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Date: 9/6/2022
HOLYOKE – The Holyoke Public Schools (HPS) have announced a new multi-year strategic plan that attempts to build on the strengths of the district while serving as a call to action to dramatically and urgently accelerate student learning.
The plan’s core beliefs include students being at the center of the work done by HPS, every child can and will learn, school is a positive setting for students, and students and staff holding high expectations of themselves and others.
Superintendent and Receiver Anthony Soto released a draft in June with the intention of issuing a full report for the 2022-2023 school year. The “Moving Forward Together” plan was developed by Holyoke residents for Holyoke students and families and had input from 1,500 participants.
“HPS is a high-performing school system where students reach their full potential, educators inspire, families are partners and the community thrives,” the plan states. “Through an equitable, high-quality education and trusting relationships, all Holyoke students develop the skills and access the opportunities to graduate high school ready for life, career and college.”
The district’s planning process began in September 2021 as Soto launched entry plan work, which concluded in February 2022 with the release of his entry plan findings report that identified the district’s strengths and weaknesses. Soto’s next step was recruiting students, families, staff and community members to join a large group in an Advisory Committee, and a smaller group in a Steering Committee to support the development of the strategic plan.
“Our plan builds on strengths of the past while being a call to action to supporting students and dramatically and urgently excelling student learning,” Soto said through an HPS announcement video of the plan.
Soto throughout this process has utilized a slogan along with the planning process, saying “Together We Can,” or “Juntos Podemos.”
The strategic plan’s goals include increasing student performance in math, reading and early literacy and aims to boost the number of students reading at their grade level in grades K-3, as findings have shown this is a key area of concern in the schools.
Another goal is focused on teacher hiring and retention as this has also been a common issue in the district. This has often led to short-staffing academic subjects but now Soto said he wants students in grades 6-12, families, teachers and staff to report if, “the district is living up to its commitment to build an anti-racist, inclusive and culturally responsive community.”
Through new strategies to meet their goals, the district will incorporate a point system to track and award points for increasing students performing at or above grade levels for early literacy, reading and math throughout the schools. Soto has also talked about and was involved with the creation of an early-literacy plan to address the underperformance of reading levels in grades K-3. The plan includes a high-quality curriculum, effective teaching strategies and development of deep early-literacy knowledge.
The priorities identified along with the goals set include demanding greater attention and resources to the district, ensuring all students pre-K-3 are reading at their grade level, inclusion, focus on the whole child and not just the academics as well as increasing mental health supports, and growing and retaining a talented, diverse staff through educator development.
One of the final pieces to be completed for the new strategic plan was the formation of the district’s Learner Profile, which was finalized in August following a July community workshop that drew 25 participants, including students, staff and family members.
“Our Learner Profile describes the most important attributes and skills a student develops throughout their educational career in HPS, whether they are a student in pre-K, elementary, middle or high school,” said Assistant Superintendent Stephen Mahoney. “Beyond the academic standards a student develops, the Learner Profile paints a picture of the type of person a Holyoke student is now and who they will be supported to become.”
The Learner Profile follows alongside the by the acronym REACH – Reflect and persist, embrace empathy and kindness, apply critical thinking, communicate effectively, and help themselves and others. This acronym asks students, or learners, to think deeply and develop confidence to preserver through challenges, seek to understand and value individuals from all cultures and beliefs, increase critical thinking skills, communicate, and build relationships and advocate and collaborate their learning.
“As a student goes through Holyoke Public Schools, we want to make sure they develop these characteristics,” Soto said.
Chief of Strategy and Turnaround Erin Linville has been working on the strategic plan and Learner Profile portion with her colleagues in the district and is happy the community was able to provide input throughout the entire process.
“I am energized by the effort and enthusiasm that our educators, students, family members and partners are bringing to this school year,” Linville said.
She noted that on the first day of this school year on Aug. 29, community leaders were at different schools in the city welcoming families and students back, showing more engagement already from leaders in the city. Linville added that primary teachers have already started applying what they have learned about the science of reading to support their youngest learners to address the early literacy concerns.
Linville reiterated that this Strategic Plan was not a set-in stone document and was subject to change each year after seeing how their planning played out in action. She added that she and others involved in the district will continue to analyze data and reflect their progress throughout the year to strengthen implementation for the current year and plan for future years.
“This spring, we will gather a group of educators, family members, students and community members to assist us in reflecting on our progress and refining the plan for the following year,” Linville said. “We will also publish a status report on our 2022-2023 implementation benchmarks and share our 2023-2024 school year implementation benchmarks too. We believe it’s important to be reflective, transparent and inclusive as we work together to implement our strategic plan.”
In closing of the report’s announcement video, Soto said the Strategic Plan would not have been possible without the 1,500-plus students, families, educators, staff and community members who participated in meetings, focus groups, surveys, class visits and observations from the past year.
“Thank you for taking an active role in moving our district forward. To everyone in our beautiful Holyoke community, we look forward to partnering with you so that all the students get the education they deserve, and our community thrives,” Soto said. “Juntos podemos, together we can.”