Dear Friends,

As many of you already know, due to a water main break on Saturday, the Town of Hamilton is under a “Boil Water Order” until further notice.  The Boil Water Order covers HWRHS, the Miles River Middle School and the Cutler and Winthrop Elementary Schools, but does not affect the Buker Elementary School in Wenham.  After consulting with Hamilton Town Officials, I have decided all schools in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District will be open on Monday, September 26^th, 2016.   

For the duration of the “Boil Water Order,” we will be following the protocols as set forth by the Massachusetts DEP’s “Consumer Information on Boil Water Orders.”  In order to comply with the Order, we will take the following steps:

• We will make the drinking fountains in the schools inaccessible and will have a supply of bottled drinking water available in each school.  In order to supplement this supply, please send you child to school with a bottle of water for their own use each day the Order is in effect.
• Our Food Service Department will adapt their menus in order to serve meals that do not require water or washing dishes; i.e., sandwiches on paper plates.
• The DEP recommends the use of antibacterial hand sanitizer after washing hands with soap and un-boiled water.  Therefore, we will have a supply of hand sanitizer available in our lavatories for hand washing and will post signage in our lavatories providing instructions for proper hand washing during the Order.

Thanks in advance for your understanding as we work through this unique challenge to continue to provide a world-class education to our students.

Sincerely,

Michael M. Harvey, Ed.D.

Superintendent