KNIGHTLY NEWS

Volume 8 - Issue 7 March, 2023

SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE

It’s "March Mania" for School Superintendents trying to make the correct call for school closings when it’s snowing and the wind is howling one day and 50 degrees the next! And for all you basketball fans, both our boys and girls Scarlet Knights basketball teams provided an exciting prelude to March Madness with deep runs in the MIAA Division I Tournaments. As we acknowledge the superb effort of our student-athletes, we hope you will check out the “Get Social” page on the district website to view not only our students’ athletic achievements but an array of our students’ academic accomplishments across the district. Our NAHS Knights Robotic Teams will be traveling to Dallas, TX, to compete in the Robotics World Championships, the NAHS History Club members submitted exhibits to be judged in the regional National History Day competition, the NAHS Student Council was recognized

as a Silver Council of Excellence, and lastly, our elementary school students are competing in their own unique interpretation of March Madness.

I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to Holly Vietzke-Lynch and Helen Pickard for their incredible dedication and service to North Andover as members of the School Committee for the last 6 years. Their efforts to ensure that our children have the best education possible are truly inspiring. As they move on from their position on the committee, I know they both will continue to make a positive impact in our community, and I am grateful for all they have done to make our schools better. Holly and Helen, your service is deeply appreciated and you will be missed.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Kindergarten Registration

Parents of children who will be five years of age on or before August 31, 2023, are now able to register their children online for kindergarten by using this link which includes an overview of the registration process is provided, as well as FAQs, the kindergarten timeline, screening information, and how to prepare your child for kindergarten.

Information Night

Kindergarten Information Night will be held in the North Andover Middle School Auditorium from 6:30 to 7:30 pm on Wednesday, April 12.

2023 Town Elections

The following are the dates of Elections and Town Meeting for 2023.

Date of Event Last Day Voter Registration

Annual Town Election Saturday, March 18, 2023

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Annual Town Meeting Saturday, May 6, 2023

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Please click on this link for complete voter information.

All precincts vote at:

North Andover High School

430 Osgood Street

North Andover, MA 01845

- All schools are normally closed for November Elections.
- Elections and the polls are open from 7:00 AM until 8:00 PM.
- If you have moved within Town or have come from another community, you should register to vote in North Andover. You may register to vote online as well.
- School is open and we ask that you try to avoid High School Traffic from 7:00 am until 7:45 am

Tuesday, April 4 (rain date April 5)

11:00 am to 12:00 pm

Rolling Ridge Retreat

660 Great Pond Road, North Andover

Event is FREE • Must RSVP here

(event is limited to 10 people)

A Guided Nature Walk for Parent Self-Care

Join us as we are led by Christine Cohne of Nature’s Pace, for an hour of nature immersion on peaceful lakeside grounds. Learn simple practices that you can use at home and the many emotional, mental, and physical benefits of spending mindful time outdoors.

As a Certified Forest Therapy Guide, Christine will lead the group through sensory-engaging activities along the trails and waterfront. By intentionally slowing down and bringing attention to the present, we’ll give our overactive brains a chance to rest and recharge. The soft colors, sounds, and scents will soothe our nervous systems, leaving us happier, less stressed, and more alive. For more information on Nature’s Pace, please visit: www.natures-pace.com

Participants can expect slow-paced activities that include sitting, standing, and walking. Trails may be uneven with rocks, roots, and slight inclines/declines. Please wear appropriate footwear/attire.

A CONNECTION with NATURE can help us live a calmer and healthier life.

Office Hours for Parents

With Michelle O’Leary, Interim Director of Social & Emotional Learning

North Andover Public Schools

Please join me for an informal meet and greet and to talk about all things SEL

Mondays from 12:30 - 2:00 pm

March 20, April 24, and May 15

In the Community Meeting Room at Stevens Memorial Library

DID YOU KNOW

NORTH ANDOVER'S SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM GETS NATIONAL RECOGNITION

Erika Murphy, Food and Nutrition Director for NAPS

Approximately 77 percent of North Andover students enjoy free lunch every day thanks to additional funding from the State. The increase in meal participation means the Food and Nutrition Dept. can focus on enhancing menus and increasing scratch cooking to prepare options that allow students to start their day with a healthy breakfast.

Some positive comments from students were heard at the HS salad bar about the changes which feature grilled chicken every day and special food bars that offer

everything from cheeseburger bowls to burrito bowls in addition to freshly cut fruits and vegetables. With the addition of a rotisserie cooker, fresh and hot rotisserie chicken meals served with mashed potatoes and corn have become popular among students. And a new

panini press will allow even more options to customize the lunch entrees. The elementary schools follow the Second Chance Breakfast model where breakfast is brought directly to the classroom after the school day has started. About 30 percent of North Andover students are eating breakfast at school as well. Students at the high school and middle school will soon be able to order customizable hot and cold subs. New LED monitors in all the district's cafeterias provide students with the menu for the day as well as nutritional information and photos.

Erika credits much of her success with the managers saying, "I am so lucky to have the managers we have on staff. I suggest or share thoughts on something new we might be able to do and they run with it."

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND ENDEAVORS

NAHS National Honor Society Induction for Class of 2023 & Class of 2024

Congratulations to the 109 seniors and 97 juniors on being inducted into the National Honor Society last night. Mrs. Oteri and the NHS officers did a wonderful job with the induction ceremony. Due to the schedule change last year, we had both senior and junior class members being inducted at the same time.

High School Students Compete in Mock Trial by Daniel Oberlander

Over 100 schools competed in this year’s Massachusetts Bar Mock Trials. Earlier this month, in only our third year of competing, our 13 mock trial law students qualified for their second straight Sweet Sixteen appearance! Although their goal of winning the State championship was not accomplished, our students did a terrific job all year of collaborating and preparing arguments and evidence for their case.

Community members Kim Cooperstein and Eric Schutzbank are our Attorney Coaches, and I am the proud Business Law Mock Trial Teacher Coach. Attorney Cooperstein has been so gracious with her willingness to

always make herself available to our students during and after school hours. We have been so fortunate to have both her and Attorney Schutzbank help our students prepare for trials. I am extremely proud of this group and appreciative of the constant support from our terrific Principal, Chet Jackson.

This group deserves so much credit. This group is not only active in mock trial competitions but also in DECA as well as many other extra-curricular activities. They are the most amazing, hardworking, and busiest students in and out of school that were never afraid of new challenges. It was a pleasure to be able to witness their growth as young adults. They constantly remained committed to the program and were always so kind and supportive of each other while preparing for a very challenging case. These individuals truly represent R.A.I.S.E and what it means to be a North Andover student.

Thank you for taking time to acknowledge our Business Law Mock Trial students and all their accomplishments. I have included their names below.

Business Law Mock Trial Students

Ben Arakelian, Lindsay Bush, Ryan Connolly, Charlie Cox, Nora Elkhadiji, Alyssa Matarazzo, Jordan McAuliffe, Kevin McElhiney, Abigail Mongare, Finn Murphy, Lindsay Neyman, Marcela Sales, Trevor Wlodyka

Pat McGravey's 8th Grade Class Presents at the 2023 MA Civic Learning Week Seminar

The Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition (MCLC) celebrated Massachusetts Civic Learning Week (March 6 through 10) by offering a series of online seminars for both students and educators that brought Civics into the classroom in an engaging and meaningful manner. NAMS Civics teacher Pat McGravey was one of thirty educators from areas including Cape Cod all the way south to Georgia. The model he developed with NAMS Principal Jorge Goncalves allows students to showcase their Civics Action Projects in academic Civics classes. The model was piloted in May 2022, with local and state officials, live and in person, providing feedback to students on their student-led Civics projects.

NAHS and NAMS to Host Speakers from the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies

Following our high school administration receiving a report of a drawing of a swastika found in one of the locker room showers after its team’s use of a neighboring community’s facility, the Leadership Team felt it is critically important to help students understand the Holocaust and genocide and to reflect upon the moral and ethical questions raised by those difficult realities. NAHS and NAMS have been working with our Assistant Superintendent, Lorene Marx, on educational opportunities for all of our students in grades 6 - 12. During this process, Ms. Marx was able to connect with the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies out of Keene State. In doing so, she has been able to secure Kathy Preston, a holocaust survivor, as well as Tom White, Coordinator of Educational Outreach at the Cohen Center, to speak to our grades 6 through 12 students.

Ms. Preston will conduct two presentations for NAHS students on Wednesday, March 22, to share her experience during the German occupation of Hungry during WWII. Kathy Preston was born in 1939 in a small town in Transylvania. Her father was Jewish and her

mother was Catholic. Her father’s parents were from a small Jewish village in Russia and had been murdered by Cossacks in a pogrom. Her mother, a Catholic, was a successful dressmaker and seamstress. At five years old, Kathy escaped the Nazi roundup of Jews in Hungary when a neighbor hid her under the hay in the attic of her barn. Her father was forced into a ghetto and was arrested by the Hungarian police when he snuck out to try to see his daughter. He would perish in Auschwitz along with 27 other members of his family. Kathy and her mother survived.

Tom White will be presenting to students at NAMS in 3 separate grade-level assemblies on Monday, March 20. The grade 6 Presentation is entitled, Choices: Letting Others Be, and the presentation for grades 7 and 8 will focus on the origins and rise of the Nazis; the accession to political power; the human rights violations and antisemitic policies. The Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies has also provided us with some resources to assist our staff with conversations with the students before and/or after the presentation.

DISTRICT SPOTLIGHT by Thomson School by Christopher Raymond, Principal

Welcome to the Private Albert E. Thomson Elementary Schoo -The home of the Tigers!

We have an amazing group of educators and students that come prepared to work hard each day. We are excited to be featured this month and share with you a few highlights from our year so far….

PLAYGROUND

After a delay last year due to supply chain issues, we were thrilled to begin the year with our new playground which was installed over the summer. A big thank you to the Town of North Andover, NAPS administration, and the generous support of the Thomson PTO. It was truly a team effort! The students love their new playground and are looking forward to enjoying it for many years to come.

THE 11th ANNUAL KNIGHTS IN TRAINING FUN RUN

The Thomson Dynasty rolled on in October as the participation of the Thomson Tigers culminated in our 6th consecutive Knight’s trophy. Thanks to the Thomson community and our PE teacher Mr. Morgan, for all their support of this terrific event.

VETERANS DAY PROGRAM

After a three year pandemic hiatus we were proud to bring back our Veterans Day program in November. We are proud to recognize and honor the men and women who serve our country in each branch of the military. The video from our program is included and we appreciated the efforts of three of our 5th graders who emceed most of the program.

https://youtu.be/sDnuhue28U8 - Veterans Day 2022

RAISE AT THOMSON

We enjoy getting together at Thomson for our monthly community meetings. Thanks to the efforts of our student council advisors, responsive classroom FCIs, and our guidance counselor, we have covered very important themes which have included being brave, making your mark, perseverance, kindness, and achievement to name a few. After each monthly community meeting, our wonderful guidance counselor, Stacey Foster, follows up with grade-level meetings to take a deeper dive into each of our themes. In the month of February, we surprised our outgoing Administrative Assistant, Mrs. Leal, who exemplified the monthly theme of kindness. In honor of Mrs. Leal’s big move to her new and sunny life in Florida, we had a Hawaiian spirit day, students wrote cards, and we put together a little video to let her know how much she would be missed. We have included pictures from our meeting this week focused on achievement. In our achievement assembly, we held our first-ever Thomson achievement game show. The students did an amazing job and had a lot of fun discussing and demonstrating all the things that go into achievement.

THOMSON TIGER GLOW RUN

As the month of January came to a close, we held our first-ever Thomson Tiger Glow Run. The glow run was a collaboration between the PTO, Mr. Raymond, Mr. Morgan (PE), and the booster fundraising company. The themes leading up to the glow run fit really well with our RAISE values. The students had a blast, and the parents really came out to support our students. We had an initial goal of raising $10,000 for our PTO but are proud to report we earned over $21,000 for our hard-working PTO. Wow!

WIT & WISDOM

We would be remiss if we didn’t recognize the hard work of our amazing staff. Teachers, TAs, and Special Education teachers have been working hard this year to deliver the new Wit & Wisdom reading program to our students. As I visit classrooms and talk with staff, I couldn’t be more impressed with their hard work,

excellent questions, collaborative spirit, and diligence in ensuring learning for all their students. In the adjacent pictures, we have a socratic seminar happening in grade 2. Also, at the end of the creature feature module in grade 1, the students and teachers got to see some “cool” creatures up close. Many thanks to Thomson parents Rachel and Keith Canning.

What's Happening at Stevens Memorial Library

Winter is winding up, hopefully, and apring is coming soon, we hope, but there is still time to participate in creating the North Andover’s Family & Friends Cookbook! Just click on the Cookbook Entry Form to enter your recipe(s). Each recipe added is automatically entered in the Cookbook Drawing. Prizes are gift cards to local restaurants. The drawing entries have been extended and end March 30.

Use the North Andover Reads icon to learn more about this year’s North Andover Reads: Food with Family and Friends. There you will find book lists for all ages, stories to read, and cookbooks to explore. And there’s still an opportunity to learn about the History of America’s Kitchens, a March 20 virtual program.

Let Stevens help!

If you don’t find an answer to your question, email or call the Library so we can help. Staff will respond when available.

Email: SmlRefServices@NorthAndoverMA.gov

Phone: 978-688-9505, for Children’s ext. 42010, Teens ext. 42032, Reference Desk ext. 42016

Have a library card question or a problem? call 978-688-9505 ext. 42017, or email Stevens-Circulation@NorthAndoverMA.gov

The Library’s hours are: Monday through Thursday 10 am – 9 pm, Friday 10 am – 6 pm, Saturday 10 am – 5 pm, Sunday 1-5 pm.

Don’t miss any of the fun. Sign up for Library News – scroll to and click on “Stevens Memorial Library News.” Follow the Library on Twitter @StevensMemLib, Facebook, or the Library’s website www.StevensMemLib.org

Visit the Library's website and calendar for more events: www.StevensMemLib.org Follow the Library on Facebook and Twitter using “StevensMemLib.”Stevens Memorial Library, 345 Main Street, North Andover978-688-9505

SCHOOL COMMITTEE CORNER

by Pam Pietrowski, Chair

Greetings from the North Andover School Committee,

Spring is around the corner but it sure still feels like winter! Let’s hope this week’s storm is the last one and that families are able to get ready to gear up for spring activities.

Below are some updates from the School Committee:

School Building projects through MSBA for Kittridge and NAMS are in progress and on schedule. We are grateful for all the work and time devoted to these projects by Dr. Mealey, the administration, and the school building committees. More information can be found on the NAPS website under the School Committee Tab.

Erika Murphy, the NAPS Director of Food Services was nationally recognized by the School Nutrition Association. This recognition was well deserved. NAPS is very fortunate to have Ms. Murphy as the director of food services. We thank her for her tireless efforts in the district and as an advocate for local legislation.

North Andover Educator Hall of Fame applications are due April 30. You can find the application and more information on the NAPS School Committee Website.

Community Chat will be held on April 1, 2023, at the Steven’s Memorial Library from 12:00-1:00 p.m. This is an opportunity to have informal and friendly conversations with School Committee members.

At the end of the month, school committee members Holly Vietzke-Lynch and Helen Pickard will finish out their terms as North Andover School Committee Members. Ms. Pickard and Ms. Vietzke-Lynch both served two terms on the board. Within the six years on the school committee, they served on several subcommittees and as liaisons between our board and other local organizations. Each having unique expertise and experiences, their contributions to the board demonstrated outstanding leadership and teamwork that I quickly grew to truly value and appreciate in my short time working with them. On behalf of the committee, I would like to wish them well and thank them for their time and dedication to our community.