AEF Stars in Our Schools

Amherst Education Foundation's (AEF) Winter Stars In Our Schools Campaign is underway!

Is there a teacher or staff member that has made a difference in your child's life this year? Say "Thank You!" by making a donation to the Stars In Our Schools Campaign in honor of them and AEF will send a note of gratitude on your behalf, thanking them for all their hard work and dedication. The money raised will help us continue to make grants available in support of teachers and staff in Amherst, Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury.

Please visit amhersteducationfoundation.org/stars and make your gift today!

You can also read about previous grants awarded by going to amhersteducationfoundation.org/grants

Fort River Winter Clothing Drive

The Fort River PGO is helping Fort River find winter clothing for everyone! We are looking for donations of gently used (or new) winter gear: coats, snow pants, boots, hats and gloves.

A drop-off bin will be located outside the front door of Fort River, December 13 - 23. Please make sure all clothing is clean, in good condition and put your donations in plastic bags.  

Items are available now and more will be distributed in January.

*** If you or your children are in need of warm winter clothing, please contact the school directly. ***

Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday is a day to give back - a day of online giving, intentionally scheduled to come after the shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On this Giving Tuesday, please consider giving to the Fort River PGO to support our teachers and our school (click the Donate button at https://ftriver.blogspot.com/)

Cool Science Art Competition

Cool Science is a free and public art competition held each fall for all K-12 artists.  Cool Science is a collaboration between the UMass Lowell, UMass Boston, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, University of Kansas, and Kansas City Art Institute.  Last year Cool Science received a National Science Foundation grant that helped it expand the project beyond Massachusetts to Kansas, Missouri, and Southern New Hampshire. 

Challenge Questions
This year, we are asking young artists to answer one of the following challenge questions with a visual work of art: 

1. What did you learn about extreme weather and climate that you want to teach adults?

2. Why is a weakening Polar Vortex causing wild ups and downs in winter temperatures?

3. How will our lives change as weather becomes more severe?

Competition Winners
During this winter, we will select the best entries for display on public buses in Sep-Nov of 2022.  The honorees will be recognized at our art exhibit celebrations next year.

To Learn More
For further information about the contest, please visit www.coolscience.net.

We look forward to receiving lots of creative entries from your community by January 15, 2022!

Math Curriculum Review

The district is reviewing the elementary math program for grades K-5, an action that has been called for by many staff who have expressed concerns about the efficacy of our current curriculum. It is possible, or even likely, that the Superintendent will end up recommending that we adopt a different curriculum at the end of this process, though implementation of any change(s) would not take place this year. 

It is extremely important to us to include parent/guardian eyes and voices on the Math Curriculum Review Committee.  We anticipate that the review process will go from now until May. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please email ftriver@gmail.com. The committee is currently meeting every week for two hours during the work day.

Hannukah Festival of Light

Hanukkah Festival of (Laser) Light

The Pines Theater - Look Park - Florence

Saturday December 4th @ 6:30pm

Celebrate Hanukkah with a dazzling laser light show that includes science, the Hanukkah story, a giant menorah lighting, and more.  A holiday experience for children and adults of all ages and faiths. Register here to reserve your free gift bag (while supplies last). Dress warmly and bring a picnic blanket/camping chairs to sit on.

Free admission to park (includes Winter Wonderland Light Display). Free parking by the train depot.

Letters of Gratitude for Teachers and Staff

Join us in Fort River's "Letters of Gratitude" campaign and show your appreciation for the amazing teachers and staff. Letters will be for a group of teachers or staff (individual letters to specific teachers or staff are welcome, but no need to sign-up for those) and can be from a group, family, parent, or student.

Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508094eada72ea4f49-letters  

Letters can be e-mailed to Elizabeth (elizabeth.fortriver@gmail.com) or dropped off by December 6.

Feel free to be creative and reach out to Elizabeth with any questions. Thank you for your support!

Fort River t-shirt design contest

The “Elegimos el Amor/We Choose Love” T-shirt Design Contest
Your design could be on the next Fort River “We Choose Love” t-shirts! The
contest is open to any student, K-6. Entries must be submitted by Tuesday,
November 23rd.

Details and guidelines are here.

Seal of Biliteracy program

As a way of celebrating multilingualism and supporting students to strengthen the languages they speak at home, as well as new languages that they are learning, ARPS offers a program called the Seal of Biliteracy. Please click here for more information about the program and you can also find the sign up form for students here and the sign up form for parents and volunteers here.

 

School Garden Support Team - volunteers needed!

Dear friend of the Amherst School Gardens,

We are excited to invite you to join the School Garden Support Team (SGST)! This is a team of people who share interest in supporting the School Garden Program and who are willing and able to help in a variety of ways over the seasons. More information can be found here.

Are you interested in joining us? Sign up here.

If you have questions or comments, please reach out to us!
With gratitude,
Leila Tunnell, Garden Educator (tunnelll@arps.org)
Jennifer Reese, Science & Garden Coordinator (reesej@arps.org)

Halloween Parade, Cider and Donuts

 

Get ready for trick-or-treating with a Halloween Parade around Fort River school on Sunday, October 31 at 2pm.

Cider and donuts (from Atkins!) will be available.

This event is sponsored by the Fort River PGO, donations appreciated. All funds raised directly benefit the school and classroom activities.

Research Study on Language

 

*The Cognitive Neuroscience Group at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston is recruiting children between the ages of 8 and 11 years to participate in a research study funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH).

* The purpose of the study is to evaluate the learning patterns of children with typical and atypical language development. The study will involve three visits to the lab at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. During the visits, several language and cognition tests will be administered, and electroencephalogram (EEG) will be recorded while participants perform several tasks on a computer. Each visit will last about 1.5 hours. Some virtual options are available. Procedures are in place to maintain COVID-19 safety precautions during in-person visits. A week after the final lab visit, your child will be asked to complete a short (5 minute) follow-up activity on a home computer or a mobile device.

*We are looking for children who were late to develop language, have received services for language or learning difficulties, or still have difficulty with language, reading comprehension, or learning. We are also recruiting children with typical language development.

 *More information can be found at: https://rally.partners.org/study/does_your_child_stru

*Payment is $120 for completing all study visits. We provide free all-day parking near our lab in the Charlestown Navy Yard. We will mail you a report of your child’s scores on the cognitive and language assessments. Please email us at cnglead@mghihp.edu or call us at (617) 724-7363 if you are interested or if you have any questions. 

 

Ski and Winter Gear Sale

 

Try Hockey for Free / Learn to Skate/Play and Girls Programs

 

October Jones Library Programs

 

Community Nutcracker Event

 

Participants will learn the flash mob choreography (a groovy mashup of 21st Century Nutcracker moves!) in our Nutcracker Mini-Session classes: a series of 4 classes running from November 15th - December 17th (classes will not meet the week of Thanksgiving). Class assignments are based on grade level, and will be held outdoors at Groff Park* at the following times:
Kindergarten: Fridays, 4-4:45 PM
Grades 1-3: Mondays, 3:30-4:15 PM OR Thursdays, 4-4:45 PM
Grades 4-6: Mondays, 3:30-4:30 PM OR Tuesdays, 3:30-4:30 PM
On/Demi Point (program for BIPOC dancers): Wednesdays, 3:30-4:30 PM
Grades 7-12: Wednesdays, 4-5PM (*at Kendrick Park)
Adults: Wednesdays, 8-9PM (*at The Center Dance)
Tuition is $55 for 45 min. classes (grades K and 1-3), $65 for hour long classes (grades 4-6, 7-12, Adult).

Whether your family is part of the flash mob or not, join us on December 19th to celebrate the season with some festive fun, a bake sale, games, music, and of course, lots of dancing!

Fort River Directory

 

The PGO will once again be preparing a directory of all students, including class lists and contact information. The directories will be distributed to all students.

Please fill out this form to have your contact information included. The deadline is October 20.

Gift Card Fundraiser

 

Gift card order forms went home on Friday.

Just by using gift cards, you are helping the PGO fund programs for your student(s).

This is money you would already be spending - use the cards for regular purchases (Stop & Shop, Amazon), holiday shopping or as gifts. 

Orders due by Wednesday, Oct 27.

Please return forms and payment to your child's teacher. Use this updated form to order!

AEF Trivia Bee

 

Girls Try Hockey for Free Day

 

 

Register here!

Please visit http://www.amhersthockey.org/ to see all learn to skate and learn to play programs.

Picture Day

 

 Thursday, October 14

Updated order forms for picture day were sent home this past week.

Order photos here: http://www.grynnandbarrett.com/grynnternet/

Code: 6A7X3Z7

6th Grade Fun Fair

 Time change from flyer - the event will take place 5-6:30pm.

Latino Heritage Month Celebration

 

http://tinyurl.com/ARPSLatinoCelebration

India/Pakistan Independence Celebration

 

Puerto Rico day

 

Free wifi hot spots

 

Amherst Community Theater Auditions for The Little Mermaid

 Due to recommendations from health professionals, the show has been postponed. Please keep checking the site for updates.

All audition information is at www.amherstacts.org

 

Welcome to the 2021-22 School Year!

The PGO will be keeping this blog updated - we hope to start sending out our Sunday evening newsletter soon, that provides information about the week ahead and any fun school or extracurricular events.

Support the Amherst Hurricanes

 

Summer programs with Amherst Ballet

 

Things that Fly (ages 6-9) and Art in Motion (ages 9-13) - see more information here: https://amherstballet.org/classes/summer-workshop/

Public Reading of Frederick Douglass's "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Speech on July 4

 

• Volunteer to read 1-2 paragraphs of the speech: Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/IreadFD by June 25
• Register to attend the reading (to receive event notices): Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/RFDT21
• Have questions? Want to help with publicity? Contact Bruce Penniman at penniman@umass.edu 

AEF Stars in Our Schools

As the school year comes to a close, we reflect on how proud we are of all our teachers, staff, students, and parents and their resilience in adapting to the unforeseen and unique challenges they faced this past year. With that in mind, the Amherst Education Foundation (AEF) is excited to announce our Spring Stars in Our Schools fundraiser.
 

Show your favorite teacher or staff member in the Amherst-Pelham School District your gratitude by making a contribution in their honor! Gifts of all sizes are greatly appreciated and will go towards helping the Amherst Education Foundation continue to provide grants toward amazing educational programs developed by teachers and staff. Say 'Thank You!' to a teacher, principal, coach, aide or other staff member by making a donation and we will send them a note letting them know how much you appreciate their hard work and dedication. 
 

Visit amhersteducationfoundation.org/stars and make your gift by Friday, June 25 to honor teachers or staff in Amherst, Pelham, Shutesbury, or Leverett, and we will send them a recognition card.

Good-bye picnic for Ms Chamberlain and Coach Renee

Please join us at Fort River on Wednesday, June 16th from 5-6pm to have a chance to say good-bye to Ms. Chamberlain and Coach Renee. Feel free to bring a picnic dinner and enjoy some time with friends. This is an outdoor event and masks will be required. 

*Rain date will be Monday, June 21st from 5-6pm

Fort River Teacher Staff/Lunch - Drinks needed!

Ms. Chamberlain and Coach Renee are giving lunch to all teachers/staff. This was supposed to happen on the half day on Thursday, June 10. We are not sure when it will happen with the change in schedule. They have asked if families could help supply drinks. Drinks need to be in cans or plastic bottles (for individuals), please. Email Elizabeth at eamfortin@gmail.com for pick-up/drop-off arrangements. Thank you!

http://frpc.pleasebringit.com/public/JeOhZ0CEs24

AEF Mini Golf fundraiser

The Amherst Education Foundation is hosting its first ever Mini-Golf Fundraiser! Join us for a fun event that will also have raffles, trivia and refreshments. All proceeds will go towards funding valuable education grants to public schools in Amherst, Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury.

Register at https://bit.ly/AEFminigolf

Looking for kids for a research study!

The Cognitive Neuroscience Group at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston is recruiting children between the ages of 8 and 12 years to participate in a research study funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH).  

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the learning patterns of children with typical and atypical language development. The study will involve 1 virtual visit via a secured Zoom and 3 in-person visits to the lab. During the visits, children complete a battery of cognitive and language-based assessments, play several games on the computer, and complete several language/memory tasks. The lab visits include safe and noninvasive EEG recording.  The virtual session will last about 30 minutes, and the in-person sessions will last about 2 hours each. Procedures are in place to maintain COVID-19 safety precautions during in-person visits.

We are looking for children who were late to develop language, have received services for language or learning difficulties, or still have difficulty with language, reading comprehension, or learning. More information can be found at: https://rally.partners.org/study/learning_differences

Payment is $150 for completing all study visits. We provide free all-day parking near our lab in the Charlestown Navy Yard. We will mail you a report of your child’s scores on the cognitive and language assessments. Please email us at cnglead@mghihp.edu or call us at (617) 724-7363 if you are interested or if you have any questions.

Fort River Book Swap

If you have books to donate for the June Fort River Library Book Swap, please send them to school in your students’ book bag or leave them in the box outside the front doors! Throughout May, the Fort River Library is collecting book donations. In June, all Fort River students will get to choose from these books to keep, read, and love throughout the summer (and forever if you choose).


Si tiene libros para donar para el intercambio de libros de la Biblioteca de Fort River de Junio, por favor envíelos a la escuela en la mochila de sus estudiantes o déjelos en la caja afuera de la puerta principal. A lo largo de Mayo, la Biblioteca de Fort River está recolectando donaciones de libros. En Junio, todos los estudiantes de Fort River podrán elegir entre estos libros para guardar, leer y amar durante el verano (y para siempre si así lo desean).