Check your calendar. Melrose won't be celebrating Columbus Day in October. The city of Melrose will now officially recognize the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day, instead of Columbus Day. The School Committee voted to eliminate the controversial holiday from the district's calendar at a virtual meeting on Jan. 26.

“We did it!,” Heather Leavell, co-founder of Indigenous Peoples Day Melrose (IPDM) said. “We are thrilled that Melrose has taken this meaningful step toward truth and healing.” For almost three years, IPDM has advocated for the change to designate the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples Day in Melrose, by writing letters to the School Committee and elected officials urging them to drop Columbus Day from their calendar.