Community Policies & Commitments

LightHouse Community Handbook 2025-2026

Please read through our values, practices, and policies.

LightHouse Holyoke Community Handbook 2026-2027, cover page

Welcome: LightHouse is changing what school can be. A collaborative learning environment for students in grades 7-12.

Our program is founded on a few simple, yet radical understandings.

Vision statement: a reflection of the world we want to see.

Principles that inform our work, originally written by Susannah Sheffer at North Star.

Principle: learning happens everywhere, not only in a classroom.

Principle: as adults we should mostly strive to make possible rather than make sure.

Principle: the best preparation for a meaningful future is a meaningful present.

$Our story: LightHouse was founded in 2015 by Catherine Gobron and Josiah Litant.$

Community agreements: conditions of enrollment students and guardians agree to.

Community agreements continued, including our policy on contraband.

Kindness and respect are core values at LightHouse.

Restorative practices: how we work through conflict together.

Enrollment policies and refund policy for withdrawal during the school year.

Outcomes: what LightHouse students learn and carry forward.

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Our Obligations to Protect Students and their Information

LightHouse maintains policies and procedures that follow “Guidance regarding K-12 Schools' obligations to protect students and their information,” issued January 24, 2025 by the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

In the event any local, state, or federal law enforcement agency comes in person or requests via mail or electronic means information about LightHouse students, or requests to interview any students, LightHouse Executive Director or their designee will:

Immediately notify the student's or students’ parents or guardians.
Allow law enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to question or remove a student only when provided with written consent from a parent or guardian, or a valid judicial warrant.
Share student information with third parties, including ICE, only when provided with written consent from a parent or guardian.
Have a clear plan in place for interactions with ICE (see below).
Provide equal access to education to all students, regardless of immigration status.

LightHouse's Plan for Interaction with ICE, per the Massachusetts’ Attorney General’s Guidelines:

For any request for information or to question or remove a student by ICE, LightHouse’s Executive Director or their designee reserves the right to have judicial warrants reviewed for legal validity by a lawyer before complying with such request.
If ICE agents attempt to physically enter the LightHouse campus or any of its buildings, the following adult staff members have been identified to meet them outside the buildings to address their requests, in this order based on availability at the time of the the attempt: Catherine Gobron, David Lane, Nate Maynard, Isaac Eddy.
- These staff are instructed to inform ICE agents that they are not authorized to permit entry to the building without a valid judicial warrant or until the Executive Director or their designee can have the judicial warrant reviewed for validity.
- These staff will also communicate via electronic means or phone call to all other staff inside the building to inform them that ICE is requesting entry to the building.
Staff remaining inside the building will inform students to remain calm and to be silent if ICE officers enter the building.
Staff members in possession of a building master key may provide access to students to the cafe or to the De La Luz Theater building.
Diana Santiago or David Lane will send a pre-saved automatic emails to 1) all parents, and 2) our contacts at each of our School District partners informing them of ICE agents’ attempt to enter LightHouse.

We do not anticipate needing to enact this protocol. We have no reason to expect a visit from ICE or any other government entities. We share this information with our families and community at large to let you know that we have a clear plan in place to protect our students and their information if necessary, though this is highly unlikely. To date we have had no invasive or potentially problematic interactions with any law enforcement or government agencies of any kind, and we do not expect this to change.