KNIGHTLY NEWS

Volume 8 - Issue 2 October, 2022

SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE

Dear North Andover Community,

Fall is my favorite season, and I can’t believe it’s the middle of October already. I hope you are enjoying the colorful foliage and the crisp autumn air. This month’s newsletter highlights many exciting happenings across our community.

Last week the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released the Spring 2022 MCAS results. The pandemic has impacted student learning and MCAS scores across all communities in Massachusetts, including North Andover. However, we are encouraged by some of the gains. For example, all schools in North Andover improved or maintained their percentile ranking compared to schools across the Commonwealth. Although North Andover Public Schools have been given school accountability percentiles, DESE does not intend to issue full accountability determinations for most districts and schools in 2022 due to the pandemic. School percentiles are not calculated for districts. An overview of the district's data can be found on DESE's website.

Schools will be sending out individual MCAS reports this Friday, October 14. The report shows how students in your child’s school, district, and state did on the tests,.

how achievement changed over time, and how your child’s academic progress, or growth, compares to other students

I am excited to see the School Building Projects moving forward this fall. The Kittredge School project is in the MSBA Eligibility Period. There are several milestones to be met during the school year, first among them, the Initial Compliance Certification. This has been completed and submitted to the MSBA. The Kittredge School Building Committee (SBC) has been formed and all members have been appointed by the Select Board. There are several additional requirements to be met before the eligibility period ends in May of 2023.

The Middle School project is also moving forward. A School Building Committee will be appointed to oversee the project, The Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) search is underway. The OPM will work with the district, the SBC, and the architects to bring the project to completion. The OPM decision should be made in the next few weeks.

All my best,

Gregg Gilligan

SAVE THE DATE

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

7:00 pm

VIRTUAL EVENT

Event is FREE • Must RSVP to receive Zoom Link

(Zoom link will be emailed two days prior to the event).

ADHD - Top Ten Strategies to Help Your Kids

Join us as we celebrate ADHD Awareness Month with a virtual presentation by Cindy Goldrich, Ed. M., ADHD-CCSP of PTS Coaching.

Cindy is an experienced speaker, ADHD coach and recognized expert on ADHD, Executive Function, and parenting. She’s been featured in ADDitudeMagazine, ADHD Essentials podcast, and many other arenas. Topics discussed include:

How to help children not just survive, but also thrive
The best supports for your child
Facts about ADHD beyond the diagnosis
The basics about what Executive Function is and how it impacts learning, motivation, and behavior

She will end with a Q&A period. Anonymous questions can be sent in advance to NAParentResourceNetwork@gmail.com.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND ENDEAVORS

North Andover 8th grade Civics Teacher, Pat McGravey, was one of seven named to the teacher advisory panel at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate in Boston. The panel will be tasked with developing and enhancing the Kenndy Institute's education programs.

The institute features a one-of-a-kind, full-scale replica of the U.S. Senate chamber, which is home to the "Senator for a Day" program. The program, which is led by non-partisan instructors, allows students to learn about the legislative process by taking on the role of a U.S. senator and debating, shaping and voting on mock legislation.

"As a civics teacher, I believe that the Kennedy Institute is one of the best places for students to actively apply what they know about civics to a 'real world' situation," McGravey said. "Schools and teachers need to know about this asset that in a perfect world, all Grade 8 civics students would participate in during their education."

Celebrating Teachers Night 2022 - October 26, 2022 at 6:30 pm

North Andover Public Schools is honoring a number of special teachers from past and present at our annual Celebrating Teacher Night. the event will take place at the North Andover High School in the auditorium on Wednesday, October 26 at 6:30 pm.

The North Andover School Committee will be inducting an incredible colleague into the Educator Hall of Fame. peter Concannon, long-time adjustment counselor at North Andover High School, will be inducted into the Educator Hall of Fame. Pete made such an extraordinary impression on students, colleagues, and families in his 25+ years with NAPS.

We are also spotlighting 25 teachers, nurses, BCBA's, SLP's, ETL's and library media specialists who have earned professional Teacher Status (PTS) in North Andover after three outstanding initial years in the school system. Their names are listed below. Congratulations to all!

Families and colleagues are all invited to join in the celebration of our honorees at North Andover High School.

Professional Teaching Status 2022

ABECC: Mary Jacobs, Teacher; Melissa Curran, Teacher

Atkinson: Amy Varay, Teacher

Franklin: Laura Bellacqua, ETL; Hilary Alden, Library MS; Terri Donovan, SLP; Jennifer Meeks, Teacher

Sargent: Rachel Mezzetti, Teacher; Dana Woodford, Nurse

Thomson: Brenna Brown, Teacher; Lucy Frey, Teacher

NAMS: Kelly Bradley, Teacher; Sheila Maginnis, Teacher; Susannah Parker, Teacher; Ellen Reusch, Library MS

NAHS: Caitlin Enright, Teacher; Jennifer Fraser, Teacher; Robert Garrett, Teacher; Maura Goudreau, Nurse; Collin McLaughlin, Teacher; Bruno Molteni, Teacher;

Kathleen Robinson, Teacher; Emily Slyva, Teacher; and Paul Vigeant Teacher

All Schools: Lisa Barinotto, BCBA

We are so fortunate to have such dedicated and caring individuals leading our children. Like the NAPS mission states, these wonderful people strive to develop engaged learners, insightful thinkers and effective communicators in our classrooms and beyond. They model and encourage RAISE values to support social/emotional growth each and every day.

We should all be very proud of our community and of this wonderful collection of educators and specialists. Thank you for supporting, recognizing, and celebrating their effort and their positive influence on all of us!

DISTRICT SPOTLIGHT

Franklin School by Joe Clarke, Principal

Welcome back to school, Dragons! Franklin is honored to be the first school highlighted in Dr. Gilligan’s Knightly News. After the past few years, it REALLY feels like we’re back into the swing of things! We started with a focus on being #DifferentButNotLess, then we were focused on getting #BackToFranklin, and now, we are taking back our community and dedication to teaching and learning #WhateverItTakes! 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, and we’re excited for the opportunity to once again get back to that!

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 4th grade teacher Ms. Jenna Crocker, 2nd grade teacher Ms. Vanessa Espinola, Special education teacher Mrs. Lauren Ormiston, PE Teacher (on Tuesdays only) Ms. Caroline Barclay, 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.

Franklin (and all K-5 schools) have been using a new literacy resource this year in Wit & Wisdom. This resource is another great tool in our repertoire to help students learn and grow! It aims to build our students' ability to read and write in response to that reading through complex texts and building background knowledge and it is empowering our students to have confidence in their own learning. Whether the students are engaging with complex text, observing art pieces, or responding to a myriad of different things critically and analytically - they are showing what they are truly capable of. I’ve been able to see students “mix and mingling”, engaging in Socratic Seminars, and having rich and deep discussions in new and exciting ways. With any new program there are always growing pains, but our students and staff have already set themselves up to grow by taking risks, setting goals, and trying their best. Keep it up, Dragons, you’re going 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 on their last day of school. 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. This helped with the transition on the first day of school, which was that same week! They then came in on the first day and have rocked it ever since! Good luck and we’re already so proud of you! Welcome to the squad!

Franklin School is known far and wide for the positive sense of community that it has always had! Our students exemplify RAISE values, and we consistently talk about and reinforce them to the point where being respectful, trying your best, including others, helping anyone, and thinking about how our actions and words may impact others becomes natural. Aligned with that is Franklin’s sense of school spirit and pride! We have some wild theme days over the course of the year, but every month we have a “Franklin Friday” where we bust out our Franklin gear and/or red and black clothes to show our love and appreciation for this school and our community. These days remind us of and emphasize the importance of being together, working as a team, and looking out for each other. I’m so very proud of all of our students for RAISE-ing the bar for themselves and look forward to many more Franklin Fridays, school spirit, and the amazing teaching and learning that happens each and every day at the Franklin School! #FranklinPride

This year we are continuing our hard work learning about and implementing the responsive classroom philosophy and techniques throughout the school. Although morning meeting is one of the most well-known components of this resource, that is just the tip of the iceberg! We had many of our teachers attend training over the past two summers and the impact across the school is incredible! We have students role-playing social situations, teachers and students interactive modeling, and focusing on asset-based language/growth mindset (ex. instead of “I can’t do this” we think “what strategies can I use to help me grow?”). Morning meetings happen in classrooms every day to start the day off with a greeting, a share, and an activity of some kind - calming, fun, and academic, just to name a few! Our students come in, get organized, have their morning meetings, and are ready to start their day in a positive and collaborative way!

SPECIAL EDUCATION

SEPAC NEWS

We had a successful first NA SEPAC meeting on Monday October 3, 2022. Courtney Pham will be leaving the position of SEPAC President at the end of this year. We are all grateful for the leadership and amazing work that Courtney has done for the parents and students of North Andover over the past four years. Vanessa Hoercher will also be leaving the position of Communications Chair. Thank you for dedication the past few years and the design of the new logo.

Elections were held for the 2022-2023 NA SEPAC Board. The current NA SEPAC board members are:

President - Courtney Pham
Vice President - Sasha Weinreich
Secretary - Meg O’Neil
Education Resource Chair - Rachel Anastatia
Treasurer -Open Position

October is Dyslexia Awareness month. During this month keep your eye out for many free resources available for parents, teachers and students. Nessy is offering free resources throughout the month.

Upcoming Events:

October 17, 2022 - Basic Right Presentation - Holly Vietzke, Esq. will be presenting to parents virtually (Time - TBD). The goal of this presentation is to provide information to parents to better understand their rights regarding special education.

November 18, 2022 - November is SEPAC Awareness Month. For the second year we are asking students to recognize the important work SEPAC’s do for our community by wearing yellow. More information will follow about activities and fundraising.

December 6, 2022 - SEPAC Quarterly meeting

To contact NA SEPAC directly you can email northandoverpac@gmail.com

What's Happening at Stevens Memorial Library

October brings cooler nights, changing colors on the trees, and the 2nd Annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest at the Library! Watch the Library’s website for when you can pick up a pumpkin to decorate and return it to the Library so everyone can see your creation. (The pumpkin is free, how to decorate it is up to you).

Don’t miss other Library news, like the return of the therapy reading dog program (registration in the Children’s Room is required, space is limited); the monthly Cookbook Club, special talks like The Forgotten Nations – Native Tribes of New England or Jane Oneail’s Art of the French Revolution. Find out more on www.StevensMemLib.org, Facebook and Twitter @StevensMemLib, or sign up for Stevens Memorial Library News via the Town News:

https://www.northandoverma.gov/home/pages/connect-us

Need more books in your home library? The Friends of the Library Fall Book Sale is Friday through Sunday, Nov. 4 – 6, at the North Andover Historical Society, 800 Massachusetts Avenue. Lots of good books at great prices.

It’s always the right time to get a library card or to update your old one. First-time library cards are always free, replacement cards are free during October. Have a Card with a question or a problem? We can help! Visit the Library’s Circulation Desk, call 978-688-9505 ext. 42017, or email Stevens-Circulation@NorthAndoverMA.gov

Explore all Stevens has waiting for you: 1,000s of books, manga and graphic novels, magazines, DVDs, music, even musical instruments, a telescope, and STEM kits. Books and magazines come in lots of formats today: print, audio-CD, and digital online through OverDrive, TumbleBooks, TumbleMath, and TeenBookCloud; your choice.

Join us for activities like story times and book groups, programs like Crazy 8s Math, or technology help. Dates, times, and places are on the Library Calendar.

School papers and projects? Use Stevens E-Library’s 40+ online resources: health/medical; history; world languages; literature; encyclopedias & reference; science & technology; test preparation & E-learning. You can search by keyword, subject, or name. Ask a librarian for more tips on how to find answers and information.

SCHOOL COMMITTEE CORNER

by Pam Pietrowski, Chair

Greetings from the NA School Committee,

Fall certainly has arrived and with it, exceptionally beautiful weather. There really is nothing quite the same as fall in New England, and I hope that our community members have all had the opportunity to enjoy some quality family time.

Here is what has been happening in our school district from the viewpoint of the school committee.

Our Kittridge School Building Committee has been established through collaboration with our select board and town manager. We are on track with deadlines and look forward to next steps!

Several overnight field trips were approved during our September meetings.

Our student representatives Ben Abbott and Nora Elkhadiji have been attending our meetings in person and have done a fantastic job with their reports. A highlight from

September is the Seal of Biliteracy that can be earned for our graduating bilingual students. Thank you to Nora and Ben for exceptional communication from our student population.

On October 26th, the North Andover Educator Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held along with our recognition of our teachers who have earned Professional Status. This year’s North Andover Educator Hall of Fame Inductee is Peter Concannon. Mr. Concannon worked in NAPS from 1992-2017 and was well known for reaching and making connections with all of our student population. He also initiated the High School’s FOCUS room. It is evident that Mr. Concannon touched the lives of many in our school community during his career in the district. This recognition is very well deserved.

Warmly,

Pam Pietrowski M.Ed.

North Andover School Committee Chair

Tweet of the Month

School Committee Meeting Dates

District Calendar

Click here to view calendar link

That moment when your amazing colleague, your former students and KELLY CLARKSON are all sitting together!!! @kellyclarkson @NAMiddle @nasupt So proud of Carrie Lapierre, Kiley & Lilah Hermann!!!!

North Andover Public Schools

Superintendent's Office

566 Main Street

7:00 pm

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Thursday, October 20, 2022