by Stacey Raffi
1/10/2016

DID YOU KNOW?
Holliston High School has been placed on the College Board’s 6th Annual AP® District Honor Roll for Significant Gains in Student Access and Success!! 
Holliston High School is one of only 425 school districts in the United States and Canada being honored by the College Board with placement on the 6th Annual AP® District Honor Roll for increasing access to Advanced Placement (AP) course work while simultaneously maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams. AP courses are the most academically rigorous courses offered in US high schools and students who achieve a score of 3 or higher on the nationally-developed AP exam are eligible to receive college credit for the course.
Inclusion on the 6th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of AP data, from 2013 to 2015, looking across 34 AP Exams, including world language and culture. In order to receive this prestigious honor, a high school must:

• Increase participation/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts, and at least 11 percent in small districts;

• While at the same time either:
  • Increasing the percentage of students who passed the AP exam (received a 3, 4, or 5 on the AP exam); or 
  • Maintaining a pass-rate greater than 70%

Congratulations to the administration, faculty and students of Holliston High School for receiving this honor.

Budget Planning 2017
In an effort to accelerate the budget review process for FY 2017, we added dates to review budget drivers beginning November 12, 2015.  Budget drivers information is posted on our district site.   All of our meetings are held on Thursday nights at 7:00p in the Holliston High School Library unless otherwise noted. 
 
The Budget Planning Schedule for FY17 
JANUARY 2016
Jan 21: School-wide Improvement & Learning Goals
Jan 22:  Budget Workshop – New Initiatives Presentations (Friday, 4:00p)

FEBRUARY 2016
Feb 4:   Superintendent’s Recommended FY17 Budget
Feb 25:  Budget Discussion

MARCH 2015
Mar 3:   School Committee votes preliminary FY17 Budget
Mar 15:  Finance Committee Presentation - Town Hall -7:30p
Mar 17:   Budget Discussion (if needed)

APRIL 2016
Apr 7:   Public Hearing on FY17 Budget
Apr 28:  Budget Discussion if needed

MAY 2016
May 5:  Budget Discussion if needed
Monday, May 9, 2016         Annual Town Meeting
Tuesday, May 24, 2016      Annual Town Election

 Spring Standardized Test

The School Committee voted unanimously at its December 10 meeting to support continued use of the MCAS test over PARCC this spring, in grades 3 through 8. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education gave each district the choice but strongly encouraged switching to PARCC this school year. The School Committee agreed with the superintendent, who recommended against the short-term switch because the state is expected to institute a new “MCAS 2.0” in 2017. The School Committee and superintendent concurred that three different assessments in three years would cause unnecessary stress for both students and staff. The new MCAS is expected to be a merger of the existing MCAS model and the newer PARCC test.
 
 2016-2017 School District Calendar
In a unanimous vote (7-yes, 0-no), the School Committee voted to approve the 2016-2017 School Calendar for the 2016-2017 school year as presented by Dr. Jackson at the November, 12, 2015 meeting.   The calendar can be found on the district website.

School Committee Office Hours
School Committee offers opportunities for Holliston residents to meet with the Committee members to ask questions or provide feedback about district-specific issues through "office hours".  Our office hours are held periodically throughout the year at local venues (Holliston Public Library, local restaurants etc) and are held both in the morning and in the evening to accommodate various schedules.  We announce offer hours at our monthly Thursday night meetings and via messages on our newsletter, HollistonReporter.com, Back-Pack Express on the district website, and Holliston groups on Facebook.  

Upcoming Office Hours for January 2016:
Sat January 9    8:30-10:30am  Coffee Haven, 76 Railroad St.
Thurs January 28  7:30-9:30pm  Casey's, 81 Railroad St.

 School Committee Members
School Committee members are Holliston residents who are elected to three-year terms.   School Committees have three main purviews:

1.  Hire and evaluate the Superintendent
2. Prepare and vote a school budget that is brought forth to the Town to be voted on
3. Create policies

Our agendas, meeting minutes, and policies are available on our web site.                                http://www.holliston.k12.ma.us/home/school-committee
 Feel free to contact any committee member with questions or comments.
Carol Emmons, Chair: carol@theemmons.com                                                                                     Anne Louise Hanstad, Vice Chair: alhanstad@gmail.com   
Lisa Kocian:  Lisakocian94@gmail.com
Cynthia Listewnik: cynlistewnik@gmail.com
Andy Morton:  amortonhsc@gmail.com 
Stacey Raffi:  staceyraffihsc@gmail.com
Joan Sousa:  joansousaschoolcommittee@gmail.com

School Committee Meetings are held at 7:00pm in the High School Library The next School Committee meeting is Jan 21. The agenda tentatively includes:     Review of January Financials Mid-year review on School Improvement Plans Review of January 15, 2016 Professional Development Day Sub-Committee Meetings Communications:  TBA Policy:  Feb 4, 2016  10a  Strategic Plan:   Wednesday, January 20  6p HHS Library  Green Committee:   TBA   All agendas are posted in Town Clerk’s office.