HHS winter concerts Dec. 10-11

The Hopkinton High School jazz ensemble, jazz band, symphonic band and concert band present their annual Winter Concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m., while the HHS chorus and orchestra perform their Winter Concert the following evening, also at 7.

Both concerts will be held in the high school auditorium. There is an admission charge of $5 for individuals with a $10 family cap. There is free admission for seniors as well as Hopkinton music students, faculty and staff. All proceeds benefit graduating senior scholarships and student lesson scholarships.

Continuing an annual tradition, the HHS Music Department invites community members to join the performers on stage with their own instrument and join in the performance of Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” at the Dec. 10 concert. Even if someone hasn’t played in years, young or old, they are welcome to sit in with the students.

Other Hopkinton Public Schools winter concerts include:

• Hopkins School concert, Dec. 5, 7 p.m., HHS athletic center;
• Hopkinton Middle School Grade 6 concert, Dec. 12, 7 p.m., HMS auditorium;
• HMS Grade 7 band and chorus concert, Dec. 17, 7 p.m., HMS auditorium;
• HMS Grade 8 band and chorus with Grade 7/8 orchestra, Dec. 18, 7 p.m., HMS auditorium.

HPS implements new security system

Earlier this month Hopkinton Public Schools announced an update to the district’s visitor management systems, the final stage of a multi-step security initiative that started five years ago. Each school now has a self-service kiosk in its main entrance to guide parents and guests through the visitor process.

All visitors are required to print a diver’s license or government-issued photo ID for entry into one of the school buildings during school hours. The new system, which went into effect Nov. 18, will leverage the driver’s license number to check the visitor’s name against the national sex offender registry prior to issuing a visitor badge.

Ashoke Ghosh, the HPS director of technology, warned that from time to time there might be false positives due to a person’a name aligning closely with another person in the registry. If this occurs, administration and school resource officers will work with the visitor to resolve the issue. Visitors are asked to show patience as the schools adjust to the change and be aware that they might be asked to wait in the office while issues of any kind are being resolved.