Student Achievement Awards
APS is proud to celebrate the 82 students who were recently honored by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for their achievements on last year’s MCAS exams. Students from across the district were presented with certificates from their principals this month. This is the first time DESE has acknowledged students who have shown great progress on MCAS with a Student Achievement Award. These students did such an amazing job with the support of their educators and families!
Author Ellen Oh visits APS Middle Schools
A great way to start winter recess is with a visit from Young Adult Author Ellen Oh as part of the Andover Coalition for Education (ACE) grant, On the Same Page. Oh is a Korean-American author and founding member and CEO of the non-profit, We Need Diverse Books. Oh spoke on the influence of her family and culture on her work, shared some tips for students interested in writing, answered questions, and signed a few books. We are appreciative of ACE’s commitment to bringing the love of literacy to our schools, creating a rich learning experience for our students.
Congratulations to AHS senior, Ashley Sheldon, who won second place with her submission of the photograph “Path of Clouds” in the Essex National Heritage Area 2022 photo contest. The contest encourages community members of all ages to head outdoors and capture the living landscapes, unique places, and iconic vistas located in their backyard. Ashley will join other area photographers in March for a reception celebrating all winners at the gallery opening at the Salem Armory Center in Salem Massachusetts.
From the Desk of Dr. Parvey - Kindness and Gratitude
Dear APS families and staff,
Many schools across the district embraced Random Acts of Kindness week by sharing meaningful gestures to show we care for one another. Random Acts of Kindness week concludes on Friday, February 17th with Random Act of Kindness day. The day was first created in Denver, Colorado in 1995 and the week began in 2018. In this case, random doesn’t mean chosen or given without conscious decision. This week and the theme of Random Acts of Kindness day is about giving something thoughtful to someone who doesn’t expect to be honored.
While not an official holiday, the concept of performing acts of kindness create such an opportunity for our students to practice intentional empathy, positivity, manners, and gratitude. I recently enjoyed my visit to Mrs. Lundgren’s first grade class at Sanborn Elementary to read to students. It was so unexpected a week or so later to open my mail and see a book filled with beautiful thank you notes handwritten by the students. I encourage us all to find ways to promote kindness through extraordinary and simple acts, as the students in Ms. Lundgren’s class recently did for me.
I wish our students, staff, and families a wonderful and restful February vacation week.
Magda Parvey Ed. D.
Superintendent
Fine & Performing Arts Achievements – Shereen Rancourt, Executive Director of Secondary Instructional Operations
We have so many great courses and events across our departments in APS. I am excited to highlight some amazing offerings in our Fine Arts department and congratulate some of our extremely talented students on their recent achievements!
At Andover High School, students can enroll in one of five performance ensembles. Students enrolled in these courses are eligible to audition for Massachusetts Music Educators Association Senior District Festival. In January, we had 18 students perform at Symphony Hall in Boston in Senior Districts. During the audition process, the highest-rated performers are eligible to move on to All-State Festival. Eight Andover High School music students attended the MMEA All-State Festival Auditions in early January and three students were accepted! I would like to congratulate Arjun Chandra (Senior - Tenor Saxophone), Owen Finlay (Junior - Vocal Bass), and Abinaya Ganesh (Junior - Vocal Soprano). I would also like to thank our educators JJ Kuchan, Derek Voigt, and Lauren Peithmann for all of their work with these talented students.
The Visual Arts Department at Andover High School offers a variety of courses where students can deepen their understanding of a particular medium and explore personal expression. After taking Foundation Studio, students can move on to study photography, digital art, 2D and 3D design. As a part of these courses, students have the option to submit their work for The Scholastic Art & Writing awards. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recognize student achievement in the visual and literary arts in 28 categories, including drawing and illustration, photography, flash fiction, poetry, film and animation, journalism, and more. This year, many AHS art students won awards: Christina Ahn (Honorable Mention - Printmaking), Jasper Bent (Honorable Mention - Photography), Aislinn Cantin (Gold Key - Portfolio, Two Honorable Mentions - Printmaking), Rachel Chen (Three Honorable Mentions for Digital Work), Abigail Clement (Two Silver Keys and Honorable Mention for Digital Art), Jingyi Kang (Silver Key - Painting), Bori Kim (Silver Key - Drawing, Two Honorable Mentions), Brandon Nguyen (Honorable Mention - Drawing), Ava Vassillopoulos (Gold Key - Photography), Jame Wong (Silver Key - Photography), and Sophia Xu (Silver Key - Digital Art). Please join me in congratulating our award winners!
After their winter concerts, middle school band, orchestra, and choral students begin to focus on preparing a repertoire for All-Bands and All-Strings Nights as well as Spring concerts. This spring, for the first time, all groups are working on a combined piece to be showcased in May. Grade 7 and 8 students are also working on pieces for adjudication at the Great East Festival in June. This experience brings together middle school ensembles from across New England and culminates in a field trip to Canobie Lake. I am excited to see our middle school students perform in showcases and competitions that lay the foundation for continued success at the high school level and celebrate their talents.
We see this vertical alignment in events like the Junior District festival. I’m excited to share that we have 18 Andover students who were accepted into the festival across grades 6-9. The Festival will take place in March at Galvin Middle School in Wakefield on March 18th. Representing the district are APS students Samuel Call, Anna Gorovits, Elizabeta Pozhogina, Miles Buckridge, Rosalyn Pan, Christina Saad, Meryl Chen, Kayda Henroid, Aditi Sharma, Sabine Barron, Anna Krueger, Abigail Odden, Ella Stefani, Jeff Zhang, Ricky Tran, Megan Huang, Meredith Cummings, and Nitsan Cohen-Yashar. I would like to thank Emily Silva, Sabrina Lambros, and Elly Cope for their work with these students.
To enjoy the talent of our students across levels and in many fields, I strongly encourage you to attend one of the many events in the month of March:
- 4th - Show Choir at Daniel Hand - Connecticut Classic; METG Preliminary at Chelmsford HS; MMEA All-State; Winter Guard at Natick HS.
- 6th - Jazz Cafe at AHS
- 10th and 11th - New England Show Choir Showdown at Collins Center
- 17-19th- South School Musical at West Middle School "Moana"
- 18th - Junior Districts Performance at Galvin Middle School
- 21st - All Strings Night at the Collins Center
- 22nd - All Bands Night at the Collins Center
- 23rd - 8th Grade Choral Night at the Collins Center
Shawsheen Preschool Open House
Shawsheen Preschool will host its annual open house for prospective parents for the upcoming school year (2023-24) on Friday, March 10, 2023, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Join Shawsheen staff for an overview of the APS Preschool Program, tour the building, and have any questions answered. Also, there will be an opportunity to sign up for Peer Screenings. If you plan on attending, please email colleen.barr@andoverma.us
School Committee Corner
The School Committee met on Thursday, February 16, 2023. Items on the agenda included an update from the Andover High School Building Committee Chairman Mark Johnson, with a presentation by Principal Brown on the AHS Education Plan. Executive Director of Elementary Instructional Operations Jason DiCarlo and interim PreK-5 Math Program Coordinator Beth Miner shared an update on Eureka Math2 implementation and the coaching that has resulted from the new curriculum support. The School Committee also voted on the Mission, Core Values, and Vision of the District’s Strategic Roadmap, and is a major part of the district’s work on a strategic plan.
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 99 and Verizon Channel 43) or by streaming from www.andovertv.org. Recordings of these meetings are posted on Andover TV’s Video Archive under the School and Building Committee Meetings webpage.
To view meeting minutes from previous meetings, check out the School Committee’s meeting minutes archive page.
The next School Committee meeting will be held on March 2, 2023. Agendas are posted up to 48 hours in advance and can be emailed directly to those who are interested and sign-up for “Notify Me” alerts on our website.
School Committee Informal Forum
The School Committee welcomes the community to join them for a virtual informal forum on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 7 p.m. The forum will be held virtually via Zoom. Registration is required for participation and can be done at any time.
- Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvcOuurT0pGNKfB4AhUDp3ARFmuco9GMAG
- After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to join the meeting.
These forums have no set agenda, and the community is welcome to stop in at any time to speak with two members of the School Committee on any topics related to our schools. More information on School Committee informal forums, including upcoming dates, is available here.
There’s a Policy for That! – Participating in Public Comment at School Committee Meetings
School Committee meetings are typically held on the first and third Thursdays of the month during which the Committee conducts the business of the district that is under their authority including budget, management and leadership, and the educational goals and policies of the district. As a public body, the School Committee must comply with the Massachusetts Open Meeting law. The OML requires that public bodies conduct business, with a few exceptions, in a means that is accessible to the public.
The public is always welcome and encouraged to attend Committee meetings or to view them online [as noted above] to familiarize themselves with the operations and the programs of our district. The Committee also appreciates the opportunity to hear the ideas and feedback of the public and this is done through the Public Input portion of the agenda or through email to the School Committee.
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 30A Section 20(g) governs public participation at open meetings along with SC Policy BEDH – Public Comment at School Committee Meetings and the associated reference document BEDH-E – Guidelines for Public Comment. Generally, each member of the public is permitted up to three (3) minutes to present on topics within the Committee’s purview. Comments that may exceed the three minutes can be submitted to the Chairperson in writing. The chairperson has discretion of where on the agenda “Public Input” is heard and may limit the time at the beginning of the meeting and hold public input later to maintain an efficient agenda and allow for other participants on the agenda to proceed before returning to Public Input.
Families with MassHealth Need to Renew Coverage
Families with MassHealth need to renew their coverage this year in order to maintain coverage. Coverage protections put in place during the pandemic will end soon, and MassHealth will return to standard annual eligibility renewal processes. MassHealth families may need to take the following steps:
- Update contact information – make sure MassHealth has your most up-to-date address, phone number, and email so that you do not miss important information and notices about what else is needed.
- Report household changes to make sure MassHealth knows about any changes in your household, like a new job, address, changes to income, disability status, or pregnancy.
More information is available on the MassHealth’s Redetermination website.
Subscribe to the town of Andover’s new community-wide newsletter The Bartlet Street Dispatch!
Keep in touch with community meetings and events by subscribing to the Town of Andover’s newsletter! The most recent issue was released earlier this week and can be viewed here. Make sure to sign up to receive new issues every other week.
About us
Email: APSCommunications@andoverma.us
Website: aps1.net
Location: 30 Whittier Court, Andover, MA, USA
Phone: 978-247-7000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndoverPS/
Twitter: @AndoverPS