Week of December 15, 2024

Dear HPE Families,

As we enter our final week of the 2024 school year, we have much to celebrate at HPE! Our focus on belonging, through our Name, Story, Dream theme shows up in many points during our day. As our students engage in discourse, sharing their work and thinking, we see each student's voice being raised up by their classmates. Seeing the beautiful artwork throughout the building provides another avenue for our children to share about themselves. Creativity is alive and well with our children! Additionally, each classroom we enter is filled with rich learning, students hard at work, and teachers engaged in small group teaching opportunities. We are nurturing students who are going to add such richness to our community!

Our PTO Winter Wonderland was a great success. From the festive decorations to the many vendor stalls, there was a little bit for everyone. We wish to thank our PTO for their generosity and hard work this year. They continue to think about ways to encourage community partnerships and engagement.

As we enter this final week before winter break, we want to wish everyone a joyous holiday season. We also want to thank you for trusting us with your children each day. We are proud of the work we do and look forward to a wonderful start to 2025.

School is a full day on Friday, December 20th. We'll say goodbye at 3:30pm and see everyone back on Thursday, January 2nd.

Enjoy,

Ms. Leveque and Mrs. Lyons

Sarah.Leveque@andoverma.us and Marika.Lyons@andoverma.us

-Tuesday, December 17: Whole School Assembly. HPE Spirit day- wear HPE gear or purple and gold!

-Saturday, December 23 - Wednesday, January 1: Winter Recess - no school

• Wednesday, December 25: First night of Hanukkah and Christmas
• Thursday, December 26: First day of Kwanzaa

• Wednesday, January 1: New Year's Day. Happy 2025!

-Thursday, January 2: Return to school. Welcome back!

Andover Public School 2024-2025 Calendar

School Year Hours:

Monday-Friday, 8:45-3:30

3rd Grade Strings Parents attended their child’s string lesson this past week. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear the class’s progress to date, receive more information about how to support your student’s music making at home, and ask questions of the teachers. Below is a photo from the lesson.

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!

This week we hosted two parent breakfasts around ELA and Math Title I work. We are fortunate to receive state funding that allows us to hire teachers to support our students in mathematical and reading foundational skills through small group explicit instruction. Thank you to Mrs. Lyons, Mrs. Velonis, Mrs. Martineau, and Mrs. Farquhar for working with our families, sharing our practices and resources so that we can build upon our strong home-school partnership.

Below are the presentations for families who were not able to attend the breakfasts.

Our 5th graders worked with members of the Boston Children's Chorus this past week on tips and tricks to build their collective voice in chorus. We are fortunate that all fifth graders in Andover participate in chorus. We look forward to seeing our children's voices come together! Below is a quick clip of their work.

It's that time of year when we see an increase in student's visiting the health office. Below are some general reminders and guidelines about when students can return to school if they are home sick.

When to keep your child home:

• Fever
• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Contagious diseases- please call the clinic to discuss with the nurses if you have any questions

Criteria for a student returning to school following an illness:

• Fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications.
• Vomiting or diarrhea free for 24 hours.
• If your child has a contagious illness – contact the school nurse before your child returns to school so that we can advise you regarding return to school protocols
• Andover Public Schools does not support a “no nit: policy. If you find your child has lice, please contact the school nurse so we can support and advise you. All students should be checked by the school nurse before returning to school.

Although we are not currently seeing a lot of head lice in the school, returning from vacation tends to be when we see an uptick in cases. As a preventive measure, please continue to perform head checks on your children monthly and call the clinic with any questions.

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. The 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.

Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth (MPY) is pleased to announce its new MPY Parenting Solutions Library. The MPY Parenting Solutions Library is offered at no charge, in partnership with Peace At Home Parenting Solutions, a non- profit. Peace At Home Parenting Solutions is a dynamic hub of trusted knowledge and compassionate support that inspires parents to create positive change for their children, their families and themselves. Through this new partnership, MPY is pleased to offer proven resources to help students’ families thrive. The video trainings are presented by experts with advanced degrees and present easy-to-use strategies for long-lasting change.

Throughout the school year, there are many opportunities to apply for financial assistance to help with fees associated with programs, events, supplies and activities for students in Andover. Should you be in a position where we can support, please fill out our response form in which you can indicate the programs that you and your family are interested in getting more information about as the applications become available. High Plain will keep this information confidential. Please keep us updated if your information or circumstances change through the year. There may be some instances we are unable to offer support due to limited resources.

We know that there are times when families have a need to make a change to their child’s usual dismissal routine. PickUp Patrol is an app-based system where users can quickly alert the school of a change in dismissal routine for that day. Changes will be allowed until 2:30 PM each day, at which point no dismissal changes will be accepted. We do not use PickUp Patrol for absences or late arrivals. You need to call the school and reach the attendance line for absences and late arrivals.

How It Works:

1. Your child’s regular dismissal plan from Aspen has been entered into the system. This is called their Default Plan.
2. Whenever your child is following a plan other than their Default Plan you’ll submit the change using the PickUp Patrol app.

Examples of a plan change:

· Your child has a doctor's appointment and will be leaving early.

· Your child normally rides the bus but is getting picked up today.

· Your child normally goes to an afterschool program but will be taking the bus today.

• 3. When the change is submitted, the school will be notified. Before the end of the school day, the teachers are notified and we’ll relay the change to your child.

If you have any questions, please first check the PUP Parent Guide, then contact us in the main office. Please remember that PickUp Patrol changes only reflect that single day, not the on-going default plans. If you need to make a change to a default plan, please do so in the Aspen portal, or feel free to email me (mara.shanahan@andoverma.us), and I will make sure that default plan is reflected in PickUp Patrol.

NAME/BUS TAGS (For Kindergarten and Grade 1 Students)
Your child’s teacher will give you a name tag necklace on the first day. Please have your kindergartner or first grader wear the nametag until further notice.

SCHOOL BUS

Bus transportation to and from school is provided free of charge to elementary students. Kindergarten students must be met by a known adult at the bus stop. Bus routes are available for families in the Aspen portal. This will state your drop-off and pick-up times. As the year begins, please know that your bus could arrive 10 minutes early or later than what is stated in Aspen. We appreciate your patience.

CAR PICKUP/DROPOFF

Please note that there are differences in morning arrival and afternoon car pick up. In the morning, you may arrive by using the High Plain Rd. entrance or the Cross St. entrance. In the afternoon, you can only arrive through the Cross St. entrance. The High Plain Rd. entrance is closed to allow buses. Both morning and afternoon arrival, all vehicles must turn right when leaving the drop off/pick up line.

Morning Arrival: 8:45-9:00

· Morning car drop-off begins at 8:45 at the High Plain main entrance sidewalk. You may use the High Plain Rd. and Cross St. entrances.

· The staff will supervise the children as they exit the car in the HPE Circle area.

· Please follow the staff’s direction as they will have a series of cars pull up for children to exit.

· All vehicles must turn right when leaving the drop off lane in the AM.

· There is no supervision before 8:45 AM and students should not be dropped off before that time.

· The children will have supervised play on the playground until 8:55 AM.

· If you arrive after 9:00, please park and walk your child/children into the building. You will need to sign your child into school. You will find the sign-in book in our school foyer.

Afternoon Car Pick Up: 3:30

· Any student being picked up by car should be picked up via the pick-up line.

· This line moves quickly and has the support of assigned assistant staff to escort students safely to their cars.

· Please enter only through the Cross St. entrance and join the line and stay to the right. The High Plain Rd. entrance is not available for the afternoon.

· Please leave an opening at all intersections for buses to pass the waiting car line and negotiate turns into the bus drop off area.

· If you arrive before the car line is in motion, please be aware of the Massachusetts Anti Idling Law (MGL Chapter 90 16B, 540 SMR 27.00), as posted.

· Drivers should have a visor card with their child’s last name on it, displayed on the rearview mirror.

· Visor cards may be picked up at the school office any day and we will have extra for you during the first few weeks of school.

· Please turn right after picking up your student and exit through Cross St. so traffic flow will be one way.

· Please make your child’s teacher aware, via the PickUp Patrol app, when there are any changes to the default dismissal plan.

WALKERS & BIKE RIDERS:

· For morning arrival, a school crossing guard will be at the Cross Street/Brady Loop entrance.

· All AM walkers and bike riders should use the Cross St. entrance and the sidewalks that follow the front side of the school.

· Bike Riders: Only students in grades 3, 4, and 5 may ride a bike to and from school. A permission form must be completed with the main office.

· At dismissal, there are 2 groups of walker students and 1 group of bike riders. All Kindergarten students must be released to an adult.

· Walker line 1 and bike riders will be escorted from the Wood Hill cafeteria to the Cross Street/Brady Loop entrance and crossed by the crossing guard.

· Walker line 2 will be escorted to the end of the High Plain driveway.

· No adult should attempt to pick up a walker or bike rider at the Wood Hill circle or parking lot.

This is a reminder that the High Plain Road entrance is closed to cars at dismissal. It is the access entrance for buses only. The Cross Street entrance is how cars enter for car pickup. This is a safety concern. We have seen cars try to sneak in daily and it's simply not fair to those who are following the dismissal procedures. We ask you to be respectful of your fellow HPE community members and abide by this rule.

We are all working to manage the age of technology and are looking for support between school and home. Many children have new smart devices and the elementary schools have some guidance.

A kind reminder to our families that cell phones must be turned off and in students’ backpacks at the start of the school day. Smartwatches may be worn as regular watches, however, students are not allowed to text, communicate with others, use applications, take pictures or videos, or access social media services and websites.

Should parents/guardians urgently need to reach their child during the school day, we ask that you call the main office. Students are also allowed to come to the main office if they need to contact someone at home. If a cell phone or watch becomes a significant distraction, school administrators will reach out to parents/guardians. The Andover Public Schools is not responsible for lost, stolen, damaged, or broken devices.

To promote healthy digital habits during the school day, the resources below may be helpful to use. We appreciate your partnership as we work to keep interruptions to the school day at a minimum.

Resource for Apple Watches:

How to set a School Time schedule

• Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Tap All Watches, then tap your child's watch.

• Tap Done, then tap Schooltime.

• Turn on Schooltime, then tap Edit Schedule.

• Choose the days and times when you want Schooltime to be active.

• Tap Add Time if you want to set up more than one schedule in a day.

Resource for Gizmo Watches:

How to set up School mode

• Open the. Gizmo Hub app.

• Tap the. School mode switch. turn on or off. If necessary, set up a School Mode schedule.

In School Devices

K-3 Devices will stay in school.

4-5 Devices can be brought home if directed by the classroom teacher to complete an assignment. Otherwise, they will remain in school.

Please make sure that you arrive with your license. We cannot check you in and let you enter without your license or state issued ID. You also need to have a valid CORI form on file. Please help us with these required safety steps.

Breakfast and lunch are once again free to all students. Breakfast is served from 8:45-8:55 each morning and no advanced ordering is needed.

Lunches will need be preordered. Lunch requires families to order in advance to ensure we have the correct allergy-friendly lunch for all our students. It is very important that our cafeteria has an accurate lunch count each day. Please review with your children each morning what you have ordered for them.

Information about the Andover Public Schools lunch program, as well as menus and instructions for online ordering, may be found on the website here: http://www.andoverschoolnutrition.com/

It is important that we make sure all students are safe and accounted for each day. If your child is out for any reason, please call in all absences to 978-247-8601 (Attendance Line) before 8:45 A.M. and leave a message. Please use this absence line, not the main number.

8:30 am: School office opens

8:45 am: School drop off

9:00 am: School day begins

After 9:00 am: Children are tardy and must be accompanied by a parent into the office

After 2:00 pm: Unless it's an emergency, no dismissal changes

Students must be dismissed before 3:00

3:30 pm: School ends

Email: sarah.leveque@andoverma.us
Website: https://aps1.net/212/High-Plain-Elementary-School
Location: 333 High Plain Road, Andover, MA, USA
Phone: 978-247-8600