Get Ready for the Book Swap!

The Fort River Book Swap is scheduled for Spring 2008. The Book Swap is a Parent Council program where families and local bookstores donate gently used or new books and in the past we have had enough donations to allow all students to choose at least two books to bring home and keep. The kids LOVE this program!! Please keep this in mind if you are cleaning out your bookshelves. We will be asking for book donations for the Book Swap in the New Year. Please do not bring in your donations in advance. If you have questions contact Pam Rietkerk at pjrietkerk@aol.com or 256-2605.

Original Works Art Project/Fundraiser

Catalina Arrubla is looking for volunteers to help out with this year's Original Works Art Fundraiser. She will need volunteers to help her put together the packages which go out to the children and four volunteers to help with an after-school art activity (tentative date Wed. Feb 6th). Please contact Catalina at carrubla@gmail.com or tel. 584-7951.

January Fort River Roasters Order Deadline Extended

Due to the vacation and the short first week back, the deadline for this month’s orders of Dean’s Beans/Fort River Roasters coffee has been changed to Friday, January 11th. Please send in your order to the Parent Council mailbox in the main office by then.

Questions? Contact Libby Stanforth (253-8039, mailto:bstanforth@comcast.net?subject=Fort%20River%20Roasters) or Hana Rivkin (256-2330, hrivkin@yahoo.com).


Order forms available HERE and on the Parent Council Bulletin board in the school lobby.

Season's Greetings from the Parent Council Secretary

Dear Fort River Families and Friends, I just wanted to take this opportunity to send Season's Greetings to you all and to wish you a wonderful and restful break from school. Please remember that school will start up again on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008. I will be taking a break from the website until the beginning of January. My best wishes to all of you for a peaceful and happy New Year! Sincerely, Ann McLaughlin Fort River Parent Council Secretary

Upcoming Events

School Vacation. December 24-January 1, 2008. School reopens Jan. 2, 2008. Fort River Roaster's/Deans Beans Coffee Orders Due. Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. Please send orders in to the Parent Council mailbox in the front office. Order forms are available for download in the "Parent Council Forms" section on the right-hand side of the page or at the Parent Council bulletin board in the school lobby. Parent Council Meeting. Monday, January 7th, 2008, 6:30-7:30pm. Library. Babysitting will be available.

AboutAmherst: A Local Amherst Blog by Mary Carey

AboutAmherst: School day

This is an adorable picture of some of our Fort River kindergarteners who were selling homemade ornaments yesterday to raise money for charity. This picture appears on the "AboutAmherst" blog by Mary Carey, a reporter who covers the Amherst schools for the Daily Hampshire Gazette and the Amherst Bulletin. Click on the link to check it out!

Teacher Wish Lists

At this time of year some parents like to make gifts to their children's classrooms and the school. The Parent Council therefore asked teachers what they would like if someone wanted to give something to the classroom, and received the following requests: Maurisa Davis – art supplies (various colors of yarn, foam, glitter, cotton balls, feathers, pipe cleaners), Target or Wal Mart gift cards, “classic” color markers, electric pencil sharpener Sally Imbimbo & Nettie Harrington – Bean Bag chair, big pillows, lamps, post-its, glue sticks Kris Griswald – non-fiction books (at the 3rd/4th grade level – especially on animals, weather, force & motion, cities, Cambodia, Russia, Romania, Japan, Africa), tissues, snacks. Roger Wallace – pencils, spiral bound notebooks, a new electric pencil sharpener, Scrabble games, dish rack for our mugs, powdered hot chocolate (individual or bulk), 8 ½” X 11” line paper, gift cards to stores where these items could be purchased. Laurie Hickson – instrumental CDs, tissues, stickers, Purell or other hand cleaner Trish Farrington – playground balls (rubber, about 81/2” to 10”), Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate Mix (ideally the scoop kind), gift certificates for area bookstores Linda Yeh - paper towels, markers, rolls of tape, pencils, pencil eraser tops, gift certificates to Target and Barnes & Noble Kim Thrasher – gift certificates to Barnes & Noble