Update on Elementary School Building Project and Related Topics

The PGO would like our school community to stay informed about the progress towards addressing elementary school building issues and making capital improvements. 

The dialogue surrounding the Amherst Elementary School Building Project surfaced multiple enrollment challenges facing the district.  

On June 14, 2017, the Amherst School Committee voted to form the Enrollment Working Group (EWG), which includes community members, families, and staff members, to investigate challenges and develop potential suggestions for consideration of the Superintendent. The EWG decided to form five subgroups: Socio-Economic Balance, Special Education Programs, Declining Enrollment, Preschool Access, and Dual Language Immersion.  

After working summer 2017 through winter 2018, the EWG subgroups each reported their findings to the Superintendent and Amherst School Committee. At the March 14, 2018 Amherst School Committee meeting, Superintendent Morris presented his formal response to the EWG findings. Information regarding the work of the EWG, it’s subgroups’ findings, and the Superintendent’s response can be found here.
The resulting work on exploring Dual Language Programming can be found in the link. Click here for an excellent production by Amherst Media on "Window into ARPS: Dual Language Program Presentation," hosted by Superintendent Michael Morris. 

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)