All Around APS

Dear APS families and staff,

Continuing my Take 2! series this week with a visit to Shawsheen Preschool to spend some time speaking with Jacqui Sleeper, our fabulous APS food service employee, and Michelle Dominguez, Speech Language Pathologist, who is really loving her first year in the district! I hope you will join me in learning more about them and why they love working at APS.

Dr. Magda Parvey

Superintendent

Three APS eighth graders are really excited for the new year, when they will travel to Boston in January to represent Andover as Project 351 Ambassadors! We are proud to share that Thomas Eraly (Doherty Middle School), Maya Nunez-Duncan (West Middle School), and Sophia Seng (Wood Hill Middle School) have been selected by their principals and teachers to engage in the year-long program of service learning, leadership development, and civic engagement.

Project 351 Ambassadors are eighth grade students from all 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts who are chosen based on an exemplary ethic of service and the values of kindness, compassion, humility, and gratitude. Thomas, Maya, and Sophia exemplify these qualities, according to their principals.

Thomas is grateful to have been chosen and is excited to help people. He expressed his interest in exploring ideas on how to support others who might have unmet needs. He looks forward to meeting all the other Ambassadors and seeing the impact he can have on the community.

Maya, who has served in the Girl Scouts since Kindergarten, can’t wait to continue her community service and is excited to volunteer and participate in the Launch & Service Day in January. The event kicks off the year by bringing all students together for a day of service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

Sophia is also looking to continue her commitment to the community, as she’s contributed her time to Aaron’s Presents, a local non-profit organization. She knows the experience at Project 351 will provide her with an outside perspective of what others might be experiencing and looks forward to working together in service to others.

We know that Thomas, Maya, and Sophia will set great examples on what it means to demonstrate kindness and gratitude. Thank you for representing APS with pride!

Wonderful news for Andover High School senior Richard Chen! Richard’s AP History paper on James Franck, written for Dr. Robert Michaud's class, is now published in the winter issue of the Concord Review. This is an amazing accomplishment as the Concord Review estimates is publishes 6% of the submissions they receive, and the journal recognizes only 11 students from around the world with every issue. The Concord Review is the only quarterly journal in the world to publish the academic research papers of secondary students. Congratulations Richard!

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, supported by AHS educator and advisor Alan Hibino, 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? Keep an eye on this webpage in the coming weeks for information on how to join our studio audience: 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.

In 2018, the AHS Quiz Show Team won the series; this year’s team is hoping to bring the title back home to Andover. Best of luck!

Photo Credit: Liz Friar

Last week, students from Andover High School visited the elementary schools to share a program called Artist in Making. A.I.M. is a joint venture by the Tri-M Music Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, and the Theater Guild to highlight arts opportunities in secondary school.

AHS students visited third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms to overview arts opportunities in APS middle schools and the high school and answer questions. Elementary students also had the chance to participate in improvisation, rhythm games, and art activities.

These visits were made possible by a grant from Andona and was championed by AHS senior Anna Bacchi as a part of her Girl Scout Gold Award. We are grateful to Andona and our elementary teachers for opening their doors.

• Monday, December 23, 2024- Wednesday, January 1, 2025 – Holiday Recess – NO SCHOOL

• Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - Christmas Eve
• Wednesday, December 25, 2024 - Christmas Day
• Thursday, December 26, 2024 - Chanukah/ Hanukkah* (day 1)
• Thursday, December 26, 2024 - Kwanzaa (day 1)
• Monday, January 6, 2025 - Epiphany
• Tuesday, January 7, 2025 - Orthodox Christmas

This year, APS is engaging in a comprehensive literacy K-8 review. The goal of this work is to improve our systems so that we can effectively support teachers and families in the hard work of guiding literacy success for all students.

To help inform our strategy, we want to learn more about your family’s experience with literacy curriculum, materials, and assessments through a brief, anonymous survey accessed here: bit.ly/APSfamily. Please complete one survey per household. We hope to have all feedback completed by January 10th. Thank you!

The Andover High School (AHS) interim project aims to make improvements to the existing AHS facility and address its most significant deficiencies. An appropriation of $500,000 was approved at a Special Town Meeting in November 2023 to fund the design phase of this renovation project.

The project is managed by the Town of Andover’s Permanent Town Building Advisory Committee (PTBAC) with representation from school administration, town administration, the Andover High School Building Committee and the School Committee. For the community to remain informed on the process, the town has created a webpage with information regarding project development, project goals, and opportunities for public input.

The School Committee met on December 12, 2024. Items on the agenda included the Superintendent’s Preliminary FY26 Budget Presentation, an update on November financials, and a vote to approve the collective bargaining agreement with the Andover Education Secretaries Association. Prior to the meeting, members of the district's RULER team presented a workshop to highlight the Social Emotional Learning efforts in our schools.

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 January 9, 2025. Agendas are posted up to 48 hours in advance on the district’s website.

Congratulations to Catherine Ghandchi, an instructional assistant at West Elementary who was recognized at Thursday night’s meeting as this month’s School Committee Staff Shout Out. Ms. Ghandchi was nominated by West El parent Allie Dubzinski. Ms. Dubzinski highlighted Ms. Ghandchi’s “unwavering support to meet students where they are at and to help them into becoming the best version of themselves.” Thank you for all you do to support West El 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).

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.