Knightly News
March 2025
Dear North Andover Families,
I want to take a moment to update you on the FY26 budget process and what it means for our schools. On February 25, the North Andover School Committee voted 4-1 to recommend a budget of $68,200,000 for the 2025-2026 school year.
This represents a 9.89% increase from the FY25 appropriation of $62,064,629. However, this budget is $3.5 million less than a level services budget, which means additional difficult decisions will need to be made in the months ahead. Unfortunately, school districts statewide are grappling with the end of federal stimulus funding, and we are returning to a funding situation that many districts were warning the state about even before the COVID-19 years.
Nevertheless, it is our duty to work within the budget we are given to provide the best educational environment possible for our students. As we work to balance the needs of our students with the financial realities, we must make strategic adjustments. This does mean that staffing reductions will occur at all levels, including at our elementary schools, North Andover Middle School, North Andover High School and Central Office. Class sizes will increase across all grade levels. Funding for athletics and Scarlet Knight Academy will be reduced by 10%. Additional cuts include reductions in summer IT support, individual school budgets and curriculum budgets. These decisions are never easy, but they are necessary to stabilize the district’s finances, while continuing to prioritize student learning.
One of the most challenging steps in this process is the temporary closure of Kittredge Elementary School. While we recognize the deep sense of community that exists at Kittredge, this move is essential to ensure financial sustainability and maintain equity across the district. It is not possible to keep Kittredge open without making deep, impactful cuts to the rest of the district. By temporarily closing the school, we can maintain reasonable class sizes of 18-25 students per class and can better allocate resources districtwide. Students from Kittredge will transition to Franklin, Sargent, and Atkinson Elementary Schools, where we are committed to ensuring their academic continuity and emotional well-being.
While these are financially difficult times, we remain focused on the future. The temporary closure of Kittredge will also allow for greater flexibility in the placement and design of an eventual new school building, ensuring that it meets the long-term needs of North Andover students. Our commitment to academic excellence remains strong, and despite financial constraints, we will continue to move forward with important curriculum and instructional initiatives. The welfare of our students is always our top priority, and we will do everything we can to support them through these transitions.
We are incredibly grateful for the support and collaboration of Town Manager Melissa Rodrigues, the North Andover Select Board and the Finance Committee throughout this challenging budget process. Their partnership and commitment to working with us to find solutions have been invaluable. We know that these decisions impact many families, and we remain committed to transparency and open communication as we navigate the months ahead.
Thank you all for your continued support of North Andover Public Schools. We appreciate your partnership as we work to provide the best possible education for our students while making responsible financial decisions for the future of our district.
Sincerely,
Warmly,
Pamela Lathrop
Superintendent
2025-2026 Kindergarten Registration is Now Open! See this link to register!
Kindergarten Age Requirements: Child must be 5 years old on or before August 31, 2025.
2025-2026 Kindergarten Information Night
Date: April 29, 2025
Time: 6:30-7:30pm
Where: North Andover Middle School Auditorium
Read Across America Week
Atkinson School is delighted to be featured in the March edition of the Knightly News. The All Stars have been very busy during the past couple weeks celebrating Read Across America and engaging in the Boosterthon.
Our focus for Read Across America was to celebrate a nation of diverse readers much like we celebrate our diversity at Atkinson School where 30 different languages are spoken and 40 countries are represented. Ms. Sinclair-Fisher led our Read Across America assembly talking about how library instruction has tied into the Read Across America theme. She reminded the students that she read I Am a Masterpiece and learned that ‘diverse’ simply means Different from One Another. We are all different from each other. We have fun and celebrate in different ways, we learn in different ways, we move our bodies in different ways. One way we celebrate our diversity is through the books we read and the books you check out from the library. We read about kids like Sullivan and Clementine who are thoughtful and creative and have a hard time sitting still or using an inside voice.
We read about kids growing up in different time periods and with different families than ours. We read about kids in natural disasters and all alone in the great outdoors. We read books in multiple languages. We read about teachers who just happen to be a sandwich. And in the Graphic Novels we read about kids just like you trying to make friends, deal with siblings, and make the world better. Mrs. Sinclair-Fisher then read aloud the book, “All Are Neighbors”, by Alexandra Penfold, to culminate the discussion of diversity during our Read Across America assembly.
Our RAISE Reps then helped to highlight the spirit days that Atkinson participated in during Read Across America including Drop Everything and Read; a community read where the entire school read, “Jam, Too”, by JaNay Brown-Wood; wear silly socks, book buddies with different classes; and wear any clothing that highlights a part of the United States to show where you have been!
NAMS Geography Night
You are invited to our annual NAMS Geography Night on Tuesday, March 25th from 5:30-7:30pm when we will be celebrating and learning about geography and multiculturalism in a family-friendly way. There will be games, cultural performances, the EarthView Inflatable Globe, family multicultural displays, giant maps, and MORE!
Grade 6 Families, in particular, are invited to contribute to the event by representing your own family’s cultural identity with a tabletop display. This will be a wonderful way to celebrate our schools’ diverse student body.
Guidelines:
Create a poster - consider including famous people, popular traditions, folklore, sports, legends, arts, geography, etc….
Bring in objects to illustrate aspects of your culture.
Consider including something interactive - a cultural game, trivia, craft, etc….
Please do not include politics.
Please do not include precious valuables.
The school will provide a poster board for each display.
If you would like to contribute to the event with a multicultural display, please complete this survey. Thank you all for your participation and support!
Alissa Koenig, Chair
Hello NAPS Community,
We’ve almost made it to the first day of spring! I know we are all excited for warmer days. On February 25th the School Committee voted 4-1 to approve a FY26 budget of $68.2 million to move forward to Town meeting for a community vote. There has been a lot of robust discussion around the FY26 budget and we have appreciated all the communication with the public on the issue. On March 1st, Ms. Cormier and Mr. Brown held a School Committee Community Chat with the community. This is always a wonderful opportunity to have a more intimate chat with School Committee members regarding thoughts and concerns and to receive some immediate feedback. We are in the process of scheduling several more Community Chats before Town Meeting, so keep a look out for those dates.
As a reminder, North Andover Educator Hall of Fame nomination packets are due by April 30th. The Educator Hall of Fame recognizes retired North Andover educators for their dedicated service teaching, inspiring and challenging North Andover students. The criteria may be found here and nomination forms and additional information may be found here. It is always wonderful to see the impact retired North Andover Educators have had on the community.
As always, I would encourage everyone to stay informed on the happenings in the district by attending or watching School Committee meetings. Past meetings may be found on North Andover CAM’s website or YouTube channel. Our upcoming School Committee meetings leading to Town Meeting are scheduled for March 20th, April 3rd, April 17th and May 8th. All School Committee meetings are scheduled to take place at the Senior Center until further notice. Town Meeting is scheduled for May 13th at North Andover High School.
Kind regards,
Alissa Koenig
The North Andover Poet Laureate Committee is proud to announce the 5th Annual Anne Bradstreet Poetry Contest. The 2025 Theme is "Growing Our Community: Planting Seeds of Poetry."
You may find more information regarding how you can participate and submit your work here. We’ve expanded the contest this year –In addition to North Andover, we’re also inviting Andover to take part! This year’s contest is open to all who live, work or go to school in North Andover or Andover. Please consider participating!
North Andover Reads!
Join us for North Andover Reads 2025: Reading Beyond Labels! North Andover Reads is a joint effort of the Stevens Memorial Library and the North Andover Public Schools. Books, programs, and exhibits and more are chosen to highlight our R.A.I.S.E. initiative. Visit the North Andover Reads 2025 website for all the details: https://stevensmemlib.libguides.com/NAR2025
This year we're learning more about neurodiversity. We hope everyone: students, parent, teachers, join in to read, discuss, and celebrate the richness of neurodiverse experiences! It’s a chance to come together, to celebrate diverse ways of thinking and being, and foster a more inclusive community.
In each age group, there is "one book" chosen by Stevens librarians and North Andover Public School Librarians for us to all read. There are book lists suggesting other titles as well.
Explore everything else Stevens has waiting for you: books, manga and graphic novels, magazines, DVDs, and music. Books and magazines come in lots of formats today: print, audio-CD, and digital online through OverDrive, TumbleBooks, TumbleMath, and TeenBookCloud; your choice.
Use https://stevensmemlib.libguides.com/libraryofthings/welcome to find the ukulele or the telescope, or STEM kits like OZOBOT EVO, a ZOOMY Digital Microscope, or the Simple Machines Activity Set.
Visit our Digital Display of books. or try the Reader Request form for personalized book recommendations. Indicate your preferred format: print and audiobooks, e-books and e-audiobooks. You should receive a follow up within 2 days and provide you with at least 3 titles.
Let us help! If you don’t find an answer to your question, email or call the Library so we can help. Staff will response when available.
If you don’t find an answer to your question, email or call the Library so we can help. Staff will respond when available. Stevens Memorial Library: 345 Main Street, North Andover. Phone: 978-688-9505, for Children’s x42010, Teens x42032, Reference Desk x42016. The Library’s hours are: Monday-Thursday 10am – 9pm, Friday 10am – 6pm, Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday 1 - 5pm.
Key Library Links
Overdrive
TumbleBooks
https://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/home.aspx
TumbleMath
https://www.tumblemath.com/home.aspx
TeenBookCloud
https://www.teenbookcloud.com/Home.aspx
Calendar
http://www.eventkeeper.com/mars/xpages/S/STEVENSML/ekp.cfm?curOrg=stevensml
E-Library
https://stevensmemlib.libguides.com/az.php
World Languages
Digital Book Displays
https://www.stevensmemlib.org/digital-book-displays/
Reader Request Form
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebb18UWQkl3cx2C6gCzJuIqwjhF8CFbfONRXpUPzgkOGfRLw/viewform
Substitute Teaching
The school district is always looking for energetic and caring people to join our pool of substitutes in our eight schools. We are instituting a new program to make the process as efficient and user-friendly as possible. The Frontline Absence Management platform will allow you to get notifications of daily coverage needs via a mobile app, online portal and/or telephone. Another change is that subs will be able to work in all schools or select one or more preferred locations. Background checks and a new part-time employee packet will need to be completed prior to starting in this important position. More information is on the district HR webpages (linked below). Thanks for your consideration and have a great school year!
Food Services Openings
Come join our team of food services professionals. Positions currently available at NAHS and NAMS. Five (5) hours a day, $18.00/hour starting rate of pay. Perfect job for anyone looking for mother's/father's hours. Applications are available on the NAPS website under Human Resources.
In accordance with Massachusetts Special Education legislation, North Andover Public Schools is making every effort to locate, identify, and evaluate children who may have a disability and may be entitled to specialized educational services. Regardless of the severity of the disability, it is the North Andover Public Schools' responsibility to determine if the child is eligible for special education or related services under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) or 306 CMR 28 (Massachusetts Special Education Regulations). Referrals may come from a parent, physician, preschool program, or early intervention services. The age limits include three-year-olds (preschool) through twenty-one year-olds up to the twenty-second birthday. All inquiries or new referrals should be sent to Lyn O'Neil, Interim Director of Special Education, 566 Main Street, North Andover, MA 01845.
oneill@northandoverpublicschools.com
Thank you!
Supporting our youth's mental health is more important than ever. The holiday season can bring feelings of both anxiety and excitement. By working together, we can create an environment where our children thrive. Remember, Care Solace offers valuable mental health care coordination services to connect you with community-based providers for counseling, therapy, and more.
To access Care Solace: Call 888-515-0595: Their multi-lingual helpline is staffed 24/7/365. By joining hands as a community, we can provide a nurturing environment that supports the mental health and well-being of our youth. Let's prioritize their emotional growth and create a brighter future together.
North Andover Public Schools has partnered with Care Solace in order to help support the mental health needs of our community by connecting families with therapeutic supports. More than 500 dedicated multilingual Care Companions are available 24/7/365 to ensure the perfect fit for each person’s unique care needs and insurance requirements. The organization has a network of more than 420,000 licensed providers, serving more than 800 organizations across the United States.
