Comprehensive ARPS Water Update

A comprehensive update on the district-wide water testing and repairs was presented to the Regional School Committee on November 29, 2016.  Video of the meeting will be posted on the Amherst Media website, and the Powerpoint presentation is available here.

No Homework over Winter Break

Interim Superintendent Dr. Michael Morris sent a letter home to families last week announcing that there will be NO HOMEWORK over Winter Break. You can read the letter here.

PGO Coffee with the Principal on Friday, December 9 - Mental Health Supports and Resources

Please join your friends on Friday, December 9 at 9am for coffee, donuts, and informative conversation! 

The Coffee will feature Principal Diane Chamberlain and Fort River Mental Health Team. The timely topic is Children's Mental Health with a focus on "tier 1" supports, the social thinking curriculum, zones of regulation, and mindfulness practices. There will be ample time for questions. 

PGO coffees with the Principal take place every month or two. The dates can be found on the PGO calendar which is on the right side of the blog home page. Some coffees may take place in the evening, depending upon community feedback. There will usually be a presentation for families and specifics will be available beforehand.

Your infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are always welcome at PGO Coffees! Families with future Amherst Elementary school children are also welcome and encouraged to attend. We hope to see you there!

Book Fair FUNdraising Wrap-Up and Thank You!

Our Barnes & Noble Book Fair was held last Saturday and was incredibly successful and fun! We wrapped many gifts for eager shoppers and received $60 in donations at our volunteer wrap station. Several shoppers purchased books for the classrooms from wish lists that our teachers had created. We will also receive more than $500 from Barnes & Noble as a portion of sales - mentioning "Fort River" at checkout prompted the cashiers to credit that shopper's sale towards our fundraiser!

Our online Book Fair ID is 11990926. If you missed our community event on Saturday it's not too late to help Fort River with your book purchases from Barnes & Noble. Simply choose your items online at bn.com/bookfairs and on the payment page enter the our Book Fair ID 11990926 under the "Memberships, Gift Cards & Coupons" section (bottom left) - valid through 12/8. There is NO ADDED COST; Barnes & Noble simply credits Fort River every time this Book Fair ID is used. It's free money for our school! Feel free to share with out of town relatives and friends!

Volunteers really made our day successful for Fort River teachers and students!  Thank you to everyone who volunteered including Mona, Amadee, Liz, Michele, Korinna, Kathleen, Sahar, Diane, Anna, Christiane, Beth, Anna, Allison, Rebecca. Thanks to everyone who came to shop or get gifts wrapped and to anyone we failed to mention!

Giving Tuesday a Huge Success! Thank You!

Wow! Thanks so much to all of our generous donors who contributed to the PGO Annual Fund on #GivingTuesday! We received $1425 in a single day!

The PGO took part in a community event for non-profits on Facebook. In honor of #GivingTuesday, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Facebook contributed $1 million to fundraisers on Facebook. The Gates Foundation matched $500,000 in donations to fundraisers (up to $1000 per non-profit). In addition Facebook waived up to $500,000 in administrative fees on the fundraising pages set up for the event (through December 31st). The PGO had 19 individual contributions totaling $1000 on Facebook. A considerable portion of this will be matched; we don't know the exact amount yet but anticipate at least a $600 additional matching grant from the Gates Foundation! Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen!

In addition to donations on Facebook we received charitable contributions via cash, check, and through our PayPal portal (link on top right of the blog homepage - "Donate" button) - contributions can be made at any time and all donations to the PGO are tax-deductible. Envelopes came home with students before Thanksgiving, but feel free to use a different one if it's been misplaced.

Every donation made to the Annual Fund goes directly into the current year PGO operating budget to fund many teacher requests intended to enhance student experiences, e.g., classroom equipment or special furnishings, special curriculum materials, recess equipment, special guest authors, poets, musicians, and other performers, and field trips funds. 

Thanks again! We are all blessed to be part of such a generous and caring community!

Online Smart and Safe - Digital Citizenship and Resources for Families

In October, the Amherst Regional Middle School PGO hosted a productive "Conversation with the Principal" about digital citizenship, cell phones and internet usage. Here is a web site from the American Association of School Librarians that provides many resources for parents/guardians:  http://www.ala.org/aasl/parents/internet

Jones Library Announces Book Selection for On the Same Page – Amherst 2017

The Jones Library is holding its fifth On the Same Page community reading program, this year featuring the book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Elizabeth Kolbert.  A series of programs will be held in February 2017, based on topics and themes from the book.  On the Same Page – Amherst will culminate in an author appearance to be held on Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at the Amherst Regional Middle School Auditorium.

The Sixth Extinction was the winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction, a finalist for the PEN Literary Award and the L.A. Times Book Prize, and a New York Times bestseller that was included on many “Best Books” lists in 2014 and 2015.  This book explores five mass extinctions that have occurred over the past half-billion years, when the diversity of life on earth has been severely reduced.  Scientists are now tracking the next mass extinction, of which human beings and their actions may be the direct cause.  Kolbert explains how humans have altered life on the planet and how these actions may become our legacy.

Elizabeth Kolbert has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1999. Previously, she worked at the New York Times, and was also a contributor to the Times Magazine.  She received a Lannan Literary Fellowship in 2006 and a Heinz Award in 2010, and won the 2010 National Magazine Award for Reviews and Criticism. She is the editor of “The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009” and the author of The Prophet of Love: And Other Tales of Power and Deceit; Field Notes from a Catastrophe, and The Sixth Extinction.

On The Same Page – Amherst is designed to bring the local community together by encouraging residents to read the same book and by offering programming and opportunities for discussion about the book and the themes it contains.   Now an annual event, On the Same Page – Amherst explores a different book each year to include a variety of themes, topics, genres, and writing styles.

For further information about the On the Same Page – Amherst, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223.