Upcoming School Events

Amherst Town Election. Tuesday, March 31st. Polls Open 7am-8pm. Coffee With The Principal. Friday, Apr. 3, 8:30am. Fort River Cafeteria. New Event: "Stress-Buster" Teacher & Staff Appreciation Lunch, Wednesday, Apr. 8. Your donations of food wanted! See below for more information. Fort River Roasters by Dean's Beans Coffee Orders Due. Friday, Apr. 3rd. Click for form. Spring Recess. No School, Apr. 20-24. Note: Items in teal are sponsored by Fort River Parent Council.

New Event: Show Your Support For Our Hard-Working Teachers and Staff!

Hear ye, hear ye! A new "Stress-Buster Teacher & Staff Appreciation Lunch" is being planned for Wednesday, April 8th. We Need Your Help! Fort River Parent Council will be sponsoring a special lunch for teachers & staff in the Staff Lounge on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 & we need your help. The theme for the menu is comfort food so put on your thinking caps on & hit the kitchen! Think mashed potatoes & gravy, macaroni & cheese, tapioca pudding, chocolate, whatever says comfort to you. This has been an especially tough year on the teachers & staff of our school given all the uncertainty in the system at this time. All members of the Ft. River community are invited to contribute food & drink items. You can sign up for your contribution using the BringIt online signup tool (click here--it's easy to use and you can even get an email reminder!) or call Eileen Marasco at 256-3880. We'll be cooking for 90--yes there are approximately 90 teachers & staff at our school--so all contributions are welcome! We'll have some special surprises for the teachers in appreciation for all the hard work they do for our children every day & some real stress busters will be in store. Anyone who wants to help Eileen put out food or prepare the Staff Lounge the day of the event can be directly in touch with her. Many, many thanks!

MCAS Testing Starts Next Week

MCAS testing for grades 3-6 will be starting next week. Click here for the schedule.

Lobby Our Legislators to Support Our Schools

The School Committee is asking for our help in lobbying our state legislators to restore funds to the school district which are used for transportation expenses. Given the dire budget outlook for the schools, any funds that can be directed to our school district are crucial. The following has been posted on the Amherst Regional Public Schools website. Please take a look and contact our state officials. Thanks!

At their March 24th meeting, the Regional School Committee voted unanimously to develop a statement for use in lobbying our legislators regarding restoration of regional transportation reimbursement. Staff, parents, and community members, are encouraged to contact our state legislators by phone and email about this issue. The following text that can be used as a script:

"As you know, the Governor’s Budget (House One) included cuts to Regional transportation reimbursement. Now that the initial distribution of fiscal stabilization funds has been used to increase all districts in the Commonwealth to foundation levels, I encourage the legislature to use a portion of the remaining stabilization funds to make whole the cuts to Regional transportation. Cuts to transportation reimbursement equal cuts to the classroom because transportation costs must be borne by the district in one way or another. In addition, these cuts are particularly problematic as local districts are being encouraged by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to explore the possibility of regionalization. Thank you for your continued support of our schools. "

Contact information for our legislators can be found on the district website at www.arps.org/node/147 .

Upcoming Commmunity Events

Please note that these events are not sponsored by Parent Council. Book collection for the League of Women Voters of Amherst’s book sale begins Friday, March 27 (today). 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. It serves as the major fund raiser for the League and helps finance its voter service programs and publications, including the Election Guide for the coming town election, They Represent You listing all Town Meeting members and elected officials, and the just completed revision of Your Amherst Government. 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.

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.

Upcoming School Events

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. Polls Open 7am-8pm. Coffee With The Principal. Friday, Apr. 3, 8:30am. Fort River Cafeteria. Fort River Roasters by Dean's Beans Coffee Orders Due. Friday, Apr. 3rd. Click for form. Spring Recess. No School, Apr. 20-24. Note: Items in teal are sponsored by Fort River Parent Council.