Happy almost Spring! There are moments when it feels like the warmer weather is right around the corner and other times when I wonder if I will be making a decision about calling a snow day! Let's hope we have seen the last of the snow around here for this year!
As I look at the calendar, it is crazy to think that we have a little more than three months left in the school year. There is lots and lots happening in our schools. For example, this Tuesday the 12th is Mac N' Tuesday, a fun event held at AHS and to which everyone is invited. The AHS Musical, The Lighting Thief: A Percy Jackson Musical takes place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (13-15th) at 7 pm. The AMS Drama Club will be performing Shrek the Musical on April 4th, 5th and 6th. Please read the newsletters from each school for additional events. Come see our students shine!
Looking forward to seeing everyone out and about in the next couple of weeks!
Best,
Elizabeth McAndrews
Superintendent
We are very pleased to officially announce that Mr. Doug Nebel will be our new AMS principal. Mr. Nebel will begin his tenure as AMS Principal on July 1, 2024. He comes to us from Sky View Middle School in Leominster where he has served as principal for five years. Prior to that, Mr. Nebel held the role of assistant principal at Sky View for six years as well as a five additional years in the same role at the Doherty Middle School in Andover and the Joyce Middle School in Woburn. Mr. Nebel's experience in both of these roles in these districts will serve him well as he assumes the helm at AMS.
As you may be aware, we conducted an extensive search process that involved a number of opportunities to learn about each of the candidates. The interview process was co-facilitated by Dr. Danielle Ricci, AHS Principal and Ms. Eryn Maguire, AIHS principal. From that phase, three finalists were identified and were invited to attend a day at AMS where they had the opportunity to meet with students, staff, and the central office administration. In addition, each finalist spent 40 minutes in a community forum that was live streamed on ACTV. At that point, I added an additional step of visiting the top two finalists in their respective schools. I believed that in order for me to select the candidate who was the best fit for AMS that it was critical for me to see them in their respective schools. During that visit, I was able to watch each finalist interact with students and staff as well as to gather information about their depth of understanding about good instructional practices. Having two outstanding candidates was certainly a great problem to have. I am very excited about adding Mr. Nebel to our District Leadership Team and, more importantly, to having him bring his experience to help us continue to grow at AMS.
Mr. Nebel and I will be in touch throughout the spring and as opportunities present themselves for him to join us in Amesbury and to make himself available to meet members of our community, I will share them with all of you.
I would also like to provide a sincere thank you to all who participated in this process. The input that I received was incredibly informative and helpful during the final step of the process.
I would like to introduce and officially welcome our interim Middle School assistant principal, Mr. Paul Caruso. Mr. Caruso started at AMS on February 26th and has hit the ground running. Mr. Caruso comes to after serving our country in many leadership positions in the US Army. Additionally, he has spent time in the classroom in Chelmsford and in administration in Tyngsboro. Welcome to Amesbury Mr. Caruso!
Please see the write up that is included in today's AMS newsletter.
As many of you may have noticed, AMS has a new Old Glory proudly hoisted high upon the pole in front of our school! Donated to us in February, it replaces the tattered flag that once flew in it's place. As it happens, for a while Donna Bourque, who drops of her 6th grade grandson Brogan to AMS every morning, had noticed the poor condition of our old flag and graciously offered to replace it with a flag given to her by the United States Marine Corps at the service for her late husband Michael. Brogan is pictured proudly holding the flag.
We are honored here at AMS to fly an American flag that carries such significance to one of our AMS families and to the entire city of Amesbury. Our heartfelt thanks to the family of Michael Bourque. We thank his family for his and all veterans and active duty service men and women for their service to our country.
I would like to echo Interim Principal Viladenis' sentiments regarding the generosity of Ms. Bourque, Brogan, and their family for this incredible donation.
