Three Finalists Chosen for Sargent Principal

The Sargent Principal Search Committee, consisting of three parents, five teachers, the office administrative assistant, the Director of Special Education and the Assistant Superintendent interviewed nine candidates for the position of Principal of Sargent Elementary School. The candidates interviewed were screened from a pool of 50 applicants. Prior to the interviews, the Committee conducted surveys and consulted with colleagues and constituents about the qualities and qualifications desired for the new principal. The Search Committee brought forward three candidates, two current elementary school principals and one current elementary school assistant principal. Members of the Committee have been able to visit the schools of two of the three candidates so far. The three individuals have now been interviewed by the four-member district administrative council, consisting of Superintendent Hottel, Assistant Superintendent Hutchinson, Business Administrator Jim Mealey and Director of Special Education Joyce Laundre. The three finalists will come to North Andover during the period May 31-June 2 to tour the Sargent School with the Superintendent and meet staff informally. A decision on the choice of the new principal for Sargent is expected by June 2.

BRC Members Present At MASC-MASS Joint Conference

Teachers' Association and School Committee Approve Five-Year Agreement

On November 18, the North Andover Teachers' Association and the North Andover School Committee approved a five-year agreement with two contracts, one covering the school years 2009-10 and 2010-11, and the second the years 2011-2014. The Tentative Agreement outlines the changes to the current contract. Superintendent Christopher Hottel read a Statement on the settlement of the contract at the School Committee meeting where members approved the contracts ratified earlier that afternoon by the North Andover Teachers' Association.

School Committee Approves Revised Start Time for North Andover Schools

At its meeting of December 16, 2010, the School Committee approved revised start times for the 2010-11 school year. The Committee commended the work of the Advisory Committee in reaching a proposal that begins to address the scientific research on adolescent sleep while taking into account the concerns of parents with work scheduling difficulties. With this change, the high school and middle school will start 20 minutes later than they do this year. There will also be a 10-minute shift in elementary start times. A detailed 2010-11 School Start Time Chart provides all times for next year.

The Superintendent stressed that he will be convening a committee to monitor the effects of the change in times. He will also be reviewing next year the student bus transportation schedules and meeting with regional transit authorities to explore different ways of addressing transportation.

Teacher Appreciation Week May 9-13

All of us in the school community in North Andover join this week to thank our teachers for the dedicated work they do every day with our students. As we know, the work of a teacher encompasses much more than the content learning that they deliver, explain and assess each day. Their work includes the teaching of skills, ideas and experiences that will live with their students for years. Each year, many students return to schools to thank their teachers for instilling in them courage, confidence, inspiration, passion, and respect, as well for bringing to life the knowledge that they carry with them.  It is for this reason that it is so difficult to quantify the productive capacity of a teacher. All of us remember our favorite teachers. To hear Secretary of Education Arne Duncan speak about the appreciation for teachers, visit the Department of Education website. I know you join the School Committee and me in saluting our teachers for the great work they do each and every day.

Christopher Hottel, Superintendent of Schools

4th and 5th Grade Students Compete in Virtual Trek of Appalachian Trail

Students in the 4^th and 5^th grades system-wide will be starting NCIS (North Andover Competes in Steps) beginning May 1. This year students will compete in a virtual trek of the end of the Southern and the Northern New England section of the Appalachian Trail. They will begin in Massachusetts and go through western New Hampshire and central Maine and end at Mt. Katahdin. The total distance of the walk is 682 miles, (2000 steps will equal 1 mile). The goal is to continue to increase physical activity and to learn the benefits of walking and a healthy lifestyle.  Groups of students will be placed in squads.  Each student will be loaned a pedometer. Steps will be calculated to miles and the progress of each school will be tracked.  

Sponsorship Partner Program

North Andover High School offers outstanding opportunities for student athletes in over 20 sports. Please join us in making their experience one they will remember for the rest of their lives.

As a Sponsorship Partner you can! Read our Sponsorship Partner Program Brochure to find out how.

In challenging economic times, here’s an opportunity to effectively reach thousands of consumers & support your community.

Support of North Andover's Sponsorship Partner Program has enabled the district to not raise athletic fees for the 4th year, while providing funding for those unable to afford the fees – nearly 10% of our student athletes.

Last year over 13,000 people attended NAHS games plus thousands more for youth league sports. NAHS also hosts the entire Cape Ann League Track, and 10 major sports tournaments culminating in 23 high school state championships. With over 1000 athletes from scores of schools plus all the parents and fans that attend, the total number of perspective clients is in the thousands.

Partnership options include, but are certainly not limited to, the following opportunities:

• On Site Signage
• Exclusive Naming Rights
• Public Address Announcements
• In Kind Service Donations
• Promotional Giveaways

Additional exposure through CAM North Andover coverage may be obtained though broadcasts of games. Plus local newspaper and newscast exposure of games and events.

NAHS Drama Guild Presents Sweeney Todd

The NAHS Drama Guild presented Sweeney Todd to wide acclaim on the weekend of May 7-8. Directed by Melissa Downey and Linda Schoonmaker, the production received youtube comments such as "An absolutely terrific performance! I really enjoyed seeing this play. Great acting and singing." Vocals were conducted by Sara Durkin and the Pit Orchestra by Aaron Goldberg.

North Andover Schools
Opening Day Headlines September 7, 2010

At the opening staff meeting on September 1, teachers, support staff, administrators and School Committee shared the excitement—we are excited and ready for the best year ever in North Andover!

• 102 elementary school classrooms are ready grades PK-5 including 3 new classrooms and an office in the Kittredge expansion project
• 2273 elementary school students will attend North Andover schools with an Average Elementary Class Size of 23
• 4635 In-District Students are registered, including 93 pre-kindergarten and 313 kindergarten students
• All staff is hired—32 new teachers to replace retirements and resignations—see our Staffing Summary Report
• New integrated kindergarten provides more flexibility for parents and our full and half-day kindergarten students
• 400 fall athletes are now in training and ready for the fall season
• Concussion computer baseline testing is being conducted by nurses and the athletic department for ourfall athletes
• Powerschool Parent Portal is now expanding from high school and middle school to elementary school access for parents to update demographic data
• Elementary library advisory committee is planning for organized and equitable elementary school libraries
• New courses at the high school include Chinese, Sign Language and Computer Programming—see our 2010-11 NAHS Program of Studies
• Test scores will show overall improvement and dramatic improvement at some of our schools
• High school and middle school teachers have finalized curriculum plans in department meetings
• Intensive professional development concluded with two days of meetings on September 1 and 2, including mentor meetings for new staff, standards-based instruction training, and modeling of protocols to examine teaching practice

And, to see our achievements and challenges, and to understand our commitment to student success, visit our Performance Report 2010 now online!

Christopher Hottel
Superintendent of Schools
 

Looking Forward to 2010-11: Message from the Superintendent  

As the school year begins, I want to take this opportunity to welcome parents and students back to school. I also want to share some of the exciting things that will be taking place in our North Andover schools.

Financial Picture
We enter 2010-11 with a school operating budget of $37,016,000. We need to remember that currently we are funding 5 teaching positions from ARRA Recovery Funding. These funds will disappear after this year. We also have carried over $590,000 to use in FY11 from the FY10 State Fiscal Stabilization Funds for investment, primarily in technology. There are three additional sources of funding possible, but not certain at this time: one is a possible much smaller installment of FY11 SFSF money, originally advertised as $119,000, but anticipated to be less than that. Another possible source is the Federal Ed Jobs Bill. There will be a teleconference on August 26 with the DESE that will help us understand if there are any additional funds coming our way through that legislation. Preliminary reports are that there could be significant funds involved, but under what restrictions those funds are to be used is still a question for the DESE to answer. A third is the Race-to-the-Top funding awarded to Massachusetts. As of last year, the amount anticipated for North Andover was about $40,000, to be used primarily for professional development. There are more recent reports that suggest $25 per student, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Staff
With the help of ARRA funding and the 2.6% increase in our FY11 operating budget, we did not have to cut any teaching positions. So for the start of this year, we have experienced our normal turnover. We will have 17 new teachers due to retirements and resignations, 8 at the middle school, 4 at the high school, 5 at the elementary schools. Our administrative team at Central Office is returning intact. We have the addition of a new Principal at Sargent Elementary School, Varsha Desai. Mary Lou McCarthy, formerly an Interim Principal at the Franklin Elementary School, is now the permanent Principal there. Judy Rogers, last years Interim Principal at Sargent, will now be a part-time Kindergarten Coordinator and Mentor.

Read More
 

Athletic Field Perimeters To Be Sprayed for Mosquito Control

In conjunction with the North Andover Board of Health, the Superintendent of Schools has approved the recommendation to apply approved pesticides to the perimeters of athletic fields at all schools. This permieter application will occur on Tuesday evening, August 24, between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and midnight. In case of rain, the application will occur on Wednesday, August 25, during the same hours. This process is part of mosquito control in North Andover, and is especially important at this time of year, as our students prepare to return to school.

A letter from the Superintendent announcing this field perimeter application can be found here. In addition, the following links will provide access to documentation for the event, as required by law and as planned by the Northeast Massachusetts Mosquito Control Board:

• Pesticide Information
• Individual School Notices
  • Atkinson and NAECC, Franklin, Kittredge, Sargent, Thomson, NAMS, NAHS
• M.G.L. Chapter 85

DESE District Review

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will be visiting North Andover for four days, January 18-21, 2011 for a District Review conducted by the Center for District and School Accountability under the provisions of Chapter 15, Section 55A. North Andover was randomly selected for the review, which is conducted every five years for each district in the Commonwealth. The notification letter explicitly states that the review team's "attention has been drawn to the very strong improvement between 2009 and 2010 at the Thomson Elementary School, and we want to use the review to learn more about the district systems and practices that may have contributed to such an increase in student achievement." The DESE has sent a District Review Protocol with expectations for the visit. We are urging staff members, school council members and constituents to familiarize themselves with the expectations explained in the Overview contained near the beginning of the Protocol. This document is being updated by Coordinator Beth Kline with schedules for visits and interviews at each school and at the school administrative offices.

School Committee Votes FY12 Budget

Following the Public Hearing on February 3, the School Committee voted an FY12 School Budget of $38,062,594. This represents a 2.91% increase over the FY11 Budget. The budget consists of three main components: (1) Level Funding of the amount of the current FY11 Budget: $36,984,521; (2) the additional amount needed to fund Level Services of current staff and programs: $773,026; and (3) Critical Additional Needs to address goals and budget directives: $441,500.

Before the vote, the Superintendent delivered a summary presentation highlighting the budget components. The Superintendent presented his original budget to the School Committee on December 16. Following that presentation, the Committee met with principals, district leaders and the community over the month of January, directing the Superintendent to trim the budget. The resulting FY12 Adjusted Budget was discussed and then approved on February 3.

The approved School Committee budget maintains level services for the district, and in addition addresses the following critical areas:

• Expansion of in-district special education programs
• Enhanced funding for high school security
• Purchase of NAMS science curriculum resources and textbooks
• Staffing to plan and begin implementing expansion of the Scarlet Knight Academy
• Funding of minimal staff necessary to open elementary libraries
• Continued funding to maintain class size guidelines
• Instructional staff for elementary literacy program

For more information, consult our Budget Planning website.