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District

Say Something Anonymous Reporting System

Dec 1 2023

November 30, 2023

Dear Parents, Guardians, Caregivers, and Staff:

The Holliston Public Schools are committed to creating and sustaining a comprehensive, coordinated effort to improve the overall safety and well-being of our students, educators, and administrators.

Doing this effectively requires a proactive approach with programs that equip students, parents, teachers, administrators, local law enforcement, mental health and wellness professionals, and elected officials to take meaningful action to protect our schools.

Our students are aware of the problems and struggles that their peers are facing on a day-to-day basis. We must empower them to know the signs of potential danger and give them the tools to help each other with the assistance of trained and caring adults. As you know, most conversations are taking place on social media, therefore it is critical that we teach our students to look out for one another in text, video, and photos and act quickly to help a fellow student.

Today, I am happy to announce the Holliston High School launch of the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System. Students and staff have been trained on the effective use of this reporting system. The Robert Adams Middle School will be launching this with students in early December as well.

The Say Something Anonymous Reporting System, trains youth and adults how to recognize warning signs -- especially within social media -- of individuals who may be in crisis, and to tell a trusted adult directly or via the anonymous reporting system.

Specifically, the Say Something program educates participants to:

Recognize the warning signs of someone who may be at-risk of harming themselves or Other
Take every warning sign and threat seriously; act immediately to get help by talking to a trusted adult OR reporting it through the telephone hotline, mobile app, or website that is available 24/7/365
Respond to and manage the submitted tips using a tip management system overseen by a designated school team
Sustain the curriculum and awareness via student clubs, in-school activities, call-to-action weeks, and on-going trainings

The Say Something Anonymous Reporting System program is provided at no cost by Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), a national nonprofit organization. More than 14 million people have participated in their research-based “Know the Signs” programs that includes Say Something. They have a proven track record of working effectively with kids, parents, and teachers to improve school safety and strengthen an inclusive school culture. The program is age-appropriate and evidence-informed. To date, the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System and other SHP prevention programs have stopped multiple school shootings, suicides, and gun threats, as well as reducing other acts of violence and victimization like bullying/ cyberbullying and helping thwart cutting, drug use, and more. We know this program will do the same for our district.

The Say Something Anonymous Reporting System is an additional tool that we are utilizing at Holliston Public Schools to enhance our efforts to provide a safe and supportive environment for all students. Please see some additional SSARS FAQs that may provide additional information about this tool. Here is the SSARS electronic reporting form which will be housed on our website as well.

Regards,

Susan E. Kustka, Ed.D.

2024 HPS Fall Community Newsletter

Oct 29 2024

2024-2025
Newsletter
Superintendent

RAMS 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools Awardee

Sep 23 2024

Superintendent's Office

September 23, 2024

Hello Parents, Guardians, Caregivers, Staff, and Community Members:

I am so very proud and excited to be able to share that Robert Adams Middle School was announced today as a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School Awardee by the US Department of Education. RAMS is one of only nine schools in the state of Massachusetts, and the only middle school, that has received this distinctive honor for the category of Exemplary High Performing Schools.

Our educators, administrators, and support staff served a critical role in helping RAMS to reach this point and receive this distinction and should be commended for the teamwork that led to this honor. Our HPS students have benefitted from the work that has been done to reach this point of success on their academic jouney through the middle school and throughout their journey PreK-12+ and beyond. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success at RAMS that has led to this award.

See below for the full announcement and links to profiles of each of the awarded schools.

U.S. Department of Education Announces 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona today recognized 356 schools as the 2024 cohort of National Blue Ribbon Schools. This prestigious recognition highlights schools that excel in

academic performance or make significant strides in closing achievement gaps among different

student groups.

“The National Blue Ribbon Schools Award is a testament to the exceptional achievements of

students and educators at each of these schools,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel

Cardona. “The 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools are raising the bar for our nation’s students,

serving as models for effective teaching and intentional collaboration in their schools and

communities. As we celebrate their achievements, let us look to these schools for inspiration as

we champion education as the foundation of a brighter future for every child.”

The 2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools reflect the full diversity of American education and

serve students from all backgrounds. While awardees represent a wide array of schools, they

share common traits. National Blue Ribbon Schools are led by leaders who articulate a clear

vision of instructional excellence and uphold high standards. They showcase effective teaching

methods and offer robust professional development for their staff. Data-driven instruction is a

hallmark, and there is a concerted effort to ensure every student succeeds. Collaboration among families, communities, and educators is a key component of their success.

A National Blue Ribbon School award flag displayed in a school’s entryway or on a flagpole is a

widely recognized emblem of exceptional teaching and learning. These schools serve as models of effective and innovative practices for educators across the nation.

The Department recognizes all schools based on student performance data including assessment results, student subgroup performance and graduation rates. Schools are recognized in both or either of two performance categories:

Exemplary High Performing Schools: These schools are among the top performers in their state as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools: These schools excel in narrowing achievement gaps between different student groups and the overall student body.

Each nominated school submits a comprehensive application detailing its school culture,

programs, assessments, instructional practices, professional development, leadership, family, and community involvement.

Up to 420 schools may be nominated each year. The Department invites nominations for the

National Blue Ribbon Schools award from the top education official in all states, the District of

Columbia, U.S. territories, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of

Indian Education. Private schools are nominated by the Council for American Private

Education.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photographs and brief descriptions of the 2024 National Blue Ribbon

Schools are available at https://nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov/.

Sincerely,

Susan E. Kustka, Ed.D.

Superintendent

2024
National Blue Ribbon Schools
RAMS

Seeking Volunteers! Bus/Start Times Committee

Sep 16 2024

September 13^th, 2024

Dear Families,

The Holliston School Committee is Seeking Volunteers!

Over the next few months, the Holliston School Committee will be developing a plan to adjust busing and the start and end times of the school day for the 2025-26 school year. This change is being driven by a combination of continued parent feedback as well as in response to the increased learning time outlined in the 2024-2027 teachers' contract. With the passage of the override this week, funding for this contract is now in place and the contract is officially official. As outlined in the MOA, the student day for Miller, Adams, and the High School will increase by 15 minutes and Placentino will increase by 10 minutes. Additionally, the district will shift from three start times down to two.

In order to ensure a broad array of voices and more opportunities for input from all stakeholders, we are taking a different approach than the changes that occurred in 2019. Instead of creating a subcommittee of the School Committee, the School Committee will be forming a separate Advisory Committee that will include representatives from school administration, teachers/staff, parents/guardians, and school committee members; it will report back to the full School Committee. This advisory committee, working under the guidance of the administration’s experts, will work to ensure that potential issues with prospective plans are raised up as early as possible. Ultimately, once a final proposed plan (or set of different alternative plans) is reached, the Holliston School Committee will seek broader community feedback and engagement before voting on a final solution. Per the new contract, this final decision must be made by January 1st, 2025 so as to give parents, guardians, teachers, and staff time to plan for any changes in schedules.

The Committee was officially created by the HSC last night, and is similar to the Tuition Free Full Day Kindergarten committee that was created a number of years ago. It is a formal advisory group, sworn in by the town clerk, with publicly posted meetings and subject to Open Meeting Law. We believe that this will further increase the transparency of the process.

We are looking to try and get parent/guardian representatives (one, possibly two) from each school and hope you will consider participating. If you are interested, please fill out the form linked here if you are interested in joining this advisory committee Given the short timeframe, we are setting a Friday, September 20th deadline for submissions with decisions finalized at our September 26th School Committee meeting. Teacher/Staff volunteers will be sought separately. For your planning purposes, the first meeting of this committee will be on October 1st, 2024 at 4:30PM. Please expect meetings to occur weekly for 4-6 weeks, likely on Tuesdays at 4:30PM for 1-2 hours. While we are not making attendance at all of them mandatory, we certainly prefer volunteers who can make most of the meetings and tried to find a time that we hoped would work best for both staff and parents/guardians.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Sincerely,

The Holliston School Committee

It is the policy of the Holliston Public Schools not to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, color, homelessness, sexual orientation, age or disability in its educational programs, services, activities, or employment practices.

2024/2025
School Committee

Election Thank You Letter

Sep 13 2024

September 12^th, 2024 Residents of Holliston: The Holliston School Committee (HSC) would like to thank the entire Holliston community, including older adults, parents with young children, parents of school-aged children, current students and new voters, for its strong showing of support for the override this past Tuesday. The passage of this override finalized the funding of the successor contract with the HFT Educators Unit A. With this passage, we now have a 3 year contract with our largest bargaining unit. The HSC would also like to thank and recognize the hard work and dedication of many other individuals and groups that helped make the election possible. Specifically, we would like to thank our Town Clerk, Elizabeth Greendale, and her staff (both employees and election volunteers) for the countless hours they put in between the state primary election last week and this week’s special town election. We would like to also thank the Town Administrator, Travis Ahern, and his office for the work that they put in helping ensure the community received information about the special town election. Further, we would like to thank the Select Board and Finance Committee for the important roles that they both played in this election. And finally, we want to thank the teachers, paraprofessionals, staff and administrators of the Holliston Public Schools for the work that they do every day educating the children of our town. We especially appreciate the patience that the teachers had with the uncertainty and public debate surrounding the future of their contract. While we are very grateful for the support and excited about the outcome, we recognize that much work remains to be done. At our meeting tonight, we began that work and look forward to communicating the progress we are making to the community in the months ahead. Sincerely, The Holliston School Committee
`It is the policy of the Holliston Public Schools not to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, color, homelessness, sexual orientation, age or disability in its educational programs, services, activities, or employment practices.`

September 12^th, 2024

Residents of Holliston:

The Holliston School Committee (HSC) would like to thank the entire Holliston community, including older adults, parents with young children, parents of school-aged children, current students and new voters, for its strong showing of support for the override this past Tuesday. The passage of this override finalized the funding of the successor contract with the HFT Educators Unit A. With this passage, we now have a 3 year contract with our largest bargaining unit.

The HSC would also like to thank and recognize the hard work and dedication of many other individuals and groups that helped make the election possible. Specifically, we would like to thank our Town Clerk, Elizabeth Greendale, and her staff (both employees and election volunteers) for the countless hours they put in between the state primary election last week and this week’s special town election. We would like to also thank the Town Administrator, Travis Ahern, and his office for the work that they put in helping ensure the community received information about the special town election. Further, we would like to thank the Select Board and Finance Committee for the important roles that they both played in this election. And finally, we want to thank the teachers, paraprofessionals, staff and administrators of the Holliston Public Schools for the work that they do every day educating the children of our town. We especially appreciate the patience that the teachers had with the uncertainty and public debate surrounding the future of their contract.

While we are very grateful for the support and excited about the outcome, we recognize that much work remains to be done. At our meeting tonight, we began that work and look forward to communicating the progress we are making to the community in the months ahead.

Sincerely,

The Holliston School Committee

2024-2025
School Committee

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Placentino ES

Placentino School News 10/6/2024

Oct 10 2024

Placentino School News 9/15/24

Sep 17 2024

Placentino School News- August 21, 2024

Aug 22 2024

Placentino Family Supply List

Jul 25 2024

Placentino Family Supply List

Every child should have a backpack large enough to accommodate materials going between home and school.

Donations:

Many families have reached out wanting to donate additional materials for families who may have hardships. If families would like to donate, we will have boxes out in the front of the school for the first 2 weeks of school. We thank our generous community for reaching out to help support one another!
Classroom Donations are Always Welcomed

please do not label with your student’s name

Box of 24 Crayola crayons
Box of colored pencils
Ticonderoga or Target brand pencils
Crayola markers (thin and thick markers)
Expo brand (thin) dry-erase markers (black, low odor).
Sticky Notes
3x5 index cards
Small glue sticks
Paper towels
Tissues
Ziploc gallon, sandwich, and/or snack bags
Mr. Clean Magic Erasers
Hand Sanitizer
Cleaning wipes

Headphones

Students should have headphones with a microphone or earbuds with a microphone. If possible, noise-cancellation headphones with a microphone are preferred, but not required. If you are not able to purchase, the school will provide them.
- Headsets with a 3.5 mm headphone and most USB connections are compatible with school-issued Chromebooks. Bluetooth headsets are not recommended unless there is a wired connection available as well.
- The headset's microphone can be either inline (on the cord) or attached. Below are some examples, they are only examples, and families are not required to purchase from this list.

In-Line microphone		Attached microphone
Example 1	Example3	Example 5	Example 7
Example 2	Example 4	Example 6	Example 8