If you have an entry for Monday Minutes,

submit it via e-mail it to SargentPTO.Communications@gmail.com

by 5PM Friday

Calendar – Full View

Presidents' Message

Hello Sargent Families,

Thank you to Patty Passariello and the Landscape Committee for running the annual Fall Sargent Clean up this past Sunday. She and her team worked very hard to keep Sargent looking beautiful. Expect to see more details in next week's Monday Minutes from the Landscape Committee explaining who helped make the clean up possible.

Tonight and tomorrow night are the Sargent Open Houses. This is a great opportunity to meet your child's teacher, learn about the curriculum and sign up to volunteer in their classroom.

It is hard to believe that we are already planning for our second PTO meeting of the year. If you would like to add a topic to the agenda please submit it to Sargentpto.pres1@gmail.com no later than this Wed, 9/28/11, for review. The meeting agenda will be posted next Mon (10/3) and the meeting will be Wed (10/5) starting at 7pm in the Sargent cafeteria.

We will be sending home a packet this week which includes a letter about our fundraising strategies, a direct donation form, volunteer information, and a form for setting up a PTO account.

Have a great week, Chris and Melissa

Mark Your Calendar

Monday & Tuesday September 26th & 27th - Open House

Wednesday September 28th - Submissions for the PTO meeting due

Thursday September 29th - No School

School Happenings

Message from our Superintendent

To North Andover Parents

As I mentioned in my newsletter of September 5, the North Andover schools have embarked on a strategic district improvement planning process. This process will take about 10 weeks and is designed to involve members of our community in producing a three-year plan for improving North Andover schools and for designing and implementing the programs that we need to make our schools 21st century learning centers second to none in the Commonwealth. The plan will cover the years 2013-15 and will aid us future planning as well as more specifically in the superintendent leadership transition that will take place at the end of this school year. The design of the planning process is based on the standards, indicators, and essential conditions for school effectiveness that are used by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in conducting their required reviews of school districts.

As parents and members of our community, I am asking you to do two things: (1) read the vision for our improvement planning. This is posted on our district website under “In the News”; (2) take an online survey designed to help us in our planning meetings. Your input will help guide our thinking and our ideas as we complete this plan.

Our goal is to present the District Improvement Plan for School Committee approval at its meeting of December 1. In this way, the actions contained in the plan can be included in our budget discussions for FY13.

Again, I urge you to consult the Planning documents that are on our district website and, especially, to take the online survey that can be accessed at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFp2czI4YVFBMmpoek9WUEFOcXJUYnc6MA.  To be use of maximum use to us, it would be helpful for you to complete this survey by Tuesday, September 27, although we will continue to collect data after that date. This survey is for parents; teachers and students are engaged in different surveys.

Thank you for your participation and your commitment to the increased success of the North Andover schools.

Christopher Hottel

Superintendent of Schools

North Andover MA

From Sargent Kitchen Cook Manager/Diana Salvo   Just a reminder for parents to check the website http://www.northandoverpublicschools.com/parent/naps_menu.cfm for the lunch menu. School lunch costs $2.25. The School Lunch Program is also starting a new snack program. All of the snack choices will be made from scratch using only the freshest of ingredients. We will offer kid friendly recipes that are in low in fat and the calories,without compromising the taste. The cost of a snack is 75 cents.

R.A.I.S.E.  BE BOLD, BE BALD! Check out www.beboldbebald/kintera.org/sargent. Sign up to wear a bald cap ($5 donation) or a bald cap and t-shirt ($15 donation) on 10/21. Make a bold statement and support cancer organizations. Contact Laura Freedman with any questions at (978) 681-9889 or freedmanfamily@comcast.net. Sign up by October 7th. Check backpacks today for more information! Please register each participant separately, under their own name.

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities

Yearbook Volunteers Needed: Yearbook is looking for 1-2 parent volunteers per classroom to take pictures and make a collage page for their class. If interested please contact Sue Holland at suetholland@comcast.net with your name and class or with any questions.

Enrichment Show Volunteers Needed: We are looking for parent volunteers at all grade levels to help with set-up and breakdown at the NAEC performances for your grade level.  If interested please email Joy Duncan at joyanddan@verizon.net or Natalie Howard at nataliehowardslp@gmail.com.  

Breakfast Buddies volunteers needed:  Please consider volunteering one day for 30-45 minutes. We will need help with setup, serving, and cleanup. Contact BethAnne Iglesias at 978-258-3579 or b.iglesias@comcast.net or Kim Campion at 978-258-0314 or kim.campion@comcast.net

Committee Announcementes

Gift Cards (SCRIP) Fundraising Program - Stop by the PTO table at the open house and purchase your scrip cards to local favorite stores.  Visit our PTO site the learn more about Sargent's Gift Card Program.

Breakfast Buddies is Coming: Volunteers needed!!! October 17th – 21nd from 7:45-8:25am. Breakfast Buddies is a chance to come to school and enjoy breakfast with your children, their friends and their teachers. Parents, grandparents and siblings are welcome to come for a quick breakfast of bagels, donuts, coffee, hot chocolate and juice. Each grade level will be assigned a specific day. An order form will be coming home soon. To ensure the success of this event, we need volunteers! Please consider volunteering one day for 30-45 minutes. We will need help with setup, serving, and cleanup. Contact BethAnne Iglesias at 978-258-3579 or b.iglesias@comcast.net or Kim Campion at 978-258-0314 or kim.campion@comcast.net

5th Grade Committee Committee heads and all interested parents of 5th graders are invited to attend our first organizational meeting of the year, Wednesday, October 5th, at 6PM. We will finalize plans for events and confirm dates. If you have questions, email jimsnowy@yahoo.com . See you then!  

NAEC On Tuesday, September 27th the Enrichment Council is pleased to host David Zucker – A Young Audience’s National Artist of the Year recipient. All students in kindergarten through fifth grade will experience poetry as it comes to life through David Zucker’s masterful performance of acting, mime, vocal gymnastics, humor, audience participation and a trunk full of costumes, puppets and props. David’s irresistible cast of characters, recreated from the poems by A.A. Milne, Lewis Carroll, Langston Hughes, Shel Silverstein, Edgar Allen Poe, and James Whitcomb Riley, are not to be missed. For more information visit: www.naenrichmentcouncil.org.

Directory  Thank you to everyone for taking time to complete your directory information. The electronic directories will be e-mailed out this week, so please check your e-mail. If you don't see it by Wednesday 9/28, please e-mail sargentpto.communications@gmail.com to request a copy. If you ordered a hard copy and have yet to send in your $5 payment, please do so immediately. The order will be placed this Wednesday and any copies requested but NOT paid for will not be ordered.

Free Money  Earn Free Money for Sargent Grocery Shopping! Get your carts ready, registration for the A+ School Rewards Program is open! This year’s program runs from Oct. 7 – March 29. This program has helped our school earn over $1K each year for 2years! You must re-register your Stop & Shop shopper card each year to earn rewards for our school. There will be a sign up table at the Open House nights if you would like to scan your card and have the PTO register your card for you.

Community Announcements/After School Programs

Check the community announcements for more information on:

• Knights on the Run 5K
• North Andover Music Assoc. Marching Band Competition
• What's Good in the 'Hood Creative Writting Program
• Girl Scout Registration Information
• North Andover Booster Club Basketball & Volleyball