High Plain Elementary Corner
Ms. Leveque's and Mrs. Lyons' Weekly Newsletter
From the Desks of Ms. Leveque and Mrs. Lyons
September 7, 2025
Dear HPE Families,
Our kindergartners joined us on Tuesday. They entered well and we have had a strong week of community building and learning at High Plain. Our campus feels complete!
This week was filled with PTO events. We had a wonderful PTO sponsored Ice Cream Social this past Wednesday. It was fantastic to see so many families mingling while students showed off their playground skills. The dunk tank was a huge success. We loved seeing our students get our staff members drenched. We have quite the collection of throwing arms at HPE! Thank you to the PTO for getting this event together for our families, and for our wonderful staff members who were able to participate. In addition, Thursday evening we held our first High Plain PTO meeting of the year. We look forward to a great year ahead!
This Wednesday, September 10th, we will hold our Open House. This is a great opportunity for you to stay connected and engaged in your child’s school experience. You will find details below. We look forward to welcoming you to school.
Enjoy,
Ms. Leveque and Mrs. Lyons
-Wednesday, September 10: Back to School Elementary Curriculum Night (parents only), 5:30-6:45pm
-Monday, September 22: Navaratri
-Tuesday, September 23 & Wednesday September 24: Rosh Hashanah (days 1 & 2)
HPE 2025-26 School Supply Lists
School Year Hours:
Monday-Friday, 8:45-3:30
The Open House Curriculum Night for High Plain Elementary will be held on Wednesday, September 10th for all grades. This is an evening for parents to hear about the school year, and we ask to the best of your ability that children do not attend. As we are holding it on one evening, consistent across the elementary schools, we are offering two sessions for you to choose from. This also allows you to hear from multiple teachers if you have multiple children at High Plain. Both sessions will contain the same information, and we encourage you to attend the session that works best for your schedule. You do not need to sign up for which session you wish to attend. These sessions are to benefit all families in the classroom, and we ask you to refrain from asking specific questions about your child. You are always welcome to reach out to your child's teacher at any time with questions or wonderings.
Session 1: 5:30-6:00pm
Transition Break: 6:00-6:15pm
Session 2: 6:15-6:45pm
Please note that parking will require some creativity. You are welcome to park in the Wood Hill lots and on the side streets around High Plain.
We encourage you to stop by the art room, the library, the music room, and the gym to meet our specialist teachers. They are excited to work with your children and welcome the opportunity to meet you and say hello.
We would also encourage you to take a peek at the Meet the Staff Bulletin Board in the main hallway. It is a great way to put a name to a face and see the many people who work at HPE. It highlights our school theme Possibility, Wonder, Joy from our staff community.
If you would like to volunteer or visit High Plain this school year, we ask that you complete a CORI form. CORI forms will be available in the school office. A CORI form must be completed each year. If you wish to fill one out, please bring your government issued identification.
After participating in a comprehensive literacy review during the 2024-2025 school year, the Andover Public Schools adopted Arts and Letters by Great Minds as our new English Language Arts curriculum for Kindergarten through grade 5. This innovative program goes beyond teaching reading and writing skills—it helps students build knowledge, think critically, and develop a true love of learning. With a focus on engaging texts, meaningful discussions, and opportunities to connect reading and writing across subjects, Arts and Letters gives students the tools they need to grow as confident readers, writers, and thinkers.
A key benefit of Arts & Letters is the fact that it complements our continued approach to teaching students to read through an emphasis on foundational literacy skills, focusing on both word recognition and language comprehension development. Arts & Letters pairs particularly well with Fundations, Heggerty, and Geodes, all of which remain firmly intact within our instructional approach.
Families can expect their children to explore rich stories, expand their vocabulary, and make connections to science, history, and the arts as they learn. We look forward to partnering with you as we launch this exciting new program and support every child’s growth in literacy. Please be on the lookout for details regarding informational sessions for parents and guardians later this fall. In the meantime, you can learn more at greatminds.org.
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!
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.
School Hours of Operation
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
Ms. Sarah Leveque, Principal
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