A district staff member presented a year‑end progress report on May 29 showing Holliston Public Schools’ shift toward integrated social‑emotional learning (SEL), data‑driven supports and improved attendance across buildings.

“Schools work best when people feel safe, supported, and connected,” the presenter said, summarizing the ARCH 2 strategic plan that guides the district’s SEL and mental‑health work. The presentation framed the work as districtwide integration of practices that had previously been fragmented across schools.

Why it matters: The district is moving from isolated programs to coordinated, districtwide processes — including data dashboards, an SSP (student support personnel) teaming structure, and a multi‑year rollout of the RULER SEL curriculum — to sustain supports for students and staff.

Key details from the presentation and follow‑up discussion:

- Data dives and professional development: The district launched data dashboards and convened cross‑building “data dives” that combined attendance, climate, behavior and referral data to identify needs. One outcome from the dives was a request for executive‑functioning professional development; staff reported strong parent interest after a related family night.

- RULER SEL rollout and timeline: Year 1 of RULER implementation with plans to move into year 2; full implementation was described as a three‑ to five‑year effort.

- Attendance outcomes: District leadership said the daily attendance rate is projected to rise by 6.6 percentage points to about 94.8% and chronic absenteeism is projected to fall nearly one percentage point to about 11.2% compared with 2023 figures. Assistant Principal Brenda Morrow told the committee the improvements reflect coordinated outreach, weekly building attendance teams and unified family messaging.

- Partnerships and safety programs: Lieutenant Barrett of the Holliston Police Department credited the district’s adoption of Sandy Hook Promise (anonymous reporting) and a Handle With Care notification system. Barrett said Handle With Care has produced 89 notifications; the program alerts schools when a student may need extra care after a community incident without sharing confidential details.

- Student supports and referrals: The district uses CareSolace and Cartwheel to connect families to counseling and telehealth services; the presenter said 37 CareSolace cases represent direct counseling connections (district‑wide reporting). The MetroWest adolescent health survey and school climate tools were listed as additional measures to inform programming.

- Peer leadership and student voice: The presentation cited large numbers of peer leaders — “80 plus” at Rams (middle school) and 18 at Youth and Family Services peer programs — as an indicator of student engagement in tier‑1 supports.

Committee members asked for details about measurement and representation, including whether paraprofessionals and teachers have input into PD choices; staff said paraprofessionals participate on the PD council and have received RULER training. Members also discussed whether district referral tools (CareSolace/Cartwheel) break down by school; staff said CareSolace reporting is aggregated district‑wide while Cartwheel referrals could be explored by building.

Ending: District leaders asked school committee members to consider participating in future data dives and flagged next year as a MetroWest health survey year; no formal policy changes or votes followed the presentation.