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Holliston SEPAC Parent Ed Event - May 14th

posted Apr 26, 2018, 7:42 AM by Tom Reeve

Parent Ed Event sponsored by the Holliston Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC)

Monday, May 14th @ 7pm at Adams Middle School Multi-Purpose Room 109  

What does Assistive Technology in the school setting look like?  With Chromebooks being more readily available to all students, how is it used in the school setting?  What assistive technology is available to all children as well as students with more individualized, including those requiring augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).  From tier 1 -> tier 2 -> tier 3 of AAC?  What does it look like in the school setting and how can I partner with educators to support my student in accessing and generalizing skills?

Panel of speakers on this topic:
Carol Dicruttalo, Student Services Administrator, Placentino Elementary School
Becky Hakanson, SLP/AAC Consultant from Accept Collaborative
Adam Steiner, Technology Integration Specialist, Adams Middle School and Miller Elementary School
Heather Nunes, SLP, Placentino Elementary School
Krissy Gilbert, Special Education Teacher, Miller Elementary School
Marie Reggio, SLP, Adams Middle School

School Choice Applications 2018-2019 Posted

posted Mar 7, 2018, 6:52 AM by Tom Reeve   [ updated Mar 7, 2018, 6:53 AM ]

The Holliston Public Schools will accept applications for a limited number of “seats” for non-resident students exclusively under the State’s School Choice Law. The number of “seats” available has not yet been determined.
  1. Applications for School Choice may be obtained by contacting the Central Office, 370 Hollis Street, Holliston, MA 01746, telephone (508) 429-0654 extension 1139 or by email at “barryd@holliston.k12.ma.us”.
  2. Applications for School Choice will be accepted by the Superintendent of Schools, via the U.S. Postal Service only between April 1 – April 16, 2018. NO APPLICATION WILL BE PROCESSED WITH A POSTMARK DATE PRIOR TO APRIL 1, 2018. Applications received with a postmark after April 16, 2018 will be placed on a waiting list in the order in which they are received. 

    Applications should be addressed to: 
      Office of the Superintendent of Schools 
      School Choice 
      370 Hollis Street Holliston, MA 01746
  3. Admission will be determined by lottery, on a random basis, if number of applicants exceeds the number of available seats.
  4. Students accepted for admission to the Holliston Public Schools will be notified by June 8, 2018. PLEASE NOTE THAT ACCEPTANCE INTO THE HOLLISTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS DOES NOT GUARANTEE PLACEMENT IN A PARTICULAR PROGRAM THAT YOU MAY HAVE REQUESTED. TRANSPORTATION TO/FROM SCHOOL IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENT. SCHOOL BUS TRANSPORTATION IS NOT AN AVAILABLE OPTION. Such acceptance for admission must be submitted in writing no later than June 19, 2018. Failure to do so may result in withdrawal of the acceptance for admission.
  5. Students not accepted who wish to be considered for acceptance in “2019-2020” must reapply.

The School Choice Application is available for download on the Forms page, under "School Choice Application."

SEPAC Event Rescheduled: Wed. Feb 28

posted Feb 12, 2018, 6:57 AM by Tom Reeve   [ updated Feb 20, 2018, 5:20 AM ]

Date: Monday, February 12th  Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018  in the Adams Multi-Purpose Room 109 @ 7pm

We use our executive functioning skills across all aspects of our day, not just within the academic context of school. Sometimes our students with disabilities present with even more executive functioning challenges in the home setting versus the school setting. “If only she could brush her teeth and hair without a half dozen reminders?” “If only he could actually remember his homework after he does it?”. This seminar will focus on teaching practical methods to ease homework and home routines as well as increase your child’s independence no matter their age or ability!

Presenters: Victoria Briggs, District BCBA , Jessica Smith, School Psychologist

Community Newsletter: Winter 2018

posted Feb 6, 2018, 11:12 AM by Tom Reeve

The new Winter 2018 issue of the Holliston Schools newsletter has been posted online. Please take a few minutes to read about our latest school news, updated calendars, and other important information.

>> HPS Community Newsletter: Winter 2018 issue

Email Update

posted Nov 17, 2017, 3:50 AM by Tom Reeve

Dear Parents/Guardians:

I recently notified the community that we were conducting an investigation into the cause of the email failure that some parents experienced during our email communication with the PreK-8 parent community regarding the October 24th lockdown at the Adams, Miller and Placentino Schools. As background, we solicit parent email addresses each fall as part of the student registration process and store those email addresses in our Student Information System (called iPass). In addition, parents who have access to iPass through the “Parent Portal” can update their email addresses when necessary. Parents who have provided their email address to us in previous years are not required to re-share that information annually. Several times a year, we extract the email addresses from our iPass database and upload them into the database used by our email notification system, called iContact. iContact is a commercially-available email marketing system that offers the ability to distribute emails to large email lists. This functionality is not available in iPass. Our investigation has concluded that some email addresses were inadvertently deleted from our iContact database during a recently-conducted manual periodic-maintenance review of our email lists. After discovering this human error, we performed new extraction of email addresses from iPass and uploaded them into iContact, providing us with an up-to-date email list for each school and the district.

People who were not receiving emails earlier this fall from iContact should now be receiving Announcements in their inbox (they will show on your email server as being sent by:
HPSAnnouncements hpsannouncements@holliston.k12.ma.us via icontactmail3.com ). If this is not the case, it is likely due to one of three possible reasons:
  1. your email address has a misspelling in iPass and your email is being returned as undeliverable;

  2. the “SPAM” filter in your individual email account is identifying the email as “Junk” and placing those emails in your “Junk” folder. If this is the case, you need to reconfigure your email account to allow emails from: HPSAnnouncements hpsannouncements@holliston.k12.ma.us via icontactmail3.com

  3. the firewall on your email server is blocking all emails from iContact. We find this from time to time, particularly if you are asking that emails be sent to a corporate email system (your work email, for example). If you are not receiving emails from HPS on your corporate server, we recommend you contact your corporate IT department and ask them to pass-through emails from iContact, or that you change the email account to which you want emails sent to a private email account through vendors such as gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc. 

  4. at some point in the past, you may have clicked an “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of one of the messages, either intentionally or accidentally. Due to anti-spam regulations, Holliston Schools does not have to ability to re-subscribe you when this occurs, but there are steps you can follow to re-subscribe yourself. 
Moving forward, we recently received funding to purchase a new Student Information System to replace iPass. Relevant to this issue, this new system will not only have the capability to send emails directly from a Holliston Public Schools account but will also include the ability to send text alerts and conduct mass notifications via phone. This new system will be operational by August 2018. For the remainder of this school year, we will continue to rely on HPSAnnouncements and our social media pages to provide timely information to the community. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hollistonschools or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Holliston_PS


Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Holliston Public Schools
370 Hollis Street
Holliston, MA 01746

Mood Check Info Meeting for Parents: Oct 25

posted Oct 19, 2017, 10:13 AM by Tom Reeve   [ updated Oct 19, 2017, 1:19 PM ]

Please join us on Wednesday, October 25th from 7:00-8:30pm at Holliston High School to learn about the Mood Check program; Holliston’s Depression Prevention Initiative. 

Dr. Tracy Gladstone from the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College will discuss youth depression and suicidal behavior. As part of the Mood Check Program, Dr. Gladstone and her staff will provide education and screening to Holliston middle and high school students in grades 7, 9 and 11 utilizing the Signs of Suicide (SOS) Prevention Program.

Dr. Gladstone will address any questions parents/guardians may have about depression and suicidal behavior. Parents/guardians will have the option to watch the SOS educational videos that students will view during the Mood Check program. If you have any questions regarding the October 25th presentation or the Mood Check initiative please contact Tracy Gladstone at tgladsto@wellesley.edu.
We hope to see you there!

Holliston SEPAC Meet & Greet

posted Oct 2, 2017, 8:22 AM by Tom Reeve

Holliston SEPAC Meet & Greet / Basic Rights
Tuesday, October 3rd, 7-9 
HHS library

Hope to see you there!

MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey Results

posted Sep 19, 2017, 8:54 AM by Tom Reeve   [ updated Sep 19, 2017, 8:55 AM ]

The results of the MetroWest Adolescent Health Surveys of Holliston High School and Adams Middle School were recently published. 

"The 2016 MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey (MWAHS) marks the beginning of a new decade in monitoring trends in adolescent health behaviors to advance school and community prevention efforts. Since 2006, the MWAHS has been administered every other year in communities served b the MetroWest Health Foundation, with the goal of supporting data-driven improvements in health programs and policies at the local and regional level." 
--from the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey results

Notice of Destruction of Student Records

posted Jul 25, 2017, 2:42 PM by Tom Reeve

The Massachusetts Student Record Regulations authorize public school districts to destroy student records within seven (7) years of a student’s graduation, transfer or withdrawal from the school district. The Holliston Public Schools, Department of Student Services, will be complying with these regulations. The persons affected are those who received special education services in Holliston and terminated services during the 2009-2010 school years. 

The parent/guardian or eligible (adult) student may contact the Student Services Office at 508-429-0661 to make arrangements to pick up their records or you may contact us in writing at the following address:

Holliston Public Schools
370 Hollis Street
Holliston, MA. 01746
Attn: Student Services

Unclaimed records will be destroyed on Friday, September 8, 2017.

Open House for Assistant Superintendent Candidates

posted May 19, 2017, 4:03 AM by Tom Reeve   [ updated May 19, 2017, 4:52 AM ]

From Dr. Bradford Jackson, Superintendent of Holliston Public Schools:

Dear Parent/Guardian:

I am pleased to report that the process for hiring Holliston’s next Assistant Superintendent of Schools is nearing completion and entering the phase where public input is being sought. The purpose of this communication is to inform you that the Screening Committee (consisting of Holliston educators, members of the Holliston School Committee and several Holliston parents) have completed their screening of the 50+ applications received, interviewed 10 semi-finalists and have recommended the following 4 finalists to the Superintendent of Schools. The finalists, in alphabetical order, are:
  • Peter Badalament
  • Peter Botelho
  • Cari Perchase
  • Colleen Worrell
A brief biography of each finalist is included at the bottom of this announcement.

The next phase of the selection process includes a ½ day long site visit to Holliston where candidates will tour our schools and meet our staff and students. Each site visit will conclude with a one-hour Open House, where parents/guardians are invited to meet the candidate and ask questions in an informal environment. Each Parent Open House will take place from 3-4 PM and be held in the Holliston High School Library. The schedule for the Open Houses is as follows:
  • Monday, May 22, 2017 – Peter Botelho
  • Tuesday, May 23, 2017 – Colleen Worrell
  • Wednesday, May 24, 2017 – Cari Perchase
  • Thursday, May 25, 2017 – Peter Badalament
Parents who attend any and all of the Open Houses are welcome to offer feedback on the candidates to me through email (jacksonb@holliston.k12.ma.us) no later than Wednesday, May 31, 2017. I will be announcing my choice on Thursday, June 1, 2017 at the meeting of the Holliston School Committee.

I welcome your input and assistance in making this critically important decision for the Holliston Public Schools.

Respectfully,

Bradford L. Jackson, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools


Assistant Superintendent Finalists

Peter Badalament

Peter Badalament is currently an adjunct Professor at the University of New England teaching graduate classes for UNE Master of Science in Education program. In addition to the graduate classes he runs his own consulting company, Creating Truly Student-Centered Schools. He previously worked as the Principal of Concord-Carlisle High School from 2007-2016. He has also served as a Principal in Bellingham and Hanover, Massachusetts. Prior to assuming leadership respsonsibilities, Mr. Badalament taught Social Studies and English at the High School level in Connecticut, Washington, DC and New Jersey. He earned his Master of Education at Harvard University in Administration & Social Planning and his Bachelor of Arts at Wesleyan University.

Peter Botelho

Peter Botelho is currently the Principal of the Robert Adams Middle School in Holliston. He previously worked as an Assistant Principal and History/Humanities teacher in Somerville: as a teacher and curriculum coordinator for an alternative education/dropout prevention program in Revere; a Art and Humanities teacher at a Massachusetts charter school; and as a history teacher at a private school in San Francisco. He earned his Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership at Boston College, his Master of Education in Educational Leadership at Harvard University and his Bachelor of Arts at Dartmouth College.

Cari Perchase

Cari Perchase is currently the Principal of Medway Middle School. She previously worked as an Assistant Principal at Medway Middle School and a Grade 6 ELA and Social Studies teacher at Duxbury Middle School. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Education; Curriculum, Teaching. Learning and Leading at Northeastern University, and has received her CAGS in Educational Leadership from Bridgewater State College, her Master of Education in Elementary Education from the University of Massachusetts - Boston and her Bachelor of Arts at University of Massachusetts - Boston.

Colleen Worrell

Colleen Worrell is the Director of Center for Innovation at St. Mark’s School in Southborough. She previously worked as the Technology Integration Specialist at Hopkinton High School and at The Education Collaborative working with the Teaching American History Grant, and served as Manager of Professional Development for Virtual High School. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy at the College of William and Mary, her Master of Arts at the College of William and Mary and her Bachelor of Arts at Colby College.

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