SOUTH SCHOOL

We hope you had a wonderful and refreshing summer filled with special memories! As we kick off the 2024-2025 school year, we’re excited to welcome you and your children back. We will embark on another exciting journey of learning, growth, and community, and remain committed to creating a warm, inclusive, and engaging environment where every child can thrive.

We know that a strong partnership between home and school is essential for your child’s success. We look forward to collaborating closely with you throughout the year—whether it's through open communication, volunteering, or school events—to ensure that every student reaches their full potential. Together, let’s make this a fantastic year for our entire school community.

Warmly,

Brenda Lee, Principal

Olivia Goodrich, Assistant Principal

We are excited for South School's new yearly theme of "One Team, One Dream". This theme highlights the power of unity and collaboration within our school community. We recognize that the success and well-being of our students depend on the combined efforts of families, teachers, staff, and the students themselves.

We believe that when families and school staff work together as one, we can turn our shared dreams into reality. Thank you for being an essential part of our team and for joining us in this exciting journey!

Diane Waddell - Music (part-time)

Claire Driscoll - Building Based Substitute

Callie Wiley - Building Based Substitute

Amber Bean - 2nd/3rd Grade Special Education Fellow (Full Year)

We are excited to introduce a new website in time for the start of the 2024-25 school year! As part of our commitment to enhancing communication and engagement with our community, the new platform will offer easier navigation, a cleaner look, and enhanced accessibility.

APS has moved to a new website. During the transition period, there may be times when the website will direct to the old version or redirect to the new one. The district’s website address will remain the same: www.aps1.net. The new site will also offer an integrated mobile app for both Android and iPhones.

If you are accessing links from this newsletter and having difficulty, please log onto www.aps1.net to search for the content or try again a bit later.

We are excited to introduce these improvements and appreciate your patience as we continue to add new features and content.

Kindergarten Supply List

Grade 2 Supply List

Grade 4 Supply List

Please also send in a refillable water bottle.

Thank you PTO for providing take-home folders for our students!

School Hours of Operation:

8:15 am: School office opens

8:45 am - 9:00 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 please

Students must be dismissed prior to 3:00

Please call in all absences and tardies to 978-247-9801 (Attendance Line) before 9:00 A.M. Your call will be recorded. Please use this absence line, not the main number.

ALL Back-To-School forms need to be completed by Monday, August 26th. We use the dismissal information to know how students are going home on the first day of school.

Our school uses PickUp Patrol to help us track dismissal information. This can not be activiated until all Back-To-School forms are completed. PickUp Patrol provides you with a convenient way to make changes to your child’s dismissal plans and helps ensure that our students are accurately dismissed each day. We are hoping to begin using PickUp Patrol right after Labor Day.

NEW PARENTS: Within the first few days of school, you will receive a registration email with a link to set up your account. Please register and also confirmed your child’s Default Dismissal Plans.

• The PUP web app is free for parents and you can use it from your smartphone or computer.

• Instructions for how to add the app to your phone are included in the registration email.

• You will need to register before you can confirm your default plans.

RETURNING PARENTS: Soon after the start of the school year, you will receive an email from PickUp Patrol asking you to confirm your child's default plan.

For the first few days of school, teachers will be using the information in your back to school forms on Aspen. If there is a change, please send in a note with your child before PickUp Patrol is activated.

Thank you for completing all forms in a timely manner.

ARRIVAL

Car Drop-Off: 8:45 - 9:00

Walkers & Bikers: Please arrive close to 8:50

Bus Arrival: Anticipated arrival of 8:50-8:55

All students will head to the back of the building for a morning recess. Students being dropped off by car should walk around the right side of the building and students dropped off by bus should walk around the left of the building. Supervision does not start on the back playground until 8:45.

Students arriving by car should only be dropped off in front of the building. For safety purposes, please do not drop off your students on the side of the building.

Please Note: For the first couple of weeks, kindergarteners will gather in front of the kindergarten lobby. Once they are used to the morning routine, they will join the rest of the school out back to play in the morning.

DISMISSAL

In general, our dismissal will also remain the same as last year. Bus pick up and car pick up will be in the same loops as the arrival.

CAR PICK-UP

Please see the graphic below for pick-up and drop-off. We will be following the same dismissal process as last year. Students will be called to the wall and then dismissed to the cars as a group. Cars will NOT leave until all students in the first group are safely in their cars. There will be plenty of adults to help with the routine. Thank you for your support.

We are asking that if you are picking up your student, please write your last name on a piece of paper and have it in your window upon arrival. This will help speed up the process. Thank you!

If you are picking up your students in the car pick-up line, you must be in the line of cars (not in the parking lot or down the street). This is for the safety of all students.

Students are welcome to ride their bicycles or standard scooters to school when the weather is nice. Students must ride with a helmet and follow all traffic laws.

For the safety of our students, motorized scooters are not allowed.

With class assignments out, please consider volunteering as a room parent or helper in your Tiger's classroom. Room parents coordinate with their teacher, send emails to the class, collect donations for the class fund, coordinate class gifts, and plan/host seasonal parties (2-4 depending on grade). Helpers assist with class parties, acting as an extra set of eyes/hands.

If you've volunteered before, we'd love to welcome you back. If you haven't been a room parent before and are a bit nervous to sign up, fear not! We'll have a RP meeting on Wednesday, September 4th, at 10:10 am in the South School library. We'll review the role/rules, share ideas, and connect class teams.

If interested in learning more or to volunteer for either role, please email Laura Veligor at lauraveligor@gmail.com and be sure to include your teacher’s name.

All students are able to receive 1 free breakfast and 1 free lunch daily during the 2024-2025 school year. Breakfast will be served in the cafeteria from 8:45 - 9:00 and does not need to be ordered ahead of time.

Lunches will need be preordered. 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.

Please click below for the monthly menu and more information about Andover's Nutrition Program including how to sign up.

Before/After School Care:

Shed Kids Club - (978) 684-5055

Before: South School

After: 65 Phillips Street, Andover, MA

After School Care:

Kids Care – DCS - 978-623-8311

South School

Andover/North Andover YMCA – (978) 685-3541

165 Haverhill Street, Andover, MA

• Wed., August 28th: First Day of School for Grades 1-5; K-Screening

• Thurs., August 29th: K-Screening
  

• Fri., August 30: NO SCHOOL

• Mon., September 2: NO SCHOOL

• Tues., September 3: First Day of School for Kindergarten

• Wed., September 11: OPEN HOUSE K-5

School Devices:

Kindergarten and 1st grade students will be provided with a school-owned iPad to assist them with learning this year at school. Grade 2 and 3 students will be provided with a school-owned Chromebook to assist them with learning this year while at school. Grade 4 and 5 students will be provided with a school-owned Chromebook to assist them with learning this year. At the individual teacher’s discretion, students may be encouraged to take devices home from time to time to complete additional assignments outside the classroom. Students will be provided with an additional charger to use at home to make sure they charge the devices at night.

Personal Electronics:

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.

All back-to-school forms need to be completed by August 26, 2024.

Andover Public Schools is asking our returning families to verify/update certain pieces of information via a secure online portal called Family Connection. This information includes emergency contacts, medical information, demographics, technology usage agreement, as well as acknowledging other district policies. We hope that this online system will streamline our communication and reduce the amount of paperwork you need to complete. It is important that this is completed before the first day of school, so we have the latest information for your student in case of emergency and so we know how your child is being dismissed on the 1st day of school. Please complete this process even if your students are newly registered.

This system is accessible through the Aspen Family Portal. The Aspen login screen has changed over the summer. Please review the New Aspen and Schoology Sign in information if you have not yet logged in over the summer.

If you need a password reset, please visit our Password Self-Service tool. All other account questions, please email infosys@andoverma.us.

Once you have logged into Aspen, click on the link under the Announcements on the Home page that reads ‘Family Connection – Back to School Forms’. You will be redirected to the Family Connection "Verification Form" page which contains directions on how to complete and submit the forms.

Also, as a reminder, CORI Forms need to be filled out every school year to volunteer and participate in school activities, such as chaperoning a field trip. If you would like to fill it out at home before coming over, here is the link to print the form: CORI FORM

Want to stay up to date with all the latest PTO news?

Visit www.SouthPTO.com

Email: brenda.lee@andoverma.us
Website: https://www.aps1.net/405/South-Elementary-School
Location: 55 Woburn Street, Andover, MA, USA
Phone: 978-247-9800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southschoolaps