Potential Dual Language K-6 Magnet School - Please Complete Survey

Hello Fort River families,

A hard working group of volunteers are exploring K-6 enrollment options for the Amherst School District. Please help this effort by completing this very brief survey. Thank you! 

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We are part of the Enrollment Working Group,  a group of parents, teachers, administrators, and community members that is in the process of researching educational options for the Amherst Public School district. 

Our subgroup is exploring world language opportunities for our students, with a focus on the potential for our district to start a K-6 magnet school. Based on our perception of ongoing interest by the community and our current demographics of ELL (English Language Learners) students and bilingual staff, we are particularly interested in determining the feasibility of creating a English/Spanish K-6 dual immersion program (a dual language school teaches subjects in English and Spanish, with the goal of all students learning both languages). Our goals for this survey are to:

• Assess interest in a K-6 dual immersion magnet school option by English-speaking and Spanish-speaking families
• Assess interest in other magnet school themes
• Assess interest in expanded Spanish language instruction as part of regular (non-dual immersion) K-6 programming. 

Please take a moment before November 14 to complete the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GFG7JNX to share your thoughts and opinions.

Thank you for your time!

Sincerely,

The Magnet/Dual-Immersion Subgroup of the Enrollment Working Group

Andrea Battle (ARPS Grandparent)

Irene Dujovne (ARPS Parent)

Margaret Sawyer (ARPS Parent)

Miki Gromacki (ARHS Assistant Principal, ARPS Parent)

Phoebe Hazzard (Amherst School Committee Chair, ARPS Parent)

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Somos parte del grupo de trabajo de matrícula, un grupo de padres, maestros, administradores y miembros de la comunidad que está en el proceso de investigación de opciones educativas para el distrito escolar público de Amherst.

Nuestro subgrupo está explorando oportunidades de idiomas del mundo para nuestros estudiantes, con un enfoque en el potencial de nuestro distrito para comenzar una escuela especializada de K-6. De acuerdo a nuestra percepción del interés continuo de la comunidad, nuestra demografía actual de estudiantes de ELL (Aprendices del Idioma Inglés) y personal bilingüe, estamos particularmente interesados en determinar la viabilidad de crear un programa de inmersión doble en inglés / español para K-6. (Una escuela de doble idioma enseña materias en inglés y español, con el objetivo de que todos los estudiantes aprendan ambos idiomas). Nuestros objetivos para esta encuesta son:

• Evaluar el interés en una opción de escuela especializada de doble inmersión K-6 de familias de habla inglesa y de habla hispana
• Evaluar el interés en otros temas de escuela especializada
• Evaluar el interés en la enseñanza del idioma español ampliado como parte de la programación regular (inmersión no dual) K-6.

Dedique un momento antes del 14 de noviembre a completar la encuesta en https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GFG7JNX para compartir sus pensamientos y opiniones.

¡Gracias por su tiempo!

Sinceramente,

The Magnet/Dual-Immersion Subgroup of the Enrollment Working Group

Andrea Battle (ARPS Grandparent)

Irene Dujovne (ARPS Parent)

Margaret Sawyer (ARPS Parent)

Miki Gromacki (ARHS Assistant Principal, ARPS Parent)
Phoebe Hazzard (Amherst School Committee Chair, ARPS Parent)

Update from the Amherst School Committee Chair and Vice-Chair

The Amherst School Committee is pleased to announce the membership of the School Building Committee for the Fort River Building and Site Feasibility Study. At our Tuesday, October 17th meeting, we randomly selected four at-large community members to serve on this 12-member committee. We would sincerely like to thank all those who submitted applications, and to those community members, educators, administrators, and town employees who will be offering their time and service to do the important work of this committee going forward.

The selection process went as follows:

• All completed applications were numbered and names were removed.
• These numbered applications were shared with all School Committee members via email.
• The Chair and Vice-Chair reviewed the numbered applications and sorted them according to the positions for which they applied, which included:
• Community Member with Green Energy Expertise and Architectural Background-At-Large Parent/Guardian/Caregiver
• At-Large Community Member #1
• At-Large Community Member #2

The Chair and Vice-Chair shared all complete applications and the categories with the Committee; final selections were made randomly during the public Committee meeting on Tuesday. The Committee publicly committed to having a minimum of 50% of the voting membership of the School Building Committee be composed of women and persons of color. Applications were considered accordingly based on the optional self-identification of applicants.

The final School Building Committee is as follows:

- Eric Nakajima, Amherst School Committee Representative

- Diane Chamberlain, Fort River Principal

- TBD, Green Design/Architectural Representative

- Heather Sheldon, SEPAC Representative

- Jonathan Salvon, Fort River PGO Representative

- Irene Dujovne, Parent-at-Large

- Allison Page, Community Member-at-Large

- Maria Kopicki, Community Member-at-Large

- Claire McGinnis, Town Finance Representative

- Jean Fay, ARPS Staff Member

- Nicole Singer, Fort River Teacher

- TBD, Facilities Director

- Dr. Michael Morris, Superintendent (ex-officio member)

We appreciate the range of experience and expertise represented in this group and look forward to working together on behalf of our schools.

Questions or comments for the School Committee can be emailed to: schoolcommittee@arps.org. Visit www.arps.org for posted meetings, agendas, and meeting minutes.

Phoebe Hazzard, Chair Anastasia Ordonez, Vice-Chair

Members Sought for Fort River School Building Committee

At their September 25 meeting, the Amherst School Committee approved the mission statement (available here) for the Fort River  School Building Committee.  The committee also voted to include the following voting members on the Fort River School Building Committee:

Fort River Principal or Designee

Fort River Teacher

Fort River Staff Member

Facilities Director or Designee

School Committee Member

Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) Designee

Fort River PGO Appointee

Town Finance Representative

Community Member with Green Energy Expertise and Architectural Background

At-Large Parent/Guardian/CaregiverAt-Large Community Member #1

At-Large Community Member #2

In addition, the committee voted to formalize their commitment to having a minimum of 50% of the voting membership of the School Building Committee composed of women and persons of color.

FORT RIVER COMMUNITY MEMBERS INTERESTED IN SERVING AS THE FORT RIVER PGO APPOINTEE SHOULD COMPLETE THIS FORM BY 12 NOON ON OCTOBER 13. The Fort River PGO Board will select a representative from the pool of applicants. The appointee will be expected to provide School Building Committee updates to the Fort River PGO on a regular basis. *

Here is the URL for the Fort River PGO appointee application: https://goo.gl/forms/kdg07j59K66mmJ632

There are other ways to apply to join the Committee; please read on for details or visit arps.org.

Community members are encouraged to complete the application available here for the following positions:  

1) Community Member with Green Energy Expertise and Architectural Background; 

2) At-Large Parent/Guardian/Caregiver; 

3) At-Large Community Member (2 positions).

Community members interested in serving as the SEPAC representative should email Nancy Stewart, SEPAC President at sepac@arps.org.  Please include your name, contact information and brief description (two paragraphs or less) explaining your interest in serving.

The deadline for applications is 12:00 Noon on Friday, October 13. All applications will be considered; however, preference may be given to women and people of color, parents/guardians/caregivers, and those with Amherst town government experience.

Community Feedback Wanted about Consideration of Superintendent Appointment

Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee and Union 26 Committee Statement on Consideration of Permanent Appointment of Interim Superintendent Dr. Michael Morris

The Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee and Union 26 School Committee voted at their September 6th meeting to consider the appointment of Interim Superintendent Michael Morris to the post of permanent Superintendent of Schools.

“At the end of the summer, the chairs learned that Interim Superintendent Morris had reconsidered his interest in being a candidate to be permanent superintendent,” said Eric Nakajima, Chair of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee. “Given his strong track record as Interim superintendent, the committees felt it worth exploring his appointment through a process that offers extensive opportunities for public discussion and input.”

"Many community members, educators and staff have approached us in recent months to express their interest in our discussion of this topic, and to express their support for Dr. Morris's work this past year," said Anastasia Ordonez, Chair of the Union 26 School Committee. "He's worked hard for our district and shown an ability to deftly manage district budgets, community needs, and student achievement. We're looking forward to formally considering his candidacy."

The committees have scheduled a discussion to officially consider the appointment at the September 26th joint Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee and Union 26 meeting with a vote anticipated at either that meeting or on October 10th. The Committees expressed a strong interest in robust public engagement and input into the decision prior to taking that vote. Interim Superintendent Michael Morris will make a presentation at the September 26th meeting that will respond, in part, to questions submitted by the public and the school committees.

The Committees plan extended public comment periods at the beginning of both the September 12th and September 26th school committee meetings to be held at the Amherst Regional High School Library beginning at 6:30 PM.

Please provide the School Committee feedback on the potential appointment of Dr. Morris as permanent Superintendent. We welcome your questions or topics that may be included in a future presentation by Dr. Morris on September 26. The deadline for submissions is September 19. Please email schoolcommittee@arps.org.

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Comité de la Escuela Regional de Amherst-Pelham y Unión 26 Declaración del Comité sobre la Consideración de la Nombramiento Permanente del Superintendente Interino Dr. Michael Morris

El Comité Escolar Regional de Amherst-Pelham y el Comité Escolar de la Unión 26 votaron en su reunión del 6 de septiembre para considerar el nombramiento del Superintendente Interino Michael Morris al puesto de Superintendente de Escuelas Permanente.

"Al final del verano, los presidentes de comités escolares se enteraron que el superintendente interino Morris había cambiado de opinión y estaba interesado en ser candidato superintendente permanente", dijo Eric Nakajima, Presidente del Comité Escolar Regional de Amherst-Pelham. "Dado su sólido historial como Superintendente Interino, los comités consideraron que valía la pena explorar su nombramiento a través de un proceso que ofrece amplias oportunidades para la discusión pública y el aporte".

"Muchos miembros de la comunidad, educadores y el personal se han acercado a nosotros en los últimos meses para expresar su interés en nuestra discusión de este tema, y para expresar su apoyo a la obra del Dr. Morris el año pasado", dijo Anastasia Ordonez, Presidenta del Comité Escolar de la Unión 26. "Ha trabajado duro para nuestro distrito y ha demostrado su habilidad para manejar hábilmente los presupuestos del distrito, las necesidades de la comunidad y el logro de los estudiantes, y estamos deseando considerar formalmente su candidatura".

Los comités han programado una discusión para considerar oficialmente el nombramiento en conjunto el Comité Escolar Regional Amherst-Pelham y la Unión 26 en la reunión del 26 de septiembre con una votación anticipada ya sea en esa reunión o en la del 10 de octubre. Los Comités expresaron un gran interés en una participación pública sólida y contribución en la decisión antes de tomar esa votación. El superintendente interino Michael Morris hará una presentación en la reunión del 26 de septiembre que responderá, en parte, a las preguntas presentadas por el público y los comités escolares.

Los comités planifican extender los periodos de comentarios públicos al comienzo de las reuniones de comité escolar los días 12 de septiembre y 26 de septiembre, que se llevarán a cabo en la Biblioteca de la Escuela Regional de Amherst comenzando a las 6:30 PM.

Proporcione al Comité Escolar comentarios sobre la posible designación del Dr. Morris como Superintendente Permanente. Damos la bienvenida a sus preguntas o temas que pueden ser incluidos en una presentación futura por el Dr. Morris el 26 de septiembre. La fecha límite para las presentaciones es el 19 de septiembre. Por favor envíe un correo electrónico a schoolcommittee@arps.org.

Post-Building Project Presentation by Dr. Morris

Thank you to everyone who attended the presentation by Interim Superintendent Dr. Michael Morris last Friday morning. About 40 people attended on short notice - what a fabulous turnout! The PGO is grateful to have had the opportunity to host Dr. Morris and Ms. Hazzard, Chair of the Amherst School Committee, for this timely and in depth discussion of such an important topic.

If you missed the presentation it will be given again at the other elementary schools this Friday, May 5. The Crocker Farm PGO will host Dr. Morris from 9-10 am at Crocker Farm School, and the Wildwood PGO will host from 12-1pm in the Green Room at Wildwood. Families are welcome to attend either session.

Dr. Morris wants as many families to hear this presentation as possible. He will share information on challenges faced by our district, including (1) Financial, (2) Enrollment, and (3) Infrastructure, and looks forward to listening to your concerns and hearing your suggestions.

Small children are welcome.

Letter to the Community Regarding the Amherst Elementary School Building Project

March 30, 2017

To:       The Amherst Public School District staff and administration and the Amherst community,

From:  Phoebe Hazzard, Amherst School Committee Vice-Chair and Dr. Michael Morris, Interim Superintendent

While the proposed new schools building project failed to achieve a two-thirds majority in Tuesday's referendum vote, our district will continue to move forward and plan for ways to ensure that our schools remain the best teaching and learning environments possible for our students and staff. There is no question that there was a wide range of opinions and feelings about the project in our small community. But the rigorous and passionate debate leading up to the vote reinforced how deeply our community cares about our elementary schools. And, the activity around the referendum has sparked an upswell in civic involvement, with many district parents now engaging as elected participants in our local democratic system.

Though provocative, the conversation around the proposed building project has also made our community increasingly aware of persistent issues that educators, administrators, and school committees have been grappling with for years, particularly the challenging physical environment of the Fort River and Wildwood buildings, uneven socio-economic distribution of our families, lack of affordable preschool, and fiscal challenges. Our educators work every day to provide our children with outstanding educational experiences despite a challenging teaching environment. These problems remain unresolved, and as we move forward we must be committed to continuing to consider how to address them in the most fiscally responsible and timely manner possible.

The Amherst School Committee will hold its next public meeting on April 25th at 6:00 p.m., at which we will likely discuss next steps. Interim Superintendent Dr. Morris will move forward with requests for the town to fund the outstanding capital repairs needed at Fort River and Wildwood, beginning with $500,000 to replace the Wildwood boiler. The district will also request $115,000 to conduct a site and building assessment at the Fort River School to inform discussion about the future potential of that site.

As we begin this next chapter, we’d like to express a sincere thank you to the members of the School Building Committee for their hundreds of hours of work on the proposed school buildings project.

Later School Start Times

The School Committee has created a task force to look at beginning Amherst schools later or switching high/middle school start times with the elementary schools.  You can read about the charge and membership of this task force here. Research about the influence of later start times is available here.

Input from all stakeholder groups, including students, parents/guardians, and district faculty and staff, is an important component of the task force’s research. YOUR input is very valuable and the task force wants to hear from you.

Please click here to participate in the elementary school family survey.

Surveys are available for secondary school families, students and staff members can be accessed here: http://www.arps.org/node/2849.

Please share your thoughts on this issue. The deadline for completing the surveys is Monday, April 11.

Regional School Committee Budget Hearing.

Tuesday, February, 2nd at 6:30pm the Regional School Committee will host a public budget hearing at the Town Room in Amherst Town Hall. The Budget Hearing will begin at 7:00 after a short Regional School Committee Meeting.

6th Grade parents and guardians may be particularly interested in reviewing the Middle School/High School budget priorities for next year and giving the administrators your feedback. There will be time for public comment at this meeting.

Please join the discussion about the FY11 priorities for our schools. All community input is welcome. The meeting can be viewed live on ACTV.

School Budget Information

Information on the proposed cuts in next year's the school budget has been posted to the ARPS.org website at the following link: http://www.arps.org/node/1108.

The School Committee is planning meetings at which they will be taking public comment on the FY11 school budget.  I will let you all know the location and time(s) when the information becomes available.--Ann McLaughlin.

Amherst School Committee Meeting Tonight, Jan. 19: Budget Discussion

There will be a meeting of the Elementary School Committee tonight at 7pm in the High School Library. Included in the items on the agenda will be a discussion of $1 million in budget cuts for next year.

I've copied a short article from today's Daily Hampshire Gazette below:

School board to discuss cuts tonight

By Nick Grabbe

AMHERST - Struggling elementary school students could lose support if the district can't find extra money, according to a cut list distributed last week.
The Amherst School Committee will discuss the new prioritized cut list at its meeting tonight at 7 in the high school library.
"This process is not celebratory," said Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez. "Anything we cut is painful. It's, What kind of intense pain do we leave for last?' It's not like there won't be casualties."
If next year's funding were the same as this year's, the elementary schools would still have to spend about $1 million less than if services were kept constant. That's because of rising costs, especially for teacher salaries.
An estimated $582,997 of that $1 million will come from the closing of Mark's Meadow School.
The rest will come from cutting $210,341 from the operating budget, including four classroom teachers, and $278,431 from the central office, according to the cut list.
To avoid cutting more deeply, the schools would need some combination of a tax override, more state aid than expected, and/or givebacks of negotiated salary increases. If none of that money arrives, the equivalent of almost 10 more positions could be lost.
Most of those employees currently deal with students in need: intervention specialists, a psychologist, special education teachers and those helping students who don't speak English well.
"I don't want to be put in the position to cut things for the most vulnerable," said School Committee member Irv Rhodes. "These are the ones who can least afford it. This is very troubling." He added that the majority of those affected would be boys.
In spite of the need for cuts, the budget includes three new preschool positions, which Rodriguez has called a priority.
Also on the cut list is one position in instructional technology. "This would take us backwards to the level of technology at least a decade ago," said Rodriguez.

Amherst School Committee Meeting, Tues. Dec. 15.

Amherst School Committee Meeting, Tues. Dec. 15, 7pm at the High School Library.

This meeting of the Amherst Elementary School Committee will include a presentation of the preliminary budget cut projections for the elementary schools and an update on the redistricting plan.

The meeting agenda can be seen here. 

Update on School Redistricting

The Amherst School Committee voted on Elementary School Redistricting during the Tuesday, October 27th School Committee meeting.  The Committee voted 4 to 1 for Redistricting Map Rendition #5. (Click here to view Map 5). 

Superintendent Rodriguez announced that his office will now begin planning for implementation of this map.

Thanks to the School Committee and the Redistricting Subcommittee for all its hard work and getting the vote done!

Report from the October 22nd Special Meeting of the Amherst School Committee

The Redistricting Subcommittee reviewed the redistricting process and maps with the Amherst School Committee. A slide presentation and handouts were provided. This information is available on the ARPS website at the following link: http://www.arps.org/node/1039 (Click on "Redistricting presentation10-22-09.pdf" to download the maps.) After the presentation School Committee members commented and asked questions, followed by one hour of public comment.

Two new maps were presented: Rendition 5 and Rendition 6. Rendition 5 has children living in South Amherst apartment complexes divided between Wildwood and Fort River, resulting in a % FRL (free/reduced lunch) range of 1%. Rendition 6 has all these children attending Fort River, resulting in a % FRL range of 6%. See the chart below.

All 6 maps are presently under consideration for the School Committee Redistricting vote next Tuesday (Oct. 27). Any thoughts or questions regarding the last two renditions of the redistricting maps, or any of the other versions, can be directed to the School Committee at
schoolcommittee@arps.org.

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Redistricting Map: Rendition 5

School                # Students            %FRL*             % Struggling
Crocker Farm           330                     35.5%                22.1%
Fort River                 437                     34.8%                21.7%
Wildwood                 476                     34.7%                22.3%


Redistricting Map: Rendition 6

School                  # Students           %FRL            % Struggling
Crocker Farm             336                   36.3%                22.9%
Fort River                   460                   37.4%                21.3%
Wildwood                   447                   31.5%                22.1%

*Free/Reduced Lunch

Special Meeting of the Amherst School Committee: TONIGHT Thurs. Oct. 22, 7pm.

The Amherst School Committee will have a special meeting on Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in the Amherst Regional High School library. The purpose of the meeting is for the Redistricting Subcommittee to review the redistricting process and maps with the Amherst School Committee.  After the full School Committee has time for deliberation and discussion of the recommendation, there will be an opportunity for public comments.  The School Committee will not take any action on the subcommittee's recommendation at this meeting.  The vote is scheduled for the regular Amherst School Committee meeting on Tuesday, October 27th.

You can see the agenda for the meeting here: http://www.arps.org/node/1039.

Please note: a "Redistricting Presentation" pdf file has been posted on the ARPS.org website which shows a bunch of proposed maps to be discussed at the meeting tonight. The presentation can be downloaded here: http://www.arps.org/node/1039.

Elementary School Redistricting News

The map of the proposed redistricting of the elementary schools has been changed once again. The changes will have an impact on Fort River. Click on this link to see the latest map. The school committee will be voting on the new elementary school districts at the Oct. 27th School Committee meeting in the High School Library at 7pm. Please check the Amherst Bulletin website for the latest news about this topic (this should be posted by tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 16). -- Ann McLaughlin.

Amherst Elementary School Redistricting Meetings

Elementary School Redistricting Meetings. The School Committee will be taking public comments on the proposed new elementary school districts. Childcare provided.

• Thursday, Oct. 8. 7-9pm. At the Marks Meadow School Auditorium.
• Wednesday, Oct. 14, 7-9 pm. At the Crocker Farm cafeteria.

 

A copy of the proposed map can be seen on School Committee member Catherine Sanderson's blog at the following link: http://is.gd/45w4e. Click on the map to enlarge.

School Redistricting Meetings

The school committee will be taking comments from the public about the proposed new elementary school districts at the following two meetings:

• Thursday, October 8. At the Marks Meadow School Auditorium.
  
  
• Wednesday, October 14. At the Crocker Farm cafeteria.
  
  

Both meetings will start at 7:00pm and are scheduled to last 2 hours.

School Committee Meeting: May 19

At the next Amherst School Committee meeting on this coming Tues., May 19th, a vote on closing Marks Meadow School and redistricting of the elementary schools will take place. The agenda for this meeting can be found on the ARPS.org website here: http://www.arps.org/node/877. Documents about the potential redistricting can be found here: http://www.arps.org/node/815.

Amherst Elementary Budget and School Redistricting

A vote on the proposed closing of Marksʼ Meadow and redistricting the elementary schools will take place at the next Amherst School Committee meeting: Tuesday, May 19th, 7 pm at the High School Library.

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.