• “Develop powerful, aligned programs for William J. Dean Technical High School (Dean) and Holyoke High School (HHS). At Dean, consistently improve a series of career pathway learning experiences that provide high levels of post-secondary and career readiness that are linked, through strong partnerships, with local employers and higher learning institutions. At both Dean and HHS, offer students an increasingly personalized set of rigorous learning opportunities; more advanced placement, independent study and dual enrollment opportunities; and consistently rigorous academic experiences tailored to the passions and interests of students. Strive for alignment of the two schools, creating a shared, high expectations culture.”
• “Create a strong, spelled out plan for how HPS will attract, retain and develop highly qualified teachers and administrators.”
The full report can be read at www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/pdf/localstakeholdersgroup/Holyoke%20Public%20Schools%20LSG%20Recommendations_7%2010%2015.pdf.