High Plain Elementary Corner

Week of January 11, 2026

Dear HPE Families,

Happy new year! We love January in education as it's a time our kids dig in and show great growth. Routines, classroom relationships, and a strong foundation are set. Being able to capitalize on the start of the year learning, during a stretch of uninterrupted learning time, is exciting. We look forward to the work ahead.

Mark your calendars! Below you will find our spring MCAS dates for all students in grades 3-5. We share these dates early so that all vacations and unnecessary absences can be avoided.

Finally, for all grades 3-5 families that helped their children with the start of the Bradford ski after school program this week, thanks for your support at drop-off. It felt organized and calm when families dropped off skis between 8:30-8:45am on Tuesday, using the cafeteria loop. We'll continue with this practice moving forward.

Enjoy,

Ms. Leveque and Mrs. Lyons

Sarah.Leveque@andoverma.us and Marika.Lyons@andoverma.us

-Friday, January 16: Isra and Miraj

-Monday, January 19: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - no school

-Wednesday, January 28: Early release (12:15 dismissal)

School Year Hours:

Monday-Friday, 8:45-3:30

Andover Public School 2026-2027 Calendar

As part of our HPE Student Council, we have a news team that has a weekly report for our students. Here is the latest news.

As with every elementary school, the health clinic sees students for many things. Each winter, we see an uptick in flu, stomach bugs, and lice, among others. We want to share some guidance and tips that can help with these items.

Lice

If you find your child has lice, please contact the school nurse so we can support and advise you. We are able to provide you with resource options to support treating lice. All students should be checked by the school nurse before returning to school.

As a preventive measure, please continue to perform head checks on your children monthly and call the clinic with any questions. At school, we do not have students share clothing and we vacuum and clean carpeted or fabric surfaces regularly. We also do our best to avoid close interactions of students while working and playing, knowing this can be challenging with young elementary children.

Other preventative measures:

• Keep hair tied up.
• No sharing of hats or clothing.
• Not sharing hair brushes and cleaning hair brushes regularly.
• Dry clothing and other fabrics in the dryer.
• There are preventative hair products and shampoos available.

Stomach Bug

The stomach bug (Norovirus) is something that we often see in students at this time of year. Norovirus can have symptoms for a few weeks, including vomiting and diarrhea. It is highly contagious. If your child is showing these symptoms, staying home is important. Preventative measures include washing hands frequently, disinfecting high touch surfaces (door handles, tabletops, etc.), and washing soiled clothing. At school, we increase cleaning of the room and touch points if students are sick.

Flu

Flu (influenza) is highly contagious and has many symptoms, including body aches, general fatigue, coughing, sore throat, fever or chills, and both a runny or stuffy nose. Along with symptoms, our students often report just feeling sluggish or off from their normal selves. Check out this chart from the CDC that shows the difference between flu versus the common cold. Preventative measures include vaccination, washing hands frequently, and disinfecting high touch surfaces (door handles, tabletops, etc.). At school, we increase cleaning of the room and touch points if students are sick.

In addition, it's that time of year when we see an increase in student's visiting the health office. Below are some general reminders and guidelines about when students can return to school if they are home sick.

When to keep your child home:

· Fever

· Vomiting or diarrhea

· Contagious diseases- please call the clinic to discuss with the nurses if you have any questions

Criteria for a student returning to school following an illness:

· Fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medications.

· Vomiting or diarrhea free for 24 hours.

· If your child has a contagious illness – contact the school nurse before your child returns to school so that we can advise you regarding return to school protocols.

The testing window has been set by DESE and we are planning for the following MCAS test dates at HPE. Please note that students will take 2 days of tests per content area. Please refrain from vacations or unnecessary absences on these dates.

Grade 3

ACCESS Testing goes through the months of January and February. English Language students in grades 1-5, will take 4 tests: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. These are required state assessments. By Fall of 2026, families will receive Individual Student Reports that provide information about how your child is progressing. Please reach out if you have any questions to Vilanha Turner or Vivian McNeeley, our English Language Educators.

Happy New Year and welcome back to the HPE gym!

Students have jumped right back into the swing of things in P.E. as we begin our basketball unit for grades K–5. This week’s focus is on dribbling skills, with students rotating through four different stations.

• Station 1: Dynamic dribbling at different levels while balancing across beams of varying heights.
• Station 2: Dynamic dribbling through targets such as hula hoops and speed ladders.
• Station 3: Snake dribbling through a set of cones to practice control and direction.
• Station 4: Stationary dribbling, focusing on hand control, body position, and ball handling fundamentals.

During December, the High Plain students checked out 2,368 books from the library. There were 38 books put on hold during December. As the books become available, they are delivered to the student’s classroom. The number of overdue books has increased to 639 books. Please ask your students if they have any library books that need to be returned. Eightly-three fourth and fifth grade students have read at least 1 Massachusetts Children’s Book Award book so far and 43 have read at least 5 books and are eligible to vote for the state award winner in April. There is 1 fifth grade student who has read all 25 MCBA books this year!

During January, the Kindergarten students will continue to explore the library and listen to stories by different authors. The first grade students will be wrapping up the unit on Caldecott award winning books. The 2026 Caldecott awards will be announced on Monday, January 26th. The second grade students are continuing to learn about fairytales. We have already read several stories by the Grimm Brothers and now will be reading stories by Charles Perreault and Hans Christian Anderson. The third graders will continue to learn how the library is organized and will explore different genres. The fourth grade students will learn about keyword searching and will start a research project. The fifth grade students will be starting their Capstone projects in January. Capstone is a research project where the students select topics that they are interested in learning about. At the end of the project they will create a poster in Canva that will capture their research.

The Massachusetts School Library Association is hosting a bookmark contest. The theme is “Something for Everyone at the Library”. The rules about artwork are on the form. In order to participate, the student must complete an entry form and return it to the library by Friday, February 6th. There will be one winner at High Plain for each of the following grade categories K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. The HPE winner then competes at the state level. The winner and runners up are announced at the Massachusetts School Library Association conference in April.

Contest Prizes include:

• Bookstore gift card ($50 for first place, $25 for honorable mention)
• Invitation to an in-person Awards Ceremony (details to be announced)
• Certificate, enlargement, and reproductions (50 for 1st place, 25 for honorable mention) of winning bookmark designs

There are printed copies of the entry form in the library. Here is a link to the entry form in case your child needs another copy or wants to create their entry with digital artwork: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WncSgIrBFOnz6vXmM5pXXo8uchfiov3tYhQO35UviCI/edit?usp=sharing

Our PTO plans lots of fun for our students and families. Please sign up for the PTO Newsletter at www.highplainpto.org so you don’t miss out on fun events. We will be at the Open House Curriculum Night so come say hello!

As we enter the cooler weather leading into winter, we want students to have a consistent outdoor experience between grades and classrooms. To support this, we have set guidelines for temperature/weather type when deciding outdoor vs. indoor recess for all classrooms. Below are guidelines for outdoor recess.

• Students will be outdoors if the temperature (including wind chill) is 20 degrees or warmer and it’s not raining, sleeting, hailing, or blizzarding. We use Weatherbug.com to determine the temperature.

• On questionable, cold days the office will make an announcement before the first recess announcing outdoor or indoor recess. If no announcement is made then it is outdoor recess.

• If students want to play in snow, they must be wearing snow pants, boots, jackets, and gloves/mittens. If students do not wish to play in the snow, they will remain on the blacktop.

• With a large amount of students out on the playground at each recess, we need to be extra vigilant about safety. There is no throwing of snowballs or ice. A behavior slip will be used to re-teach and discuss the safety concerns if a student does not follow this rule.

• Label each article of clothing so that if something is misplaced, it can be returned to you as quickly as possible.

Please be aware that all students go outside when the weather meets these conditions.

Please send your child to school wearing appropriate outdoor clothing for the weather. We highly encourage you to practice getting dressed in the snow gear as quickly as possible- make a game of it and time it! The expectation is, if your child is well enough to come to school, they are well enough to go outdoors.

Thanks for taking the time to remind students of the winter expectations. Snow play is beloved by many and we want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to safely enjoy their recess time during these months.

SCHOOL BUS

Bus transportation to and from school is provided free of charge to elementary students. Kindergarten students must be met by a known adult at the bus stop. Bus routes will be listed in the Aspen portal.

NAME/BUS TAGS (For Kindergarten and Grade 1 Students)
Your child’s teacher will give you a name tag necklace on the first day. Please have your kindergartner or first grader wear the nametag until further notice. The information on the tag is based on what families have entered on the back to school forms.

CAR PICKUP/DROPOFF

Please note that there are differences in morning arrival and afternoon car pick up. In the morning, you may arrive between 8:45-9:00 by using the High Plain Rd. entrance or the Cross St. entrance. In the afternoon, you can only arrive through the Cross St. entrance. The High Plain Rd. entrance is closed to allow buses. In the afternoon, dismissal begins at 3:30. Both morning and afternoon arrival, all vehicles must turn right when leaving the drop off/pick up line.

WALKERS & BIKE RIDERS:

· For morning arrival, a school crossing guard will be at the Cross Street/Brady Loop entrance.

· All AM walkers and bike riders should use the Cross St. entrance and the sidewalks that follow the front side of the school.

· Bike Riders: Only students in grades 3, 4, and 5 may ride a bike to and from school. A permission form must be completed with the main office.

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 to resources on how to reach staff with concerns and how to stay connected to news and events across the district.

This is a reminder that the High Plain Road entrance is closed to cars at dismissal. It is the access entrance for buses only. The Cross Street entrance is how cars enter for car pickup. This is a safety concern. We have seen cars try to sneak in daily and it's simply not fair to those who are following the dismissal procedures. We ask you to be respectful of your fellow HPE community members and abide by this rule.

Breakfast and lunch are once again free to all students. Breakfast is served from 8:45-8:55 each morning and no advanced ordering is needed.

Lunches will need be preordered. Lunch requires families to order in advance to ensure we have the correct allergy-friendly lunch for all our students. It is very important that our cafeteria has an accurate lunch count each day. Please review with your children each morning what you have ordered for them.

Information about the Andover Public Schools lunch program, as well as menus and instructions for online ordering, may be found on the website here: http://www.andoverschoolnutrition.com/

We are all working to manage the age of technology and are looking for support between school and home. Many children have new smart devices and the elementary schools have some guidance.

A kind reminder to our families that cell phones must be turned off and in students’ backpacks at the start of the school day. Smartwatches may be worn as regular watches, however, students are not allowed to text, communicate with others, use applications, take pictures or videos, or access social media services and websites.

Should parents/guardians urgently need to reach their child during the school day, we ask that you call the main office. Students are also allowed to come to the main office if they need to contact someone at home. If a cell phone or watch becomes a significant distraction, school administrators will reach out to parents/guardians. The Andover Public Schools is not responsible for lost, stolen, damaged, or broken devices.

To promote healthy digital habits during the school day, the resources below may be helpful to use. We appreciate your partnership as we work to keep interruptions to the school day at a minimum.

Resource for Apple Watches:

How to set a School Time schedule

• Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Tap All Watches, then tap your child's watch.

• Tap Done, then tap Schooltime.

• Turn on Schooltime, then tap Edit Schedule.

• Choose the days and times when you want Schooltime to be active.

• Tap Add Time if you want to set up more than one schedule in a day.

Resource for Gizmo Watches:

How to set up School mode

• Open the. Gizmo Hub app.

• Tap the. School mode switch. turn on or off. If necessary, set up a School Mode schedule.

In School Devices

K-3 Devices will stay in school.

4-5 Devices can be brought home if directed by the classroom teacher to complete an assignment. Otherwise, they will remain in school.

Please make sure that you arrive with your license. We cannot check you in and let you enter without your license or state issued ID. You also need to have a valid CORI form on file. Please help us with these required safety steps.

8:30 am: School office opens

8:45 am: School drop off

9:00 am: School day begins

After 9:00 am: Children are tardy and must be accompanied by a parent into the office

After 2:00 pm: Unless it's an emergency, no dismissal changes

Students must be dismissed before 3:00

3:30 pm: School ends

Email: sarah.leveque@andoverma.us
Website: https://aps1.net/212/High-Plain-Elementary-School
Location: 333 High Plain Road, Andover, MA, USA
Phone: 978-247-8600