Just a reminder that updated information can always be found at our website: https://colrain.mohawktrailschools.org/ and our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/colraincentral

• Thank you to all who came out for our First Day Celebration! It was wonderful to see so many new faces and meet new families. I'm always appreciative of the time you put in to show your children the importance of their education. I'm looking forward to partnering with you all this year!
• I am pleased to announce that we now have staffing for our After School Program and it will open next week! Amanda Kimberley will be the director and Erika Bardwell will be her assistant. The program will open at dismissal on Tuesday, Sept. 3rd. Please be sure to complete the registration paperwork that was sent home with your child yesterday.

• Ms. Cherry, our music teacher, has left to take a position elsewhere. I am currently in the process of gathering applications for that position. If you know of any music teachers looking for work, please send them my way. Until someone is hired for that role, Ms. Hammond, one of our regular substitutes, has agreed to cover music classes.

• Please be sure that you let your child's teacher and the office know what your child's dismissal plans are. If there are any changes to their regular plans, we need to hear that from an adult, not the student. We cannot just take a student's word for it...no matter how responsible they are. 😊

• Beginning in mid-September, there will be a PRIDE club available to students. On Fridays, students who wish to participate will be able to have lunch with Mr. Teddy and Ms. Stacy. The goal of this club is to create an inclusive club which provides an opportunity for support, safety and inclusivity for GSD (Gender and Sexuality Diverse) individuals and their friends and allies. Participation is completely voluntary. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Mr. Teddy and/or Ms. Stacy.

• We are now looking for another family representative for the Local Education Council (LEC). The LEC is an advisory board to the principal, overseeing the school improvement plan, consulting on the budget, and working with school staff and community members to ensure we are providing the best educational experience possible. If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please let me know.

• The 2024-2025 Student/Family Handbook can be found at https://colrain.mohawktrailschools.org/accnt_381003/site_391894/Documents/Colrain-Handbook.pdf. Please read through it and then click on the button below to sign off on the form indicating your receipt and acknowledgement of it.

• We have a large number of COVID tests available that will expire in mid-October. If you would like some, please contact Mrs. White in the front office and we will be happy

Please read through this carefully to ensure the safety of all students, staff, and families.

If you are transporting your child, please pull around slowly to the back parking lot and line up in the car line. A staff member will come and get your child(ren) from your vehicle and will bring them to your vehicle in the afternoon. Please then wait patiently for the line to move. Please do not go around cars, even if you are running late. The last thing anyone wants is for someone to get hurt! In the mornings, staff members will help your child unbuckle or get out of their car seat if necessary. In the afternoon, staff members will bring your child to your car, but we ask you to please make sure they are securely buckled in to their seat or car seat.

Please do not get out of your car in the car line. If you need to come into the school for any reason, please find a parking space and then come in. This will keep the line moving more quickly for everyone.

If your child is riding the bus, drop-off/pick-up will happen in the front of the school.

As always, if you have any questions, please just ask!

The first PTO fundraiser is our annual fall mum sale. If you'd like to order, please fill out the form below. We will be taking orders through September 18th, pick-up will be at Colrain Central School on September 25th!

The next PTO meeting is Thursday, Sept. 12th at 3:30 at the school. Come help plan some exciting events for the year.

Mohawk Trail/Hawlemont Regional School Districts Sustainability Study

Contact: H. Jake Eberwein, Project Manager, jakeeberwein@gmail.com

August 29, 2024

The 2districts8towns Steering Committee, charged with overseeing the Sustainability Study for the Mohawk Trail Regional School District (MTRSD) and Hawlemont Regional School District (HRSD), has been busy at work this summer, meeting to review informational reports generated by the Berkshire Educational Resources K-12 (BERK12) research team, while also identifying promising options for addressing the districts’ challenges. The purpose of the Sustainability Study is to identify the best options for delivering the highest quality educational experiences for students in the 8 towns (preparing them for college, career, and life) while reflecting the fiscal realities of our towns/residents.

Through a series of extended working sessions this summer (links to slide decks HERE under

presentations), the Steering Committee evaluated a comprehensive list of potential options and opportunities to determine which ones best address the desired outcomes of the Sustainability Study. Steering Committee members considered the potential impact of each option, how easy or difficult each option will be to implement, and how well the options address challenges (financial, educational, operational) faced by the districts. A list of the “most promising” options is in the final stages of development and will be presented for further discussion at the next Steering Committee meeting on September 19. Once approved, the research team will develop models that look more closely at each option and identify benefits and challenges to the districts.

A number of “working” reports have been developed by the Berkshire Educational Resources K12 research with the support of the 2D8T Committee. Several have been released and are available on the website, while others are in review by the advisory teams:

RELEASED REPORTS AVAILABLE ON WEBSITE

● Facilities Report - Provides an inventory and analysis of the five MTRSD and HRSD school

buildings, considering factors such as enrollment capacity, physical condition, travel distance between buildings, and possible reconfiguration or repurposing.

● Enrollment Report: Covers historical and projected enrollment trends by district, school, & town; patterns of student migration in/out of the district; and class size.

● Historical Review: Looks back at district formation, historical studies, state efforts around

regionalization and rural issues, and best practices (nationally) in rural education.

● Regional Agreement Analysis: Provides a side-by-side look at the Hawlemont & Mohawk Trail

regional agreements.

REPORTS UNDER REVIEW BY ADVISORY TEAMS

● Education Report - Reviews a range of educational indicators in the MTRSD and HRSD,

considering factors such as educational staff, academic programming, assessments, co-curricular

activities, post-secondary outcomes, and accountability to the Massachusetts Department of

Elementary and Secondary Education.

● Finance & Personnel Report - Examines financial and staffing data for the districts by looking at recent historical and current data and making projections five years into the future. Examines factors such as overall budgets, comparisons to other districts, per pupil spending, transportations costs, and town assessments.

● Community Outreach Report - Provides results of community outreach efforts that included

gathering feedback and perspectives from students, teachers, school staff, families, select boards and town finance committees, and other community members through a mix of meetings, community outreach sessions, and surveys.

● Special Education Report - Examines special education in the districts, including program location,

staffing (teachers and paraprofessionals), specialists, disability types, and various outcomes.

The next meeting of the 2Districts8Towns steering committee, to be held on September 19 at 5:30 pm, will include a discussion about developing detailed models for the most promising options. Members of the public are welcome to attend Steering Committee meetings either in person at Mohawk Trail Regional School (superintendent’s conference room) or virtually by accessing the meeting agenda posted on the website (2districts8towns.org). Community members are encouraged to submit questions or comments through the CONTACT link on the website. For those just becoming familiar with the Sustainability Study, a one page project overview is available HERE.

For more information, contact project manager H. Jake Eberwein, jakeeberwein@gmail.com.

9/2 No School: Labor Day

9/12 3:30pm PTO meeting

9/17 3:30pm LEC meeting

9/18 PTO Mum orders due, Community Celebration dinner orders due

9/25 Colrain Community Celebration

• 9:00-10:00 Harvest Fair
• 5:00-6:00 Mum pickup
• 5:00-6:00 PTO dinner/CCS Swag available for pickup
• 6:00-7:00 pm Open House
• 7:00-8:00 5th/6th grade family meeting

1:50 dismissals: 9/18, 9/25