Welcome to the Greenfield Public Schools!

May 14, 2021

Hello GPS Community,

This has been a busy week in the Greenfield Public Schools. As you know, we did have a couple of positive cases of COVID-19 within our school community, but thanks to everyone’s work at following our Daily Four protocols, we have not seen any further spread. Although the CDC is making recommendations regarding vaccinations and mask-wearing, the GPS Facecovering policy remains in effect for all staff and students in our schools and on our grounds. Thank you all in advance for continuing to follow our protocols.

While we as educators teach, we also learn from our students. On Friday morning, May 17th, a group of students had a conversation in the form of a peaceful protest with our high school principal, Ms. Karin Patenaude, about equity, equality, race, and social justice. The students were thoughtful in their approach, identifying several issues they wish to see addressed and it was a mutually beneficial discussion for the adults and the students. The students have also made a commitment to actively engage in finding solutions to their concerns. I also met with them to hear their ideas about ways we can resolve some of the concerns and issues they have identified.

In the coming days, we will be meeting with the students again, will be reaching out to Community Action and Stand Up, and working with the high school leadership team and our students to continue to meet the students’ needs. Look for a public announcement next week on the details of our approach.

The School Committee met on Wednesday evening and reviewed several policies that are in need of an addition to the policy manual or revisions to existing policies. You can read the policies that were adopted or are under review by going to our website, gpsk12.org, and clicking on the School Committee meetings page. The policies are included in the 5/12/21 meeting materials. The Committee will be meeting in a special session on Tuesday evening, May 8th, at 6:00 pm, to continue this important work.

Sincerely,

Dr. Judith Houle, Interim Superintendent of Schools

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