High Plain Elementary Corner
Ms. Leveque's and Mrs. Lyons' Weekly Newsletter
From the Desks of Ms. Leveque and Mrs. Lyons
Welcome Back Families!
-Tuesday, September 2: First day of school for Kindergarten and Pre-K students (full day); Full day of school, K-5
If you haven't updated your mandatory back to school forms in Aspen, please pause reading this newsletter and jump onto Aspen. Directions are below. Thank you in advance. To all our families who have completed them, way to go!
August 31, 2025
Dear HPE Families,
We had a great first few days and look forward to welcoming our K students on Tuesday. It has been exciting to walk through the classrooms, see the smiles on our students faces, and hear them getting to know one another through a variety of activities. Learning the new routines is always a lot of work and we would not be surprised if your children are coming home tired. Getting back into the swing of things after a summer break takes a lot of energy!
To our returning families, thank you for your ongoing trust and support. It’s always a joy to see familiar faces and to watch your children continue to grow on their learning journey. To our new families, we look forward to seeing you blossom in our amazing community.
Looking ahead, we have a calendar full of exciting events, including our Open House on September 10th, along with many opportunities for you to stay connected and engaged in your child’s school experience. The PTO has many events in the coming weeks, including the first meeting and an Ice Cream Social. Make sure to sign up for their newsletter. Information on how to do so is below.
As always, if you have questions, concerns, or ideas, please don’t hesitate to reach out—we truly value your partnership.
Wishing you and your family a wonderful weekend!
Enjoy summer,
Ms. Leveque and Mrs. Lyons
-Monday, September 1: No School: Labor Day break
-Tuesday, September 2: First day of school for Kindergarten and Pre-K students
-Wednesday, September 3: PTO Sponsored Family Ice Cream Social at 5:30pm
-Thursday, September 4: High Plain PTO Meeting, 7pm in the library. All are welcome!
-Wednesday, September 10: Back to School Elementary Curriculum Night (parents only), 5:30-6:45pm
HPE 2025-26 School Supply Lists
School Year Hours:
Monday-Friday, 8:45-3:30
The Open House/Curriculum Night for High Plain Elementary will be held on Wednesday, September 10th for all grades. This is an evening for parents to visit the school, meet the classroom and specialist teachers, and learn more about what to expect during the coming year. We will run two sessions, allowing you to attend at your convenience and see multiple grades if you have more than one child. No need to sign up in advance!
Session 1: 5:30-6:00pm
Transition Break: 6:00-6:15pm
Session 2: 6:15-6:45pm
Our PTO plans lots of fun for our students and families. Please sign up for the PTO Newsletter at www.highplainpto.org so you don’t miss out on fun events. We are looking forward to seeing our families at the Back-to-School Ice Cream Social next Wednesday, September 3rd from 5:30 - 7:00 PM.
From Mrs. Slomsky
I am excited to welcome the students back to the library. I am looking forward to meeting new students and continuing to build relationships with all the students. During the 2024-25 school year, the library circulated 20,763 items. The 10 most checked out books were all graphic novels. Smile was checked out 111 times last year. The second most popular type of books are The Who Would Win series. The library added 553 books to the collection last school year. Forty percent were purchased with funds raised from the bookfairs and another 30% were paid for by the PTO in support of the Massachusetts Children’s Book awards as well as replacing lost/damaged books.
We will start the year by discussing the library organization and book care. It would be very helpful if you can help your student(s) establish a routine of where to keep their library books at home. They should be kept away from pets. When the books travel back and forth to school, it is a good idea to have water bottles in a separate section, so the books stay dry. Students should use bookmarks to save their location in a book. Bookmarks are available at the library during every visit. If a student forgets their library books on their library day, they may put books on hold. These books are saved for 4 school days behind the circulation desk. The student may come to the library any day of the week from 9-9:15 to return library books and check out new books. They do not need to wait for their assigned library day. It would be great if students can remember to return their books in a timely manner so that other High Plain students can check out the book. Many popular books have waitlists, and we usually only have 1 copy of each title.
I am looking for volunteers in the library. Being a volunteer is not a large time commitment. You can come to school during your child's library time or a time that works best for your schedule. You will help put books back on the shelves, check books in and out and assist the librarian with library maintenance. The first step in becoming a volunteer is to have a CORI completed. You should come to school to fill in the CORI form in person. You will need to show an ID. Please contact me by September 10 if you are interested in becoming a volunteer or if you have any library questions. I will set-up training directly with the people that are interested in volunteering.
Now that the first week of school is behind us, we want to thank all APS families who have already verified and updated their student’s information. If you haven’t done so yet, please take a moment to complete this important task through our secure online portal, Family Connection.
This information includes your child’s emergency contacts, medical information, demographics, technology usage agreement, as well as acknowledging other district policies. Using Family Connection helps streamline communication and significantly reduces the amount of paperwork for families. Most importantly, it ensures we have the most up-to-date information for your child in the event of an emergency.
This system is accessible through the Aspen Family Portal. 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. If you need help, please refer to the – Aspen Family/Student Portal page on the APS website.
SCHOOL BUS
Bus transportation to and from school is provided free of charge to elementary students. Kindergarten students must be met by a known adult at the bus stop. Bus routes will be listed in the Aspen portal.
NAME/BUS TAGS (For Kindergarten and Grade 1 Students)
Your child’s teacher will give you a name tag necklace on the first day. Please have your kindergartner or first grader wear the nametag until further notice. The information on the tag is based on what families have entered on the back to school forms.
CAR PICKUP/DROPOFF
Please note that there are differences in morning arrival and afternoon car pick up. In the morning, you may arrive between 8:45-9:00 by using the High Plain Rd. entrance or the Cross St. entrance. In the afternoon, you can only arrive through the Cross St. entrance. The High Plain Rd. entrance is closed to allow buses. In the afternoon, dismissal begins at 3:30. Both morning and afternoon arrival, all vehicles must turn right when leaving the drop off/pick up line.
WALKERS & BIKE RIDERS:
· For morning arrival, a school crossing guard will be at the Cross Street/Brady Loop entrance.
· All AM walkers and bike riders should use the Cross St. entrance and the sidewalks that follow the front side of the school.
· Bike Riders: Only students in grades 3, 4, and 5 may ride a bike to and from school. A permission form must be completed with the main office.
Bus routes are posted in Aspen. Please arrive 10 minutes before the bus time noted on the route and allow for an extra 10 minutes after the route time for the first few weeks of school as bus drivers learn the new routes.
To learn more about the bus information, please visit the APS transportation page.
We had our first fire drill of the year on Thursday. The state requires one to be completed during the first 3 days of school and the kids did an amazing job! We typically have them 4x/year.
An ALICE drill will be conducted early in the fall. When an ALICE drill is performed, a notification from the school will go out AFTER the drill is complete. The staff do such a great job preparing students for these drills.
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.
This is a reminder that the High Plain Road entrance is closed to cars at dismissal. It is the access entrance for buses only. The Cross Street entrance is how cars enter for car pickup. This is a safety concern. We have seen cars try to sneak in daily and it's simply not fair to those who are following the dismissal procedures. We ask you to be respectful of your fellow HPE community members and abide by this rule.
Breakfast and lunch are once again free to all students. Breakfast is served from 8:45-8:55 each morning and no advanced ordering is needed.
Lunches will need be preordered. Lunch requires families to order in advance to ensure we have the correct allergy-friendly lunch for all our students. 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.
Information about the Andover Public Schools lunch program, as well as menus and instructions for online ordering, may be found on the website here: http://www.andoverschoolnutrition.com/
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.
To promote healthy digital habits during the school day, the resources below may be helpful to use. We appreciate your partnership as we work to keep interruptions to the school day at a minimum.
Resource for Apple Watches:
How to set a School Time schedule
Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Tap All Watches, then tap your child's watch.
Tap Done, then tap Schooltime.
Turn on Schooltime, then tap Edit Schedule.
Choose the days and times when you want Schooltime to be active.
Tap Add Time if you want to set up more than one schedule in a day.
Resource for Gizmo Watches:
How to set up School mode
Open the. Gizmo Hub app.
Tap the. School mode switch. turn on or off. If necessary, set up a School Mode schedule.
In School Devices
K-3 Devices will stay in school.
4-5 Devices can be brought home if directed by the classroom teacher to complete an assignment. Otherwise, they will remain in school.
Please make sure that you arrive with your license. We cannot check you in and let you enter without your license or state issued ID. You also need to have a valid CORI form on file. Please help us with these required safety steps.
School Hours of Operation
8:30 am: School office opens
8:45 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
Students must be dismissed before 3:00
3:30 pm: School ends
Ms. Sarah Leveque, Principal
Email: sarah.leveque@andoverma.us
Website: https://aps1.net/212/High-Plain-Elementary-School
Location: 333 High Plain Road, Andover, MA, USA
Phone: 978-247-8600