District News

Welcome back to school BPS!

The first week of school was fantastic! Students from the BHS chorus led convocation with faculty/staff by singing the National Anthem and reciting Pledge of Allegiance. Moments later, members of our student pep band AND BHS alumni played the Redhawk fight song to set a festive start to the school year.

It was such a pleasure to see students and staff smiling widely, greeting each other on Wednesday morning of last week. Kindergarteners and our preschool students join us this week and school is officially in full swing. I am looking forward to visiting classrooms, attending fall sports events, Back to School evenings, and other traditions we have as the school year sets in.

Please remember that now is the ideal time to make sure that your emergency contact information is up to date. More information about how to do this is written below.

The Barnstable High School profile shares the highlights of our amazing high school: AP course offerings, dual enrollment, seal of biliteracy, student demographics, post-secondary plans, and college acceptances. Please click on the image below to view the entire document on our website.

The School Committee passed a Homework policy at its recent, August 20, meeting. The policy provides educators with guidelines on assigning homework for classes across the District's schools.

This policy is included in the District handbook, and can also be found on the School Committee's Policy webpage.

At its August 20 meeting, the School Committee voted to "table" the Cell Phone policy (not take any action) and revisit it again at a later point in time. At this time, cell phone expectations are written into school handbooks. Generally, there are no cell phones or personal devices allowed in PreK-7 schools. At the high school cell phones and personal devices are prohibited during instructional time. These are the same rules as last year. Students in violation are subject to disciplinary action as described in the handbooks.

A new vendor, Whitsons, acquired our food services contract over the summer and the District has been actively involved in a food services transition. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has also been involved and has approved this.

We remain committed to making sure that BPS students are receiving healthy, nutritious, and appealing menu options for breakfast and lunch.

Here is a message directly from the Whitsons team:

The Abbey Group—your trusted foodservice provider—was recently acquired by Whitsons Culinary Group on July 23, 2025. This exciting partnership is built on a shared commitment to innovation, personalized service, and nourishing our communities through wholesome, high-quality meals. We’re excited to share what this means for you!

Stronger Together

Whitsons and The Abbey Group both share a deep commitment to local sourcing, community engagement, and personalized service. This partnership strengthens our ability to support schools throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts with even more resources, operational expertise, and culinary creativity.

What You Can Expect

In the coming months, you’ll begin to see some exciting updates across your dining areas. We’ll be rolling out fresh new branding, colorful signage, creative station concepts, and engaging promotions—all designed to enhance students’ daily dining experience.

We’ll also be rolling out a state-of-the-art mobile menu viewing platform, FD Meal Planner, which brings menu planning, nutrition information, meal ingredients, and real time allergen information right to your fingertips. We anticipate this to be available in early 2026.

This user-friendly menu viewing tool also allows you to build your own profile, or a profile for your entire family of students, and then save your account preferences--making future visits a breeze.

Most importantly you can count on our commitment to local purchasing, sustainability and regional support. Plus, The Abbey Group operations team will be joining Whitsons so you will continue to see the same familiar faces that personally know your school community.

Local Leadership with Deep Roots

The Abbey Group’s operations team is now joined by experienced leaders from Whitsons and Fresh Picks Café. Two members of our senior leadership team are Vermont homeowners, plus five members of our leadership team members are residents of New Hampshire. We are all deeply invested in the communities we serve, and together we will be bringing over 60 years of combined experience in school nutrition—a testament to our long-term commitment and local insight.

Continued Commitment to Farm-to-School & Local Economies

Supporting local has always been at the heart of The Abbey Group—and Whitsons shares that same value.

• Over 50% of Whitsons’ products are sourced locally, and we’re committed to maintaining and expanding relationships with local farmers, vendors, and producers.

• Our involvement in Farm-to-School programs will continue to grow as we deepen our connections to local agriculture and education.

• We believe that strong local partnerships build stronger communities, and that mission continues to guide everything we do.

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Looking Ahead

We understand that change can bring questions. Please rest assured—this transition is being approached with thoughtfulness, transparency, and collaboration. Our goal is to ensure a smooth experience for every member of your community while building an even stronger future.

We are investing in the long-term success of New England communities and remain dedicated to Enhancing Life One Meal at a Time™.

If you have any questions, we encourage you to reach out to Food Services Director, Dave Badot, directly, as your satisfaction and trust remain our highest priority. We are excited for what’s ahead and look forward to embarking on this new journey with you and the rest of the BPS community.

Thank you for your support and partnership.

The District continues to work with consultant Enviromed on Indoor Air Quality and mold prevention. The consultant trained the District’s custodians in June on cleaning with a special product. Over the summer, the custodians completed the cleaning as recommended by Enviromed. Any areas that our custodians could not clean (a limited number - a wing at BHS and a few classrooms at BIS -- all have been off limits to students and staff) were or are being addressed professionally, by Service Master.

Enviromed is providing ongoing testing, as needed, to ensure the efficacy of the cleaning. Additionally, they will return to the District at regularly scheduled intervals during the school year (quarterly) for inspections and support.

The District, in collaboration with Enviromed Services, has launched an indoor air quality website to share information and resources about our collective effort to maintain excellent indoor air quality in BPS. This site will be updated regularly.

The following clip is from Enviromed's Update to the School Committee from June 4, 2025.

Volunteering:

BPS has a new Volunteer Portal for all volunteers. If you have volunteered previously, take some time to look at the new site. If you would like to volunteer, please sign up at this link and fill out a CORI form at the Family and Community Engagement Center inside the HYCC, 141 Bassett Ln, Hyannis.

Resources & Events:

The FCEC manages a WhatsApp group called Barnstable Family Resources and Events. We post school and community events and local resources for families in Barnstable. If you would like to join, follow this link.

Heading back to school is the ideal time to update your emergency contact information.

For the safety of our students, updating student information is a process that should be completed at least once each year in order for the school to have accurate, important student information, such as addresses, phone numbers, emergency contacts, and medical needs. However, the process can be completed many times throughout the year any time there is a change to information.

Aspen has an interface called "Go" which is more mobile-friendly. We launched it back in the spring. It is a quick, convenient way to update student information and review student academic progress from a phone or tablet.

This link is the login page for parents/guardians to log in to Aspen: https://ma-barnstable.myfollett.com/aspen-login/?deploymentId=ma-barnstable

On the BPS website ‘Update Student Information’ page: https://www.barnstable.k12.ma.us/link-2/update-student-information, there are three sections toward the top of the page to guide parents and guardians through the process:

1. Login to Aspen

2. Directions to Update

3. Frequently Asked Questions

We appreciate your attention to this new process as it is critical for maintaining accurate and current information for your child/children. By reviewing and confirming this information, you are helping us to provide the highest level of care and support possible for your child.

If you have any questions, please contact your school or, at BHS, the hub’s administrative assistant.