All Around APS

Dear APS staff and families,

At the most recent School Committee meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Administration Keith Taverna and I provided an update to the Committee on potential use of the $1.875 million appropriated by voters at April 29, 2024 Town Meeting. As these discussions around the FY25 Budget continue, I will be available at the School Committee’s Informal Forum scheduled on Tuesday, May 21st to help clarify any questions you may have. I am optimistic this will promote further engagement and partnership with our community. I look forward to having a respectful and positive discussion.

I also wanted to provide an opportunity for the district to receive input from our students, parents, and staff as we prepare for the FY26 budget. I will be establishing Budget Advisory Councils and I am hopeful that these ongoing discussions will be of benefit to our community in identifying the best use of available resources for the district and our students. We are still finalizing the details of how these councils will be structured. I will share further details in the next few weeks. I envision hosting our students, educators, and families in their own dedicated groups in order to facilitate focused discussions. Planning for future years’ budgets begins each fall, and I am hopeful that meeting on a consistent basis will serve the best interests for our community.

Dr. Magda Parvey

Superintendent

On Thursday, May 2nd, a team of three Andover High School unified athletes and two AHS unified partners, attended the 2024 Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools Youth Leadership Summit at the MIAA Headquarters in Franklin, MA. The summit brings youth with and without intellectual disabilities together through education, sports, and youth leadership to provide them with the opportunities to be advocates for acceptance, respect, and inclusion for ALL in their school communities.

At this student-led leadership summit, students had an opportunity to hear keynote speaker Michael Kelley, a former Special Olympics athlete and founder of the #PlayUnified podcast. The students also attended sessions focusing on leadership, how to enhance the Unified PE/Athletics program within each individual school, and how to be a leader advocating for inclusion. The Andover High School students and staff members are tremendously excited to bring back some of these new ideas and concepts to help benefit the Unified PE and Unified Athletics programs.

Under the direction of Mrs. Giguere and Mrs. Villani, members of High Plain Elementary fourth and fifth grade chorus performed at the Massachusetts State House on Monday, April 29th. Students had the opportunity to ask questions of our State Representative Nguyen and State Senator Finegold after the event.

This past weekend our student-led saxophone quartet earned a Gold Medal at the MICCA Solo & Ensemble festival held at Salem (MA) High School. Their score was so high that they have been invited to perform again with other gold medal finalists from across Massachusetts. The concert will occur on Saturday, May 18th, at Follen Church (755 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA 02420), from 2:00 - 4:15 PM.

This is a first for our music program! These students are all AHS seniors and have dedicated much time and passion to the growth of our band program. Congratulations on their achievement!

Maria Gabriela Guzman Garcia, or Gaby, is an instructional assistant at Shawsheen Preschool and has just received her U.S. citizenship! Gaby was born and raised in Venezuela, then moved to Mexico where her two daughters were born. Gaby and her family came to the U.S. in 2020!

• Monday, May 27, 2024 – Memorial Day – NO SCHOOL!
• Monday, June 17, 2024 – Last Day of School for Students (1/2 day)

• Thursday, May 23, 2024 – Vesak Day
• Wednesday, June 12, 2024 – Shavuot*
• Saturday, June 15, 2024 – Hajj* (5 days)
• Monday, June 17, 2024 - Eid al-Adha*
• Wednesday, June 19, 2024 - Juneteenth

Does your child have social learning challenges? Do they struggle with anxiety and self-regulation? Do they have slow processing speed or poor executive functioning skills? Declarative Language can help! We are thrilled to welcome Linda Murphy on Tuesday May 21st at 7 p.m. for a discussion on Declarative Language.

Linda is a speech language pathologist and RDI® Consultant. She co-founded Peer Projects Therapy From the Heart, a clinic in Beverly, MA dedicated to helping kids and families by using a positive, thoughtful communication style that emphasizes understanding, patience, respect, and kindness. Linda has been working with individuals with social learning differences for over 25 years. For more information on how to join this discussion, check out the SEPAC newsletter.

Please join us for our last ELPAC meeting during the 2023-2024 school year on Wednesday, May 22nd from 12-1 p.m. All parents, guardians, and families of our English Learner students are invited! To register for this event, click here.

The School Committee met on May 16, 2024. Items on the agenda included an ongoing discussion of the financial considerations of Town Meeting’s Amendment to the school budget for FY25 and updates on ELA programs from grades PK-12.

About the FY25 Budget

At the School Committee’s May 16, 2024 business meeting, Dr. Parvey and Assistant Superintendent of Administration and Finance Keith Taverna provided a variety of options for the Committee’s consideration as it works to find ways to navigate the additional $1.875 million provided by voters at last month’s Town Meeting.

Options included:

• Allocating one-time funding to fund 4 positions for FY25 only and use a portion to pre-pay debt service for the Doherty Middle School project.
• Allocating $1.87 million to pre-pay debt service for the Doherty Middle School Project.
• A retirement incentive to teachers to offset expenses and use a portion to pre-pay debt service for the Doherty Middle School project.
• Dr. Parvey’s full presentation can be found here.

The information introduced some new considerations and was very productive in terms of assisting the Committee with how to move forward with the budget. In collaboration with the Select Board and the Finance Committee, we will work to provide the community with opportunities to share their perspectives on the FY25 budget.

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 Thursday, June 6, 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 a virtual informal forum on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at 7 p.m. Andover Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Magda Parvey, and Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Administration Keith Taverna will join two School Committee members at this informal forum. 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.

Attendees must register in advance for the link to attend the forum. Registration can be completed at any time.

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJApdemtrTwoEtb8z_MTkIhqJByjA7a8v8A6

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

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.

What a great turnout from the community last Saturday to support the first annual "Rainbow Day" celebration hosted by Sidney’s Rainbows! The event was held in celebration and in honor and remembrance of Sidney Olson, whose life was tragically cut short one year ago. For more information on how to support the Rainbow Fund, please visit their website.

TOP (Transition Opportunity Program) students raised Sunpatiens from clippings at Konjoian's Greenhouse in Andover. They are raising money for the Special Olympics by sharing a limited number of these beautiful flowers with the community! Click on the picture on the right and scan the QR code or check this link for more information!