Bulldog Bulletin

Last week, we held an All School Meeting where students learned more about RULER, our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) resource. Our focus was on the Mood Meter, and students will be learning a new emotion word each week at their grade level. You can practice these words at home!

Our first set of words come from the yellow zone—which represents high energy and high pleasantness:

• Kindergarten – Excited

• First Grade – Energetic

• Second Grade – Interested

• Third Grade – Courageous

• Fourth Grade – Engaged

• Fifth Grade – Elated

Our Student Council also performed a skit to introduce our next Theme of the Month: Problem Solving & Flexibility. Their skit was based on the book The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires.

At home, you can support your child’s problem-solving and flexibility skills with these strategies:

• "How Else Can We Do This?" – Encourage your child to think of a different way to solve a challenge rather than giving up.

• Journal Problem-Solving Reflections – Have your child write about a challenge they faced that day and how they handled it.

• Teach Someone Else – Ask your child to explain or teach a skill to a sibling or parent in a different way.

Important Reminders

• PickUp Patrol: We are now only using PickUp Patrol to handle absences, tardies, and dismissal changes. Please use the app instead of calling the absentee line.

Read Across America & Author Visits

Next week, we will be celebrating Read Across America Week with a Spirit Week and Author Visits!

• Monday: Rajani LaRocca (Grades 3-5)-Workout Attire

• Tuesday: Megan Litwin (Grades K-2)-Cozy Socks

• Wednesday: Holly Thompson (All Grades)-Favorite Hat

• Thursday: Matt Tavares (All Students)-PJ Day

• Friday: Community Readers will visit our classrooms to share stories!- Team Jersey/Shirt Day

Rajani LaRocca is sponsored byt the Cummings Grant and the rest of the amazing author visits are sponsored by the Sanborn PTO and your FunRun dollars—thank you for your support!

Upcoming Meetings & Surveys

• Cultural Climate Committee Meeting – Friday, March 7 at 8:15 AM

  • We will begin reviewing our survey results, and all are welcome!

• Equity Survey – Last Call!

  • The survey closes on March 5. Please take a few moments to participate. We want to learn more about our Sanborn community and find ways to improve. Our goal is as close to 100% participation as possible!

Current participation rates:

• Kindergarten – 56%

• 1st Grade – 59%

• 2nd Grade – 39%

• 3rd Grade – 34%

• 4th Grade – 38%

• 5th Grade – 33%

• Overall Student Participation – 43%

Lastly, our spring Parent-Teacher Conferences are right around the corner. You should be hearing from your child's teacher about signing up. We encourage you to meet and discuss your child's growth since the report cards.

Thank you for your continued support in making Sanborn a place where everyone belongs!

To promote equity and belonging, we invite families to participate in our Equity Survey. Your feedback will help us better understand the diverse needs of our school community and guide our work. The survey is anonymous and takes just a few minutes to complete.

We share in your excitement for your child to enroll in Kindergarten for the 2025-2026 school year and look forward to them being a part of the Andover Public School community in September.

Kindergarten registration will begin on Monday, February 3 to Monday, March 3, 2025. Please access the Kindergarten Registration Link on our website.

To find which school your child will attend, review our district map at this link. Following your registration, please contact your school directly to make an appointment to submit your registration paperwork.

For your reference, student eligibility requirements are as follows:

Kindergarten:

As per School Committee Policy (Policy JF: Residency, School Admission, Entrance Age), children must be 5 years old on or before August 31, 2025 and entering Kindergarten in the Andover Public Schools for the first time.

First Grade: (New to Andover /Andover Public Schools)

Children must be age 6 on or before August 31, 2025 and enrolling in the Andover Public Schools for the first time or transferring from another school district or private school.

The first day of school for Pre-K and Kindergarten students is Tuesday, September 2, 2025.

We look forward to meeting all our incoming students and families in the new school year!

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.

March 3rd- March 7th Author's Week

Friday, March 7th C-3 Meeting

Wednesday, March 12th Early Release and All Bands Night 7:00 AHS Field House

Thursday, March 13th Talent Show 5:30