July 9, 2020

Dear Students, Families and Staff, 

We are writing to acknowledge social media posts that have tagged the high school and district’s Twitter accounts. We are disheartened and concerned to read about our current and former students’ experiences of bias, racism and hate language in Andover Public Schools. We stand together with our school community to stand up and speak out against all acts of hate. To the students who have posted their personal experiences--we hear you.

We care deeply about our students and will listen to your thoughts, feelings and experiences. Acts of bias and hate are counter to our core values and beliefs of providing a safe, inclusive and equitable learning environment for all. We recognize that we still have distance to go within our school community. We are completely committed to changing and improving the school and district culture.

We will take actions to dismantle bias and racism, and build an inclusive and respectful school community building on the work we outlined. These social media posts reinforce that our schools and district still have a significant amount of work ahead to strengthen our community for all students, staff and families. We are committed to doing this work. 

Caitlin Brown, Principal, Andover High School 

Patrick Bucco, Principal, Wood Hill Middle School

Timothy Corkery, Principal, West Middle School 

Robin Wilson, Principal, Doherty Middle School