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

To: Parents, Guardians and Students

From: Dr. G.

Re: Eastern Standard Time

Date: November 2, 2007

It’s November 2^nd, 2007 and the temperature was 57 degrees F at= 6:45 a.m. yesterday morning= ! A glorious day was experienced by t= he children on Wednesday for their Harvest Celebration and parade. This year, sixth graders had the op= tion to help out in the classrooms before the parade and also to volunteer as pa= rade monitors. There were about 25 sixth graders that opted out of the parade in order to help in classrooms and during the parade. Many thanks to all of you! The remainder of the sixth graders donned costumes and followed Pirate Gasper out to the gazebo where Town Hall employees passed out goodies. Once back inside, parties reigned with some very healthy and amusing treats. In sixth grade, there were pumpkin = whoopee pies, a real delight, and apples cut in half with tooth-like carvings filled with peanut butter and almond slivers made to look like loose teeth –= very creative! Students were busy playing Wheel o= f Fortune on the smart boards as some of the guests stood in amazement at the new technology. The a.m. pre-k and kindergarten classes also had their time in = the limelight as they paraded outside to the amusement of their parents and grandparents. It looked like everyone was enjoying the day and that the parties were filled with some ve= ry inviting, healthy food. I am = sure that changed drastically Wednesday night as the children went from door to = door looking for more sugary treats.

Next Tuesday, Andover Ele= mentary will again play host to a visitor from China. This time, it will be the Vice Mayo= r of Zhang Qiu City. Part of her job in China<= /st1:country-region> is to oversee the schools in the province. Our other visitors were active administrators in school systems. At this writing, it appears = that Mr. Zhang Bingqi’s sc= hool will be partnered, or “sistered”, w= ith RHAM Middle School, but Madam Fang Chaoying will be assigned to an Avon elementary school. The superintendents from RHAM, Marlborough, and Hebron left today for China to meet with Chinese education department officials to review and sig= n Memorandums of Agreement which will allow for the development of sister schools. They will also serve as proxee for Andover’s signoree. There is a blo= g that will be accessible on-line about the various experiences they encounte= r on their trip. They will return = on November 12^th.

The PTA fall fundraiser orders will be available for pick up on Monday, November 5<= sup>th in the school gym between 3:= 00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Please make every effort to be ther= e or arrange for a friend or neighbor to pick up your order as it does take up s= pace in the gym and to ensure that the orders are maintained intact. A second PTA offering is sportswear with the Andover logo which can be ordered during the month of November (a picture of the po= lo shirt is contained in today’s memo).= The order forms also went home in Friday folders. Samples of the sportswear are displ= ayed in the café and will also eventually be displayed in the main lobby.=

Please plan ahead, November 12^{th
is a holiday and there will be no school. Veterans’ Day is actually on =
Sunday
but it will be honored on Monday. Looking
to the latter part of the month, the 19^th and 20^th wi=
ll
be shortened days to accommodate parent conferences. If you have not yet made your
appointments, please do so ASAP. &nbs=
p;
Please do not wait until the last minute. On November 21^st, the sc=
hool
will host Intergenerational Day. Students
who attend school in other districts really should not be here on that day.=
Just as we want our children in sc=
hool
every day, so do the other districts.}

It has come to my attenti= on that some parents have arrived unannounced to a classroom, wishing to discuss so= me aspect of their child’s education or some other concern. This is not the time for this type of dialogue. Please make an appointment for befo= re or after school because although it is important to discuss these issues, it should be done in private, outside of the instructional day. Teachers are expected to be in their rooms at 8:25 a.m., ready to greet their children and begin the instructional day. At the end of the day, it is very h= ectic when they are making sure that the students are packed up and ready to leave. Thank you for your cooperation in t= his matter.

The kindergarten classes went on a field trip this past Monday= to the Big Y in Mansfield. This was a very special ending act= ivity to follow up a unit about communities.&nbs= p; The students got a behind-the-scenes glance at many different departments. Some of the favo= rite sites were seeing Mike toss the pizza dough in the air and Susan introducin= g them to a very friendly lobster. I= t was exciting to see some parts of a grocery store that we don’t usually s= ee while shopping.

****TURN CLOCKS BACK ONE HOUR ON SATURDAY NIGHT****

_____________________

&nb= sp; =

The pumpkin head contest – the good, &= nbsp; Kindergarteners get ready for the<= o:p>

the bad, and the ugly.= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = parade = with sixth graders’ help.

PTA Sportswear Sale&nb= sp; &= nbsp; M&Ms &= #8211; the witches’ choice!

November 2^n=
d – November 30^th