Season's Greetings from the Parent Council Secretary

Dear Fort River Families and Friends, I just wanted to take this opportunity to send Season's Greetings to you all and to wish you a wonderful and restful break from school. Please remember that school will start up again on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008. I will be taking a break from the website until the beginning of January. My best wishes to all of you for a peaceful and happy New Year! Sincerely, Ann McLaughlin Fort River Parent Council Secretary

Upcoming Events

School Vacation. December 24-January 1, 2008. School reopens Jan. 2, 2008. Fort River Roaster's/Deans Beans Coffee Orders Due. Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Please send orders in to the Parent Council mailbox in the front office. Order forms are available for download in the "Parent Council Forms" section on the right-hand side of the page or at the Parent Council bulletin board in the school lobby. Parent Council Meeting. Monday, January 7th, 2008, 6:30-7:30pm. Library. Babysitting will be available.

AboutAmherst: A Local Amherst Blog by Mary Carey

AboutAmherst: School day

This is an adorable picture of some of our Fort River kindergarteners who were selling homemade ornaments yesterday to raise money for charity. This picture appears on the "AboutAmherst" blog by Mary Carey, a reporter who covers the Amherst schools for the Daily Hampshire Gazette and the Amherst Bulletin. Click on the link to check it out!

Teacher Wish Lists

At this time of year some parents like to make gifts to their children's classrooms and the school. The Parent Council therefore asked teachers what they would like if someone wanted to give something to the classroom, and received the following requests: Maurisa Davis – art supplies (various colors of yarn, foam, glitter, cotton balls, feathers, pipe cleaners), Target or Wal Mart gift cards, “classic” color markers, electric pencil sharpener Sally Imbimbo & Nettie Harrington – Bean Bag chair, big pillows, lamps, post-its, glue sticks Kris Griswald – non-fiction books (at the 3rd/4th grade level – especially on animals, weather, force & motion, cities, Cambodia, Russia, Romania, Japan, Africa), tissues, snacks. Roger Wallace – pencils, spiral bound notebooks, a new electric pencil sharpener, Scrabble games, dish rack for our mugs, powdered hot chocolate (individual or bulk), 8 ½” X 11” line paper, gift cards to stores where these items could be purchased. Laurie Hickson – instrumental CDs, tissues, stickers, Purell or other hand cleaner Trish Farrington – playground balls (rubber, about 81/2” to 10”), Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate Mix (ideally the scoop kind), gift certificates for area bookstores Linda Yeh - paper towels, markers, rolls of tape, pencils, pencil eraser tops, gift certificates to Target and Barnes & Noble Kim Thrasher – gift certificates to Barnes & Noble

Upcoming Events

Diversity and Social Justice Committee. Friday, December 21, 8:40am. Library. School Vacation. December 24-January 1, 2008. School reopens Jan. 2, 2008. Fort River Roaster's/Deans Beans Coffee Orders Due. Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Please send orders in to the Parent Council mailbox in the front office. Order forms are available for download in the "Parent Council Forms" section on the right-hand side of the page or at the Parent Council bulletin board in the school lobby. Parent Council Meeting. Monday, January 7th, 2008, 6:30-7:30pm. Library. Babysitting will be available.

Early Dismissal on Thursday, Dec. 13, Due to Snow

Amherst and Pelham ELEMENTARY Schools will DISMISS EARLY today at 12:45. Also, The Amherst-Regional MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS will be CLOSED today.

Upcoming Events

Fort River Roasters Orders Due. Friday, December 7th. Please send forms in to the Parent Council mailbox in the school front office. Order forms are available on the right-hand side of this webpage under "Parent Council Forms" or at the Parent Council bulletin board in the school lobby. Coffee With a Principal. Friday, December 14th, 8:30 to 9:15am. Join Principal Russ Vernon-Jones and/or Vice Principal Lianne Suarez-Werlein for coffee, light breakfast foods, and casual conversation in the cafeteria. Younger siblings are welcome to attend. Diversity and Social Justice Committee. Friday, December 21, 8:40am. Library. School Vacation. December 24-January 1, 2008. School reopens Jan. 2, 2008. Fort River Roaster's/Deans Beans Coffee Orders Due. Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Please send orders in to the Parent Council mailbox in the front office. Order forms are available for download in the "Parent Council Forms" section on the right-hand side of the page or at the Parent Council bulletin board in the school lobby. Parent Council Meeting. Monday, January 7th, 2008, 6:30-7:30pm. Library. Babysitting will be available.

Winter Choral Concert by 4th, 5th, and 6th Grade Choruses

Dear Parents and Guardians of Fort River Chorus students, The fourth, fifth and sixth grade choruses will present a winter choral concert on Thursday, January 24th at 7 pm in the Amherst Middle School auditorium. Please have your child report to the auditorium by 6:40 pm that night so that we can have the chorus warm up and prepare for the concert. Concert attire for boys includes white shirts or sweaters and dark slacks. Girls should wear a white blouses or sweaters and dark skirts or slacks. If you are unable to attend the evening concert, we will also be presenting a daytime performance for the school in the Fort River gym on Thursday, January 24th at 2:10 pm. Thank you. It has been a joy working with your students. They are terrific singers! See you in January, Anne White

Amherst Regional Middle School Principal Search

Dear Amherst Elementary School Parents, At the next meeting of the Amherst Middle School Family School Partnership, Dr. Jere Hochman (School Superintendent) will speak on the ARMS principal search. The meeting is on Wednesday December 19 at 7 PM in the Middle School library. All elementary school parents are invited to attend. If you have questions that you would like Dr. Hochman to address please send them to the ARMS Family School Partnership: armsfsp@yahoo.com. Thanks & Best Regards, Kate Troast and Lise Halpern Co-Chairs, ARMS Family School Partnership

Of Interest to Fort River Families

Please note that these events are not sponsored by Parent Council. Cataline Arrubla of Multi-Arts has asked me to post the following information: Remember the movie being shot this past summer "Bubble Trubble?" (Several of your children took part it it.) Well, we are doing a "test show," and we would like to invite you all: children, friends and parents to see the entire movie (90 mins.). Thanks to Amherst College we will be showing it at their Campus Center Theater twice: Saturday, December 8 at 2:00 p.m. & Sunday, December 9 at 11:00 a.m. Event free of charge. For more information about the movie and to see the preview visit: http://www.bubbletrubblethemovie.com/. Also we would like to invite you to see our art exhibition at the Henion Bakery, 174 N. Pleasant St, Amherst. With beautiful paintings made by several children who have participated in Multi-Arts during our past 7 years. INES ARRUBLA FLAMENCO DANCE THEATER presents "SON FLAMENCO 2007." Who: 7 musicians 4 dancers. When: December 7th and 8th, 7-9 pm. Where: Iron Horse, Northampton. Tickets: $22.50 in advance / $25 at the door. Northampton Box Office, 413-586-8686/1.800. THE.TICK. & IHEG.comyou can view our trailer on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8BYGbIHHTk. Contact: Catalina Arrubla, Director http://www.multi-arts.org/ ACAC Holiday Drop & Shops. Bring your kids to Amherst Community Arts Center for a 3 hour workshop while you shop in town! December 8: Origami Workshop with Annie Zirin 9:30-12:30am. Marble Chutes with David Costello, 12:30-3:30pm. December 15: Clay Masks with Dara Herman-Zierlein, 9:30-12:30am. Greeting Card & Gift Paper Workshop with Carolyn Toomey, 12:30-3:30pm. December 22: Paper & Bookmaking with Sarah Balascio, 9:30-12:30am. Ornament Workshop with Hillary Milens 12:30-3:30pm. $30/session or $50/2 sessions. Parents may attend workshops with children for a combined cost of $50/session. Pre-registration required. Please call ACAC at (413) 253-9265, http://www.amherstarts.org/. Northampton Family Dance. Please come to the Family Dance! Our second dance of the season will be held on Sunday, December 16. The dance takes place 3:00 - 5:00 PM at First Churches, 129 Main Street, Northampton (use the Center Street entrance across from the Iron Horse). Come enjoy a variety of folk and contra dances geared to children and families. All dances are taught, and all ages are welcome--no dance experience is necessary. Live music! Admission is $4 per person for ages 3 and up, $15 maximum per family. For more information, please call Judy Stern at 256-2613 or email judystern44@yahoo.com. A note from Parent Council. We will publish information about non-Parent Council sponsored events with the following conditions: 1. The event should be of interest to Fort River families. 2. The information should be sent to Ann McLaughlin at damclaughlin@comcast.net in the form of a short blurb of 100 words or less. 3. Contact information (name, telephone and/or email address) must be included. We will add new information to the blog every Friday. Thanks for your cooperation!

It's Time to Wake Up and Order the Coffee!

Orders for Fort River Roasters coffee from Dean's Beans are due this coming Friday, Dec. 7. Please be sure to get your forms into the Parent Council mailbox by then. Extra forms are now available at the Parent Council bulletin board in the school lobby. You can also click HERE to download a form or click on the link on the right hand side of this webpage under "Parent Council Forms."