Upcoming School Events

Spring Recess. No School, Apr. 20-24. Public Forum on Redistricting the Public Schools and the School Budget. Wednesday, Apr. 29, 5pm. Fort River Parent Council/ Community. Location at Ft. River TBA. See below for more information. (Other meetings/locations below.) Grade 5 Event: Family Fun-n-Games Evening. Wednesday, April 29, 6:30-8:00pm. At Fort River. (Rain date May 5). Click here for more details. 6th Grade Graduation Planning Meeting, Thursday, April 30, 7-9pm in the Fort River Library. Click here for more information. Fort River Roasters by Dean's Beans Coffee Orders Due. Friday, May 1st. Deadline for Yearbook Photo Submissions. Friday, May 1st. See below for more information. Coffee With the Principals. Friday, May 1st. 8:30-9:15am. Fort River Cafeteria. Parent Council Meeting, Thursday, May 7th, 8:30-9:30am. Fort River Cafeteria. 4th, 5th & 6th Grade Chorus Concert, Thursday, May 7th, 7:30pm. Click here for more info. Kindergarten Event: Family Dance Party, Friday, May 8th, 5-7pm, Ft. River Cafeteria. Grade 3 Event: Potluck and Games at Mill River Park. Friday, May 15th, Time: TBA. Grade 2 Event: Spring Garden Planting & Ice Cream Party. Wed. May 20, 2 to 4 PM at Fort River. Rain date is 5/27/09, same time. See below for more information. Grade 4 Event: Potluck Dinner. Thursday, May 28 at 5:30pm. Fort River Playground. Sixth Grade Graduation. Friday, June 19th 1:30pm. Note: Items in teal are sponsored by Fort River Parent Council.

Public Forums on Redistricting and the School Budget

Superintendent Maria Geryk will be at Fort River presenting information regarding the budget and redistricting of the Amherst Elementary Schools on Wednesday, April 29th. Specifically, information regarding how the elementary schools will look under a 4-school (current) model and 3-school model (closing Marks Meadow) with the SUBSTANTIAL budget cuts predicted - will be presented. School Committee members will be attending, and there will be opportunities for Q&A and feedback, both at the forum and online. The same information will be presented at the other 3 elementary schools and during a community forum (see schedule below). All the forums are open to the public. The Amherst School Committee plans to take a vote on the redistricting motion during their regular School Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 19th. You can find a copy of the presentation which will be made at each of the forums on the ARPS.org website here: http://www.arps.org/node/815. Schedule:

• Mon. April 27, 5:00 pm: Marks Meadow PGO/MM Community (MM auditorium)
• Wed. 4/29, 12 noon: Wildwood, location TBA
• Wed. 4/29: 5 pm Fort River Library
• Thurs. 4/30: 5 pm Crocker Farm Library
• Tues. 5/5, 7pm: Community Forum, Middle School Auditorium.

*Limited babysitting for school age children provided at all forums by the Amherst Elementary PTO / Parent Councils.

Stress Buster Lunch A Success!

Here's a message from FR parent Eileen Marasco, who did such a great job on the "Stress Buster" Lunch for Fort River's faculty and staff:

A hearty thank you to all those who contributed wonderful comfort foods, great salads & tremendous sweets to the Stress-Buster Teacher & Staff Appreciation Lunch last week. Your efforts were most appreciated! The teachers & staff were thrilled to be so well thought of & taken care of....you may have noticed some of them walking around 6 inches off the ground since then & looking very relaxed. The Ft. River community came out in force for the event & that wonderful "can do" spirit insured the event's success. There were leftovers enough to feed folks a second day! There was a buzz in the building for sure & it wasn't just because of MCAS testing! Thank you to Elly Hosea, Kathy Niedzielski, Cathy Cullen and Ji-Yeon Kim for their tireless efforts preparing the Staff Lounge & setting up the food. Thank you to the magical fingers of Michael Millner of Bodies in Balance Massage Therapy here in Amherst, who loosened many a tense neck & perhaps hit a trigger point or two for those teachers & staff needing a few kinks worked out. To Beth Cook & her able assistant in the kitchen Leslie of Flayvors of Cook Farm in Hadley, the mashed potatoes & gravy, baked macaroni & cheese, tomato cheddar soup & tapioca pudding were all fantastic! It was truly a group effort. To all the fine cooks & bakers in our own Ft. River Community who contributed Cathy Cullen, Joy Sullivan, Elly Hosea, Eileen Marasco, Nancy Reffsin, Kathy Niedzielski, Ann McLaughlin, Desiree Bohl, Ji-Yeon Kim, Ken Bernstein, Suzanne Schilling, Alison Donta-Venman, Ellie Skinner, Carol Richardson, Caroline Goutte & others who contributed food items to the spread, many, many thanks! Sue Borden, Lynn Hayes, Hana Rivkin, Pam Brigham & Libby Stanforth pitched in with drinks & ice...thanks so much...and where would we have been without Liza Cunningham's contribution of paper products to serve it all up! Big thanks to one & all who participated & most of all thank you to our outstanding teachers & staff who make Ft. River such a special place for all of our children. Kudos to you more than anything else for all that you do for the kids...every child, every day. A B-I-G thank you to our crackerjack office secretaries Karen Bonneau, Jessica Hanson & Paula Mangiaratti for all their wonderful administrative support of the day. You ladies rock. Ft. River's lucky to have you Hope we had enough chocolate on the menu for Jessica!

Attention 6th Grade Families: Planning Meeting is THURS. APR. 30

The date for the 6th grade graduation planning meeting was incorrectly reported in the paper copy of the newsletter which went home today. The correct date for the meeting is Thursday, April 30th at 7pm. Sorry for the mix-up! For more information about the meeting please click here.

Gradewide Events Are Underway

Please check right-hand column on this blog for the “Bring It” online sign-up sheets for your childʼs grade event, or contact your room parent. Grade 5 parents please note: Parent volunteers are still needed to help with ice-cream scooping and games. Please contact Gloria McCann (gloriamccann@comcast.net). Schedule: Kindergarten Dance Party: May 8, 5-7 pm, FR Cafeteria Grade 2: Wed. May 20, from 2 PM to 4 PM (raindate: Wed. 5/27/09). The event is a community garden planting & ice cream party. Grade 3: Potluck & Games @ Mill River Park, May 15 Grade 4: Potluck Dinner/exhibition, May 28, 5:30 pm, FR Grade 5: Family Fun & Games, April 29, 6:30-8 pm, FR, raindate May 5. Don't forget to check back here for any weather cancellations!

2nd Grade Event Announcement

Plans for the grade-wide event for the second grade are underway! It be held on Wednesday, May 20, from 2PM to 4PM (raindate: Wed. 5/27/09). The event is a community garden/planting & ice cream party. We will plant flowers & other donated items, put down wood chips, clean up trash, spruce up the Fort River landscape and have ice cream treats afterward.

1st Grade D.E.A.R. Event

The first grade-wide event of the year, the "Drop Everything and Read" pajama party for the first grade, happened this past Monday. It was a huge success, with reading events during the day and storyteller John Porcino & snacks in the evening. Kudoʼs first grade parents! Thanks to Suzanne Schilling for sending along these great pictures.