Grade-Wide Events Schedule

• Kindergarten: May 8 -- Kindergarten Family dance party, FR cafeteria, 5-7pm.
• Grade 1: April 13 -- Reading night/PJ party, FR library/lobby, 6:30-8pm.
• Grade 2 TBA
• Grade 3: May 15 -- Potluck/games, Mill River Park. Time: TBA.
• Grade 4: DATE TBA. Potluck dinner/exhibition, FR cafeteria, 5:30pm. (PLEASE NOTE: this event will be rescheduled from the original date of Apr. 7th.)
• Grade 5: April 29. Family fun-n-games evening. 6:30-8:00pm at Fort River. (Rain date: Tuesday, May 5)
• Grade 6: Friday, June 19, Graduation.

Ray Sharick's Newsletter Has Been Posted

Principal Ray Sharick has posted his latest newsletter here. You can read his earlier newsletters on the Fort River website here. You can view a revised April schedule for MCAS testing here. And finally, you can view PDFs of the following MCAS/No Child Left Behind reports:

Fort River NCLB (No Child Left Behind) Report Card 2008-09

Fort River AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) 2008-2009

Town Election Results

Congratulations to Fort River parent Steve Rivkin, who won one of the two open seats on the school committee this past Tuesday. Irv Rhodes won the other open seat. Thanks to all three candidates (Meg Rosa was the third) for being willing to serve on this important town committee in this difficult time! Congratulations also to the following Fort River parents who won seats in the contested town meeting race in Precinct 6: Mike Jacques, Rob Spence, Alison Donta-Venman, and Jim Brissette.

Spring Chorus Concert

The fourth, fifth and sixth grade choruses will present our annual spring concert on Thursday, May 7th 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 and dark slacks. Girls should wear a white blouse and dark skirt 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 6th, at 10:40 am. -- Anne Louise White

Upcoming Community Events

Please note that these events are not sponsored by Parent Council. Zoobilee! A Live Animal Fair. Come to the Hitchcock Center's new spring event: Zoobilee! A Live Animal Fair. The fun of Hug-a-Bug and Scales 'n Tails all wrapped into one plus more. On Saturday, April 11, from 10am-1pm, come explore our educational and hands-on Live Animal Fair featuring a variety of amphibians, reptiles, insects and more. Crafts and outdoor activities. Pre-registration required; please call 413-256-6006. Book collection for the League of Women Voters of Amherst’s book sale has begun! The annual Spring sale of thousands of used books will take place May 1, 2 and 3 in a large tent on the Amherst Town Common. Donations of books may be dropped off in collection trunks at the League’s sorting and pricing center at 479 West Street (Rt.116), Unit 8. This is at the corner of West Street and Pomeroy Lane. Other drop-off locations are Stop & Shop in Hadley, the UPS Store on University Drive, the Jones Library, North Amherst Library and the Munson Memorial Library in South Amherst. Books must be in good condition and free of mildew. Magazines will not be accepted. The book sale is one of the oldest and largest in New England. For information call 253-0633. The Fresh Air Fund: Host a Child This Summer. The Fresh Air fund is in need of hosts for this summer. Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and home to a child from the city to give a fresh air experience that disadvantaged children never forget. There's lots of info on the Fresh Air Fund website here: http://www.freshair.org/the-fresh-air-fund. 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 (website or 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.

New Way to Donate to Parent Council

Parent Council has finally arrived in the 21st century! As you can see, we have added a Paypal button to the top right-hand side of this webpage. It is now SUPER EASY for you to donate to the Parent Council Annual Fund. Just click on the button and and follow the directions to make a secure donation through our Paypal account. If you haven't already donated this year (and even if you have!) please take a moment to make your donation now. We still need your money! We still have lots of Parent Council-sponsored activities coming up this year, and our fund raising has been lagging well below last year's in terms of percentage of families who have participated and in sheer dollar amount. We would still love to have 100% participation of all Fort River families. Although we suggest an annual donation of $20 per child, donations of any amount are greatly appreciated (and tax-deductible!). If you prefer to remain in the 20th century and pay by check, please make it out to the Fort River Parent Council and send or bring it in to the Parent Council mailbox in the main office. THANKS!!

"I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver" -- Maya Angelou.

Ongoing Fundraisers: Easy Ways to Help Our School!

Atkins Farms Country Market. Use your Atkins card when you shop at Atkins Farms Country Market, and they will donate a percentage of your purchase to Fort River School. Just show the card when you are checking out. Atkins has provided us with one card per family, which should have come home in an envelope with your youngest Fort River child. There is an expiration date on the card, which is the date that youngest child graduates from Fort River. It's another easy way to earn money for your school! Stop & Shopʼs A+ BonusBucks Program. Use your Stop & Shop card and Fort River earns a percentage! Call 1-877-366-2668 or visit www.stopandshop.com/aplus. Fort River ID # 05218. Box Tops For Education. Keep clipping and bringing the Box Tops to the office! Even though have made our last submission for this school year, we will hold all additional box tops clipped this year and over the summer for submission next October. Big Y Education Express. Use your Big Y Express Savings Club card and Fort River can earn points for buying equipment and supplies! Visit the Big Y customer service desk and fill out a form that will link Fort River with your card. Fort River ID # 5947. Target Take Charge of Education. Designate 1% of the value of your purchases to Fort River every time you use your Target REDcard (credit card). Visit www.Target.com/tcoe . Fort River ID 58645. Fort River Roasters by Dean's Beans. Order forms are available here. Next order deadline: March 6th. Please deliver to the Main Office. Cellphones & Ink Jet Cartridges. Protect the environment and raise money for Parent Council by donating used digital cellphones and ink jet cartridges. Please deliver to the Main Office.