Student summit on belonging prompts school committee praise and staff follow-up
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Summary
A student-led summit on belonging at Holyoke Public Schools involving more than 70 students prompted faculty review of summit artifacts and plans to implement action steps; the committee voted to allow a student report during the Jan. 7 meeting.
The Holyoke Public Schools School Committee voted to suspend its rules and allow a student report at its Jan. 7 meeting, and a student speaker summarized a recent student summit focused on "belonging." The motion to suspend the rules and permit the student report passed by roll call vote; the committee recorded the motion as approved unanimously during the meeting.
An unnamed student speaker told the committee that the summit brought students and adults together to focus “on the idea of belonging in school.” Student leaders led conversations about three sets of questions intended to surface barriers to belonging and academic success, including classroom engagement, navigating school supports, and assessment. The speaker said student leaders also met with teachers on Jan. 2 during a professional development day to help plan lessons and that on Jan. 3, "all faculty and staff looked at the artifacts from the summit to think about how to move forward in their work after seeing what students had to say." The speaker said the summit drew more than 70 students and that school staff plan to implement action steps emerging from the sessions.
The student also reported on extracurricular and calendar items: Holyoke’s boys basketball team started the season 6-0, including a win over Central; the next game is Friday at 7 p.m. at SciTech. The student said 8th graders would visit Holyoke High School this Thursday to preview programs and activities, that Holyoke students will be released on an upcoming half day, and that midterms begin in two weeks. The transcript also records informal praise from committee members, including comments that the summit was "one of the proudest moments" and that students led the discussion.
Miss Wilson announced that the Policy and Governance Subcommittee will meet Jan. 14 at 5:30 p.m. at the central office on Suffolk Street. Committee members also applauded the work of interim leaders and thanked those who helped run the summit.
The student report was allowed after a motion to suspend the rules; the transcript records the motion, a second, and a unanimous roll-call passage but does not identify the mover or seconder by name in the record excerpt.