At West Elementary School we recognize and celebrate students that demonstrate 'high five' behavior. 'High Five" is designed to promote positive student behavior, social-emotional skills, and character development. West El students are acknowledged on the spot and monthly during our whole school meeting. Qualities that earn a 'high five are':

1. Recognizing they need help and seeking that help out.

2. Shows they are in control of their body and their words.

3. Shows care toward their classmates and their community.

4. Demonstrates strong relationships through working well with others.

5. Shows responsible decision making through making a big problem small.

February 28, 2025 over two hundred students received a wide round of applause from the West EL community at our whole school assembly- ask your kids about 'High Five" today!

If you are not aware, the Andover Public School has begun the pilot phase of our new PreK-8 ELA curriculum adoption. West EL is proud to share that six classrooms, one per grade, are teaching modules from the CKLA Program. This reading, writing and word study program integrates literacy activities across a central text. For example, ' Underdogs and Heroes' in kindergarten, ' Our Changing Earth' in grade four, or the Maya, Aztec and Inca in grade five. In addition to the content/skills modules, Fundations (grades K-3) and Heggerty (K-1) will continue.

After the CKLA module, the same teachers will also teach a module in a second program called " Arts and Letters". Both programs were unanimously selected by a district-wide literacy team and a final decision will be made in June as to the final decision.

Our young mathematicians have been working away developing number sense, learning long division and tackling decimals and fractions. Please take a moment to check out the March Family Newsletter :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1okdqQdS0R64AFPsV0RE_nyYdEmWilCK-/view?usp=sharing

This Wednesday, March 12th , band students from across the district spanning grades 4 through 12 will perform together at All Bands Night. The instrumental music teachers are thrilled to host this event for our families, featuring the hard work of our student performers. There will have approximately 500 musicians performing together and independently throughout the night. This year due to growth in the band program, they have relocated the concert to the Andover High School Field House, starting at 6:30 PM. Groups performing include South's 4th Grade Band and 5th Grade Band. We look forward to a great evening.

On Tuesday, March 18th, there will also be an All Strings Concert @ Andover High School, Collins Center, on Tuesday, March 18th, 7pm. All string players in the Andover school district from grades 4-12 will be performing (nearly 400!), with a combined multi-grade level piece at the end. This year we have 175 district wide elementary school students participating! The concert should last no longer than an hour and a half and will feature an array of traditional and movie score music, including James Bond and Wicked.

The testing window has been set by DESE and we are planning for the following MCAS test dates at West El. Please note that students will take 2 days of tests per content area. Please refrain from vacations or unnecessary absences on these dates.

Grade 3:

ELA: April 10th and 11th

Math: May 8th and 9th

Grade 4

ELA: April 14th and 15th

Math: May 13th and 14th

Grade 5

ELA: April 7th and 8th

Math: May 5th and 6th

Science: 19th and 20th