All Around APS
News from the Andover Public Schools – September 16, 2022
APS Pride
AHS senior serves as first female SGA representative to School Committee
Sophia Miele will serve as the new Student Government Association’s (SGA) representative to the School Committee for the 2022-23 school year. Sophia is a senior at Andover High School and strongly believes in the possibility of students' voice having an impact on the policies and governance of the district.
Sophia first found an interest in student government as a member of Student Council in middle school and hopes that in her time as a School Committee student representative, she can effect change on behalf of all APS students. Sophia keeps busy; when she’s not at SGA, she plays Varsity Girls’ Volleyball for AHS and interns at a local real estate company.
Andover High School National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists
Andover High School seniors, Arjun Chandra and Vincent Xu, were recently named as semifinalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program. As semifinalists, these AHS students will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,250 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. A finalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. Congratulations to Arjun and Vincent!
(pictured left to right: Arjun Chandra and Vincent Xu)
AHS Student Volunteers
Members of the AHS Football team "tailgated" with Marland Place residents last Thursday for the season opener of the NFL season. Residents were thrilled to spend some time with the team, who played their first game the following night!
Kudos to our AHS Junior Board students who ran a school supply drive for the Lawrence Boys & Girls Club last week.
Middle School students showcase communities through SEL and Art
At APS, our educators are working with students to build new communities within their classrooms. The projects our middle school teachers are implementing for the start of the school year encourages our students to begin building relationships and to understand the strengths that each student brings to their classroom and school. It also gives students the opportunity to illustrate the identities they represent within the learning community. These artwork lessons are one way for our students to showcase their own interests and background to their peers and teachers.
APS Happenings & Upcoming Events
STAY CONNECTED with APS
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 on how to reach staff with concerns and how to stay connected to news and events across the district.
APS elementary students have a new resource for math instruction this year, Eureka Math2. The implementation of this new resource follows a full year of elementary math curriculum review with APS math coaches and educators and a vote by the School Committee in June 2022.
We are offering three workshops for families who would like to learn more about Eureka Math2 on the following dates:
Tuesday, October 4, 2022 at 9:30 a.m.
- This session will be held in the School Committee room at Central Office; 30 Whittier Court, 2nd floor.
Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at 12 p.m.
- This will be a virtual session; we will share a link with registered participants as we get closer to the event.
- This session will be recorded and shared for those that are unable to attend.
Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 7 p.m.
- This session will be held in the School Committee room at Central Office; 30 Whittier Court, 2nd floor.
To ensure we have enough space for attendees; we are requesting that families sign up for a workshop in advance. Please sign up for the workshop you’d like to attend at this link.
We look forward to sharing this information with our families! If you're interested in learning more, a detailed overview of Eureka Math2 is available here!
Andover Parents Program for English Language Learners (APPELL)
The Andover Parents Program for English Language Learners (APPELL) has announced its upcoming fall dates! The first meeting will be held at High Plain Elementary School on September 20th.
APPELL’s mission is to assist parents with English language skills and to improve conversational and written English through words, phrases and situations common in the school community. It’s a great way to connect with other APS families.
You do not need to register for meetings and are welcome at any time. For more information, please contact Marika Lyons at 978-247-860 or marika.lyons@andoverma.us
From the desk of Dr. Parvey
I am so excited to see our students and staff back in our school buildings for the 2022-23 school year! It has been wonderful to see our families at our open houses connecting with our educators and administrators.
In my second year as superintendent, I am continuing my efforts to connect with families and have set up office hours for this school year. I encourage our students, staff, families, and all in the community to join me at one of these informal opportunities.
My first office hours will be held on Monday, October 3, 2022 from 6 -7:30 p.m. in the School Committee room, on the 2nd floor of Whitter Court. At this first meeting, the community will have the opportunity to meet our new Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Coordinator, Jason Levene, who joined the district in August. Mr. Levene will provide a brief overview about SEL and why it is a benefit to the PK-12 curriculum. Additional office hour dates are available here.
I look forward to engaging with you all throughout the school year.
Magda Parvey
Superintendent
Transportation Update from Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Administration Keith Taverna
I would like to provide the community with an update on school transportation during the first few weeks of school. I recognize there were challenges last year and am pleased to report that we have seen improvements in many areas.
As we did last year, our transportation department recently analyzed all bus routes this school year for efficiency. This past Wednesday, adjustments were made to some routes at the high school and middle schools to provide our families with reliable bus service. We believe that implementing these updates will help mitigate any delays or inconsistencies families have experienced. Some routes have been particularly challenging and often these are the buses which have a substitute driver, been delayed or where a driver has not been following the exact route.
While there is always room for growth, we have worked out some of the challenges we faced last week and especially last year. We have been proactively communicating information to families as we have learned about the challenges each day. We have also been in daily communication with Trombly at the operational and leadership level to work on staffing consistency and work out the issues we have seen to start the year. We appreciate your patience and support.
District Upcoming Dates & Notes
School Calendar
- Friday, September 23, 2022 – Early Release Day
Holidays and Observances
- Monday, September 26, 2022 - Navaratri
- Monday, September 26, 2022 - Rosh Hashanah* (day 1)
- Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - Rosh Hashanah* (day 2)
- Wednesday, October 5, 2022 - Yom Kippur*
- Wednesday, October 5, 2022 - Dasera/ Dussehra
- Monday, October 10, 2022 - First Day of Sukkot*
*Observance begins at sundown the day before.
School Committee Corner
The School Committee met on September 15, 2022. Items on the agenda included the Committee’s second reading and vote on various School Committee policies, including policies: JIC (Student Discipline), JICA (Student Dress Code), AC and AC-R (Nondiscrimination, including harassment and Retaliation), GBA (Equal Employment Opportunity), GCF (Professional Staff Hiring), JB (Equal Educational Opportunities) and JFBB (School Choice).
Meetings 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 School and Building Committee Meetings webpage.
To view meeting minutes from previous meetings, check out the School Committee’s School Committee meeting minutes archive page.
The next School Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2022. 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.
There’s a policy for that! In upcoming issues of All Around APS, we will feature School Committee policies that may be of interest to our community. All policies are available for the community to reference through a searchable manual.
Community Updates
APS Food Services is Hiring!
APS has multiple job opportunities in our food service department, Hours are flexible, we are ideally looking to fill 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. shifts. To view the job description and complete an application; click here.
For a list of all open positions at APS; visit our webpage.
Town of Andover Health Division hosts COVID-19 vaccination clinic
Andover Health Division will be hosting a COVID-19 vaccination clinic on September 22, 2022 from 4p.m. to 7p.m. at the Robb Center, 30 Whittier Ct.
Vaccinate Rx will be providing the vaccine. All appointments will be made online. Please see below for the vaccines being offered and how to make an appointment.
Andover's Health Division will be offering the age/series appropriate Pfizer and Moderna COVID Vaccines and Bivalent Boosters:
- Pfizer vaccines available for ages 3+
- Moderna vaccines available for ages 18+
The following will be available based on the most recent FDA/CDC emergency use authorizations:
- Primary vaccine series for anyone ages 3+
- 1st boosters at least 5 months after finishing primary vaccine series for ages 5+
- Booster of Pfizer Bivalent COVID vaccine for anyone ages 12+ who has completed a primary vaccine series of any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 2 months after last dose or last booster dose
- Booster of Moderna Bivalent COVID vaccine for anyone 18+ who has completed a primary series of any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 2 months after last dose or last booster dose
Please bring your insurance cards (medical and prescription) and COVID-19 vaccination cards to the clinic.
- COVID vaccines are free for all regardless of insurance coverage
- For those covered by Medicare please bring your red, white, and blue Medicare card in addition to any other insurance cards
Please use the link to schedule, select Pfizer or Moderna (the appropriate primary or booster dose will be given)
https://www.appointmentquest.com/scheduler/2250024227?schedule=andover
The Town of Andover 2023 Master Plan - Envision, Preserve, Enhance
The Andover Master Plan is a ten-month-long town wide planning process that will engage the community in exploring issues such as transportation and mobility, open space and fields, housing, economic development, climate, and land use, among many others.
The final product will be a long-range plan that knits together past, present, and future initiatives covering the entire town, from downtown to its many neighborhoods.
Join us in developing a town plan that focuses on inclusion, integrity, and innovation as core values guiding growth and change in the town on September 28, 2022, at the Robb Center, 30 Whittier Street, Andover.
About us
Email: apscommunications@andoverma.us
Website: aps1.net
Location: 30 Whittier Court, Andover, MA, USA
Phone: 978-247-7000
Facebook: facebook.com/AndoverPS
Twitter: @AndoverPS