Knightly News
Dear North Andover Families and Caregivers,
As October comes to a close, I want to thank our staff for a successful opening to the school year. Across our schools, educators and support staff have welcomed students, built relationships and established routines that help children feel connected and ready to learn. The care and planning behind this work set the foundation for a successful year.
Thank you to our families and caregivers for participating in open houses and the many fall school and community events. These opportunities to connect strengthen our school communities and the partnerships that support our students.
Our elementary and middle school teams look forward to meeting with caregivers during conferences on November 3 (next Tuesday). Conferences offer valuable time to discuss your child’s academic and social-emotional development, celebrate progress and identify areas for continued growth. They are also an opportunity for us to listen and learn from you. Your observations and insights help us better understand and support your child.
This year, we have also made changes to strengthen how we work with students throughout their educational journey. Michelle O’Leary, formerly our district’s Director of Social-Emotional Learning, now serves as Director of Counseling PreK–8 and Family Engagement. Megan Pinksten, formerly the Director of Guidance at North Andover High School, now serves as Director of Counseling 9–12 and Postsecondary Engagement. We have also formally changed the title of “guidance counselor” to “school counselor” to more accurately reflect the broad academic, social-emotional and future-planning responsibilities of these professionals.
These changes support a more unified PreK–12 Counseling Department, with consistent and equitable support for students and families across our schools. Through stronger collaboration among school counselors, psychologists and family liaisons, we are building shared practices and strengthening connections across grade levels. This alignment will also help support students as they transition from elementary to middle school, from middle to high school and into opportunities beyond graduation.
We have also added an Early Literacy Success Coordinator to strengthen our youngest learners’ reading development. Martha Jancaitis, formerly Atkinson School’s Assistant Principal and Director of Title I, now serves in this role, bringing valuable experience necessary for success. Martha’s work focuses on strengthening our districtwide approach to early literacy through evidence-based classroom instruction and targeted support for students who need additional help. Working alongside educators and school teams, she helps use student learning data to identify needs early, guide instruction and monitor progress. Our goal is for every student to reach grade-level reading proficiency by the end of third grade, a critical foundation for future learning.
Together, these investments reflect our commitment to helping every student experience both academic success and a strong sense of belonging. Thank you for your continued partnership and for the many ways you help our students grow with purpose and make an impact.
Warmly,
Pamela Lathrop
Superintendent of Schools
Our 2031 Growing Together Strategic Plan provides a shared vision for the future of North Andover Public Schools, guiding our work to strengthen teaching and learning, support student well-being, and build strong partnerships with families and our community. As we bring this vision to life, the plan will help guide our priorities, budget decisions and investments in our schools. We invite you to explore the plan linked here and learn more about how we are growing together to help every student thrive.
Happy fall everyone!
Your School Committee's work is in full gear for the year. We have already had presentations from the administration regarding our district improvement plan and all the individual school improvement plans. I am happy to report that this work is well thought out and planned and should result in strong improvement in our performance.
My colleagues and I participated in all of the fall school open house events. We were duly impressed by the strong turnout at all the schools, the dedication of our staff in preparing for those evenings, and the energy that was clearly evident in each of the buildings. I want to give a shout out and send sincere appreciation to all the administrators, teachers, teaching assistants and custodians that put those great programs together and carried them out.
We are now embarking on the budget process. It begins with guidelines that we as a school committee provide to the administration. The administration then puts together a proposed budget, we review it and make any necessary suggestions for modifications. There will be a public hearing in which the public gets to weigh in, ask questions and provide feedback and suggestions, after which a final budget is prepared that we send on to Town Meeting for thecitizens to vote on. Last spring, a committee consisting of approximately 40 stakeholders including Administration personnel, School Committee members, parents, teachers, teaching assistants and other community members helped prepare the District's new Strategic Plan. The full plan is available on the District's website and I encourage everyone to read it. Our budget process is geared towards implementation of that plan.
The budget is one of the three fundamental responsibilities of a school committee, so this work is taken quite seriously and consumes quite a bit of time. In the end, it is the funding mechanism that allows the district to function. I encourage everyone that cares about our schools to attend our meetings and/or watch them online and to participate in the budget public hearing. Consult the district website for times and dates.
Fall sports are coming to a close so please come out and cheer those teams on as the wrap up their seasons. Support your students in all their activities, which are all well underway at all the schools. Winter will bring concerts, performances, winter sports, and many more fun and exciting events.
On a final note, we have held one Community Chat this fall and will be holding another on Saturday November 14th at 12:30pm at the Stevens Memorial Library. Unlike our public meetings, where public comment is always welcome but two-way conversations are not possible, a community chat is your opportunity to have a two-way conversation with two of us, so please join us! If you cannot make that date, and have something you want to discuss with the School Committee, please email me.
Sincerely,
Dave Brown, Chair
North Andover School Committee
Fall Benchmark Assessments
K-8 Students have completed the beginning of the year benchmark assessments and their reports will be coming home in backpacks by October 30. More information about the assessments can be found below and on the district website: https://www.northandoverpublicschools.com/academics/assessments
MAP Math and Reading Assessments
Students in grades K-8 take NWEA MAP Growth assessments. MAP is an adaptive computer test that adjusts to the ability and knowledge of the student, providing a unique set of test questions based on their responses to previous questions. Teachers use MAP Growth scores to monitor the growth of individual students and develop classroom-level strategies that help maximize every student’s learning potential. Principals and administrators use the scores to see the performance and progress of a grade level, school, or the entire district.
Translated copy of MAP Family FAQ document - Spanish
Translated copy of MAP Family FAQ document - Portuguese
DIBELS Literacy Assessment
students in grades K-5 Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) assessment. DIBELS is a series of short, quick assessments that some schools use to determine if students may be struggling with reading and need additional help. Teachers use DIBELS to inform their reading instruction. In other words, DIBELS tells teachers if students are at risk in reading and the type of help they may need. https://dibels.amplify.com/docs/DIBELS_Tips_for_Families.pdf
MCAS Family Portal Registration
In August 2026 The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released an MCAS Family Portal. This online tool lets families see their student’s MCAS test results. MCAS results from spring 2026 are available as well as student’s results from past years (2023–2025), if available. Families were emailed a unique registration code if their student was registered in North Andover Public Schools in Spring of 2026. Please reach out to Any students new to the district who took a Spring 2026 MCAS should reach out to their prior school to receive their code. More information can be found on DESE website: www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/family-portal
Please note that Sharon Karalis will be retiring from the Community Programs office on October 30, 2026. We would like to thank Sharon for her many years of dedicated service to the North Andover school community. Hannah Crane is taking Sharon's place at the desk. Hannah worked at our schools as a group leader in the past and is very excited to serve the community in a new way. Please feel free to reach out with any questions. Have a great start to the school year and thank you for your support! Community Programs Webpage
Please mark your calendars with these key dates to start off next school year.
Key Dates
Wednesday, Sept 2: First Day for Grades 1-12
Thursday, Sept 3: Orientation for Kindergarten
Friday, Sept 4: Schools Closed for Labor Day Weekend
Monday, Sept 7: Schools Closed for Labor Day
Tuesday, Sept 8: First Day for Kindergarten
