Upcoming Events

Spring Recess. Week of April 21st. Parent Council Meeting. Wednesday, April 30th, 8:30 to 9:30 am, cafeteria. Elections for next year's Parent Council Board will be held. Fort River Roasters/Deans Beans Orders Due. Friday, May 2. Coffee With a Principal. Friday, May 16, 8:30am – 9:15am. In the Fort River Cafeteria. Please join Pricipal Vernon-Jones or Asst. Principal Lianne Suarez-Werlein for coffee, light breakfast foods and casual conversation in the cafeteria. Younger siblings are welcome to attend.

Parent Council Elections at the Next Meeting (April 30)

Our next Parent Council Meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 30th, at 8:30am in cafeteria. We will be holding elections for next year's Executive Board. We are currently working out a re-organization of the President's and Vice-President's roles so that could have possibly 5 VPs next year (each with a different job). In this way we hope to distribute the workload among more people and make all positions seem more appealing. If you would like to help out next year, please contact any of the current board members as soon as possible and/or come to the next Parent Council meeting. We also need to replace ALL grade representatives. Grade representatives have three responsibilities: finding a room parent for each of the teachers in your grade, contacting new families and welcoming them to the school, and working with the room parents (and other parents) to organize one grade-wide event (an event that brings together all kids in a given grade, across classrooms, during an out-of-school time). Once again, please contact any board member if you are interested.

Pictures STILL Needed for Yearbook

Parent Council is still seeking pictures of your kids for the yearbook. If you have any pictures from field trips or other class activities, please send them to Lynn Hayes at hay3bay@comcast.net. Lynn would like to have them by Friday, May 9th.

Of Interest to Fort River Families

Please note that these events are not sponsored by Parent Council. Amherst Soccer Academy. ASA is being held at Amherst College on July 21st-July 25th, 2008. It is geared for boys and girls in Grades 1-8, giving them the opportunity to mix both soccer and summer fun. There is both a Full-Day camp and a Half-Day camp. The price for the Half-Day Camp is $140 (before May 15th) and $150 (after May 15th). The price for the Full-Day Camp is $230 (before May 15th) and $250 (after May 15th).An additional 10% off for Amherst College employees. For more information, and to sign up, please go to www.amherst.edu, under the Men's or Women Soccer Team web pages, and click on "Youth Camp". Any questions/concerns, please contact Justin Serpone at either jserpone@amherst.edu or (413) 542-2956. Group Swim Lessons at Hampshire Athletic Club. Another session of group swim lessons will begin on May 3rd with sign-ups and level placement. Lessons will be held on the four following Saturdays in May. To sign-up students should come in to the club on the 3rd from 2:00-4:00pm. The price for the four lessons is $60 ($50 for members) Please contact Julian Porcino at (413) 687-2692 or jcp1405@yahoo.com with questions. Amherst Community Arts Center, Leverett Crafts & Arts, and Hampshire Franklin Children's Daycare Center are pleased to present: Go, Kids Art, Go! Celebrating the artist in every child. An exhibition of children's artwork from schools and organizations in the Hampshire-Franklin Region. On display in the Barnes Gallery at Leverett Crafts & Arts, Saturday March 8-Sunday April 27, 2008. Gallery Hours: Fri-Sun, 2-5pm. Website: http://www.amherstarts.org/. Come Downtown and Celebrate: Amherst Grows Green! Saturday, April 26th Arbor Day Festivities at Amherst Common (across from Town Hall) 9am-1pm. Earth Day festivities on North Pleasant Street (shopping area) 11am-3pm. For details on all information, events and free tree seedlings, please see "In the News" link at http://www.amherstma.gov/. In case of rain, Arbor Day events will take place at the Amherst Cinema building’s covered walkway. A note from Parent Council. We will publish information about non-Parent Council sponsored events with the following conditions: 1. The event should be of interest to Fort River families. 2. The information should be sent to Ann McLaughlin at damclaughlin@comcast.net in the form of a short description. 3. Contact information (name, telephone and/or email address) must be included. We add new information to the blog every Friday during the school year. Please note that we do not accept announcements of items or services for sale (with the exceptions of children's classes/lessons). Inclusion in this section does not imply any guarantees or endorsements by Fort River Parent Council or Fort River School.

Upcoming Events

Book Fair. Week of April 14th to 18th. Click here for more information. Spring Recess. Week of April 21st. Parent Council Meeting. Wednesday, April 30th, 8:30 to 9:30 am, cafeteria. Elections for next year's Parent Council Board will be held. Fort River Roasters/Deans Beans Orders Due. Friday, May 2.

Book Fair Reminder--$5 Coupons

If your child participated in last summer's Read-a-Thon, don't forget to bring in your $5 coupon when you visit next week's Book Fair! Click here for more Book Fair information.

4th, 5th, and 6th Grade Annual Spring Concert

Dear parents and guardians of Fort River Chorus students, The fourth, fifth and sixth grade choruses will present our annual spring concert on Tuesday, May 27th in the Amherst Middle School auditorium at 7:30 pm. Please have your child report to the auditorium by 7:15 pm that night so that we can have the chorus warm up and prepare for the concert. Concert attire for boys includes white shirts or sweaters and dark slacks. Girls should wear a white blouses or sweaters and dark skirts or slacks. If your child is unable to participate in this event, it is important that you send me a note to notify me in advance, as it affects the student line-up on the choral risers. If you are unable to attend the evening concert, we will also be presenting a daytime performance for the school in the Fort River gym on Wednesday, May 21st. (Exact time to be announced.) Looking forward to seeing you on the 27th, Anne Louise White