All Around APS

Dear APS families and staff,

I am pleased to introduce APS’ “Let’s Talk” series for the 2024-25 school year. These meetings are offered to all members of the Andover community as a way of creating time and space for conversations about timely topics in an informal setting. I will be joined by members of the administrative team and consultants when needed to share information and facilitate a conversation on key subjects that are of interest to our staff, families, and community.

The first session of our “Let’s Talk” series will focus on redistricting following the opening of the West Elementary School this fall. This session will be held on Thursday, October 24th from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at the West Elementary School Cafetorium (58 Beacon Street).

Based on the larger capacity of the new building, an outside consultant would support the district to evaluate current and projected enrollment in each K-8 school, redraw school boundaries, and recommend the reallocation of district resources with the goal of completing a comprehensive assessment with a long-range perspective. This work will take place during this school year with the anticipated recommendations to go into effect for the 2025-26 school year. Redistricting was also performed in 2015 following Bancroft Elementary’s opening in 2014.

I recognize that our families will have a number of questions as the process begins and we will provide many opportunities for our community to share their perspectives. I hope you can join us for our first “Let’s Talk” session.

Dr. Magda Parvey

Superintendent

Andover Public Schools

Congratulations to the newly elected West Elementary School Student Council. Interested candidates were elected after presenting a short speech to classmates. In addition to delivering a weekly update to their assigned homerooms (Grades K-5), council members will engage in community service, be responsible for school-wide jobs and co-plan school-wide assemblies. The students are led by Assistant Principal Mary- Frances Tintle and teachers Ms. Kaylee Knox and Ms. Alia Mohammed.

Bancroft 4th graders traveled to the site of an Indigenous settlement along the banks of the Merrimack River, where they took on the role of archaeologists. They explored many original Native American artifacts to determine what the settlement might have looked like. The exploration was coordinated in partnership with Martha Tubinis of the Andover Center for History and Culture.

It was a great day for experiential learning and students learned by observing, forming questions and drawing conclusions. When they returned to school, many students completed a follow up writing assignment to further their thinking and learning. Thank you to Michael McCarthy, Interim PK-12 Social Studies Coordinator, for organizing this fabulous experience.

The Punchard-Andover High School Athletic Hall of Fame electors' board recently voted to honor former AHS student-athletes, current and retired coaches and championship teams as “Hall of Fame” members. Andover High School, known as Punchard High School until 1957, has been among the most successful Massachusetts high schools in interscholastic athletics for decades. Among the recipients for 2025 are some familiar faces at APS.

Current girls’ varsity soccer coach Meghan (Lynch) Matson, class of 1996, will be inducted simultaneously as a student-athlete and a coach, Meghan, who teaches physical education at South Elementary School, was an All-Scholastic goalie on the soccer team and continued her career as a scholarship student athlete at Boston University. She has been recognized several times for her coaching including being named the 2006 Eastern Massachusetts Girls Soccer Association Coach of the Year.

AHS Warrior indoor and outdoor track and field coach Peter Comeau, class of 1984, will also be honored and inducted as a coach. He was previously inducted as a student-athlete and as a member of the 1984 boys’ outdoor track and field team that were undefeated New England champions. This year, Peter will be inducted as a coach, recognizing his 33 years of coaching and leading more than a dozen state championship teams.

Coach David Fazio is Andover High School’s boys’ basketball and golf coach. He has really left his mark as the basketball coach, having been named varsity head coach in 1991. His teams have won over 500 games and have qualified for the state tournament every year. They have won 15 Merrimack Valley Conference (MVC) championships and played for the state championship two years ago. He retired as an Andover High School physical education teacher in 2023 and is well known as the owner and director of Hooptown Basketball camp where many local youth have learned and honed their skills.

The hall of fame currently has 141 former student-athletes, dating back to the graduating class of 1911, fifteen former coaches and administrators and thirty-three championship teams. The hall will now welcome fifteen individuals and nine teams when the induction banquet is held in March 2025.

The APS 2024-25 School Year Calendar is available on our website.

• Monday, October 14, 2024 – Fall Recess (NO SCHOOL)

• Saturday, October 12, 2024 – Yom Kippur*
• Saturday, October 12, 2024 - Dasera/ Dussehra
• Thursday, October 17, 2024 - First Day of Sukkot*
• Thursday, October 31, 2024 - Diwali

*Holidays begin at sundown the previous day

We are pleased to offer the flu vaccination to both students (grades 4 through 12) and staff in each school building. This opportunity is being provided by Remedium Pharmacy and their staff. All insurance paperwork and vaccine administration are provided by Remedium.

If you would like to participate in this opportunity – please follow this link to fill out the information for each child or staff member receiving the vaccine.

If you couldn’t join us for the West Elementary and Shawsheen Preschool Ribbon Cutting celebration, Andover TV has shared the video of the ceremony. Also, a big thank you to Andover TV for capturing the legacy of West Elementary School over the years! This video showcases the history of the old building and the celebration surrounding the new one. Through conversations with staff, students, and families, the film highlights what makes West El so special.

West Elementary and Shawsheen Building Committee members will welcome the community for brief tours on Saturday, October 19th. All in the community are invited to attend. These tours will begin ay 9 a.m. and leave every 15 minutes until approximately 10:15 a.m. We encourage you to join to see this beautiful educational facility.

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 with Dr. Elizabeth Englander of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center 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. We will discuss how to move forward, how to partner with your child's school, and how to help you be most productive in guiding children towards optimal social and emotional health.

This event is for parents and caregivers of students in grades 4-12 and will be held at the Collins Center at Andover High School on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, from 6:30 – 8 p.m. We hope you can join us for this important discussion.

Communication with our families is essential to the success and wellness of our students. To assist our families and help them connect with the appropriate staff who is best suited to answer questions, we have updated our “Who We Are” page on our website. This information will guide families to resources on how to reach staff with concerns and how to stay connected to news and events across the district.

The School Committee met on October 3, 2024. Items on the agenda included an update on the October 1st enrollment, a vote on the APS Bullying Prevention & Intervention Plan and the first reading of the 2025-26 school year calendar.

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 October 17, 2024. Agendas are posted up to 48 hours in advance on the district’s website.

Bancroft Elementary’s Meagan Keefe is this first recipient of the APS Staff Shout Out! Ms. Keefe was recognized during the Thursday, October 3rd School Committee meeting. The second grade teacher was nominated by Christine Barsanti, who highlighted Ms. Keefe’s collaboration and partnership in support of their family in the first few months of school. Thank you for all you do for Andover students!

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).

School Committee Policy IC/ICA (School Year/School Calendar) defines how the district’s annual calendar is prepared in accordance with standards set by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).

Calendar options for the 2025-2026 school year were presented at Thursday’s meeting, and must be approved by the Committee before November 1, 2024. For the 2025-26 school year calendar, we are also sharing a draft of the APS Religious and Ethnic Observances calendar as defined by School Committee Policy IMDC. The district takes great care in creating this calendar and connects with religious leaders in our community to ensure accuracy. The calendar shared at this link is in draft form, however, we wanted to provide it to the community for review. We will inform you once the final version has been approved by the School Committee.

The Committee welcomes community input about the calendar before it votes.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released the Spring 2024 MCAS results on September 24, 2024. Individual student reports will be sent home next week. APS’s department of Teaching and Learning has been reviewing this data and will provide a detailed analysis of the district’s results at a workshop on Thursday, October 17, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. in the School Committee Room. As with all School Committee workshops, this is an opportunity for the district to share information with the committee in a setting outside of a regular business meeting. The regular business meeting of the School Committee will begin that same evening at 7 p.m.

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.

With October here, it means that it’s time for the ACE Scarecrow Festival. For two wonderful weeks, downtown Andover will be lined with Scarecrows ushering in autumn and getting us in the fall spirit. This year’s event will take place from Saturday, October 19th to Saturday, November 2nd. Families are invited to join ACE at the kick off on Saturday, October 19th from 10 a.m. to noon in front of Old Town Hall to enjoy some yummy fall treats, get information about the Scarecrow Scavenger Hunt and to learn how you can grow your school’s pumpkin patch.

This year, about 40% of the scarecrows will be created by school groups. At Sanborn Elementary, 4th graders made scarecrow prototypes for the ACE scarecrow theme: “Things That Make You Smile!” Each 4th grader reflected on a core memory at Sanborn that makes them smile. They then illustrated their memory as an orb to create the base for their scarecrow which features the character “Joy” from the movie Inside Out.

To learn more about ACE and how you can get involved in the Scarecrow Festival, please visit www.aceandover.org.