All Around APS

Dear APS families and staff,

I hope you all enjoyed a restful winter break. As we begin the new year, the district continues its work on the K-8 redistricting process in partnership with DillingerRAD who presented at the January 9th School Committee meeting. I encourage you to review their presentation, which highlights two initial scenarios and preliminary options for the Committee to consider and evaluate as we continue to refine the possible scenarios.

To further the conversation with the community, DillingerRAD will join the district in a “Let’s Talk!” virtual session on Thursday, January 16th from 6:30 -7:30 p.m. This session will review the information provided to the School Committee, solicit input and feedback around one revised scenario and DillingerRAD will be available to answer any questions. The link to join is available here.

The approved redistricting plan will be implemented in the 2026-27 school year. This allows the district sufficient time to operationally plan for the new school zones. We appreciate the continued participation and engagement from the community during this process.

Dr. Magda Parvey

Superintendent

We are so proud to share that Andover High School senior Jaiden Li was selected by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to represent the state as one of the 2025 U.S. Presidential Scholar nominees. This year’s selection process was highly competitive, with only 20 students achieving this recognition across Massachusetts.

Jaiden is humbled by AHS Principal Jimmy D’Andrea’s nomination and looks forward to continuing in the process by submitting her application to the U.S. Department of Education. She is an active student at AHS; serving as the Student Government Association’s student liaison to the School Committee, is the founder of both the French and Linguistics Clubs and is active in the Physics and Math clubs. Jaiden was born in China and lived in Singapore before moving to the United States and knows her unique experiences in all three countries have shaped her educational experiences.

Each year, approximately 160 students from across the country are named by the U.S. Department of Education (USED) as Presidential Scholars, one of the nation's highest honors for high school students.

Scholars are chosen based on their accomplishments in many areas — academics, leadership, and involvement in their school and the community. We wish Jaiden the best of luck in the coming months as a U.S. Presidential Scholar nominee!

The Bancroft Diversity Club is a group of 4th and 5th graders who meet monthly to work on many topics around diversity, including messages of awareness, sense of self, and appreciation for each other. Over 50 students contribute to the club, creating a positive impact at Bancroft for every student. The club’s advisors include Mrs. Modlish and Ms. Regan, who were the featured educators in a November issue of All Around APS, where they shared the powerful impact of the Diversity Club.

Before the winter break, the club held assemblies to share their messages with all Bancroft students. Students went back to classrooms to make colored cards following the theme "THIS IS ME" thinking about what makes them unique and special.

Diversity Club members assisted the rest of the children on their cards. Each grade is assigned a color of the rainbow, and the rainbow now hangs in the cafeteria windows. Such an inspirational club of dedicated students and staff!

The APS Music Department is proud to partner with Lexington Symphony’s “Orchestrating Kids Through the Classics” program. This month, members of the Lexington Symphony visited each elementary school to teach grade three students about the history of classical music and inspire students regarding the power of instrumental music. On January 23rd, students will travel to Cary Hall in Lexington for a performance that includes a history of music and a contemporary performance of a Star Wars theme.

APS Director of Food Services, Gail Koutroubas, has shared that she plans to retire in May following almost 20 years of service to our students and staff! Gail has many fond memories working at APS, particularly the opportunity to make meaningful connections with students, colleagues, and families.

She is proud of the positive impact the Food Services Department has had on the lives of APS students, most recently during the COVID-19 pandemic when her team provided meals to all in the community with drive-through service and the passage of the Universal Free Meals law in Massachusetts, which provides all students free breakfast and free lunch. We are grateful for Gail’s dedication to her team and our students. Best wishes for a wonderful retirement!

• Monday, January 20, 2025 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – NO SCHOOL

• Wednesday, January 29, 02025 – Early Release Day

• Monday, January 27, 2025 – Isra & Miraj
• Wednesday, January 29, 2025 – Lunar New Year

The printable 2025-26 school year calendar is available on our website.

The district’s calendar events and school year calendars can be downloaded to your own personal calendar by viewing the “Events” tab on the district’s main page. Click the “Add to Calendar” icon to download the event and upload to your own personal calendar.

Mother Nature has been kind to us so far this school year and we want to take a moment to review our communication procedures in case of inclement weather. Our priority is always the safety of students, staff, and bus drivers. To plan appropriately, APS works with Andover’s Department of Public Works to assess road conditions.

School delays or cancellations are typically decided early in the morning and communicated via email, text, voice recording, Twitter, Facebook, and under the “Live Feed” section of our website. Local television media is also alerted.

If there’s a one-hour delay, AM preschool will not be cancelled. A two-hour delay cancels AM preschool with all schools starting two hours later. Buses will arrive two hours later, and schools will dismiss at the usual time.

Details on after-school activities will depend on the forecast and will be communicated directly by your principal or department.

Andover High School seniors Collin Souza, Luke Suh, Aniketh Sherigar, and Liam Bennett are representing Andover this year for season 16 of WGBH’s academic tournament High School Quiz Show. The team are all returning members from last year’s team and will face their first match up on February 15, 2025 against Sharon High School.

Want to watch the team compete in person? The High School Quiz Show audience tickets are now available and can be reserved here to join the team in studio on January 24-26 and Sunday, February 2. Tickets are free and we know the team loves the support! Episodes of Season 16 can also be found on GBH2 or on their YouTube channel.

The School Committee met on January 9, 2025. The main item on the agenda focused on a presentation from DillingerRAD regarding K-8 redistricting. Prior to the regular business meeting, APS educators participated in a workshop on School Sponsored Trips and Student Travel.

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. Please visit the School Committee Meeting – Agendas, Presentations, and Videos webpage for more information.

The next School Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, January 23, 2025. Agendas are posted up to 48 hours in advance on the district’s website.

The School Committee is seeking nominations for the APS Staff Shout Out. This is an effort to recognize our extraordinary staff who embody the mission, values, and vision of the Andover Public Schools. Please share your nominations here. Selected staff will be announced at each School Committee meeting. We look forward to hearing how our staff have made a meaningful impact on your student(s).

The FY26 Budget process is in progress, and the district is committed to keeping the community informed through updates on the Budget Information webpage. Like many other districts across the Commonwealth, Andover is facing a budget deficit for this year. The Budget Information webpage will feature all presentations by the superintendent and district leadership at School Committee meetings, the FY26 Budget Planning Calendar and Budget Development Assumptions.

In her December message to the APS community, Dr. Parvey outlined the following important dates in the FY26 budget process.

• Tuesday, January 14, 2025 - District departments will present their budget proposals.
• Thursday, January 23, 2025 - The School Committee will hold a preliminary vote on the FY26 budget allocation in relation to the overall town’s FY26 budget.
• Thursday, March 6, 2025 - The School Committee will hold a public hearing. Following the hearing, the School Committee will vote on the School Department budget.
• Saturday, March 8, 2025 - The Superintendent will share the FY26 budget approved by the School Committee to the Town of Andover’s Select Board and Finance Committees at the Tri-Board meeting.
• Tuesday, April 29, 2025 - The school budget will be presented as part of the total town budget for a vote at the annual town meeting.

We appreciate your continued support as we work to balance our fiscal challenges while maintaining high-quality instruction and opportunities for our students.

We wanted to share some anticipated topics for discussion at School Committee meetings for the coming months. This list represents typical annual votes or updates on various agenda items and is not meant to be a complete list of agenda items. This summary is meant to help inform the community when certain topics may be discussed annually on the agenda. We advise reviewing agendas for specific dates and topics. Agendas are posted on the district’s website 48 hours in advance of School Committee meetings.

March

April

May

June

* topics where two readings occur to ensure sufficient feedback is provided.

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

The School Committee recognizes their responsibility to reflect and represent the diverse needs of the community. There are a number of ways to provide input and feedback on issues under the purview of the School Committee. Please visit this page to learn more about the different ways you can connect with the School Committee.