September 1st and three days of the new school year are already hist= ory

To: Parents, Guardians and Students

From: Dr. G.

Re: Happy Holidays

Date: December 14, 2007

Monday, December 17^t=
h, is the day designated as “St= uff the Cruiser” day. B= arring the crazy weather forecasted for the weekend, the students will be called o= utside beginning with pre-kindergarten and kindergarten at 1:30 p.m. Students are asked to bring in an u= nwrapped, new toy to put in Trooper Reed’s “cruiser” so that the to= ys can be distributed to children in our region who otherwise would not receive something during this holiday season. Over the last several years, the generosity of the families of Andover has been so overwhelming that 3 cruisers were needed to accommodate all the donations.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> This year, the cruisers have been replaced with an actual trailer that the students can walk through and depo= sit their gifts in. Please do not= feel obligated to participate in this program. Parents who do not wish their child= ren to be part of the program should notify the office early Monday. In some cases, students are given e= xtra gifts to bring out to the “cruiser” that have been donated by people who don’t even have students at Andover Elementary. Whatever your feeling is regarding = this volunteer venture, we as a school will respect your wishes.

Third graders now join th= e fourth through sixth grade classes in enjoying the benefits of a new teaching tool, the Smart Board. The recently installed technology w= ent on line this past Tuesday after a half-day professional development session for the third grade teachers. Stu= dents were enjoying the interactive device as one class used it for their daily o= ral language lesson while another used it for Social Studies. First grade book buddies joined th= eir third grade partners for a firsthand introduction to the interactive techno= logy. The first graders were in awe= of the idea of being able to use it during their combined classes after the holiday break.

The ALF team made their presence known last Sunday at the State Lego League Competition. Having taken the Teammanship Awar= d at the Regional Competition on the first of December, they “won” the right to move on to the State Competition. Competing against 50 schools from a= round the state, Andover<= /st1:place>’s power of ten came out a first place winner, taking the Research Quality Award. Their advisor, Mrs. Deb Rodriguez, = was elated as she made the phone call Sunday night to let the principal know how well her team had done. Dylan Palmer, Colin McNeil, Teddy Sauyet, Joey Day, Darragh<= /span> Geoghegan, Jeremy Knopf, Ryan Schreiner, Nikki = Gostanian, Justin Harlow, and Sam Boushee made an outstanding team and represented Andover Elementary in an exemplary manner.= Hearty congratulations and a thank = you for a job well done goes to ALF!

Next Friday, December 21<= sup>st, at 1:30 p.m., th= e school-wide Holiday Sing-Along will take p= lace. Teachers have been advised of the time and those that are coordinating classroom celebrations should have already been in touch with the room pare= nt if that is needed. Whatever celebration that the teacher has decided on will take place after the sing-along and the call for clean-up will be made at 2:45 p.m. As this will be the start of the ho= liday vacation, we would like to get the children on the busses promptly at 3:00 p.m. Parents who do not wish to have the= ir children participate should call the school office so alternative arrangeme= nts can be made.

At this time of year, it = seems like everyone is rushing about making sure that they have all the trimmings= for holiday dinners, the right gift or card for a family member and, in-between, trying to fit in all those parties and, oh yes, the cookie-making marathons= . As a community, you have been very = caring about giving to neighbors who may be in a less fortunate way or who are bea= ring some type of sadness because of the loss of a loved one or other domestic concerns. You are indeed R= 20;good neighbors”. My wish for= all the children here at Andover Elementary School, their parents, guardians, and o= ur extended school community, is for a year ahead that will bring peace of min= d to each of you, peace in our world, and peace to our planet so that it will se= rve generations to come by halting the global warming that will certainly alter= the world as we know it today. En= joy the time together during the holiday and do something special as a family. = After all the snow that fell to the ground Thursday (our first school cancellation), it looks like one family outing to consider is to the hill in front of the school with a tube or a s= led for some good old-fashioned FREE fun in the snow this weekend. I would love to get some “fam= ily fun” vacation pictures for a school bulletin board display. Please consider sending in your fav= orite shot taken during vacation with your name printed neatly on the back along = with your teacher’s name. Thanks, and Happy Holidays and Happy = New Year! Yes, you got it right, there will not be a memo next Friday.

During the school vacatio= n period, the main office will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The days= of operation will be December 26-28 and December 31. School will resume on January 2, 200= 8.

**The Andover Community Sing-Along scheduled for Sunday has been cancelled in light of the wintry forecast.**

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