Bulldog Bulletin
Week of January 27th
You Belong Here
This week, we celebrated the arts in full swing! Our winter concert was a resounding success, with the Orff Ensemble and 5th-grade chorus delivering a beautiful performance. On Thursday, our third graders enjoyed a trip to the Lexington Symphony Orchestra, where they deepened their appreciation for music.
We continue to focus on mindful listening as part of our effort to help students stay fully present and engaged. This week, students practiced listening carefully to their peers during class discussions and shared what they learned. They will continue building on this practice next week.
Looking ahead:
- School Meeting: This week, our Student Council will share a special performance to introduce February's theme.
- PTO Meeting: Dr. Parvey will join us on Tuesday night at 7 PM. We hope to see many of you there!
- Early Release: A reminder that Wednesday is an early release day. Dismissal will be at 12:15 PM.
Finally, Progress Reports will be accessible to families on Friday, February 2nd. More details about report cards can be found below.
Thank you for your continued partnership and support. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!
On Monday February 3rd, your child's report card will be released through the Parent Portal. We wanted to share some information about the grading system that we use at APS. Please reach out directly to your child's teacher for any additional questions about your child's report card.
The standards listed on the report cards are grade-level standards taken directly from the Massachusetts State Curriculum Frameworks and explicitly state what students must know and be able to do. The standards serve as the foundation for the curriculum chosen, guide the pedagogy enlisted to deliver the curriculum, and become the target for our assessments, both formative and summative.
The report card will use indicators that illustrate each individual’s progress in meeting these academic standards. Note: The standards are end-of-year standards. It is not unusual for most students to be "Developing" along these standards at this point in the school year.
M - Meets the standard
- The student can apply the standard with independence
- The student demonstrates mastery of or proficiency in that standard
- The student is able to apply the standard in a variety of contexts
D - Developing
- The student applies the standard with varied consistency, quality, or independence
- The student is making progress toward mastery of or proficiency in the standard.
B - Beginning
- The student has not yet reached the understanding to apply the standard.
- The student is making early progress toward mastery of or proficiency in the standard.
** Our second set of conferences will be held on in March and classroom teachers will be reaching out by next month with dates/times to choose from.
In Spring 2025, the School Committee will review the proposed redistricting options and vote on the preferred redistricting plan. The approved redistricting plan will be implemented in the 2026-27 school year. This allows the district sufficient time to operationally plan for the new school zones.
Sanborn Redistricting Advisory Council
What is the Redistricting Advisory Council (RAC):
This is a non-binding group of parents and educators from each elementary/ middle school that is occasionally consulted as part of the redistricting process. All redistricting decisions are ultimately made by the school committee.
Who are the reps for Sanborn?
The parent reps are: Endri Angjeli (endriangjeli@gmail.com), Liz Gostanian (lizgostanian@gmail.com ) and Kimiko Vecchione (kimiko.vecchione@gmail.com). The staff reps are Jenn Cann & Jordan Ricciardi.
Questions? Feel free to contact one of the parent reps!
The Andover Public Schools FY26 Budget process began last fall and has been shaped over the past few months. The fiscal challenges the district faced last year continue for FY26 and beyond. Key factors contributing to these challenges include rising costs in transportation, salaries, special education programming, and utilities.
To promote opportunities for community involvement, APS superintendent Dr. Parvey and Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Administration Keith Taverna will be visiting all schools’ PTO/PAC meetings to discuss the FY26 Budget process and answer questions. We encourage you to visit the FY26 Budget webpage for more information on what has been shared with the community so far.
You are invited to join us for their conversation with the Sanborn community at our PTO meeting on January 28th, 2025 at 7:00 pm. We hope you will join us.
MCAS Dates
We want to share these dates in advance as we prepare for the upcoming.
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) testing.
Grade 3 April 7, 8 (ELA) and May 6, 8 (Math)
Grade 4 April 10, 11 (ELA) and May 13, 15 (Math)
Grade 5 April 10, 11 (ELA) May 13, 15 (Math) and May 19, 20 (Science)
More information will be shared closer to testing time.
APS: Who We Are & Stay Connected
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.
