10.13.20 | Back to School on Tuesday

After switching to remote learning on Monday, October 12, students at Holland High (including Holland Early College and HVRT) will return to face-to-face instruction on Tuesday, October 13. 

We will resume our regular schedule for all buildings for the remainder of the week:

• Parent Teacher Conferences will continue as planned at all of our schools this week.
• All extra-curricular activities resume with the exception of 7th/8th grade football
• All students will have a half-day of school on Thursday as we conduct parent=teacher conferences
• There will be no school on Friday for all students as previously communicated as part of our 2020-2021 calendar.

Monday’s shift to remote learning at the High School became necessary after positive tests results for COVID-19 were communicated to the district over the weekend including staff and students. Contact-tracers have been working to inform everyone who may have had close contact (within 6-feet for a cumulative 15-minutes) with these individuals following guidelines from the CDC, Ottawa County Department of Public Health, and the Michigan High School Athletic Association. Monday’s shift was needed to give our tracers enough time to do this work and to ensure students and staff weren’t exposed by someone who should have been home in quarantine. This has also provided time to ensure that vacancies for employees who are quarantined were able to be filled by qualified individuals.

Among those being asked to quarantine for close contact with someone who has tested positive are members of the 7th & 8th Grade Football teams. Unfortunately, the remainder of their season has been canceled.

The good news is that our Return to Learn plan continues to work! At this point, to our knowledge, there have been NO cases of COVID-19 transmission in any of our buildings. All of our employees and students who have been placed on quarantine following our required guidelines have been able to return back to work and learning. Thank you for all that each of you are doing to make the plan work. Wearing masks, keeping distance, washing hands, daily self-screening, cohorting of students, and our different schedules is making a difference and reducing the impact of quarantine when needed. Students and staff are remaining healthy and school is staying open!

I apologize for the inconvenience that Monday caused for some of our families and their students, however, next to learning, school safety is our number one priority. Please continue to check your inbox, visit our website, and follow our social media feeds for the latest information from Holland Public Schools.  Also, be sure to sign up for Mobile Text Alerts. Text HPS to 48421 to get signed up.

Thank you,

Dr. Brian Davis

Superintendent, Holland Public Schools