Doherty Staff Update 11.17.2024

CLICK the Parent Communication to read about everything going on at DMS and Beyond!

❗Family Communication November 17, 2024

All parent communications can be found on our website. Check our DMS website out!

• Monday 11/25 - GLTS visits 7th grade - Media Center - 7A - 11:50 ~ 7B - 12:40
• Wednesday 11/27 - Early Release
• Friday 12/13- Influence 100 fellow visit

Second term start: 11/27/24

Third Quarter IA Rotation start: 1/23/25

Third term start: 3/13/25

Fourth quarter IA Rotation start: 4/3/25

Reminder to staff to use the Copy Center

WE ENCOURAGE STAFF TO USE THE COPY CENTER FOR ANY LARGE COPY NEEDS.

Email completed order forms along with the relevant pdf/packet to the copy center copycenter@andoverma.us

and cc to Brenda brenda.leyne@andoverma.us

Morning- 9th grade teachers will visit 8th grade classrooms and in the afternoon 8th grade teachers will visit the high school. If you are interested in participating in peer observations within Doherty, at the other middle schools or in the 9th grade, reach out to Amanda and Maggie our instructional coaches.

Andover has been selected as district for a Influence 100 fellows visit.

Friday December 13, 2024 Influence 100 fellows on visiting Doherty 10:45-11:30

In 2019, only 4% of Massachusetts school superintendents were people of color, while 40% of the students served by public school districts were people of color. In the fall of 2019 DESE launched Influence 100 to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of superintendents in Massachusetts, create more culturally responsive districts and leaders across the Commonwealth, and promote better outcomes for students. Since the program's inception, the number of superintendents of color has steadily increased to over 8% in 2024. You can find program highlights here

Another year of scarecrows has come to a close and we are incredibly grateful for your amazing support of the 12th Annual ACE Scarecrow Festival. Thanks to perfect fall weather, the two-week event was one of our most successful yet. This year's theme, "Things That Make You Smile!" encouraged participants to get creative and your enthusiasm certainly brought joy to the event. You make us smile!

Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our mission. A heartfelt thank you to everyone that helped create a scarecrow and shared this beloved event with your school community.

I thought it would be fun to share a few highlights from this year's festival:

• $38K raised to support innovative initiatives in our schools
• 100 scarecrows on Main Street
• 56 sponsors at the Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze levels
• 394 pumpkins sold through our Pumpkin Patch fundraiser
• 143 scavenger hunt forms completed
• 12 years of scarecrows!

We all have a lot to be proud of! I hope you will enjoy the highlight video of this year’s event, thanks to Andover TV.

Wishing you a great rest of the fall,

Best,

Jayashree Mohandas and the ACE Board of Directors

Click here for the teacher Link

7th and 8th Grade Mental Health/SEL Screening: Outline for Teachers

As you may recall, a few years ago the district mental and behavioral health staff began to look into how we could implement universal screening for students' social and emotional needs. This is becoming common practice more and more in schools alongside screening for physical needs, such as the vision and hearing assessments we do in elementary school. Our collective experiences in the past few years have highlighted the need even more to hear from students about their mental health functioning.

It is now ‘routine’ to run screenings for our 7th-12th graders, and the credit goes to the middle and high building staff for helping it happen. These screenings have helped identify students in crisis, connect students/families with appropriate supports, learn about the big picture of student needs, etc.

The document HERE is the notice being sent to parents. It has a lot of information about this effort in it.

We'll be running this screener on:

West Wed 11/13 @ start of 1st period (7th & 8th)

Wood Hill Tues 11/19 @ start of 1st period (7th & 8th)

Doherty Thur 11/21 @ 10:00am (7th & 8th)

Because all the students are in the same class at the same time, we can quickly and succinctly screen each grade level, 7th and 8th- a few minutes of introduction and then 5-10 minutes for students to complete it. We've designed it so staff don't have to do anything other than play a very short intro video and then cue students to check their APS gmail. (Outline for Teachers HERE ). A link to the survey will be emailed to students and can be completed on any device. Completing the survey is strongly encouraged, but students can opt themselves out.

A team of APS mental health staff, including our building staff, will be on site during and after the screening to offer support and monitor student responses live. In the rarer situations where a student needs quick support, there will be staff available. We know from our history of screenings in the district that true urgent follow ups should be very low in number, but we'll have support in place just in case.

Once we process the data from this screening, we will be able to package and share results in a way that informs us all about students' perceptions of their challenges and how we can intervene to ensure their best academic success.

Thank you so much, and please reach out with any questions.

In partnership with PAC, holiday gift cards (Target, Market Basket, Shaw’s etc.) are being collected to distribute to families needing support this holiday season. If you would like to contribute, gift cards can be brought to the main office. Please let Colleen LeBeau know if you have any questions. Thank you!

TAC Meeting Dates as follows. Wednesdays @ 3pm in the Library.

I have updated all calendars and sent date changes through outlook invite.

12/18/24

1/22/25 (changed date from 1/8)

2/5/25

3/26/25 (changed date from 3/5)

4/2/25

5/14/25

5/28/25

📅Personal Day requests: Please check with the book in the main office. Brenda can assist you.

Reminders:

• When inputting a ½ day absence (AM or PM) into Frontline - be sure to change the pulldown under “substitute required” to NO regardless of your position. We do not use outside subs for ½ day absences - we will find appropriate coverage with current staff. Thank you!!

• Please submit attendance through Aspen by 8:30. If you’re unable to get into Aspen, please send an attendance sheet to the front office.

• Media Center:

• If you’d like to reserve the library please email Brenda or Karen to confirm the space is available.

• Chorus will be using the Media Center again this year during periods 7 & 8 on Tuesdays & Fridays.

💻 The loaner computers are now being distributed by the front office. We ask that if students need a computer for the day, they wait till 8:40 to come down to get one, please don’t send them down before then. These computers need to be returned at the end of the day. We appreciate your patience with this new process.

🪴Instruct students to empty the recycle bin on Fridays.

Before you leave for the day:

🪟Close all windows before leaving your classroom at the end of the day.

Stack chairs if possible

💡Turn off lamps in your classroom before leaving for the day.

😊Get your slides HERE- Check the our DMS Schoology Group: Resources: RULER: Morning Slides

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

To reserve the media center during school or after school please reach out to Brenda or Karen in the main office.