Upcoming School Events

Fort River Roasters by Deans Beans. Monday, March 9 . Orders Due (order deadline has been postponed from Friday 3/6). Forms here. Teacher Curriculum Day. No School. Monday, March 16. School Committee Meeting. Tues., March 17, 7pm. H.S. Library. League of Women Voters Candidates Forum. Wed., March 18th, at the Middle School. Time TBA. Candidates for School Committee will speak. See below for more information. Kids & the Internet. Presentation for parents. Thursday, March 19th, 7-8pm. Fort River Library. See below for more information. Parent Council Meeting. Thurs. March 26, 7pm. (Please note that this meeting has been rescheduled from Wed. March 18th, 6:30pm.) Fort River Library. Amherst Town Election. Tuesday, March 31st. (The deadline to register to vote is March 11.) Coffee With The Principal. Friday, Apr. 3, 8:30am. Fort River Cafeteria. Note: Items in teal are sponsored by Fort River Parent Council.

Amherst Elementary School Reorganization News

From the March 3rd Amherst School Committee Meeting. New Interim Superintendent Maria Geryk gave a thoughtful, well-organized and comprehensive presentation on updated budget scenarios and potential redistricting scenarios. She started the meeting by stating that she and the 4 Elementary School Principals did NOT recommend making any changes in redistricting and closing schools at this time. The redistricting scenarios were emphasized as being preliminary. At the end of the meeting, however, she did admit that, should they be looking at tier 3 budget cuts, everything would be back on the table. As figures for State and Federal funding are still not available and may not be for months after Amherstʼs budget decisions are made, the budget scenarios were again presented with 3 different tiers of budget cuts: the 1st being the best case scenario - the 3rd being the worst case scenario. These documents are to be available online at (www.arps.org). A summary of the proposed budget cuts, particularly as they impact students, are discussed on School Committee member Catherine Sandersonʼs blog (myschoolcommitteeblog.blogspot.com). Of note, Instrumental music was presented as being cut in a tiered fashion with 1.7 (of 3) instrumental teachers being cut at the tier 1 level (meaning a delay of instrumental music instruction) and all instrumental music effectively being cut at the tier 3 level. Further refining of the budget data will be presented at the Amherst School Committee meeting on Tuesday, March 17. As of now there is no planned presentation to the individual elementary schools. For other reorganization news keep checking back here at the Parent Council Blog for links to the ARPS website (www.arps.org), and School Committee member Catherine Sandersonʼs blog (myschoolcommitteeblog.blogspot.com). Check ACTV to view reruns of Tuesdayʼs School Committee meeting.

Schools in the News

Here are some links to recent newspaper articles about the Amherst schools: "Amherst schools pick says he's ready for pressure,"by Mary Carey, Amherst Bulletin, March 5. "Amherst school leaders cautious on budget cuts," by Mary Carey, Amherst Bulletin, March 4. “School chief consensus reached,” by Diane Lederman. The Republican, March 4. "Amherst picks Florida principal as schools chief," by Mary Carey, Amherst Bulletin, March 3. "Amherst Regional School Committee picks Miami-Dade's Alberto Rodriguez as new superintendent," by Diane Lederman, Republican, March 2. "Interim Schools Chiefs Resign in Amherst," by Mary Carey, Amherst Bulletin, Feb. 28.

Candidate Forum--School Committee Candidates

The League of Women Voters is sponsoring a Candidate Forum on Wednesday, March 18th, time TBA. This will occur at the Middle School and be televised by ACTV. Come or tune in to see the School Committee candidates Irv Rhodes, Steve Rivkin and Megan Rosa in action. Town elections will be held on Tuesday, March 31st. Each of the candidates has launched an election website detailing their positions. Please check them out and become informed on this very crucial election for our schools. Irv Rhodes: http://irvrhodesforschoolcommittee.org/ Steve Rivkin: http://home.comcast.net/~s.rivkin/ Megan Rosa: http://meganrosa.blogspot.com/

Kids and the Internet: A Presentation for Parents

Fort River Elementary School will be sponsoring an informational presentation for parents on Thursday, March 19th, 7 pm. This presentation by the Northwest DAʼs office is planned in conjunction with school day workshops for 1st, 2nd and 5th, 6th graders in the coming weeks. Limited babysitting will be provided: Contact Sue Borden (FRPC.sborden@gmail.com).

Next Parent Council Meeting Rescheduled

The next Parent Council meeting has been rescheduled to Thursday, March 25 at 7:00 pm in the library. Please note the time change as well.

Savings Makes Cents--New Location

The Savings Makes Cents program will be held in the main hall outside the office on Tuesday mornings from 8:15-8:45am. Please remind your children to bring in their deposits. Children wishing to participate can also pickup materials to start accounts at Florence Savings Bank. Savings Makes Cents is a really fun, easy way to help our kids learn to save. Children can open a bank account with Florence Savings Bank and bank weekly in the cafeteria, or directly at the bank. Only $1.00 is needed to open an account, and any amount can be deposited. After 10 deposits, the Bank will contribute $1.00 to the account.