Week of January 5, 2025

Dear HPE Families,

We hope that everyone had a rejuvenating break and a positive start to 2025! Even though it was a few days together last week, we were glad to see the kids and get back into a routine. We are about to begin our winter assessment windows which is excellent timing to make adjustments to our teaching practices and to provide data for report cards coming up. As we move forward through January, we enter a period of uninterrupted learning where we look forward to seeing our kids really hit their stride. This is one of those "sweet spots" each year where our kids really embrace the work they are doing and dig into the learning. It's very exciting to watch and we hope you see the results at home as well.

A friendly reminder that we do go outside as much as possible these winter months. Even if the morning starts off feeling like 19 degrees, as the day progresses, we continue checking the weather and aim for our kids to see some fresh air. Please make sure that your child comes to school each day with a winter coat, hats, and mittens so that they are ready to head out. If your child is well enough to go to school, they are well enough to go outside, and we love seeing them run around and engage with their friends. Thanks for sending them warmly dressed each day.

Thank you for being an essential part of what makes High Plain School such a special place. Here’s to a fantastic start to 2025—we can’t wait to see what we accomplish together!

Enjoy,

Ms. Leveque and Mrs. Lyons

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

-Monday, January 20: No School; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

-Monday, January 6 - Friday, February 14: ACCESS Testing for all English Language Learner Students

Andover Public School 2024-2025 Calendar

School Year Hours:

Monday-Friday, 8:45-3:30

With the upcoming first day of Bradford Ski on Tuesday, January 7th, we wanted to go over the equipment drop-off procedure with you. We are trying a new system this year where parents can come early to drop off equipment. Using the cafeteria loop, you will be able to stop temporarily and bring equipment through the cafeteria doors. The cafeteria doors will be supervised by a staff member on Tuesday mornings from 8:30am - 8:45am. Please enter here and put your child’s ski equipment at the locations listed below (look for signs per grade). Then please enter the rolling car line to drop your child off at 8:45.

If you choose to just do regular rolling car drop-off, your child needs to be able to independently take out their ski bag and bring it into the school while you remain in your car. No equipment can be transported on the school bus.

Ski Equipment Locations:

Third grade: Staff room, back corner

Fourth grade: cafeteria stage steps

Fifth grade: cafeteria hallway (wall space opposite lost and found)

Please make sure your child(ren)'s skis, boots, poles, and bag are labeled with their name. This will help with us returning them to you if they are left behind.

Keep in mind that students cannot be left at school until 8:45am so please keep your child(ren) with you until then.

Please remember to change your child’s dismissal on Tuesday each week in PickUp Patrol to "After School Program" and write “Bradford Ski” in the notes. As a reminder, look for communication from DCS as to whether or not it will take place each week (due to weather conditions).

Our lost and found is already overflowing with clothes just from the break! Most clothing appears to be kindergarten - second grade sizes. If you are on campus, please take a look at the items to see if any belong to your child. In addition, please label all clothing so that we can get it back to the rightful owners. Thanks!

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!

During December, the High Plain students checked out 1,633 books from the library. There were 15 books put on hold during December. As the books become available, they are delivered to the student’s classroom. The number of overdue books has increased to 689 books. Please ask your students if they have any library books that need to be returned. 51 fourth and fifth grade students have read at least 1 Massachusetts Children’s Book Award book so far and 25 have read at least 5 books and are eligible to vote for the state award winner in April. The Kindergarten, first and second grade students will be attending an author visit with Jerry Pallotta on Monday January 6th.

During January, the Kindergarten students will continue to explore the library and listen to stories by different authors. The first grade students will be wrapping up the unit on Caldecott award winning books. The second grade students are continuing to learn about fairytales. We have already read several stories by the Grimm Brothers and now will be reading stories by Charles Perreault and Hans Christian Anderson. The third graders will start to learn how the library is organized. We will be learning about the different call numbers and genres in the library. The fourth grade students have been learning about different kinds of nonfiction books. They will also be learning about keyword searching for research. The fifth grade students will be starting their Capstone projects in January. Capstone is a research project where the students select topics that they are interested in learning about. At the end of the project they will create a poster in Canva that will capture their research.

~Mrs. Slomsky

The Massachusetts School Library Association is hosting a bookmark contest. The theme is “Find Your Path in the Library”. The rules about artwork are on the form. In order to participate, the student must complete an entry form and return it to the library by Friday, January 17. There will be one winner at High Plain for each of the following grade categories K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. The HPE winner then competes at the state level. The winner and runners up are announced at the Massachusetts School Library Association conference on March 3, 2025.

Contest Prizes include:

• Bookstore gift card ($50 for first place, $25 for honorable mention)

• Invitation to an in-person Awards Ceremony (details to be announced)

• Certificate, enlargement, and reproductions (50 for 1st place, 25 for honorable mention) of winning bookmark designs

There are printed copies of the entry form in the library. Here is a link to the entry form in case your child needs another copy or wants to create their entry with digital artwork: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w0wf63JrdKI001LWIueWinkGgt2lOc50h8PnA2fymC0/edit?usp=sharing

ACCESS Testing started on January 6th. ACCESS is taken annually by English learners in kindergarten through grade 12 in WIDA Consortium member states, of which Massachusetts is a member. English Language students in grades 1-5, will take 4 tests: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. All tests should be completed by the end of January. By Fall of 2025, families will receive Individual Student Reports that provide information about how your child is progressing

As we continue the K-8 redistricting process, we are pleased to invite the community to highlight areas of interest (i.e., neighborhoods, streets), with an interactive, online mapping tool - ARCGIS. This resource will allow the community to provide visual feedback, written comments, and communicate current challenges to DillingerRAD, the consultant supporting APS with this process.

In Spring 2025, the School Committee will review the proposed redistricting options and vote on the preferred redistricting plan. The approved redistricting plan will be implemented in the 2026-27 school year. This allows the district sufficient time to operationally plan for the new school zones.

Please provide all feedback prior to January 10, 2025. Instructions (video & text) on how to use the interactive tool are below. If you need further assistance, please reach out to Nick Stellitano at nstellitano@dillingerrad.org

See the S'more below for more information and directions on how to use the online mapping tool.

As we enter winter, we want students to have a consistent outdoor experience between grades and classrooms. To support this, we have set guidelines for temperature/weather type when deciding outdoor vs. indoor recess for all classrooms. Below are guidelines for outdoor recess for ‘24-25 school year.

• Students will be outdoors if the temperature (including wind chill) is 20 degrees or warmer and it’s not raining, sleeting, hailing, or blizzarding. We use Weatherbug.com to determine the temperature.

• On questionable, cold days the office will make an announcement before the first recess announcing outdoor or indoor recess. If no announcement is made then it is outdoor recess.

• If students want to play in snow, they must be wearing snow pants, boots, jackets, and gloves/mittens. If students do not wish to play in the snow, they will remain on the blacktop.

• With a large amount of students out on the playground at each recess, we need to be extra vigilant about safety. There is no throwing of snowballs or ice. A reflection form will be used to re-teach and discuss the safety concerns if a student does not follow this rule.

• Label each article of clothing so that if something is misplaced, it can be returned to you as quickly as possible.

Please be aware that all students go outside when the weather meets these conditions.

Please send your child to school wearing appropriate outdoor clothing for the weather. We highly encourage you to practice getting dressed in the snow gear as quickly as possible- make a game of it and time it! The expectation is, if your child is well enough to come to school, they are well enough to go outdoors.

Thanks for taking the time to remind students of the winter expectations. Snow play is beloved by many, and we want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to safely enjoy their recess time during these months.

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