Superintendent's Memo
Hopkinton Public Schools
February 2026 Superintendent's Memo
Dear Hopkinton Families, Students, Faculty, and Staff,
As we head into February, we find ourselves right at the midpoint of the school year. A natural time to pause, reflect, and look ahead. While winter has a way of testing our patience (and our shovels), it’s also a season where so much meaningful work continues to take shape in our schools.
Over the past month, I’ve had the opportunity to spend time in classrooms, attend student events, and connect with staff, families, and community partners. Across the district, I continue to be impressed by the learning, creativity, and collaboration taking place from elementary students engaging in hands-on engineering challenges and cross-level STEM experiences with high school students, to well-attended parent workshops supporting students’ social-emotional well-being. At the middle school, events like International Night highlighted the importance of belonging and community, while at the high school we’ve seen strong alumni engagement, outstanding performances by our student musicians & athletes, and recognition of our academic programs, including Hopkinton High School earning Platinum status on the College Board AP Honor Roll.
February is also a time when we begin to plan intentionally for what’s ahead, both for the remainder of this year and beyond. I look forward to sharing my entry plan findings with the community next month and, building from that work, partnering with our School Committee, staff, families, and community members this summer as we begin developing our next five-year strategic plan.
Thank you for your ongoing support, flexibility, and trust.
Go Hillers!
Evan Bishop
Superintendent of Schools
February 16 - 20: No School (February Vacation)
Crisis Response & Reunification Training
We’d also like to highlight important ongoing conversations taking place across our district and in partnership with the town around school safety and emergency preparedness. Last week, district leaders joined our police, fire, and town partners for a comprehensive training focused on emergency response and reunification protocols, led by the I Love U Guys Foundation, whose nationally recognized framework is used by schools across the country and around the world.
The purpose of this work is to ensure we are aligned, using a shared language and coordinated approach so that, in the event of an emergency, responses are calm, organized, and predictable. We're grateful to our town partners for their collaboration and the time they dedicated to this important work. Next, we’ll bring these conversations back to individual buildings school crisis response teams to gather feedback and continue strengthening our systems together.
Hopkins School Kitchen Staff
The Top of the Hill Spotlight this month goes to a group that truly deserves recognition—our Hopkins kitchen staff. With ongoing construction at Hopkins, the team is currently working out of a kitchen trailer and moving back and forth into the building throughout the day. These are far from ideal conditions and require extra steps, coordination, and flexibility, much of it happening behind the scenes.
What has stood out is how this team continues to handle these challenges. Day in and day out, they show up focused on taking care of our students, and they do so with professionalism, positivity, and a genuine smile.
We want to extend a sincere thank you to Food Service Director Michelle Condakes, and the entire Hopkins kitchen staff for their hard work, adaptability, and the care they show our students every day. It does not go unnoticed, and we are truly grateful.
