SOUTH SCHOOL

Dear South Families,

As the 2022-2023 school year draws to a close, we want to take a moment to express our sincere gratitude to all of our families. Your commitment to your child's education and our partnership has made a significant difference in their growth and success. Thank you for trusting us with their education.

As we enter the summer break, we encourage you to take time to rest, rejuvenate, and create cherished memories with your families and friends. Use this time to explore new adventures, engage in activities that ignite your child's passions, and foster a love for learning beyond the classroom.

This week, we have our Celebration of Learning for our fifth-grade families on Thursday as well as Field Day for first and second grade. As a reminder, our last day of school on Friday is an Early Release and we begin dismissal at 12:15.

Take Care,

Brenda Lee, Principal

Kathy Caron, Assistant Principal

We would like to give a tremendous shout-out to our PTO for all they have done this year. They provided our students with numerous curriculum enrichment events including ones within their grades and one for the entire school. They were a variety of wonderful and meaningful learning experiences. In addition to the curriculum enrichment, the PTO provided playground toys for recess and multiple gifts of appreciation for the entire staff.

Thank you to the 2022-2023 PTO Board for your time and dedication, especially Danielle Ramsey who served as President this year. Other board members include Michelle and Frank Penney, Katie Alexander, Christine Yates, and Ben Green.

Also, a huge shout out to Laura Veligor and all of our room parents and helpers who brought extra fun and support to South School classrooms this year. Thank you to our long list of volunteers, including library volunteers, and to all those volunteers who made special events happen like the play, the science fair, and the fifth-grade activities.

It takes a village and South School is certainly a richer place due to all of your support!

June 12 to August 12, 2023

Help us reach our community goal of 600,000 minutes of reading this summer!

This year's Summer Reading theme is "Find Your Voice!" Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of Memorial Hall Library, we are able to present our 2023 Summer Reading Challenges through a mobile app and website called Beanstack! We've used Beanstack for the past few years and enjoy the ease of which patrons can track their reading and prizes.

This year's fifth-grade are leaving two class gifts for South students to enjoy for years to come.

With the help of the Carli family, the basketball court has new hoops and the lines were re-painted. The center court has been painted with a paw print and our school's name. As a gift from the fifth grade, the court was dedicated to Dave Giribaldi, "Mr. G", after 17 years of service at South School.

The second gift was a Buddy Bench for all of our students to enjoy at recess. Students are invited to sit on the bench if they are looking for a new buddy to play with or to make a new friend.

Thank you to our fifth-grade families for helping with these gifts!

Several students from South School were among the approximately 100,000 students worldwide to participate this year in the Math Olympiad program. They participated in a series of five monthly contests of five problems each, from November to March, and weekly practice sessions under the supervision and coaching of Yonet Eracar and Liang Jin. They taught the children to solve unusual and difficult problems and to think creatively. The students responded well and were recognized with certificates for their participation.

Ryan Jin, a second grader, earned a gold pin for scoring nationally in the top 2%.

Ethan Bu, Jonathan Xiao, Aarnav Arvind, Narayani Govindarajan, and Sophie Luo earned the silver pin for scoring in the top 10%.

Congratulations to all other students who participated: Lucas Wang, Gabriel Olier, Vihaan Ravikuman, Declan Finlay, Nirvikalp Nayak, Thomas Kushman, Sam Berthelsen, Jamie Esposito, Logan Haines, Lucas Fang, Dalya Eracar, Aanya Bhandari, Rhea Bhandari, and Gio Cyrier.

During this last class lesson, we focused on the topic of gratitude and moments or things that make us go “wow” - whether they are small or big. Classes heard the book Mateo Finds his Wow, a story about a boy named Mateo who felt bored and cranky on a rainy day thinking he had nothing to do. After his brain felt stuck, he discovered the power of appreciating what is right there in front of him and this helped turn his day and mood around. Students took time to do an activity - either making gratitude/wow flowers or writing a list of what they feel grateful for from A to Z using all the letters in the alphabet. At this time of the year that is often filled with many emotions for students and adults, we wanted to take the time to focus on nurturing gratitude and positivity. A way to extend this activity at home would be to make a point to name with each family member what you are grateful for each day.

We are grateful we had the opportunity to go into your child’s classrooms this year and spend time working on social and emotional learning with them. We wish you all a wonderful summer and look forward to learning with and supporting your children in the fall. We wish good luck to all the 5th graders.

Best,

Andrea and Catherine

Earlier in the year, you may have received a spare Chromebook charger for your student’s school device. We would like to collect these chargers so they can be prepared for use in next year’s classrooms. Your child can either return the chargers and cords to their classroom or they can deposit them in the red bins that will be located outside the school’s main office.

Please arrange to have your student return these devices before the last day of school. Best wishes for a pleasant summer.

We invite your child to join our elementary instrumental music program. We welcome new and returning students to our program in both Strings and Band. Next year, Band and String students will receive at least one 30-minute small group weekly lesson. These lessons will occur within the typical school day. Whether your child participated in previous years or is starting an instrument for the first time, all students must obtain an instrument and the appropriate lesson book.

Click the button below to register! For our planning purposes, families must register by June 16, 2023. Information about rentals and materials will be shared after registration.

What a week! We had fun with our Admin Asst of the Day and our Principal of the Day and the whole school had a great time at our Kindness Counts night. Other happenings this week include: kindergarten had their field day, second-grade classrooms turned into a restaurant, third graders spent their days building shelter in the woods and experiencing an outdoor classroom, the fourth grade had their annual kickball game, and fifth graders enjoyed Survivor Day. Enjoy the pictures!

Monday, June 12th ~ 3rd Grade Field Trip - Camp Otter
Tuesday, June 13th ~ 2nd Grade Field Day
Wednesday, June 14th ~ 1st Grade Field Day
Wednesday, June 14th ~ 4th Grade Field Trip on Foot - Backyard Biomes
Thursday, June 15th ~ 5th Grade's Celebration of Learning @ 9:45
Friday, June 16th ~ LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! EARLY RELEASE (12:15pm dismissal)

Looking for a flexible position where you get to pick the days!! Then subbing at South School is right for you! You can choose whether you prefer filling in for classroom teachers, specialists, or instructional assistants. Please email Sue at susan.comeau@andoverma.us or Karyn at karyn.francis@andoverma.us if interested!

Daily Rates:

$90 - Without Bachelor's Degree

$105 - With a Bachelor's Degree

$120 - Retired Massachusetts Teacher

If your child would like a bagged lunch on Friday's Early Release, please order by Wednesday!

All students are able to receive 1 free breakfast and 1 free lunch daily during the 2022-2023 school year. Lunches will need be preordered. Please see the FAQ linke below for further information and the menu.

If you would like to add money to your child's account, please go here: https://andover.familyportal.cloud/

Have you been receiving the PTO's weekly newsletter? We have heard some reports that some people stopped receiving it. If so, please sign up at their website - https://southpto.com/

Scroll down to the bottom right for the sign-up box.

Want to stay up to date with all the latest PTO news?

Visit www.SouthPTO.com

Accessibility

Brenda Lee

SOUTH SCHOOL

June 11, 2023

SOUTH SCHOOL

June 11, 2023

Dear South Families,

SPIRIT WEEK AT SOUTH

THANK YOU TO OUR PTO AND PARENT VOLUNTEERS!

SUMMER READING - MEMORIAL HALL LIBRARY

FIFTH GRADE GIFTS

MATH OLYMPIAD

OUR SOCIAL WORKERS

FROM THE TECH DEPARTMENT

APS ELEMENTARY MUSIC PROGRAM 2023-2024

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

UPCOMING DATES, MEETINGS, ETC.

APS CALENDAR 2023-2024

WE ARE LOOKING FOR SOUTH SCHOOL SUBSTITUTES!

SOUTH SOARS

EVENT FROM TROMBLY

LUNCH

PTO NEWS

CONTACT INFO FOR BRENDA LEE

Connect with Brenda Lee