October is Disability Awareness Month

from Ms. Chamberlain:

October is disability awareness month. We are all differently abled, and one of the principles at Fort River is understanding that we are all working to the best of our abilities. We teach students to be empathetic and to support each other in times of success as well as in times of challenge. We all have something to learn from one another. SEPAC has designed a community awareness campaign and their signs will be outside of the school all next week to promote awareness. Together we are stronger because of our wide range of strengths and abilities!

October 25th is Unity Day!

Unity Day was started in 2011 as a signature event for Bullying Prevention. On Unity Day, we want to show that our Fort River Community is united against bullying and united by kindness & acceptance. We are united because, at Fort River, WE CHOOSE LOVE. In order to show our support against bullying, we are encouraging everyone in our Fort River Community to wear something orange on Unity Day – October 25th!

If orange is not available at home, students can make & wear an orange unity “pin,” made in school, from orange paper.

We will have a special “teacher mix up”, where teachers go to different grade levels to read a story about acceptance or kindness with a group of students they may not yet know in an effort to connect our community on a stronger level. We will kick off this important day with an assembly on the 24th at 10:20. We are working hard to promote a united community against bullying and a community united by kindness and acceptance!

Working the Amherst Housing Puzzle: A Community Problem Solving Forum on October 25

During the past 10-15 years, Amherst has lost an estimated 800 households with children under 18, according to US Census data.  Significant numbers of homeless individuals are served each year by local service providers, but rarely placed in housing. Barriers to developing new affordable housing in Amherst for both individuals and families often appear insurmountable.  What can Amherst do?

These are the issues to be addressed by this Forum by bringing together persons from both within and outside Amherst to lend their knowledge and experience to these issues.  But most important, this is a convening of the community to discuss and develop ideas about what can be done to make changes.

This is a collaboration of the Amherst League of Women Voters, the Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, Valley Community Development Corporation, and the Unitarian-Universality Society of Amherst. It is set for Wednesday, October 25, 7 P.M. in the Social Hall of the Unitarian Universalist Society, 121 N. Pleasant St, Amherst.

The form will be organized into three parts:

1. An introduction and presentation of what the Trust and the Town are doing to address issues of both affordable housing and homelessness in the past year.
2. This will be followed by a panel presentation on the development of a small, studio apartment building in Amherst to serve the needs of persons who have very low incomes or are homeless.
3. The final segment will break the larger group into five smaller groups to discuss actions that could be taken to further address these problems.  They are as follows:
• Studio Apartments: Continued discussion.
• Encouraging and Supporting Development: How can Amherst best leverage available resources to maximize affordable housing? What are the barriers to affordable housing: What changes are needed?
• Preventing homelessness: outreach counselors – small investment for significant returns; useful models, effective strategies
• Finding homes: recruiting landlords; caseworkers to assist individuals and families in getting housed; useful models, effective strategies
• Changing the Amherst housing market: Developing Town and University policies to assure greater access to housing.

Click for printable flyer

Update from the Amherst School Committee Chair and Vice-Chair

The Amherst School Committee is pleased to announce the membership of the School Building Committee for the Fort River Building and Site Feasibility Study. At our Tuesday, October 17th meeting, we randomly selected four at-large community members to serve on this 12-member committee. We would sincerely like to thank all those who submitted applications, and to those community members, educators, administrators, and town employees who will be offering their time and service to do the important work of this committee going forward.

The selection process went as follows:

• All completed applications were numbered and names were removed.
• These numbered applications were shared with all School Committee members via email.
• The Chair and Vice-Chair reviewed the numbered applications and sorted them according to the positions for which they applied, which included:
• Community Member with Green Energy Expertise and Architectural Background-At-Large Parent/Guardian/Caregiver
• At-Large Community Member #1
• At-Large Community Member #2

The Chair and Vice-Chair shared all complete applications and the categories with the Committee; final selections were made randomly during the public Committee meeting on Tuesday. The Committee publicly committed to having a minimum of 50% of the voting membership of the School Building Committee be composed of women and persons of color. Applications were considered accordingly based on the optional self-identification of applicants.

The final School Building Committee is as follows:

- Eric Nakajima, Amherst School Committee Representative

- Diane Chamberlain, Fort River Principal

- TBD, Green Design/Architectural Representative

- Heather Sheldon, SEPAC Representative

- Jonathan Salvon, Fort River PGO Representative

- Irene Dujovne, Parent-at-Large

- Allison Page, Community Member-at-Large

- Maria Kopicki, Community Member-at-Large

- Claire McGinnis, Town Finance Representative

- Jean Fay, ARPS Staff Member

- Nicole Singer, Fort River Teacher

- TBD, Facilities Director

- Dr. Michael Morris, Superintendent (ex-officio member)

We appreciate the range of experience and expertise represented in this group and look forward to working together on behalf of our schools.

Questions or comments for the School Committee can be emailed to: schoolcommittee@arps.org. Visit www.arps.org for posted meetings, agendas, and meeting minutes.

Phoebe Hazzard, Chair Anastasia Ordonez, Vice-Chair

Welcoming Families Relocating from Puerto Rico

From the Central Office:

Last week, Dr. Marta Guevara, Director of Student and Family Engagement, and I met with Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Health Director Julie Federman to plan a community event in support of those who may be relocating to our area from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. We anticipate that many families will come to the area with a range of needs, from help with concrete things such as health and housing, to help dealing with emotional trauma. On November 2, the community is invited to come together in a planning session from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the Amherst Regional Middle School library. We want to plan, as a community, how we can best support our new neighbors who will be relocating to our area, either temporarily or permanently. The event is co-sponsored by the Town of Amherst and the Amherst Public Schools. For more information about the event, or if you know of a family with school-aged children that plans to relocate to Amherst, Pelham, Leverett or Shutesbury, please contact Dr. Guevara at 362-1871 or guevaram@arps.org so we can be ready to welcome them when they arrive.

Soup for Puerto Rico TONIGHT, October 16 at 5:30

Join the ARMS PGO and community at their Soup for Puerto Rico and Survival Night! Eat, see a few performances, and enjoy a night of community. Donations accepted for Hurricane Maria relief.

If you'd like to contribute a batch or more of soup, please deliver it to the middle school by Monday morning at 9 AM. Here are the recipes for the 3 Puerto Rican soups:

https://thenoshery.com/sancocho-stew/

http://eatingveganlikearican.blogspot.com/?m=1

http://hispanickitchen.com/recipes/asopao-de-pollo-puerto-rican-chicken-and-rice-stew/

Amherst Education Foundation Trivia Bee on October 26 - Sign Up Now!

Amherst Education Foundation (AEF) is hosting its 23rd annual Trivia Bee next week! 

Space is still available for youth teams! Don't miss the opportunity to make history in the first ever Youth Round of the Bee. If you've never attended the Trivia Bee you've been missing a highly entertaining evening! Your kids will love this family friendly event!

State Representative Solomon Goldstein-Rose will emcee the event, and local community leaders act as judges for the prizes. In both the adult and youth rounds, participants will compete in teams of four and are encouraged to come up with a team name and wear costumes. Special prizes will be awarded for best costumes, best spirit, and more. 

AEF is a nonprofit organization that gives grants to teachers and administrators in the ARPS district, and the Trivia Bee is one of our most fun and successful events. Business sponsorships to fund the teams are a great way to gain visibility with local families. Individuals are also invited to fund a team as well. 

To register a team, please email Meg Rosa at megrosa78@gmail.com. For sponsorship information, please see the attached form.

Thank you for supporting AEF, and we look forward to seeing you on October 26!

Trivia Bee Sponsor Letter