ANDOVER ELEMENTARY MIDDLE SCHOOL
January 9, 2014
Dear AEMS Family,
Happy 2014! I hope everyone had a wonderful vacation! It was great to see everyone return energized and ready to learn.
We did have one “extra” day off with our ice day call on Monday. Although I hated to lose a day I think it was a good and safe decision. That changes our last day of school to Tuesday, June 17th.
For those of you who like to plan ahead, the finalized school calendar for the 2014-15 school year has been posted on our website.
The first Ski Friday is tomorrow. We have 118 students participating. The Ragged Mountain Program is generously made possible through the town. The Andover Recreation Committee manages the program. If you have any questions regarding the program please call Ellie George at 735-5590 or 848-5437. Students are dismissed right after 12:00 to board the buses. The buses leave at 12:15. Grades K-4 have lunch from 11-11:30 and grades 5-8 have lunch from 11:30-12:00. If you are transporting your child please come into the building to sign them out. If someone else is transporting your child please send in a note in the morning giving permission for that to happen.
Students who do not ski on Friday will be dismissed at the regular time and will ride their regular bus home. However, expect your child to arrive home earlier than usual because there will be very few students on the buses.
Congratulations to our Middle School Geography Bee Champion Will Furtkamp! Will now takes a written examination to qualify for the state level of the Geography Bee. If for some reason Will is not able to attend the runner-up will take his place. Coincidentally the runner-up is fifth grader Lilly Furtkamp. Congratulations Will and Lilly!
ONE CALL NOW, our emergency notification system was used on Monday morning to cancel school. A few families have contacted us to change contact information. On Monday you should have received an email message and a phone call.
As you know Superintendent Michael Martin will retire at the end of this school year. The search committee made up of school board members from Andover and Merrimack Valley have narrowed the candidates down to three. The three finalists will visit our school next week. You are more than welcome to stop in and meet them when they visit AEMS next week or you are invited to attend the Public Reception at Merrimack Valley Middle School on Tuesday, January 14th at 6:00pm. Candidates will visit AEMS as follows; Elaine Arbour (Wednesday at 11:15), Mark McLean(Tuesday at 11:00), and Michael Jette (Wednesday at 9:30).
AEMS has school on Monday, January 20th. There will be lessons and activities in all grades regarding cilvil rights and tolerance.
And….BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR OLYMPIAN! Nick Fairall has qualified to go to Socci for the Winter Olympics. You can bet that AEMS will be closely following the ski jumping competition. Nick will visit AEMS next Friday so that we can give him a proper send-off. Nick has been our middle school track coach for the past few years. Nick’s work ethic and strong sense of purpose have made him a wonderful role model for our students. We are keeping our fingers crossed because Chris Lamb, another Andoverian, still has a chance of going to the Winter Olympics. He is also an elite skilled ski jumper.
If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to call.
Sincerely,
Jane Slayton