• March 11 Principal Coffee 9:00 AM Doherty Media Center- Special Guest- Ms. Holly Breen- 9th Grade Coordinator Andover High School- All are welcome
• March 12 Early Dismissal 11:30 AM
• March 12 at 6:30 PM All Bands Night, Andover High School Field House
• March 18 7:00 PM All Strings Night Collins Center
• March 19 Doherty 7:00 PM PAC Meeting Doherty Media Center- All Welcome
• Newsies School Play April Friday 4/4 ; Saturday 4/5 ; and Sunday 4/6: 7pm Shows on Friday & Sat ; 2pm show on Sunday.
• April 9 Early Dismissal 11:30

MCAS Dates

April 8 & 10 – ELA *Note the change in dates

May 1 – Civics (8th grade only)

May 5 & 6 – Math

May 15 & 16 – STE Science Technology Engineering (8th grade only)

Great night had by all who attended! Thank you PAC!!!!!!

One 8th grade student shared.. "This is the most fun school event and you can quote me!"

Big THANK YOU to two amazing PAC parents who organized and ran the event were Amy Hamilton and RJ Johnson.

Questions about Andover High School or the transition process? Join us to meet Holly Breen, the 9th-grade coordinator at Andover High School. All caregivers of students in every grade are welcome to attend. Please RSVP here.

Our 7th and 8th grade students enjoyed our visit from

Gene Luen Yang.

Thank you to all that made this possible.

A special thank you to Ms. Tompkins our librarian.

Doherty MATHCOUNTS Team members

Kenneth Sun

Alicia Zhang

Carmel Kojokaro

Claire Gu

Doherty Middle School participated in the MATHCOUNTS Massachusetts State Competition last Saturday, March 1. They worked hard in preparation and did a fantastic job. -Coach Ying Liu

The Doherty math team placed 7th in Massachusetts and Kenneth Sun earned an impressive 7th place individually.

Do you have an 8th grade student who could benefit from developing the skills needed to boost their grades and prepare for college? Join us for our AVID Program Information Night, where we’ll share how our program can help your student succeed academically and set them up for future success. Students take an AVID elective course throughout high school that provides them with the skills needed to be successful in advancing academically with the ultimate goal of attending college. To learn more and/or to RSVP click here.

Exciting upcoming events with Andover High School

• Thursday, March 13th: Andover High School Counselors will visit Doherty to discuss and review the course offerings and the online course selection process.

8th graders have been very busy since returning from break! In addition to working hard every day, they have been attending high school events, including our most recent visit to AHS for Step Up Day. The students did an amazing job and seemed to have a wonderful time!

Please keep your eyes out for continued emails from Andover High School 9th Grade Coordinator Holly Breen. Just as a reminder, high school counselors will be visiting Doherty on March 13th to help students with course selection. As thinking about the high school transition can sometimes be stressful, we recently conducted a lesson in ITT on practicing mindfulness. Feel free to ask your student what their favorite mindfulness exercise was to help destress! Also, please reach out anytime if you or your family needs any support navigating the upcoming transition!

It has also been a lot of fun pushing into 6th grade and 7th grade ITTs throughout the month. This week, some of our 6th grade ITTs chose their favorite value and made an acrostic poem, while some of our 7th grade students reflected on the value most important to them and on who or what has helped shape that value in them. They did an awesome job!

Thank you for your continued support!

Molly Creamer

School Counselor

Doherty Values Challenge

February was a month dedicated to emphasizing the importance of leadership.

Congratulations

to all the students recognized for their leadership!

On March 13th, the Allies for Social Justice Club at Doherty Middle School will be showing the Disney movie, Remember the Titans, to honor black history and diversity. This movie will be hosted afterschool from 3pm-5pm in the DMS Media Center. Snacks and drinks will be sold and proceeds will be donated to the Black Youth Project. The Black Youth Project is an organization that highlights the voices and ideas of Black millennials. Through knowledge, voice, and action, they work to empower and uplift the lived experiences of young Black Americans today through research and data, while celebrating the diversity of this generation. Students will be able to sign up for this event in homeroom starting on Friday, March 7th. See here for an additional sign-up form if you’d like your student to attend à DMS Movie Madness Sign-Up For more information on the Black Youth Project, please click on the image below. Please reach out to the club coordinator, Megan Donahue, at megan.donahue@andoverma.us with any questions. We hope to see your students there! Remember the Titans Movie Trailer

As we continue the K-8 redistricting process, we are pleased to invite the community to highlight areas of interest (i.e., neighborhoods, streets), with an interactive, online mapping tool - ARCGIS.

This resource will allow the community to review an updated scenario based on the collaboration with the School Committee at its January 9th meeting and community engagement. The updated scenario was presented to the community at a Let’s Talk! session on redistricting held January 16, 2025.

The community can provide visual feedback and written comments to DillingerRAD, the consultant supporting APS with this process. For more information on how to utilize the tool, please check here. Access to this link or the QR code below will close on Friday, January 24, 2025.

In Spring 2025, the School Committee will review the proposed redistricting options and vote on the preferred redistricting plan. The approved redistricting plan will be implemented in the 2026-27 school year. This allows the district sufficient time to operationally plan for the new school zones.

We appreciate your feedback.

• Tuesday, April 29, 2025 - The school budget will be presented as part of the total town budget for a vote at the annual town meeting.

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.

What is RULER?

RULER is an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning (SEL) developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.

Purpose of Morning Check In:

• Create a unified low-stakes rollout for all three APS Middle Schools
• Begin a student focus on the emotion matters mindset and discussion
• Build student relationships and community

RULER VIDEO and Website

YEARBOOK

Simply scan this QR code and follow the prompts. Yearbooks will be delivered to homerooms the last week of school

You may also call 866-287-3096 or go to www.YearbookOrderCenter.com and use order number 13395

The Doherty Middle School Yearbook Club is thrilled to include a special collage page celebrating our 8th graders' unique passions—whether it’s sports, hobbies, music, or quality time with a favorite pet.

We invite you to submit ONE clear, high-quality photo of your student enjoying their activity from their middle school years. The deadline for submissions is April 1st, 2025. Simply use the provided QR code to upload your photo (select “Upload Portrait” and choose “Pre-K” for the grade to help us sort the photos).

Yearbooks are $40 and available for all grades. Reserve yours today at www.YearbookOrderCenter.com (order #13395) or call 866-287-3096.

For questions or scholarship inquiries, please contact faculty advisor, Ms. Bakshi at leela.bakshi@andoverma.us. Let’s make sure every 8th grader is celebrated in this year’s book!

To be completed if your student will participate in after school Extracurricular clubs. Click here for the form. The form is also available on our website.

Completed form can be dropped off at the Main Office.

List of Clubs and Activities can be found on our website under INFORMATION and RESOURCES

This week we kicked off our March Madness Attendance Challenge which is all about teamwork! Each homeroom will be competing for both weekly and a grand prize based on attendance.

Weekly Matchups — How to Advance:

- Each week, our Attendance Team will calculate the percentage of students in each homeroom who attended school on time (no tardies!).

- The section with the highest attendance percentage in each matchup advances to the next round.

- Students with medical notes/excuses will not be counted against the attendance.

- Eliminated teams will continue to be eligible for a weekly prize so don’t give up! Each week is a fresh start!

📅Competition Schedule:

Week 1: March 4-7

Week 2: March 10-14

Week 3: March 17-21

Week 4: March 24-28

🏆Championship Round: March 31-April 4