Buy Your Gift Cards from Fort River - DUE November 8

The PGO is once again selling gift cards that you can use for your normal weekly purchases at the grocery store or for Holiday shopping. This is money that you would already be spending, but if you use our gift cards, you will be earning money for Fort River! You pay full face value, but the PGO buys the gift cards at a discount (from 2-16% depending on the retailer.)

Use the cards for:

• Purchases that you already make on a regular basis like groceries (eg. Stop & Shop, Whole Foods)
• Holiday shopping (eg. L.L. Bean, Old Navy)
• To give as gifts to teachers, mail carriers and bus drivers (eg. Starbucks, Panera)

This is money you already have budgeted, but if you use our gift cards, you are helping the PGO fund school programs for your students. 

Please make checks payable to: Fort River PGO. Use this form to order as many gift cards as you wish, attach your check and return to your child’s teacher or to the PGO wall box in the office.

Gift card orders are due by WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8th. We aim to deliver the cards before Thanksgiving so that you can have them in hand for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Since gift cards are essentially cash, we will not be sending them home in backpacks. Parents MUST pick them up in person in the Fort River lobby the week of November 20th -- exact times to be determined, but there will be a before and after school option.

Questions? Please email Stacey Beganny at stacey.fortriver@gmail.com. Click here for the order form: http://bit.ly/2xzO7Xl

Thank Teachers with a Gift to AEF

a message from Amherst Education Foundation:

The school year is almost over, and now is the time we begin thinking about how to thank our teachers for a terrific year. What better way to thank them than to give a gift in their name to the Amherst Education Foundation? AEF has provided more than $400,000 in grants to our public schools over the last 24 years.

“I have had the good fortune to be honored by parents and members of the Amherst community through their “STARS in our Schools” donations to AEF.  When making their donations, parents and relatives have commented specifically that they see their children singing with joy and self confidence and that they have an appreciation for music of different world cultures. It is deeply satisfying to know that what we do in the schools gets carried out into the community.”

- Fort River Music Teacher Anne Louise White

AEF provides an easy way for you to make a meaningful donation to your child’s teacher(s) by going to www.amhersteducationfoundation.org and clicking on “Stars in Our Schools.”  You can donate to more than one teacher in one easy transaction! Or send a check with a note identifying the teacher(s), the school, and who is giving the donation to our mailing address at: PO Box 1363, Amherst, MA 01004.

In order for your teacher to receive a star, please make your donation by June 15.

View: AEF Stars flyer 2017

Gift Ideas from the Amherst Education Foundation

Are you trying to figure out how to thank your children’s teachers for their wonderful work this holiday season? Here’s a great way to give a gift that teachers appreciate and is an easy way to remain in compliance with the law that forbids public employees from receiving gifts valued at more than $50. AEF’S THANK A TEACHER/STARS IN OUR SCHOOLS!

Contribute to the Amherst Education Foundation in a teacher’s name and they will get the gift that keeps on giving: money that comes back to the schools in the form of excellence grants. The teacher will receive a card from AEF indicating that you supported AEF in their honor. Click here Thanking a Teacher through our Stars in Our Schools; or go to www.amhersteducationfoundation.org and click on “Stars in Our Schools”.

How is AEF helping the elementary schools? AEF grants are funding the following programs: 

• Math coaches are receiving training to help underperforming kids in grades 3-6! 

• Students with special needs district-wide have much-needed laptop computers! 

• Music teachers are bringing visiting artists to the schools!

Thank you and happy holidays,

The Board of Amherst Education Foundation

Ethan Clotfelter, Becky Michaels, Clare Bertrand, Meg Robertson, Isabella Dell’olio, Rick Hood, Michael Hutton-Woodland, Sue Kelly, Ken Leblond, Sovann-Malis Loeung, Amanda Rivera Lopez, Susan Kennedy Marx, Jennifer Mendelsohn, Adelia Pope, Megan Rosa, Amanda Seaman, Sudha Setty, Jen Veshia