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Date: 12/19/2022
HOLYOKE – Holyoke Public Schools (HPS) has finalized new zone maps for middle and elementary schools through their rezoning process for the 2023-2024 school year, a significant change that the district will now begin preparing students and families for.
The completion of phase 2 of the district’s rezoning plans calls for separate schools for elementary, pre-K through grade 5 and middle grades 6 to 8 as well as redrawn boundary lines for the next school year.
“These are important, well thought out changes that will improve the educational experiences of all students in the long run and provide greater equity,” said Superintendent and Receiver Anthony Soto in a letter to students and families about the news.
The district will send out a follow-up letter early next month informing families where their children will attend school next year. Impacted staff will also receive information in the coming days about assignments, job classifications and positions.
The last half year the district has focused efforts to rezone the school district so it was more equitable for all Holyoke students. Through months of research, planning, more than 45 public meetings, three surveys and conversations with families and stakeholders the district has landed on their decision.
Lt. Clayre P. Sullivan, Holyoke STEM, and Joseph Metcalf will serve as middle schools for fall 2023. In addition, the city will continue to explore the possibility of building a single, 550-student middle school to replace William R. Peck School.
Promoted fifth graders from E.N. White, Marcel Kelly and Lt. Elmer J. McMahon schools will attend Sullivan Middle School. Promoted fifth graders from Maurice Donahue, William G. Morgan and H.B. Lawrence schools will attend either Metcalf Middle or Holyoke STEM.
Students now zoned at Lawrence, Peck and Donahue will now attend Holyoke STEM in fall 2023 while students currently zoned at Morgan and McMahon, with exceptions, will attend Joseph Metcalf school in fall 2023.
Families may appeal the zone change and submit requests for a different school assignment. Examples of extraordinary circumstances that have the highest likelihood of being approved are siblings in different schools due to a special program and the family wants their siblings together, or a parent or guardian works at the school they would like their child to attend.
Zone appeals for the next school year will be submitted during the month of March 2023 and a Zone Appeal Committee comprised of district and school personnel will review applications.
Reminder Publishing spoke with HPS Chief of Strategy and Turnaround Erin Linville about the decision and she said the redrawing of boundary lines is rooted in the district’s core belief, “students are at the center of everything we do.”
The primary reasons behind rezoning were to design schools tailored to elementary or middle school grades, staging each grade with a complete team of teachers who collaborate, and to expand on learning opportunities including growing dual language and offering varied enrichment opportunities to students, Linville explained.
“Rezoning allows us to provide a more robust educational experience that meets the needs of all students,” Linville said. “It also stabilizes enrollment at each school and better balances student demographics.”
Linville added that students and families can expect some benefits from rezoning. Some of these changes are having more students and teachers at each grade level, more inclusion opportunities for students with disabilities, more consistent expectations for students behavior and social-emotional support for students across schools, smoother transitions between schools, a more customized and robust middle school experience, and more.
“Additionally, families can expect that they will already know many other students, families and staff at their new school community because in most cases, groups of people are moving together,” Linville said. “They can also expect fun orientation and other activities to get to know their new school community.”
Linville noted the most significant drawback to rezoning was its disruption of existing school communities. To address the drawback, the district is committed to significant outreach and effort in making sure everyone feels welcome and connected to their school community.
The district continues to thank families and their help in this process as the decision for rezoning came in response to community feedback.
“I have sat alongside and served under three Superintendents, I have heard from many staff members, family members and community members say that the district’s move 20 plus years ago to K-8 schools contributed to a decline in the quality of education provided in HPS,” Linville said.
She noted the district’s decision years ago spread resources out across far too many grade levels in one building and that students and staff lacked the support needed and deserved. Linville added this big decision to rezone was a result of years of soliciting input, innovating and planning.
“I hope that as a community we look back at rezoning in 2023 as one of the best community-wide efforts and decisions Holyoke embarked on and embraced together,” Linville said.