Holyoke Public Schools refine hybrid learning plan
Updated Feb 10, 2021;
Vazquez Matos said the district would prioritize the youngest learners reentering classrooms, including pre-K through grade 5.
The district will enact Classroom Learning Centers, a hybrid model, for grades 6-8 twice weekly. The centers provide an all-day, in-person option for students who want the live experience. Remote learners would join sessions.
Teachers will maintain their remote schedule with staff offering support for in-person students at the centers, with a tentative location for grades 6-9 at Holyoke High School North Campus.
Vazquez Matos expects families to receive the schedules next week. Enrollment would dictate current and future staffing levels at the learning centers.
COVID-19: Holyoke Public Schools install HEPA filter units in all classrooms
Updated Jan 27, 2021;
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HOLYOKE – Mayor Alex B. Morse shifted $950,000 in federal CARES Act funding to provide HEPA or high-grade air filters for all Holyoke Public Schools classrooms to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The City of Holyoke and the school district will buy 449 Carrier OptiClean air filtration machines. According to the manufacturer, the standalone units scrub the air of microscopic particles and discharge clean air back into a room.
In a statement, the district noted the HEPA filters improves air quality for students and teachers and “mitigate the risk of airborne transmission of COVID-19.”
Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse withdraws plan for emergency shelter at Dean High Campus
Updated Jan 21, 2021;
The council held a virtual session Tuesday night.
In an email, Morse wrote that the Commonwealth should have opened a temporary shelter in November. The mayor added the state imposed a “tight timeline” for the city to act and assist families who risk losing their homes during the pandemic.
“We did the best we could. As a result, a number of obstacles have emerged since then.,” Morse explained. “We have been assured that other arrangements will be made for these families who would have been served by the shelter.”