A Letter from Superintendent Nick Cassidy - November 2024

I want to give special thanks to this community for all the support they have given to Holland Public Schools, our staff members, our students, and their families.   We believe that Holland Public Schools is the center of a thriving city, and it is our responsibility to unite the community around the success of all students.   The community coming together around our kids is a big reason why HPS was honored with the Inspire Award from the West Coast Chamber of Commerce.  

Below are examples of community involvement and celebrations.  We are so thankful to serve this community.  

Holland Educational Foundation

The Holland Educational Foundation (HEF)  hosted its 40th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, November 9th.   In addition to bringing the community together to celebrate HPS, HEF brought awareness to its mission of supporting staff and students and ensuring that all students have the best educational experience possible.   HEF also celebrated 5 distinguished alumni: Correante DeBerry, Donna Brooks, Johnny Rodriguez, Jeff Elhart, and Katie Colburn.    If you know of a graduate of Holland High School who has given back to HPS and you would like to nominate them for a Distinguished Alumni Award, or if you want to get involved with HEF, please email Kate Bolt.  

Preschool Programming and Options

Starting in January, we have an exciting opportunity to offer preschool programming to families in our community with children who will turn 3 years old on or before December 1st. 2024. Children will be enrolled in our current preschool classrooms at HLA, West and Jefferson. Spots will be limited! 

Our current preschool classrooms operate Monday-Friday and generally match each elementary school's start and end times. Families will have a tuition contribution based on a sliding scale. See below: 

In order to support our staff, these spots are being offered first to HPS employees. Interested in learning more or enrolling your child? Please contact Patty Beatty: 616.494.2824.

Progress on District Goals

HPS, in partnership with the community, is making progress towards our strategic plan goals.   

Develop a Facility Master Plan that prioritizes access to academic and extracurricular opportunities for students and the Holland Community

Work at Holland Heights is well underway and the building is starting to take shape.  Planning for improvements at West is progressing and we are beginning discussions of the future needs of the district.  Much of the feedback we have received has focused on updates to extra-curricular facilities.    Within a few years, our goal is that every HPS student will benefit from state of the art instructional and extracurricular facilities.   If you would like to be involved in discussions about future facility needs, please email Nick Cassidy at ncasssidy@hollandpublcischools.org.

HPS will provide a safe and secure environment for all District students, staff, and visitors and ensure the school district is prepared to effectively respond to all emergencies that might affect the safety or security of students and staff.

HPS has made significant progress in ensuring our staff and students have safe and secure facilities.  This fall, we participated in our first emergency evacuation and reunification drill.  We have continually enforced the expectation of door safety and building security.    At the October board meeting, we celebrated the fact that every school in our district was named a Heart Safe school due to the number of staff who have received CPR certifications.  Within a month of receiving that district-wide designation, staff members at Holland High School needed to use their training on a student experiencing a medical emergency.  We are so thankful to the Holland Fire Department for providing this training to our staff.   If you are interested in joining the Parent Safety Committee, please email Joe Soto at jsoto@hollandpublicschools.org.

HPS will beat enrollment projections by 50 students per year and maintain an enrollment of 2,900 by 2026. 

For the 2nd consecutive year, Holland has not only beaten enrollment projections but has grown.  This year we were projected to lose 65 students and gained 27.  Over the last three years, we have surpassed enrollment projections by nearly 350 students.   This has been a community effort.

All students (TK-12) will participate in a minimum of 1 school-sponsored sport, club, or community involvement activity, with 40% of High School students participating in athletics.

We know that students who are connected to extra-curricular activities outside the classroom are thriving.   We have been focusing on increasing participation rates and are beginning to see increases across the district.   The high school jumped from just below 20% last year to over 27% this school year.   We also noticed increases in most Middle School sports as well as involvement in youth sports through Holland Recreation.  The future looks bright for Holland Athletics.   There have also been increases in the number of students participating in school-sponsored clubs across the district.   Thanks to everyone who has offered encouragement for students to get involved and has helped break down any barriers that may have prevented students from participating.  

Expand and coordinate community resources and partnerships to meet the needs of our staff,  students, and families. 

HPS continues to link families to the resources they need. This has included expanding Mental Health services, organizing the Power H Shop, providing relevant parent education through our parent nights, , and connecting students with opportunities with many of our local businesses.

Engage and Inform parents and community members through consistent two-way communication.

HPS continues to work on engaging parents and the community through effective communication.   This has included using Remind, My Ride K-12, and Parent Portal.

The next level of work will be to streamline the enrollment and registration process, create standards for communication so that parents are not overwhelmed with the number of messages received, and gather feedback from parents so we have an understanding of what they need and want.    

We will gather that information through a communication survey.  Complete this 2-minute/10-question survey.

We'll also host focus groups of parents on

• Thursday, January 9
• Tuesday, January 21

If you are interested in participating in the Communication Focus groups, please email me.

As we head into Thanksgiving break, I want to express thanks and gratitude for our talented educators who inspire and nurture the potential in every child, for our committed staff who keep our schools running smoothly, and for our students who remind us every day why we do what we do. I am equally grateful for our families and community members, whose trust and investment in our schools enable us to provide opportunities that shape the future.

Have a great break,

Nick Cassidy, Superintendent