All Around APS

Dear APS families and staff,

Each year, March is celebrated as Women’s History Month with a presidential proclamation. This year’s theme for Women’s History Month is “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion,” honoring women who have taken the lead to create change and work for inclusion, equality, and belonging. Women’s History Month serves to highlight milestones, culture, and the impact women have had in American history. Taking time to explore the impact women have had in American history each March creates a lifelong opportunity to raise awareness and connect our past to our future.

I applaud the women at APS who foster a sense of inclusion for all students and are in service to our community, leading with compassion. Their contributions of advocacy require courage and commitment, and I am appreciative for those that champion belonging for all our students at APS to ensure successful outcomes.

Dr. Magda Parvey

Superintendent

West Middle School sixth grade teacher, Toni Ciaccia, served as a host teacher for Fulbright Teaching Excellent and Achievement (TEA) Fellow Liudmyla Chernobryvets, an English language teacher from Ukraine last month.

The Fulbright TEA program brings international secondary-level teachers of English, English as a Foreign Language, math, science, foreign languages, and social studies to the United States for a six-week program to take academic seminars for professional development at a host university and to observe and share their expertise with teachers and students.

Ms. Chernobryvets was at UMass Lowell during her visit to the Merrimack Valley. Her primary goals, while in the U.S., were to develop her teaching skills, expand her knowledge of American teaching methods and culture, and to cultivate lasting relationships with American teachers and students. Mrs. Chernobryvets also toured Andover High School and met with students for a Q&A about life and schooling in Ukraine. Many thanks to Mrs. Ciaccia for hosting Ms. Chernobryvets and for sharing this opportunity with our students!

In anticipation of the upcoming move to the new West Elementary and Shawsheen building, students and staff at West Elementary and Shawsheen Preschool spent some time gathering artifacts for a time capsule that will be preserved in the new building before it opens to West El students in 2024.

West El students curated their items by grade level and were led by the 5th grade Student Council leaders. Each item selected is specific to the results of a student poll. At Shawsheen Preschool, staff supported our students in the choosing of the pieces and made sure to capture the times we are living in by adding a COVID-19 test! Details on when the ceremony to add the items and seal the capsule are still being determined, but it will take place sometime before West El students start school in the new building in August 2024. To learn more about the project, please visit our webpage.

The AHS Library recently hosted an all-day archaeological simulation in partnership with the Andover Center for History and Culture and professional archaeologist Jeffrey Barron. "An Investigation of A Pennacook Site in Andover" was facilitated by Martha Tubinis, Director of Programs, APS educators, and program coordinators. Funding was generously provided through a Punchard Grant. This program is part of our ongoing Native American Heritage Series which will culminate in a day with author Angeline Boulley on March 12, 2024.

Students were invited to observe, record, inquire, interpret, and report their findings after working through "excavation grids" containing a variety of artifacts typically found in a local pre-colonial Indigenous community. While many artifacts were a donation from the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, some artifacts were clay vessel shards created by AHS ceramics students. Students were also shown projectile points and other tools made by Jeffrey Barron, who creates these items from raw materials. Barron also brought an atlalt (spear launcher) and spears adapted for indoors with which students took turns trying to take down the Woolly mammoth! This program involved a wide range of students from history and art classes.

Congratulations and gratitude to Greg Waters, who is retiring as assistant principal at West Middle School this June. Mr. Waters began his career at Andover High School as an English teacher in 1998 and held a variety of roles at AHS, including as the newspaper advisor, MCAS preparation instructor, and a Student-Government advisor. Early in 2015, Mr. Waters moved to West Middle School to help as an interim assistant principal; he was permanently hired to the position shortly thereafter.

Mr. Waters speaks proudly of his family’s strong work ethic and Greg is no exception. The relationships he has developed with West Middle families and students have been so important to him, it took some time for Mr. Waters’ to make the decision to retire. A few former students from a western Massachusetts school reconnected with him recently to share the impact his mentorship had on their futures, and he realized how much he has accomplished in a classroom and school over his 34 years as an educator. That experience encouraged him to make the decision to focus on spending time with his family.

In his time at West Middle, Mr. Waters mentored students and educators with a connection that makes him proud. If he spent time face to face with a student or family, Mr. Waters built a relationship with them. Every interaction he had led him to reflect on what a great day he had, every day. Many thanks to Mr. Waters for his years of service at APS; you will be missed!

• Monday, March 11, 2024 – Ramadan begins
• Sunday, March 24, 2024 – Palm Sunday
• Monday, March 25, 2024 – Holi
• Friday, March 29, 2024 – Good Friday
• Sunday, March 31, 2024 – Easter Sunday

The traveling exhibit I Am More will be on display at Andover High School for the month of March. This exhibit will be open to the public on Monday, March 18th from 5:30-7:00 in the AHS library. The exhibit features pastel and colored pencil portraits by artist Amy Kerr, accompanied by essays written by individuals describing how they are more than their life challenges. The portraits address mental illness and addiction recovery, coping with medical diagnoses, and surviving trauma. Despite the challenging topics, the message is one of hope and resilience, and sometimes even humor and joy.

All parents, guardians, and families of APS’s English Learner students are invited to join ELPAC at Andover High School on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 for an opportunity to connect with APS staff, ask questions and gain an understanding of how to become part of the ELPAC committee. More information is available at this invitation.

The School Committee met on March 7, 2024. Items on the agenda included the annual presentation from the Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC), a mid-year update on the implementation of Eureka Math2 and Desmos Math curriculum supports, and a presentation on the progress and importance of student-centered coaching at APS. The agenda also included first readings of updates to some School Committee policies and a second reading and vote on updates to policy JICFB: Bullying Prevention.

Also at the meeting, the School Committee voted on the Superintendent’s Final Recommended FY25 Budget of $103,335,959. The budget is a 3.75% increase over the current year and aligns with the Town Manager’s recommended increase, consistent with the Town of Andover’s and school department long-range financial planning models, the Committee’s Budget Development and Assumption Guidelines, and meets all contractual obligations. We encourage you to review the full budget book, which is available on our website.

The School Committee also discussed and voted on the Article P4 on Andover’s Annual Town Meeting Warrant. This article, which is voted on at Annual Town Meeting, established the FY25 budget for the town. This year’s Annual Town Meeting begins on April 29, 2024 at the Collins Center at Andover High School.

School Committee meetings are held in the School Committee Room at Central Office, 30 Whittier Court – 2nd floor and are broadcast live by AndoverTV via Andover public access television (Comcast Channel 6 and Verizon Channel 43) or by streaming from www.andovertv.org. Recordings of these meetings are posted on Andover TV’s Video Archive under the School and Building Committee Meetings webpage. To view meeting minutes from previous meetings, check out the School Committee’s meeting minutes archive page.

The next School Committee meeting will be held on March 21, 2024. Agendas are posted up to 48 hours in advance and can be emailed directly to those who are interested and sign-up for “Notify Me” alerts on our website.

The School Committee welcomes the community to join us for an informal forum on Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. at Memorial Hall Library.

These forums have no set agenda, and the community is welcome to stop in to the forum at any time to speak with two members of the School Committee on any topics related to our schools.

Because these sessions are attended by only two School Committee members, they allow an interactive dialogue outside of the Open Meeting Law legal parameters. Issues raised at the forum that might require further discussion with the entire School Committee will be communicated during a regular business meeting. Additional Informal Forum dates for 2024 can be located here.

A goal of the APS school-sponsored trips and student travel is to augment learning with experiences outside of the classroom. School Committee Policy JJH: School Sponsored Trips and Student Travel defines the process and protocols for domestic and international travel opportunities for our students. This policy was updated in June 2023, with additions based on the COVID-19 pandemic and the Policy Subcommittee’s periodic review of all School Committee policies.

Changes to the School-Sponsored Trips and Student Travel policy focus on increases to protections around the safety of our students and staff during travel, safeguarding the financial investments of our families, and increasing the trip sponsor’s proactive management ahead of the trip in our ever-changing world. For international trips, the Committee’s policy requires a minimum of two chaperones and a minimum chaperone to student ratio.

Additionally, the trip’s sponsoring faculty member will be responsible for monitoring travel advisories issued by the State Department and immediately notifying families, the superintendent, and School Committee of any changes to the destination’s alerts or advisories. The trip’s sponsoring faculty member will also be required to provide participating families a clear, succinct summary of the trip operator’s deadlines for trip cancellation and the refund rights that align with each deadline.

All School Committee policies are available for the community to reference through a searchable manual.