Fort River PGO, Fort River School, Amherst, Massachusetts. Your source for Fort River news and events. Sponsored by the Fort River Parent Guardian Organization. All Fort River families are automatically members of the PGO.
Monday, February 8, 2016
Sunday, February 7, 2016
HELP CELEBRATE DR SEUSS’ BIRTHDAY beginning Monday 2/29
Save the date!!!
Dr. Suess' Birthday will be celebrated each day during our week of fun festivities - details below. Each day has a theme!
Bring in your Dr. Seuss Posters anytime
2/29 Monday: Fox in Socks Day (any socks you have)
3/1 Tuesday: I am Not Going to Get Up Today (PJs)
3/2 Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday (crazy hair & clothes)
3/2 Wednesday Night from 6:30-8pm: Dr Seuss’ Birthday Party!
3/3 Thursday: Crazy Hat Day
3/4 Friday: Hooray for Diffendoofer Day (TBA)
We need volunteers to help with Dr. Seuss’ Birthday Party on Wednesday evening, March 2 (decorations, face paint, games, set up or clean up)
please contact Deborah_christakos@yahoo.com
Auditions for Missoula Children’s Theatre’s PETER & WENDY on February 29th
Amherst Leisure Services Community Theater Presents Auditions for Missoula Children’s Theatre’s PETER & WENDY
Auditions will be held for the Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT) musical production of PETER & WENDY Monday, FEBRUARY 29TH at the Amherst High School Cafeteria from 4:15pm to 6:15pm. All those auditioning should arrive at 4:00 and plan to stay for the full two hours. Some of those cast in the show will be asked to stay for a rehearsal immediately following the auditions.
When Captain Hook sends his right-hand man, Smee, on a quest to capture Peter Pan, it’s seemingly business as usual…at first. Little does Hook realize what fantastic adventures await him and his pirate posse in their search for the elusive Peter Pan. Mistaken identities, ever-morphing clouds, a classy crocodile, some very lost boys, and a fickle shadow all add to the mayhem. Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Darling embark on a quest of their own and find themselves trekking everywhere from Hawaii to the North Pole in search of their three missing children. With help from the earth-friendly Neverlanders, exotic Neverland creatures, and faithful Tinker Bell, the Darling children are found, disputes are ultimately resolved, and everyone–including Captain Hook–finds a place where they truly belong.
Students from Kindergarten to 12thgrade are encouraged to audition. Assistant Directors will also be cast to aid in rehearsals throughout the week, and to take on essential backstage responsibilities. There are 50-60 roles available, with parts in every age group. This is a group audition, and no advance preparation is necessary--though a smile always helps! There is a $55 Registration Fee due at the audition for all those who are cast—additional siblings $30 (waivers available).
The Missoula Children’s Theatre touring productions are complete with costumes, scenery, props and makeup. The MCT Tour Actor/Directors will conduct rehearsals throughout the week from 4:00-8:30 Monday, February 29th – Friday, March 4th. Not everyone will need to be present at every rehearsal.
PETER & WENDY will be presented on Saturday, March 5th at 1:30 pm and 4:00 pm at Crocker Farm Elementary School. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students under 18 and seniors.
For more information, go to “Children’s Theater” at ALSCT.org, or call Carmela at 413-259-9482. PETER & WENDY—Neverland is calling!
Library Paraprofessional position to be cut from 2016-2017 Budget
‼️‼️‼️‼️URGENT! ‼️‼️‼️‼️
The following letter is from our librarian, Fran Ludington. PLEASE share this letter with your friends. This is an urgent budget situation that will affect every elementary student in Amherst. Please discuss with your neighbors, friends, and family ... there are no easy answers!
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
"Dear Fort River Families,
I know how very busy you all are, but the elementary school libraries need your support.
The school committee will be presented with the proposed 2016 - 2017 budget on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 6 PM in the ARHS library. That proposed budget will eliminate the one full-time paraprofessional position in each of the elementary libraries, including Fort River. Each school has been asked to cut $35,000 to help meet the $500,000 deficit in the 2017 Budget. The library paraprofessional is 70% of this cut.
The library team meets with each class every week for 40 minutes. During that time, there is a story or directed lesson and then book checkout. Teachers also come with their classes for additional integration and research projects at other times. Throughout the day, students come to get additional books and some stay to read.
We always supervise the large comfortable space to make sure it is safe and orderly. Daily, we retrieve and shelve hundreds of books. Each book pulled and shelved is a precise act. If it isn't, the library can quickly become useless if each book is not in the right place. A huge thanks to our volunteers who often help with this job.
Many of you know, directly from your students, that our large, rich library is an active place that nurtures children's literacy as well as their developing individual interests. Presently, with an open library, they have time for browsing and sampling all kinds of books; however, this would have to change. In our busy lives, the school library is often a child's only library. Providing regular access to all students is simply a matter of equity.
For decades, Amherst has funded our great elementary libraries. We do have thousands of books and help students find them. A wonderful library without adequate staffing quickly becomes a mess, less and less accessible, soon useless.
If you can, please come support our request for the School Committee and the Amherst Administration to find cuts to the budget that have less direct impact on students. We do not advocate that some other professional or paraprofessional positions be reduced. We have to believe there are alternatives to cutting those with direct contact with students.
The Amherst School Committee meeting is at 6:00 PM, Tuesday, February 9th at the Amherst Regional High School library. The time for public comment is 6:05-6:20 PM.
We hope that a good turnout will be the spark to compel administrators to find other ways to balance the budget.
Thank you,
Fran Ludington
Librarian
ludingtf@arps.org
Fort River"
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
February Class at #artcontinues Features Hearts
❌⭕️❌⭕️❌⭕️❌⭕️❌⭕️❌⭕️❌⭕️
It's February! Time to plan something special for your Valentine! #artcontinues will be celebrating by painting Jim Dine style "Hearts", on Wednesday, February 10th, from 6:30-9:00pm.
Paint a canvas or a tote bag!
Sign up at terimagner.com
Paint a gift or come and paint together at
-- Bread & Butter Cafe -- 68 Cowls Rd., Amherst -- where a special-for-this-event chocolate menu will be offered!
Third Annual Samuel Minot Jones Awards for Literary Achievement in April 28th
Save the Date!
The Third Annual Samuel Minot Jones Awards for Literary Achievement will be held on Thursday, April 28, 2016 from 6 pm - 9 pm at the Mead Art Museum & Stirn Auditorium at Amherst College.
This year's awards will honor Polly Longsworth, author and scholar, and Aaron Lansky, founder of the Yiddish Book Center.
Tickets for this gala event are on sale now at the Jones Library and online at www.joneslibrary.org/sammys. Please join us!
District News Including Postponed Merger of ARMS/ARHS
Excerpted for Superintendent Maria Geryk's weekly newsletter dated Friday, January 29:
"Dear Parents and Guardians:
For a year now, the district has been studying the potential of merging ARMS and ARHS in one grade 7-12 building. On Tuesday, the administration presented the Regional School Committee with the findings of the study. While we recommend that consolidation occur, we also recommend that it be postponed until September 2018, for a variety of reasons. My weekly newsletter includes the text of the administration’s recommendation, and the full 179-page report can be read here.
I’m also pleased to report on the annual Amherst College Day at Crocker Farm in this week’s newsletter and to share information about FREE workshops on the topic of Dyslexia, being hosted by SEPAC. I hope that many of you will take advantage of these important opportunities to learn more about Dyslexia and how to help struggling or reluctant readers.
Have a great weekend!
Maria"
full news letter available here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-2bHm-1AjRfSFZVUlpxNzJjeUU
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