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Zrike starts his term as Holyoke school receiver

Date: 7/10/2015

HOLYOKE – Dr. Stephen Zrike, the receiver for the Holyoke School District, made his first public appearance as officially the receiver on July 6 and has issued a plan of what he intends to do this summer.

Zrike appeared at the Holyoke Public Library to read to students as part of a Summer Reading Challenge.

Zrike told Reminder Publications he intends to spend the rest of the summer “listening, learning and reading” in order to understand the community and its educational needs.

He said the school turnaround plan is still scheduled to be finalized by mid-September and said he would be working on it “as aggressively as possible.”

When asked about evaluating school personnel he said it’s still premature to discuss any changes and emphasized he isn’t approaching the city with any “preconceived notions.”

In the plan for the summer he released, Zrike noted he would “continue the invaluable conversations that were started in May and June. I intend to hold five additional, place-based ‘Community Conversations’ in July. The first was July 9 and the rest are July 14 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Holyoke Public Library, 250 Chestnut St.; July 21 from 6  to 8 p.m. at Heritage State Park, 221 Appleton St.; July 28 from 6  to 8 p.m. at Holyoke Farms, 360 Tokeneke Road, Community Room; and July 31 from 10 a.m. to noon  at Enlace de Familias, 299-301 Main St.

In addition, Zrike wrote in the plan, “I will host office hours the first and third Fridays of every month. These meetings will be held throughout the city (in stores, restaurants, schools, public buildings, etc.) so as to be accessible to all members of the community. If you are interested in scheduling a time during these Friday morning sessions please contact my executive assistant, Jeannie Stone, at jstone@hps.holyoke.ma.us or 534-2000 ext. 210. She will indicate the location of the office hours for that week.”

Zrike intends to use social media to communicate such as the district’s website, Facebook page and Twitter (@SzrikeHPS). He also said he will have a series of “feedback surveys” with school personnel.

Prior to his official start as receiver Zrike reported in the plan that he visited “each of the schools, including discussions with the principals and other staff, classroom observations and conversations with students.

“I personally had the chance to visit Holyoke High School, Dean Technical High School, Morgan Full Service Community School, Peck Full Service Community School, the Donahue School and the Joseph Metcalf School. These observations were an informative, preliminary step towards fully understanding and engaging with the district’s 11 schools.”

He also met with various stakeholders.

Part of this summer activity is supporting the Summer Reading Challenge.

Before the reading, Zrike, the father of two, took the pledge to become a “HELI Parent.” The HELI Parent program in the city asks parents to take the following pledge: knowing that Holyoke has a list of signs that your 0 to third grade child is ‘On Track for Literacy;’ committing to do ‘one thing a day’ to support your child's literacy; and making sure your child attends school every day if you're in school.”

Zrike is providing an incentive to motivate all Holyoke students to complete their summer reading. Participating elementary students are asked to log the books they read on a calendar form, which they would return to their schools on Aug. 31. High school students are asked to turn in their completed dialectical journals. This project asks students to write quotes from the book they read and note their reaction.

All students in the program can enter to win a Chromebook in their school’s raffle in early September. In addition, Zrike will provide a special school-wide treat to the school that has the highest overall percentage of students returning their completed calendars or journals.

Parents and students who attended the program appeared excited to meet Zrike with many people lining up to speak with him after the presentation and to take their photo with him.

For more information about the Summer Reading Challenge, summer reading lists, reading calendars and dialectal journals, go to http://www.hps.holyoke.ma.us/summerlearning.