Holyoke Public Schools is accepting diploma requests from former students who graduated from the district with a Certificate of Attainment instead of a diploma because they failed to meet one or more of the MCAS graduation requirements in place at the time they completed high school.
Massachusetts recently eliminated its MCAS graduation requirements and now allows individual school districts to establish their own course-completion requirements. New state regulations allow districts to issue diplomas to those graduates whose transcripts indicate they would have met the district’s new competency determination criteria, which include:
A passing grade for both the grade 9 and 10 English courses, or the course equivalents as determined by the school principal and approved by the superintendent;
A passing grade for both the Algebra 1 and Geometry courses, or the course equivalents as determined by the school principal and approved by the superintendent; and
A passing grade in Biology or the course equivalent as determined by the school principal and approved by the superintendent.
If you believe your transcript reflects these criteria and would like to request a diploma to replace your Certificate of Attainment, please send send an email to superintendent@hps.holyoke.ma.us or you mail a written request to:
HPS Superintendent of Schools
57 Suffolk Street
Holyoke MA 01040