SOUTH SCHOOL

We hope your summer was filled with time to relax, recharge, and make special memories with family and friends. As we begin the 2026–2027 school year, we are excited to welcome our students and families back to South School. We look forward to a year filled with learning, connection, and growth as we continue to build a school community where every child feels valued, supported, and a strong sense of belonging.

As always, our partnership with families is an important part of a successful school year. We look forward to staying connected through ongoing communication, school events, and opportunities to be involved in our South School community. Working together, we can help make this a positive and meaningful year for every student.

As we welcome our community back to school, we also wanted to share more information regarding the loss of Kashmira Naili. As this is an unimaginable tragedy, we want to ensure appropriate support as your students transition into their school year. Following developmentally appropriate recommendations from our mental health staff, teachers will acknowledge the loss on the first day of school for grades 3-5. Individual support will be offered for those who may need it. Our counselors are ready to support students who want to individually discuss their thoughts and feelings related to this event. For students in grades 1-2, individual support is available to any students who may need it. Students can talk to their teachers who will connect them to support. If you feel your student may need a check in, please let us know.

We recognize that the start of this school year carries a range of emotions for our community. We are grateful for the care and compassion that our South School families continue to show one another, and we look forward to welcoming our students back and supporting them as we begin the year together.

Warmly,

Brenda Lee, Principal

Jennifer Montgomery, Assistant Principal

Kashmira was a cherished member of our school community whose presence touched many lives. We will remember her for her joyful spirit, positive energy, and for the special ways she brought happiness to those around her. She will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by our entire South School community.

If your child or family would like to write a memory card for Kashmira’s family, please send it to the main office. The school will collect the cards and organize their delivery to her family.

• • Kindergarten Supply List - 2026-2027

  • 1st Grade Supply List - 2026-2027

  • 2nd Grade Supply List - 2026-2027

  • 3rd Grade Supply List - 2026-2027

  • 4th Grade Supply List - 2026-2027

  • 5th Grade Supply List - 2026-2027

  
  

  Your child will also need a school-sized backpack and a refillable water bottle. The PTO generously gives South School students a durable take-home folder to start the year. Thank you, PTO!

  
  

  If you need any financial assistance with supplies, please do not hesitate to reach out to Brenda Lee at brenda.lee@andoverma.us We will make sure that every student is prepared for the first week of school.

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

If students are dismissed early, it must be prior to 3:00 pm

All Absences, Tardies, and Early Dismissals should be entered into Pick-Up Patrol.

ALL Back-To-School forms need to be completed by Monday, August 31st. 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 on the first day.

NEW PARENTS: By Tuesday, you will receive a registration email with a link to set up your account. Please register and also confirm 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: Next week, you will receive an email from PickUp Patrol asking you to confirm your child's default plan.

Thank you for completing all forms in a timely manner.

ARRIVAL

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

Walkers & Bikers: Please arrive close to 8:50 am

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

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 am.

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 or the staff parking lot.

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!

We have several opportunities for you to volunteer with your child's class depending on what works best for your schedule. 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). Room Helpers assist with class parties, acting as an extra set of eyes/hands. This is a great option if your schedule doesn't allow for you to take on the role of Room Parent but you still would like a chance to help out in the class.

We'd love to welcome as many volunteers as possible - new and returning! We'll have a Room Parent Volunteer meeting on Thursday, September 10th, at 11:15am in the South School library. We'll review the role/rules, share ideas, and connect class teams.

To volunteer for either role, please sign up here: Room Parent Volunteer Form.

Questions? Email Sheila Keane at sheilakeane@gmail.com.

All students are able to receive 1 free breakfast and 1 free lunch daily during the 2025-2026 school year. Breakfast will be served in the cafeteria from 8:45 am - 9:00 am and does not need to be ordered ahead of time.

Lunches need to 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.

Please remember to allow extra time for the bus in the morning and afternoons as they adjust to their new routes.

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

All back-to-school forms need to be completed by the 1st day of school

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 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

All parents who would attend the school for any reason including volunteers, concerts, grade level presentations, etc. will need to register through Visitor Aware. This was rolled out last year but all data is deleted at the end of each school year.

To get a head start, please fill out this form: Visitor Aware

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.

• Wed, September 2nd: First day of school, students grades 1-5

• Fri, September 4th and Monday, September 7th: No School: Labor Day break

• Tues, September 8th: First day of school for Kindergarten

• Tues, September 8th: 9:00 Boo Hoo Woo Hoo Breakfast (PTO Sponsored for K Parents outside)

• Wed, September 16th: Open House

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