Dear Families:

Starting on Wednesday, September 16th, PreK-3 will begin a staggered start towards daily, in-person instruction.

• Grade 2 and Montessori Ages 6-8 at Placentino and Grade 3 at Miller will begin in-person instruction on September 16th. 
• Grade 1 will begin in-person learning on Thursday, September 17th. 
• Kindergarten will begin in-person learning on Friday, September 18th and
• Preschool will begin in-person instruction on Monday, September 21st.

In grades PreK-1, while they wait to begin in-person instruction, students will meet with their teachers remotely for a series of activities and virtual orientations. Teachers will start the day at 8:45 for a whole class meeting and will then virtually meet with smaller groups of students throughout the day to orient them to the classroom, review arrival procedures, and to explain what they should expect for their first In-person day. The purpose of these interactions is to help orient students to the classroom and school environment while also building relationships with their teacher and classmates.

Starting on September 21st, Grades 4-12 hybrid students will begin a staggered start towards daily in-person instruction. The district is aiming to begin in-person instruction by cohort in Grades 4 & 5 and Grades 6-8 on Monday, September 21st.  Then on Tuesday, September 29th, we will aim to begin in-person instruction by cohort at Holliston High School in Grades 9-12. 

In order to reach this timeline, the district will be doing everything in its power to recruit and hire for open positions, and to deploy administrators and other non-teaching staff to support supervision and safety needs in creative ways. Below you will see additional detail by grade level start dates. We appreciate your patience and understanding, as we forge ahead during uncharted times in education.

However, should staffing needs not be resolved so that proper safety protocols are able to be ensured, it may be necessary to delay the in-person start dates for grades 4-12 a bit longer, but this is not our intention at this time. Should this need to occur related to safe staffing needs, we will communicate this to families as early as possible. We are not alone, as many school districts are competing to find additional staff for safety positions and/ or to fill positions created from late resignations or leaves of absence related to COVID-19. 

As you know, we have asked for parent volunteers to support the in-person start dates, and there are still about 25 open school positions, and many bus monitor openings. These are available for new hires to apply for or volunteers to temporarily fill, to aid this process. Here is the survey link for volunteers and the Schoolspring link to apply for a position. As stated the other night, “It takes a village to raise our children/ educate the students” of HPS, and they/we need you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Susan E. Kustka