AHS Introduces New H-Block Numbering

Articles, Community, Education
October 7, 2024
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Isabella Yan
ARTS EDITOR

In the winter of 2023, the H-Block Planning Team surveyed students and faculty to gather opinions regarding the H-Block schedule and offerings. Following the feedback received from the survey, H-Blocks have been renumbered, aligning with the days on the 8-day rotation. The previous H-Blocks followed a consecutive order where H2 was the second H-Block in the schedule, H3 was the third H-Block in the schedule, and so forth. After the change, H2 became H3 because it occurs on Day 3, and H3 became H4 because it occurs on Day 4. Altogether, H-Blocks will now consist of H3, H4, H6, and H8 rather than the previous H2 through 5.

The H-Block Planning Team—currently in its third year running—is responsible for overseeing these changes. The team includes faculty members across various departments at AHS who meet monthly to discuss and plan the advisory curriculum and H-Block offerings. Reflecting on the student and faculty feedback received from the survey, Assistant Principal Alicia Linsey, the administrative facilitator of the H-Block Planning Team, shared that the previous schedule was confusing and needed a change.

STAFF PHOTO / Isabella Yan
Student chooses H Blocks.

In the previous school year, the H-Block Planning Team began implementing the change of renaming H1 to Advisory. “It was important to clarify… [that] H1 has a distinct purpose [more so] than other H-Blocks,” according to Linsey.

The change of renumbering the H-Blocks has posed a challenge for students adapted to the old H-Block schedule. “I think it’s more confusing now,” said senior Sharayu Josh. She points out a communication hurdle, “You have to clarify whether you mean H4 meaning Day 4 or H4 meaning the fourth H-Block.”

However, students like junior Pranav Yadla have appreciate the new change, finding that the previous schedule was difficult to follow. “It’s more simple than last year,” he said. With the new schedule, Yadla offers a perspective that the new change has created clarity in navigating the schedule. “It’s way easier to know H4 is on Day 4 and not on Day 6,” he said. “You also know what day is coming up. So, it’s not just using the H-Block name just for H-Block, but also to find out what schedule that day is.”

While this change may take some time to get adjusted to as people settle in for the new school year, Josh acknowledged, “People will get used to it. It’s not really impactful on anything other than H blocks.”

Andoverview

Articles

NEASC Visit Highlights AHS Goals

April 3, 2026

Anushka Dole || ONLINE EDITOR

Andover High School hosted a re-accreditation visit from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) from March 16-18, as part of a decennial review process designed to evaluate how well AHS supports student learning and identify areas of improvement.

According to Assistant Principal Alicia Linsey, the process started during the 2023-2024 school year with a visit from the Collaborative Conference team, a group of visiting educators from across the New England area. In preparation for the visit, a team of AHS faculty members and administrators was formed.

“We picked out priority areas and presented those to this visiting NEASC committee … and they agreed with [our priority areas],” said biology teacher Lindsey L’Ecuyer, the AHS committee’s science department representative.

There were five priority areas that AHS pledged to work on starting in the 2023-2024 school year: developing the Vision of a Graduate, implementing consistent curricula throughout all departments, vertical/horizontal alignment across departments and throughout grades, promotion of school pride, and building infrastructure.

The Vision of a Graduate outlines the skills and values that the school hopes to instill in every student by the time they graduate.

Vertical alignment refers to improving coordination between teachers across grade levels to ensure student skills build progressively, while horizontal alignment emphasizes greater collaboration between teachers across departments.

“[The committee is] working on … finding time in the school day for teachers to collaborate more,” L’Ecuyer said, adding that AHS has begun standardizing curricula to support this effort.

“There are committees in the school that have been working on documenting curriculum in a consistent format for our core classes … freshman English, for example, [and] biology,” L’Ecuyer said.

Linsey mentioned that students and parents also play a role in the accreditation process. A team of visiting evaluators—distinct from the Collaborative Conference team—conduct interviews to gather student perspectives on the school climate and learning experiences.

Although the committee leads the reflection process, administrators are then responsible for implementing action plans based on their findings. In accordance with these plans, faculty members must provide evidence of integration of the district goals.

L’Ecuyer emphasized that NEASC accreditation is more about reflecting on and improving school processes than it is about recognition.

“It’s less of a badge as it is opening yourself up to reflecting on and documenting what you do well and what it’s like setting goals for your school,” L’Ecuyer said.

Beyond internal reflection and planning, the “badge” that the reaccreditation process provides does carry additional, tangible benefits for students. It reassures families and colleges that AHS maintains a rigorous academic program, and that it’s constantly working towards improving learning.

“My understanding is that colleges know Andover High School—they know what our programs are like,” L’Ecuyer said. “[Because] of [accreditation] … they know the kinds of students that graduate from here, and what skills that [they] have.”

Accreditation also plays a role in the school’s ability to receive funding.

“NEASC accreditation is required for eligibility to receive some private, state, and federal grants, loans, and other federal funds,” Linsey noted in an email.

Articles

A Paw-Fect Tale

April 3, 2026

Office Maggie Stars in a Children’s Book

Saarvi Deshwal || EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Andover High School’s Officer Maggie now stars in her own children’s book, written by Officer Thomas Paolera and illustrated by senior Olivia Horvath.

Officer Maggie: The Police Comfort Dog introduces a day-in-the-life of the AHS police dog at a preschool to an elementary reading level. The book explains Maggie’s purpose as a police dog and follows her through a workday, from catching bad guys to eating treats.

The idea for the book began at Paolera’s home, where he would regularly read books with his two sons. “We’re reading children’s books all the time,” said Paolera. “I was sitting here looking at Maggie and I said, ‘Let me give this a try.’”

After drafting the initial text, Paolera reached out to Meghan Michaud, an art and graphic design teacher, to help find a student to illustrate the book. Michaud recommended Olivia Horvath, a junior at the time, who had experience with Adobe Illustration software and an interest in graphic design.

“I was equally as shocked as I was not surprised,” shared Horvath on her reaction to being asked to illustrate the book. Given her experience with Adobe software, Michaud felt she was a natural fit for the project.

The process of making the book took longer than expected. It was anticipated that the process would only take a few months, but the project ultimately lasted about a year.

It was “a lot of late nights,” said Horvath. “[I would work] on the book, then go to class the next day, get edits on it, go back and edit it, and just doing that over and over.”

Using Adobe Illustrator, Horvath created vectors—images created from curves, points, and lines rather than pixels, allowing it to be scaled up and down without the risk of it becoming blurry—of all the characters, people, grass, cars, and many other details that could easily go unnoticed by an average reader. She then brought together all the different aspects in Adobe InDesign, where she laid out the text.

“It sounds so much simpler than it is,” added Horvath. Some illustrations were based on real photographs shared by Paolera of him and Maggie, which were then adapted into illustrated versions for the book.

Paolera and Michaud described the process as very “collaborative,” with many drafts and revisions. “[There was] definitely a lot of back and forth,” shared Paolera. “[Olivia] fixed a couple things, put her spin on it, and then I asked to change some small things … we just did some final edits and added some small things here and there.”

In addition, students stopping by the Graphic Design room during H-Blocks or after school offered input on the book at its various stages. “There were always students that were giving feedback—sometimes unsolicited feedback,” commented Michaud. “But there were always fresh eyes on it that were familiar with Officer Paolera and Officer Maggie. So I think that’s a unique thing.”

Just under 200 copies of Officer Maggie: The Police Comfort Dog were printed, and some will be at Memorial Hall Library and AHS for student display. Additionally, Paolera is doing read-alongs at all the Andover Public School elementary schools and at Shawsheen Preschool. Two copies of the book will be donated to each of the libraries at the schools they visit.

Despite taking longer than anticipated, “it came out great,” said Michaud. “I can’t wait to see what kids think about it when it gets out in the public.”

“The best part was just seeing it come together,” commented Horvath. “I think my favorite spread would be the last two pages, where it shows Officer Maggie in the back of a police car driving off after work.” Horvath shared that digital illustration is something she can see herself doing in the future and that she is happy with the outcome of this project.

“I did the easy part. Olivia did all the hard work and she did a really great job illustrating, and it came out awesome,” reflected Paolera.

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AHS Introduces New H-Block Numbering

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