Doherty Family Update 9.22.2024

Please come to Coffee with the Principal

Mrs. Perry

RSVP HERE

Andover Public Schools has adopted a pilot of GoGuardian Teacher for the 2024-2025 school year,at Doherty Middle School, West Middle School, and Wood Hill Middle School. GoGuardian is a platform that can help keep your child safer and more focused online during school hours. Over 14,000 other schools use GoGuardian to protect 25 million students across the world.

GoGuardian Teacher is a classroom management tool for Chromebooks. It allows teachers to see what is on the screen of every student in their classroom. They can see the active tab the student is currently looking at, as well as any other open tabs in the browser. Teachers can close tabs for students, send messages to students, and lock student screens. Messages between a teacher and student on GoGuardian are logged. Students can not message other students through GoGuardian, only the teacher. Teachers can create “Scenes” for their classroom sessions. Scenes give teachers the ability to allow or block specific sites during that session.

How are we using GoGuardian?

We have chosen GoGuardian Teacher services to:

• Help protect students against harmful and inappropriate online material

• Help students stay more focused when learning online

• Help assess students’ progress towards class assignments

• Facilitate communication between teachers and students during class time

When and how does GoGuardian operate?

GoGuardian’s web-based services operate when a student is signed in to their school managed account while using a supported device (i.e., when a student is logged into their school email address). Andover Public Schools will be utilizing GoGuardian on Chromebooks and any computer-type device used for educational purposes by students at the middle school level.

Andover Public Schools helps protect your child during the school day. A school session indicator (school house icon) appears in the student’s browser when GoGuardian is active to help students understand when GoGuardian is “on”. We will not be monitoring student internet usage outside of school hours. Andover Public Schools enables teachers to use GoGuardian Teacher with students in their classes only during school hours from 8:50am to 2:50pm Monday through Friday.

What are my parental/guardian and child’s responsibilities?

We ask that students use their school-managed accounts and devices for educational purposes within the boundaries of your child’s student handbook and the APS Empowered Use Guidelines. When a student is off campus, parents are responsible for supervising internet access and usage. We encourage you to discuss rules for appropriate internet usage with your child, and reinforce lessons of digital citizenship and safety.

How does GoGuardian help protect my child’s privacy?

GoGuardian has consulted with privacy experts, participates in privacy organizations, is a proud signatory of the 2020 Student Privacy Pledge. For more detailed information about GoGuardian, you may visit GoGuardian’s website, Trust & Privacy Center, GoGuardian’s Product Privacy Policy, and GoGuardian’s COPPA Notice and Disclosure Form.

Please reach out to your building administrator if you have any questions.

In Partnership,

Rebecca Perry

Principal, Doherty Middle School

Sarah Perkins

Interim Director of Technology Integration & Digital Literacy

Andover Public Schools

🚌 We will be having a bus evacuation drill on Thursday, September 26th. All students will practice what the expectations are incase of an emergency on a bus and there is a need to evacuate.

🔖Please put names on all water bottles and lunch boxes etc. Have your student check the Lost & Found if they misplaced something- We have already found a few sweatshirts!

💻 Students should come to school each day with their computer charged. We have limited computers in the office if someone forgets their device.

Order Your Photos. Enter Code 37424FI

🥗From the cafeteria - reminder to let your student know what you are ordering them for lunch. Anything pre-ordered must be picked up at lunch.

📚For early online ordering, the lowest price of $36 is available until September 30th, so be sure to take advantage of this offer!

To be completed if your student will participate in after school Extracurricular clubs. Click here for the form. The form is also available on our website.

Completed form can be dropped off at the Main Office.

List of Clubs and Activities can be found on our website under INFORMATION and RESOURCES

• Reminder please follow all signs on Bartlet Street. Some of our buses need room to pull out of the Doherty drive way.
• If you are dropping off or picking up your student(s) on Bartlet Street in the marked drop/pick up off zone, please drop/pick up only. Please do not park for an extended time. Space is limited and traffic can build up. We want to keep drop/pick up safe for everyone.

Hi Everyone! It has been great to continue to learn more about the awesome Doherty Community. As a new staff member, I hadn’t realized that the Cormier Youth Center is just seconds away by foot from Doherty. (It is actually where our kiddos currently participate in PE). We had a visit from them this week where they passed out flyers to share with students about their after-school Block Party Program from 3-6pm every day. Middle schoolers can choose what they're interested in doing, such as playing in the gym, arts & crafts, table games such as ping pong, foosball, pop-a-shot, air hockey, music jam sessions, cooking activities, homework help, etc. In addition, Doherty Clubs are also beginning to get underway! You can find out more about what is being offered here. If you have questions, or your kiddo needs some help connecting with any clubs or programs please don’t hesitate to reach out.

marymargaret.creamer@andoverma.us.

Sincerely,

Molly/Ms. Creamer

School Counselor

October 22, 2024

6:30pm-8:00pm

Collins Center

100 Shawsheen Road, Andover

Before the pandemic, screen use, anxiety, and social problems (like bullying and fighting) were top concerns for parents. The last few years have made some of these issues even more challenging. This talk will examine challenges in school, like bullying, friendship skills, and mental health, and how the ways kids use screens, gaming, and social media can impact these. Research will be summarized, and practical approaches to family life that can help children develop emotional resilience, healthy social skills and friendships, and sensible screen and social media habits will be discussed during this presentation. We will discuss how to move forward, how to partner with your child's school, and how to help parents be most productive in guiding their children towards optimal social and emotional health.

Dr. Elizabeth Englander is an award-winning author and the founder and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State University, a Center which delivers programs, resources, and research for the state of Massachusetts and nationwide. She is also a Founding Member of the Social and Emotional Research Consortium (SERC). As a researcher and a professor of Psychology for almost 30 years, she is a nationally recognized expert in the area of bullying and cyberbullying, childhood causes of aggression and abuse, and children’s use of technology. She was named Most Valuable Educator by the Boston Red Sox and in 2018, was appointed to the Massachusetts Governor's Juvenile Justice Advisory Council. Dr. Englander has served as a Special Editor for the Cyberbullying issues of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry-CONNECT and the Journal of Social Sciences, and has authored more than a hundred articles in academic journals and books. During the global Coronavirus Pandemic, Dr. Englander conducted research with children and educators that has helped to shape the nation’s pandemic response.

For more information: http://www.MARCcenter.org http://www.elizabethenglander.com

"Do you like to sing? Do you like to dance? Want to be part of an award-winning team? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re in luck because auditions for Middle School Show Choir and A Cappella are right around the corner! Auditions will occur at Doherty on Tuesday, September 24 from 3:00-4:30 PM in the library.

For more information, see our flyer here.

To sign up for auditions, fill out the form here.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Lambros, Middle School Choir Director, at sabrina.lambros@andoverma.us. We can’t wait to make music with you!"

Andover Youth Services is excited to partner with local music instructors to offer private one on one music lessons.

$450/semester $450/semester $450/semester $450/semester $450/semester Instruments that are currently accepting private lessons include: Low Brass(Trumpet/Trombone/French Horn), Clarinet,Violin/Viola, Cello/Double Bass, Flute,Saxophone, vocal and percussions. Please note,an Andover Music Lesson Membership is required to enroll in the 10 class semester.

📱If your student is absent please call our attendance line.