Fort River PGO: April 2009

Friday, April 17, 2009

Upcoming School Events

Spring Recess. No School, Apr. 20-24. Public Forum on Redistricting the Public Schools and the School Budget. Wednesday, Apr. 29, 5pm. Fort River Parent Council/ Community. Location at Ft. River TBA. See below for more information. (Other meetings/locations below.) Grade 5 Event: Family Fun-n-Games Evening. Wednesday, April 29, 6:30-8:00pm. At Fort River. (Rain date May 5). Click here for more details. 6th Grade Graduation Planning Meeting, Thursday, April 30, 7-9pm in the Fort River Library. Click here for more information. Fort River Roasters by Dean's Beans Coffee Orders Due. Friday, May 1st. Deadline for Yearbook Photo Submissions. Friday, May 1st. See below for more information. Coffee With the Principals. Friday, May 1st. 8:30-9:15am. Fort River Cafeteria. Parent Council Meeting, Thursday, May 7th, 8:30-9:30am. Fort River Cafeteria. 4th, 5th & 6th Grade Chorus Concert, Thursday, May 7th, 7:30pm. Click here for more info. Kindergarten Event: Family Dance Party, Friday, May 8th, 5-7pm, Ft. River Cafeteria. Grade 3 Event: Potluck and Games at Mill River Park. Friday, May 15th, Time: TBA. Grade 2 Event: Spring Garden Planting & Ice Cream Party. Wed. May 20, 2 to 4 PM at Fort River. Rain date is 5/27/09, same time. See below for more information. Grade 4 Event: Potluck Dinner. Thursday, May 28 at 5:30pm. Fort River Playground. Sixth Grade Graduation. Friday, June 19th 1:30pm. Note: Items in teal are sponsored by Fort River Parent Council.

Public Forums on Redistricting and the School Budget

Superintendent Maria Geryk will be at Fort River presenting information regarding the budget and redistricting of the Amherst Elementary Schools on Wednesday, April 29th. Speciﬁcally, information regarding how the elementary schools will look under a 4-school (current) model and 3-school model (closing Marks Meadow) with the SUBSTANTIAL budget cuts predicted - will be presented. School Committee members will be attending, and there will be opportunities for Q&A and feedback, both at the forum and online. The same information will be presented at the other 3 elementary schools and during a community forum (see schedule below). All the forums are open to the public. The Amherst School Committee plans to take a vote on the redistricting motion during their regular School Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 19th. You can find a copy of the presentation which will be made at each of the forums on the ARPS.org website here: http://www.arps.org/node/815. Schedule:

Mon. April 27, 5:00 pm: Marks Meadow PGO/MM Community (MM auditorium)
Wed. 4/29, 12 noon: Wildwood, location TBA
Wed. 4/29: 5 pm Fort River Library
Thurs. 4/30: 5 pm Crocker Farm Library
Tues. 5/5, 7pm: Community Forum, Middle School Auditorium.

*Limited babysitting for school age children provided at all forums by the Amherst Elementary PTO / Parent Councils.

Stress Buster Lunch A Success!

Here's a message from FR parent Eileen Marasco, who did such a great job on the "Stress Buster" Lunch for Fort River's faculty and staff:

A hearty thank you to all those who contributed wonderful comfort foods, great salads & tremendous sweets to the Stress-Buster Teacher & Staff Appreciation Lunch last week. Your efforts were most appreciated! The teachers & staff were thrilled to be so well thought of & taken care of....you may have noticed some of them walking around 6 inches off the ground since then & looking very relaxed. The Ft. River community came out in force for the event & that wonderful "can do" spirit insured the event's success. There were leftovers enough to feed folks a second day! There was a buzz in the building for sure & it wasn't just because of MCAS testing! Thank you to Elly Hosea, Kathy Niedzielski, Cathy Cullen and Ji-Yeon Kim for their tireless efforts preparing the Staff Lounge & setting up the food. Thank you to the magical fingers of Michael Millner of Bodies in Balance Massage Therapy here in Amherst, who loosened many a tense neck & perhaps hit a trigger point or two for those teachers & staff needing a few kinks worked out. To Beth Cook & her able assistant in the kitchen Leslie of Flayvors of Cook Farm in Hadley, the mashed potatoes & gravy, baked macaroni & cheese, tomato cheddar soup & tapioca pudding were all fantastic! It was truly a group effort. To all the fine cooks & bakers in our own Ft. River Community who contributed Cathy Cullen, Joy Sullivan, Elly Hosea, Eileen Marasco, Nancy Reffsin, Kathy Niedzielski, Ann McLaughlin, Desiree Bohl, Ji-Yeon Kim, Ken Bernstein, Suzanne Schilling, Alison Donta-Venman, Ellie Skinner, Carol Richardson, Caroline Goutte & others who contributed food items to the spread, many, many thanks! Sue Borden, Lynn Hayes, Hana Rivkin, Pam Brigham & Libby Stanforth pitched in with drinks & ice...thanks so much...and where would we have been without Liza Cunningham's contribution of paper products to serve it all up! Big thanks to one & all who participated & most of all thank you to our outstanding teachers & staff who make Ft. River such a special place for all of our children. Kudos to you more than anything else for all that you do for the kids...every child, every day. A B-I-G thank you to our crackerjack office secretaries Karen Bonneau, Jessica Hanson & Paula Mangiaratti for all their wonderful administrative support of the day. You ladies rock. Ft. River's lucky to have you Hope we had enough chocolate on the menu for Jessica!

Attention 6th Grade Families: Planning Meeting is THURS. APR. 30

The date for the 6th grade graduation planning meeting was incorrectly reported in the paper copy of the newsletter which went home today. The correct date for the meeting is Thursday, April 30th at 7pm. Sorry for the mix-up! For more information about the meeting please click here.

Gradewide Events Are Underway

Please check right-hand column on this blog for the “Bring It” online sign-up sheets for your childʼs grade event, or contact your room parent. Grade 5 parents please note: Parent volunteers are still needed to help with ice-cream scooping and games. Please contact Gloria McCann (gloriamccann@comcast.net). Schedule: Kindergarten Dance Party: May 8, 5-7 pm, FR Cafeteria Grade 2: Wed. May 20, from 2 PM to 4 PM (raindate: Wed. 5/27/09). The event is a community garden planting & ice cream party. Grade 3: Potluck & Games @ Mill River Park, May 15 Grade 4: Potluck Dinner/exhibition, May 28, 5:30 pm, FR Grade 5: Family Fun & Games, April 29, 6:30-8 pm, FR, raindate May 5. Don't forget to check back here for any weather cancellations!

2nd Grade Event Announcement

Plans for the grade-wide event for the second grade are underway! It be held on Wednesday, May 20, from 2PM to 4PM (raindate: Wed. 5/27/09). The event is a community garden/planting & ice cream party. We will plant flowers & other donated items, put down wood chips, clean up trash, spruce up the Fort River landscape and have ice cream treats afterward.

1st Grade D.E.A.R. Event

The first grade-wide event of the year, the "Drop Everything and Read" pajama party for the first grade, happened this past Monday. It was a huge success, with reading events during the day and storyteller John Porcino & snacks in the evening. Kudoʼs ﬁrst grade parents! Thanks to Suzanne Schilling for sending along these great pictures.

Yearbook Photos: Deadline May 1st.

The deadline for submitting Yearbook photographs is Friday, May 1st. CD-roms should be placed in the parent council mailbox for Joy Sullivan/Yearbook. Please include what event, grade, and class/teacher for those in the pictures and a contact name and number if there are questions. High quality photographs can be emailed to joyrrs@comcast.net.

Fun Stuff

Amherst-opoly. The Amherst monopoly games have arrived and will go on sale soon. Additional volunteers are needed to help with this all elementary school fundraiser. Contact: Liz Larson (lizinamherst@gmail.com). T-Shirt Sale. Coming soon T-shirts & totes made with the Fort River logo will be available this Spring. Keep an eye out for order forms the week after April vacation. Volunteers welcome. Contact Libby Stanforth (bstanforth@comcast.net). Savings Makes Cents is continuing in the Main Hall on Tuesdays, 8:15-8:45 am. Please remind students to bring in their deposits. Sign up materials to open a bank account with Florence Savings Bank will also be available at that time. Only $1.00 is needed to open an account, and any amount can be deposited. After 10 deposits, the Bank will contribute $1.00 to the account. Contact Barbara Morse (253-9160; bmlmorse@comcast.net) for more information.

Upcoming Community Events

Please note that these events are not sponsored by Parent Council. April 24 is the last day for donations of books for the 62nd Annual League of Women Voters of Amherst Book Sale which will take place on the Town Common on May 1, 2, and 3. Area residents are urged to look over their book shelves and contribute books to the LWV fund raiser. The book sale is a great way of recycling books in the area. Last year nearly 40,000 books were received, providing a source of good books at bargain prices. Profits have supported publication of the Voter’s Guide for the recent local election and League publications such as the Town Meeting Hand Book, They Represent You, a listing of Town meeting members and elected officers, and the recently revised Your Amherst Government. Books should be brought to the LWV sorting and pricing place at 479 West Street, #8 (corner of Pomeroy Ln.and West St.), the Hadley Stop & Shop, the Jones, Munson and North Amherst Libraries or the UPS Store at 6 University Drive. For information call 253–0633. JOIN MULTI-ARTS INTERACTIVE ARTS FESTIVAL. Performances & Workshops, Music – Dance – Art – Mime – Creative Writing. Where: Barnes and Noble, Hadley, When: Saturday, May 2nd. 11:00-12:00 for Little Ones, 3:00-6:00 for everyone. Music: Bring your instrument and join us in the performance of Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" and Haydn's "Toy Symphony." Art: Design & make your own 3-D cardboard dog. Dance: Watch "Las Chicas", a Flamenco dance show. Have a taste of Flamenco in a ten-minutes workshop. Try Funk and Break dance extravaganza. For little ones: Paint your face, learn basic juggling, Entertainment by clowns, mimes, and story tellers. Details - visit www.multi-arts.org. Don’t miss it. See you there! Call for Creative Writers! Multi-Arts invites young writers to submit examples of their work: a poem, short story, comedy routine, play, or a school essay. Selected works will be published in our ONLINE MAGAZINE and read by John Montanari, WCFR host, as a part of the Multi-Arts Interactive Festival at Barnes & Noble, Hadley, on Saturday, May 2, 2009. This interactive festival will include performances & workshops in music, dance, art, mime, and clowns). Multi-Arts inspires youth to explore their creativity and develop a lifelong love of the arts. Learn all about us; visit our website at www.multi-arts.org. Send your work now by clicking the SUBMIT button, or e-mail us at carrubla@gmail.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 description. 3. Contact information (website or name, telephone and/or email address) must be included. We add new information to the blog every Friday during the school year. Please note that we do not accept announcements of items or services for sale (with the exceptions of children's classes/lessons). Inclusion in this section does not imply any guarantees or endorsements by Fort River Parent Council or Fort River School.

Amherst Education Foundation (AEF) Teacher Appreciation

Let your teacher know how much you appreciate all their hard work, care, expertise, and dedication! Make a gift to the Amherst Education Foundation (AEF) in honor of a teacher, and AEF will deliver a shining star with note of appreciation to that teacher. Your tax-deductible gift will go toward supporting important work in our schools next year. Gifts must be received by April 30th in order for stars to be delivered on May 5, Teacher Appreciation Day. www.amhersteducationfoundation.org

Ongoing Fundraisers: They're Fun & Easy!

Atkins Farms Country Market. Use your Atkins card when you shop at Atkins Farms Country Market, and they will donate a percentage of your purchase to Fort River School. Just show the card when you are checking out. Atkins has provided us with one card per family, which should have come home in an envelope with your youngest Fort River child. There is an expiration date on the card, which is the date that youngest child graduates from Fort River. It's another easy way to earn money for your school! Stop & Shopʼs A+ BonusBucks Program. This program has ended for the year: Fort River has earned $2,198.43!! Please keep in mind that you will have to re-register your card next fall for the next school year. Thanks to everyone who participated. Box Tops For Education. Keep clipping and bringing the Box Tops to the office! Even though have made our last submission for this school year, we will hold all additional box tops clipped this year and over the summer for submission next October. Big Y Education Express. Use your Big Y Express Savings Club card and Fort River can earn points for buying equipment and supplies! Visit the Big Y customer service desk and ﬁll out a form that will link Fort River with your card. Fort River ID # 5947. Target Take Charge of Education. Designate 1% of the value of your purchases to Fort River every time you use your Target REDcard (credit card). Visit www.Target.com/tcoe . Fort River ID 58645. Fort River Roasters by Dean's Beans. Order forms are available here. Next order deadline: March 6th. Please deliver to the Main Ofﬁce. Cellphones & Ink Jet Cartridges. Protect the environment and raise money for Parent Council by donating used digital cellphones and ink jet cartridges. Please deliver to the Main Ofﬁce.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Upcoming School Events

Grade 1 Event: Reading Night/PJ Party, Monday, April 13, Ft. River library/lobby. 6:30-8pm. See below for more information. Donations still needed. School Committee Meeting. Tues., Apr. 14, 7pm. High School Library. School Council Meeting, Thursday, Apr. 16, 7-9pm. Ft. River Principal's Office. Spring Recess. No School, Apr. 20-24. *Public Forum on Redistricting the Public Schools and the School Budget. Wednesday, Apr. 29, 5pm. Fort River Parent Council/ Community. Location at Ft. River TBA. See below for more information. (Other meetings/locations below.) Grade 5 Event: Family Fun-n-Games Evening. Wednesday, April 29, 6:30-8:00pm. At Fort River. (Rain date May 5). Click here for more details. 6th Grade Graduation Planning Meeting, Thursday, April 30, 7-9pm in the Fort River Library. See below for more information. Fort River Roasters by Dean's Beans Coffee Orders Due. Friday, May 1st. Coffee With the Principals. Friday, May 1st. 8:30-9:15am. Fort River Cafeteria. Parent Council Meeting, Thursday, May 7th, 8:30-9:30am. Fort River Cafeteria. 4th, 5th & 6th Grade Chorus Concert, Thursday, May 7th, 7:30pm. Click here for more info. Kindergarten Event: Family Dance Party, Friday, May 8th, 5-7pm, Ft. River Cafeteria. Grade 3 Event: Potluck and Games at Mill River Park. Friday, May 15th, Time: TBA. Grade 4 Event: Potluck Dinner. Thursday, May 28 at 5:30pm. Sixth Grade Graduation. Friday, June 19th 1:30pm. Note: Items in teal are sponsored by Fort River Parent Council.

Public Forums on Redistricting and the School Budget

Public forums have been scheduled to discuss the budget problems facing the Amherst public schools. Representatives from the Superintendent's Office and the School Committee will be holding forums to discuss the potential impact of two possible scenarios for upcoming school years. These scenarios are: reducing the number of elementary schools to three by closing Marks Meadow School (and redistricting the remaining schools) or keeping the current four schools. The possible impact of each option on the budget will be discussed. Please plan on attending one of the the forums. The same information will be provided at each. From the ARPS website:

Public Forums Set Regarding Potential Redistricting of Amherst Public Schools Home

At their March 17th meeting, the Amherst School Committee made a motion to close Marks Meadow Elementary School at the end of the 2009-2010 school year and redistrict to create three elementary schools with proportionate numbers of children on free/reduced lunch for the start of the 2010-2011 school year. The following public meetings are scheduled to provide the community with opportunities to hear more about the educational and budgetary impact of redistricting, as well as to ask questions and provide feedback:

Wednesday, April 29th at 12:00 Noon: Wildwood PGO/Wildwood Community (WW location TBA)
Wednesday, April 29th at 5:00 p.m.: Fort River PGO/FR Community (FR location TBA)
Thursday, April 30th at 5:00 p.m.: Crocker Farm PGO/CF Community (CF library)
NOTE: The Marks Meadow PGO/MM Community date is still being finalized. It will be posted ASAP.
Tuesday, May 5th at 7:00 p.m.: Community-Wide Forum (Middle School auditorium)

The Amherst School Committee plans to take a vote on the redistricting motion at their regular meeting on Tuesday, May 19th. Redistricting is not an agenda topic for their regular meeting next Tuesday, April 14th.

Grade-Wide Event for 4th Grade: New Date, May 28th

The 4th grade potluck dinner has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 28th at 5:30pm at the Fort River Playground.

1st Grade Event--Drop Everything and Read on Monday, April 13, Food Donations Needed!

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

You can sign up online to bring in a snack or beverage here. DONATIONS ARE STILL NEEDED!

Stop & Shop A+ BonusBucks: Year-End Results

The Stop & Shop A+ BonusBucks program has ended for the school year. Fort River has earned a terrific $2,198.43 for the year! We ended up with 135 people signed up for the program, and we earned $405.60 in the month of March. We earned $866 MORE than last year's total! Principal Sharick should be receiving the check from Stop and Shop by the end of the school year. Click here to check the totals for all Amherst Schools. Thanks to everyone who participated this year. Remember that you must re-register next fall for your donations to continue during the next school year.

Sixth Grade Graduation Planning Meeting: Thursday, Apr. 30 at 7pm

Graduation will be Friday June 19 @ 1:30 pm with the student dance that evening. Mark your calendars! We need the help of as many parents as possible in order to make this a successful event. If you would like to volunteer please contact either co-chairs Jan Kelly at janandkevink@comcast.net or Cathy Cullen at cullorder@comcast.net. Areas where we need help are: 1. Donation Committee: Anyone interested in helping solicit local area businesses for donations or goods in kind. This committee currently needs a co-chair and several individuals to help with the task. Our budget is tight and donations will determine how much we can do. 2. Photos for the Powerpoint presentation: Lynn Hayes, chair of this committee, has asked that anyone who has photos of any sixth grader in activities or events over the years at Fort River to either e-mail them to her at hay3bay@comcast.net or burn a CD and put it in the Parent Council mailbox with Lynn’s name. The more photos we have the more choices we can make. Each student will have a current photo but to have more candid pictures will make for a memorable power point for our kids. 3. Chair 6th Grade class Gift and contact for Roger Wallace’s class. 4. Other areas to volunteer are decorating the gym and cafeteria. The actual decoration will happen the night before, however we need creative individuals to develop a theme and prepare decorations for both the cafeteria and the gym in the weeks before. Liz Larson has agreed to chair the committee. Everyone will be contacted closer to the event to bring in food for the reception. There will be a planning meeting on Thursday, April 30 from 7:00- 9:00 in the Fort River Library. We recognize that spring is very busy; however, this meeting will be a roll up the sleeves and get things done time so try to attend if at all possible. We will talk about the event and break into committees in order to minimize other meetings needed.

What To Read When: A Evening with Author Pam Allyn

The Amherst Public School District is pleased to announce that Pam Allyn, distinguished author, will be visiting the district on Monday, May 4th at 5:30 P.M. at Crocker Farm Elementary School. Childcare will be available WHAT TO READ WHEN mirrors the cycle of childhood—the occasions big and small that offer opportunities for parents to bond most with their children. Allyn's advice is essential because she helps us to take into account a child's age, attention ability, gender, and interests as we choose among the hundreds of wonderful books to read. Pam celebrates the capacity of children's literature to enlighten, entertain, and inform. Her goal is to make it easier for children to have transforming moments with books by helping parents and educators find and read with them just the right books at just the right times. WHAT TO READ WHEN is a must-have guidebook for creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading. About the Author: Pam Allyn is the Executive Director of LitLife, a national organization specializing in innovative literacy education programs for schools and families. Pam is also the Founding Director of LitWorld, which brings the power of stories to the world's most vulnerable children. Pam is the author of The Complete 4 for Literacy, a guide for educators, and coauthor of the six-book series The Complete Year in Reading and Writing. She is the recipient of several awards for her commitment to childhood literacy. Pam is widely known as a motivational speaker on the subject of raising lifelong readers and writers.

Upcoming Community Events

Please note that these events are not sponsored by Parent Council. JOIN MULTI-ARTS INTERACTIVE ARTS FESTIVAL. Performances & Workshops, Music – Dance – Art – Mime – Creative Writing. Where: Barnes and Noble, Hadley, When: Saturday, May 2nd. 11:00-12:00 for Little Ones, 3:00-6:00 for everyone. Music: Bring your instrument and join us in the performance of Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" and Haydn's "Toy Symphony." Art: Design & make your own 3-D cardboard dog. Dance: Watch "Las Chicas", a Flamenco dance show. Have a taste of Flamenco in a ten-minutes workshop. Try Funk and Break dance extravaganza. For little ones: Paint your face, learn basic juggling, Entertainment by clowns, mimes, and story tellers. Details - visit www.multi-arts.org. Don’t miss it. See you there! Call for Creative Writers! Multi-Arts invites young writers to submit examples of their work: a poem, short story, comedy routine, play, or a school essay. Selected works will be published in our ONLINE MAGAZINE and read by John Montanari, WCFR host, as a part of the Multi-Arts Interactive Festival at Barnes & Noble, Hadley, on Saturday, May 2, 2009. This interactive festival will include performances & workshops in music, dance, art, mime, and clowns). Multi-Arts inspires youth to explore their creativity and develop a lifelong love of the arts. Learn all about us; visit our website at www.multi-arts.org. Send your work now by clicking the SUBMIT button, or e-mail us at carrubla@gmail.com. Zoobilee! A Live Animal Fair. Come to the Hitchcock Center's new spring event: Zoobilee! A Live Animal Fair. The fun of Hug-a-Bug and Scales 'n Tails all wrapped into one plus more. On Saturday, April 11, from 10am-1pm, come explore our educational and hands-on Live Animal Fair featuring a variety of amphibians, reptiles, insects and more. Crafts and outdoor activities. Pre-registration required; please call 413-256-6006. Book Collection for the League of Women Voters of Amherst’s Book Sale has begun! The annual Spring sale of thousands of used books will take place May 1, 2 and 3 in a large tent on the Amherst Town Common. Donations of books may be dropped off in collection trunks at the League’s sorting and pricing center at 479 West Street (Rt.116), Unit 8. This is at the corner of West Street and Pomeroy Lane. Other drop-off locations are Stop & Shop in Hadley, the UPS Store on University Drive, the Jones Library, North Amherst Library and the Munson Memorial Library in South Amherst. Books must be in good condition and free of mildew. Magazines will not be accepted. The book sale is one of the oldest and largest in New England. For information call 253-0633. 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.

Ongoing Fundraisers: Easy Ways to Help Our School!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Upcoming School Events

"Stress-Buster" Teacher & Staff Appreciation Lunch, Wednesday, Apr. 8. Your donations of food wanted! See below for more information. Grade 1 Event: Reading Night/PJ Party, Monday, April 13, Ft. River library/lobby. 6:30-8pm. School Committee Meeting. Tues., Apr. 14, 7pm. High School Library. School Council Meeting, Thursday, Apr. 16, 7-9pm. Ft. River Principal's Office. Spring Recess. No School, Apr. 20-24. Grade 5 Event: Family Fun-n-Games Evening. Wednesday, April 29, 6:30-8:00pm. At Fort River. (Rain date May 5). Parent Council Meeting, Thursday, May 7th, 8:30-9:30am. Fort River Cafeteria. 4th, 5th & 6th Grade Chorus Concert, Thursday, May 7th, 7:30pm. See below for more info. Kindergarten Event: Family Dance Party, Friday, May 8th, 5-7pm, Ft. River Cafeteria. Grade 3 Event: Potluck and Games at Mill River Park. Friday, May 15th, Time: TBA. Note: Items in teal are sponsored by Fort River Parent Council.

Stress-Buster Lunch for Teachers and Staff--This Coming Wednesday

The "Stress-Buster Teacher & Staff Appreciation Lunch" is being planned for Wednesday, April 8th. We Need Your Help! Fort River Parent Council will be sponsoring a special lunch for teachers & staff in the Staff Lounge on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 & we need your help. The theme for the menu is comfort food so put on your thinking caps on & hit the kitchen! Think mashed potatoes & gravy, macaroni & cheese, tapioca pudding, chocolate, whatever says comfort to you. This has been an especially tough year on the teachers & staff of our school given all the uncertainty in the system at this time. All members of the Ft. River community are invited to contribute food & drink items. You can sign up for your contribution using the BringIt online signup tool (click here--it's easy to use and you can even get an email reminder!) or call Eileen Marasco at 256-3880. We'll be cooking for 90--yes there are approximately 90 teachers & staff at our school--so all contributions are welcome! All food items need to be dropped off at the Staff Lounge by 11:15 the morning of the lunch. We'll have some special surprises for the teachers in appreciation for all the hard work they do for our children every day & some real stress busters will be in store. Anyone who wants to help Eileen put out food or prepare the Staff Lounge the day of the event can be directly in touch with her. Many, many thanks!

School Budget Discussion Meeting is Being Planned

Parent Council is in the process of scheduling a meeting with School Committee representatives to discuss the various proposed cuts to the elementary school budget for the upcoming year. This meeting will most likely take place at Fort River during the week after April vacation. There will also be meetings at all of the other schools. There will be a community meeting as well. The same information will be presented at each meeting, so you can attend any one of them, regardless of where it is being held. I will post all the dates and times when they are made available -- Ann McLaughlin.

Attention 4th Grade Families: Potluck Postponed!!

Catalina Arrubla (4th grade rep.) has informed me that the grade-wide event for the 4th grade, originally schedule for Thursday, April 9th, has been postponed due to the conflict with the beginning of Passover. This event will be rescheduled and I will post the new date as soon as it has been determined!--Thanks, Ann.

Attention 5th Grade Families!

5th Grade Families! Mark your calendars for a 5th grade family fun-n-games evening on Wednesday, April 29th 6:30-8:00pm at Fort River. We're planning on being outside, so if it rains hard, the back-up rain date is Tuesday May 5th. We are looking for parents who would like to help out with game ideas and/or organization. Please contact grade rep Gloria McCann or any of the class room reps (Pam Rietkerk, Sue Cairn, Shubha Tewari, Caroline Goutte) if you can help out.

Grade-Wide Events Schedule

Kindergarten: May 8 -- Kindergarten Family dance party, FR cafeteria, 5-7pm.
Grade 1: April 13 -- Reading night/PJ party, FR library/lobby, 6:30-8pm.
Grade 2 TBA
Grade 3: May 15 -- Potluck/games, Mill River Park. Time: TBA.
Grade 4: DATE TBA. Potluck dinner/exhibition, FR cafeteria, 5:30pm. (PLEASE NOTE: this event will be rescheduled from the original date of Apr. 7th.)
Grade 5: April 29. Family fun-n-games evening. 6:30-8:00pm at Fort River. (Rain date: Tuesday, May 5)
Grade 6: Friday, June 19, Graduation.

Ray Sharick's Newsletter Has Been Posted

Principal Ray Sharick has posted his latest newsletter here. You can read his earlier newsletters on the Fort River website here. You can view a revised April schedule for MCAS testing here. And finally, you can view PDFs of the following MCAS/No Child Left Behind reports:

Fort River NCLB (No Child Left Behind) Report Card 2008-09

Fort River AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) 2008-2009

Town Election Results

Congratulations to Fort River parent Steve Rivkin, who won one of the two open seats on the school committee this past Tuesday. Irv Rhodes won the other open seat. Thanks to all three candidates (Meg Rosa was the third) for being willing to serve on this important town committee in this difficult time! Congratulations also to the following Fort River parents who won seats in the contested town meeting race in Precinct 6: Mike Jacques, Rob Spence, Alison Donta-Venman, and Jim Brissette.

Spring Chorus Concert

The fourth, fifth and sixth grade choruses will present our annual spring concert on Thursday, May 7th in the Amherst Middle School auditorium at 7:30 pm. Please have your child report to the auditorium by 7:15 pm that night so that we can have the chorus warm up and prepare for the concert. Concert attire for boys includes white shirts and dark slacks. Girls should wear a white blouse and dark skirt or slacks. If your child is unable to participate in this event, it is important that you send me a note to notify me in advance, as it affects the student line-up on the choral risers. 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 Wednesday, May 6th, at 10:40 am. -- Anne Louise White

Upcoming Community Events

Please note that these events are not sponsored by Parent Council. Zoobilee! A Live Animal Fair. Come to the Hitchcock Center's new spring event: Zoobilee! A Live Animal Fair. The fun of Hug-a-Bug and Scales 'n Tails all wrapped into one plus more. On Saturday, April 11, from 10am-1pm, come explore our educational and hands-on Live Animal Fair featuring a variety of amphibians, reptiles, insects and more. Crafts and outdoor activities. Pre-registration required; please call 413-256-6006. Book collection for the League of Women Voters of Amherst’s book sale has begun! The annual Spring sale of thousands of used books will take place May 1, 2 and 3 in a large tent on the Amherst Town Common. Donations of books may be dropped off in collection trunks at the League’s sorting and pricing center at 479 West Street (Rt.116), Unit 8. This is at the corner of West Street and Pomeroy Lane. Other drop-off locations are Stop & Shop in Hadley, the UPS Store on University Drive, the Jones Library, North Amherst Library and the Munson Memorial Library in South Amherst. Books must be in good condition and free of mildew. Magazines will not be accepted. The book sale is one of the oldest and largest in New England. For information call 253-0633. The Fresh Air Fund: Host a Child This Summer. The Fresh Air fund is in need of hosts for this summer. Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and home to a child from the city to give a fresh air experience that disadvantaged children never forget. There's lots of info on the Fresh Air Fund website here: http://www.freshair.org/the-fresh-air-fund. 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.

New Way to Donate to Parent Council

Parent Council has finally arrived in the 21st century! As you can see, we have added a Paypal button to the top right-hand side of this webpage. It is now SUPER EASY for you to donate to the Parent Council Annual Fund. Just click on the button and and follow the directions to make a secure donation through our Paypal account. If you haven't already donated this year (and even if you have!) please take a moment to make your donation now. We still need your money! We still have lots of Parent Council-sponsored activities coming up this year, and our fund raising has been lagging well below last year's in terms of percentage of families who have participated and in sheer dollar amount. We would still love to have 100% participation of all Fort River families. Although we suggest an annual donation of $20 per child, donations of any amount are greatly appreciated (and tax-deductible!). If you prefer to remain in the 20th century and pay by check, please make it out to the Fort River Parent Council and send or bring it in to the Parent Council mailbox in the main office. THANKS!!

"I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver" -- Maya Angelou.

Ongoing Fundraisers: Easy Ways to Help Our School!

Atkins Farms Country Market. Use your Atkins card when you shop at Atkins Farms Country Market, and they will donate a percentage of your purchase to Fort River School. Just show the card when you are checking out. Atkins has provided us with one card per family, which should have come home in an envelope with your youngest Fort River child. There is an expiration date on the card, which is the date that youngest child graduates from Fort River. It's another easy way to earn money for your school! Stop & Shopʼs A+ BonusBucks Program. Use your Stop & Shop card and Fort River earns a percentage! Call 1-877-366-2668 or visit www.stopandshop.com/aplus. Fort River ID # 05218. Box Tops For Education. Keep clipping and bringing the Box Tops to the office! Even though have made our last submission for this school year, we will hold all additional box tops clipped this year and over the summer for submission next October. Big Y Education Express. Use your Big Y Express Savings Club card and Fort River can earn points for buying equipment and supplies! Visit the Big Y customer service desk and ﬁll out a form that will link Fort River with your card. Fort River ID # 5947. Target Take Charge of Education. Designate 1% of the value of your purchases to Fort River every time you use your Target REDcard (credit card). Visit www.Target.com/tcoe . Fort River ID 58645. Fort River Roasters by Dean's Beans. Order forms are available here. Next order deadline: March 6th. Please deliver to the Main Ofﬁce. Cellphones & Ink Jet Cartridges. Protect the environment and raise money for Parent Council by donating used digital cellphones and ink jet cartridges. Please deliver to the Main Ofﬁce.

Fort River PGO Information

Friday, April 17, 2009

Friday, April 10, 2009

Friday, April 3, 2009