KNIGHTLY NEWS

Volume 7 - Issue 2                                                                                                                                                                                                                 October, 2021


SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE

I can't believe it's the middle of October already--it's been a busy but exciting start to the school year. There is a lot of information I want to share with you so I hope you will take a few minutes to read the entire Knightly Newsletter. 

First, I would like to begin with the release of the spring 2021 MCAS test results by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  Results state-wide have shown that many more students had gaps in their knowledge of math and, to a lesser extent, English language arts, compared to students in the same grades before the COVID-19 pandemic and that fewer students met or exceeded grade-level expectations. Our North Andover MCAS data is being analyzed currently by district-wide and school-based teams. We are examining the results carefully, and are using this information in our grade-level and department-level data meetings, along with our internal student assessment data, to continue to inform our instruction and our intervention and differentiation work with students. Families will receive individual MCAS student reports as they have in the past. We will also be presenting an overview of our North Andover MCAS results to the school committee this fall.

The Town and NAPS are pleased that one of the projects selected by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is the Kittredge Elementary School which will move forward in the process to the next step which is called a “Senior Study.” Senior Study visits are conducted by MSBA staff member(s) and senior architects with extensive knowledge of building systems and educational programs.  A Senior Study is not an invitation to work with the MSBA but is part of the due diligence review phase of the MSBA SOI process. During an MSBA Senior Study, a team of architects and engineers from the MSBA conduct a site visit to review the information contained in the Statement of Interest (SOI) as part of the district’s application.  Town and school district personnel also attend the Senior Study visit to answer any questions that may come up. We are excited to host the MSBA Senior Study at the Kittredge School later in October and hope that this first step leads to moving forward in the process. 

Please see the School Committee Chair's Report for the dates of the upcoming School Capacity Project forums.

Public Forum Dates 

School Capacity Projects

We are pleased to announce that the North Andover School Committee voted September 23 to recommend the following school projects to the North Andover Facilities Master Planning Committee:

These projects are critical to the success of our students going forward. They address our most pressing needs by allowing us to impact class size while building capacity for future growth; to create 21st-century learning spaces that include appropriate space for student support and specialists; to ensure equity in education for North Andover students across the district; and to address ADA and code requirements in our oldest schools, including retiring the portable classrooms that are well past their expected use.

Moving forward, we will be presenting the details of these projects at public forums to be held at the individual schools and other locations around town. Our consultants, the Mount Vernon Group, who have extensive experience in 

promoting, designing, and managing school projects, will be working with us throughout the process. We are also excited to be partnering with Melissa Rodrigues, our Town Manager, who has indicated she is very supportive of these projects and will work with us to make them a reality.

The schedule for the public forums is as follows:

We hope you are able to join us at one of the public forums to learn more about these important projects and to have any of your questions answered. You can also learn more by visiting the School Capacity Projects web page on the district website. 

Thank you for your continued support.

Healthy Happenings Fall Newsletter

Please use this link to view the fall edition of the Healthy Happenings Newsletter. This edition includes a reminder to stay home when feeling sick and to get the flu vaccine, an explanation of the Test and Stay Program and a link to a Covid vaccine site near you.

COVID Vaccine Clinics

North Andover will be partnering with Greater Lawrence Family Health Center to offer a convenient option for your child to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination right after school.


Parents/guardians must give their permission for children to get vaccinated. Please print and sign this consent form and have your student bring it with them to the vaccine clinic. A parent does not need to be present with a student. The vaccines will be administered outside, using a mobile vaccination van, to eligible students age 12 and over.


 NAMS: 495 Main Street

NAHS : 430 Osgood Street

No pre-registration is required, paper consent form only. Please be sure to complete the Consent form.


To learn more about COVID-19 vaccines, how to prepare your child for vaccination, and what to expect after vaccination, including information on potential vaccination side effects, please visit the following websites:


https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/prepare-for-vaccination.html 


https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/expect/after.html/


If you have questions about the North Andover COVID-19 vaccination clinic(s), please contact the North Andover Health Department. 

MESSAGE FROM THE NORTH ANDOVER HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Isolation & Quarantine Information for all Indoor Sports and Indoor Activities

The North Andover Health Department has been made aware of some recent confusion and concern regarding positive Covid-19 sports cases and close contacts. Please use this link for further information regarding isolation and quarantine when participating in indoor sports and indoor activities.

Did You Know

10th Annual 5K Road Race/Walk and Knights in Training Kids Run 

Sat., October 16th North Andover High School 

Check-in begins at 8 am

Kids Run (under 12) at 9 am

 5K at 9:30 am

Go to knightsrun5K.com for info and registration

  Join in the spirit of North Andover 

   and support the Scarlet Knights!


      Free T-Shirt to first 150 registered 5k runners

    

          Awards and raffle prizes! 

       Runners and walkers are welcome 

Eating Disorders - The Silent Epidemic

Wednesday, November 17 

from 6:30 to 8:00 pm

Virtual Presentation by 

Michael Chiumiento, PsyD.

Sponsored by NA Youth and Recreation Services and NA Parent Resource Network

Please click on this link for more information and to register

DISTRICT SPOTLIGHT

Franklin School 

by Joe Clarke, Principal

Welcome back to school, North Andover! Franklin is honored to be the first school highlighted in Dr. Gilligan’s Knightly News. After the 2020-2021 year, we are extremely excited to be back to 5-day, in-person learning. Last year we focused on being #DifferentButNotLess, and now this year we’re focusing on getting #BackToFranklin. Our students and staff at the Franklin School pride ourselves on the community we have built not only within the school walls but outside in the larger community as well.


That feat is accomplished by our students who have worked hard at consistently exhibiting their RAISE values with peers and adults while focusing on their own personal goals. The Franklin staff works tirelessly to maintain high expectations and to assist ALL students in reaching their goals. This year we are pleased to welcome many new staff members, including 5th-grade teacher Ms. Jessica Carignan, 2nd-grade teacher Mrs. Sarah Neeley, 1st-grade teacher Ms. Kelsey Mullen, Nurse Erin Callahan, Administrative Assistant April Varricchio, and many other staff members around the building. It has been wonderful to once again hear the school ringing with excitement and RAISE - and it hasn’t stopped in over a month! As we begin the second month of the school year, I look forward to all that I know we will accomplish together and am inspired by what I have already seen. Let’s look at some of those highlights from the first month of the school year at the Franklin School.

What a first day of school!!! The excitement in the front of the building as students were rolling in with the music bumpin, and the laughter and cheering out back when everyone was able to be on the playground together again. After all our community endured last year, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t emotional seeing our entire school lined up together and ready to go inside for day one! It was amazing and heartwarming to see the smiles (yes, we got to see the smiles before the masks went on as we entered the building) of all our students and staff.  We’re looking forward to continuing onward this year as we get #BackToFranklin. Our students have already set themselves up to get back a little more each day by taking risks, setting goals, and trying their best. Keep it up, Dragons, you’ve got 180 days to soar!

The day before school officially started we kept our incoming dragonling tradition continuing! Each year we welcome our new 1st graders into the “Dragon’s Den” with our traditional clap-in to begin the circle that ends with our heartwarming 5th grade clap-out. At this special 1st Grade Orientation event, all incoming 1st graders and their parents/caregivers were welcomed into the cafeteria for a 

“Go Get’em” send-off to start their career at Franklin. The students came in excited and smiling, we lined them all up by class, and off they went! The parents/caregivers, teachers, and staff in attendance gave them a rousing round of applause as they walked out of the cafe and officially became Dragons. Good luck and we’re already so proud of you! Welcome to the squad!

We’re excited to get back into the swing of true 5-day, in-person learning at Franklin, and our curriculum instruction is already off to the races! We’re still standards-based and standards-focused here at Franklin utilizing many of the resources that we have had at our disposal for years and have become proficient and fluent in using. In just the first month of school, students are already back into the swing of things and excelling towards their standards through dynamic teaching and learning with Eureka Math, Lucy Calkins, Heggerty, FUNdations, Mystery Science and all of the amazing things in between. Our classrooms are set up in a more normal way than they were last year and students are able to gather on the rug, which was a huge win for everyone! Students and teachers are working together as a class, in small groups, with partners and independently throughout the day. We may be in masks, but our students and teachers are doing what they’ve always done--RAISE-ing the bar!

CURRICULUM CORNER

North Andover Reads

We are excited to once again partner with The Stevens Memorial Library to host North Andover Reads, a partnership between the library and the public schools to host community read events. 


We began North Andover Reads a number of years ago with One Author, One Community, celebrating the writing of Jaqueline Woodson. In subsequent years, our themes have included Massachusetts Stories, Race Amity, The 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, and Women’s Right to Vote. We include a variety of events and typically have an author speak. 

This year our theme is First Neighbors, Still Neighbors.  We have a number of events occurring between the library and the schools. The library has a number of virtual programs and has reading lists and books available for readers of all ages. Our elementary art teachers are working on a project with their students based on the 

Three Sisters. Ms. Tomkins from NAMS is also working on a  visual art project with some of her students, and this too will be exhibited in the library. We will have two cooking shows airing on CAM. The three sisters' mash recipe is presented by the library, and fry bread will be presented by some of our high school students. The book titled Fry Bread will also be read to our elementary students. Some of our high school students are also recording read alouds of some of the other books that are being recommended for elementary students.  We are planning an author visit from Arigon Starr for upper elementary and middle school students. The website continues to be updated, and there are some wonderful opportunities to learn more about indigenous people.  Please visit the website. 


What's Happening at Stevens Memorial Library

October brings cooler nights and changing colors to the trees. It’s a time when hot dishes are welcome at mealtimes.  Need a new recipe? Browse A to Z World Food.  Or, learn how to make Three Sisters Mash (corn, beans and squash) from a cooking demonstration on the Library’s YouTube channel.

For many, it is time for a favorite holiday where clothes become costumes and faces sport really different makeup.  Join Teen Librarian Amy and others on October 14th for a special virtual program Teen FX Makeup with Decimated Designs.  For our younger patrons, there will be Take and Make crafts Halloween week, October 25th – 29th. 

 

Between now and Halloween there is lots more to see, read, and do at the Library.  This month begins North Andover Reads: First Neighbors, Still Neighbors. Visit the website for full details: books list for all ages, virtual programs and videos, art and exhibits from students are being planned. Through reading and talking, we hope to gain knowledge, leading to both empathy and respect: keys in the R.A.I.S.E. initiative.


Miss Rhonda’s Outdoor Story Time under the Stevens Estate tent is every Wednesday through October.  Teen Librarian Miss Amy has three monthly programs: the Teen Book Chat (grades 6-12), the Teen Online Anime Viewing Party (grades 6-12), and the Tween Book Chat (grades 4-8).   The Tuesday 

Evening Book Group meets October 19 and is reading Susan Yang’s White Icy. Use the Library Calendar for full details and to sign up.


There’s still time:

·         Oct. 14, virtual, join flutist Galen Abdur-Razzaq for some Afro-Cuban Jazz and learn about its roots and instrumentations (drums and timbales, claves and cajon).

·         October 27, virtual, join author Noe Alvarez, Spirit Run: a 6,000-mile marathon through America’s Stolen Land.

·         Oct. 28, virtual, join author John Forti, the Heirloom Gardener.


Don’t miss out on regular programs and other special events at the Library. Follow the Library on Twitter @StevensMemLib, Facebook, or the Library’s website www.StevensMemLib.org


 Friends of the Stevens Memorial Library Book Sale under the Stevens Estate Tent

 The Friends of the Library are busy preparing for their Fall book sale October 29, 30 and 31. Once again they will have thousands of books and more for sale.

 

If you have books to donate, the Friends will have a Donations Drop-off Weekend, October 15, 16 and 17. Visit the Library website for days and times for the sale and for donations.

 

Help?

 

No Library card, or it needs an update? Email Stevens-Circulation@NorthAndoverMA.gov or call the Library 978-688-9505 to get started.

Not sure what to read? Ask a librarian for suggestions or browse our Digital Book Displays. Look for more reading recommendations on the StevensMemLib Youtube channel.

 

Support is available via email SmlRefServices@NorthAndoverMA.gov or phone 978-688-9505. Staff will respond as they are available.

 

Fall hours are: Monday – Thursday, 10:00 am – 9:00 pm; Friday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm and Sunday 1:00 -5:00 pm.

Visit the Library's website and calendar for more events:  www.StevensMemLib.orgStevens Memorial Library, 345 Main Street, North Andover978-688-9505

School Committee Corner

by Andrew McDevitt, Chair

Greetings,

Fall is nearly perfect in New England with the foliage, apple picking and cider, and cooler weather.  We are off to a great season on many levels.  Over the past month, it has been amazing to see our buses rolling and students returning to their activities -- from the NAMS students walking to the Youth Center to fall sports and band competitions and to local fields, gyms, studios, and the library -- North Andover is quite busy again.  

We are also committed to the future of our schools and community.  On September 23, the School Committee voted 5-0 in favor of the recommendations to the 

Facilities Master Plan Phase II.  This will be the most significant investment in our schools and community in a generation.  I strongly encourage you to participate in one of the upcoming forums.  Movement forward will require true partnership with town leaders and residents.  Please join us as we continue to plan the educational path for North Andover; your help is needed and greatly appreciated.

Thank you and I hope to see you at one of the forums.


Andrew McDevitt, Chair

North Andover School Committee


Tweet of the Month

School Committee 

Meeting Dates

NAMS team-building exercise at Stevens Pond

North Andover Public Schools

Superintendent's Office

566 Main Street

 7:00 pm


October 7, 2021


October 21, 2021