Kindergarten Summer Play Date and Picnic on Aug. 12th

Welcome to Crocker Farm!

Let’s get together, meet new friends,and have some fun before school starts!

Thursday August 12th, 2010
4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Crocker Farm Back Playground
Come for whatever length of time works for your family!

Bring a picnic supper for your family and come play! Siblings are welcome. Feel free to bring food to share, or just bring what your family will need.
Our goal is for new kindergarteners and parents to see some familiar faces on the first day!

R.S.V.P. to Erica Boerman- (413) 549-2718 or elc77@hotmail.com

Playground Update

The School Department is nearing completion of the extensive landscaping required to install the new playground. Above is the final playground piece from mark's Meadow fully installed. Special thanks goes out to ARPS staff Carl, Ray and Ron for all their hard work!

Almost there- 10 volunteers still needed!

The Crocker Farm Parent-Guardian Organization is pleased to announce that the school is nearing completion of the playground landscape and drainage projects. The two pieces from Mark's Meadow are in and awaiting wood chips. The new playground will be installed on Friday, August 13th (rain date August 20th), beginning at 8:00 am. We need 10 more volunteers (no children, please) to make this happen. Can you help with this final step? Please contact Becky at 230-3306 or beckydemling@yahoo.com to sign up or for more information. Food and beverages will be provided.

New Students Tour

Tours for students new to Crocker Farm will be held on August 25th from 9:00-11:30. Students who recently graduated Crocker Farm will show new students around the school and to their new classrooms. For more information, please contact Ms. Walsh at 362-1600.

K-12 Math Review - Visit from Dr. Chen

From the ARPS.ORG website:

Place: Professional Development Center - Amherst Middle School
Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 10:00am - 4:00pm

Schedule for Dr. Chen's Visit on July 28, 2010

10:00 - 11:30 K-16 Math Council

11:30 – 12:00 Working Lunch

12:15 - 1:00 School Committee

1:10 - 2:10 Principals

2:15 - 3:00 Community Group I*

3:00 - 3:45 Community Group II*

3:45 - 4:00 Reflections/Next Steps

*If you would like to attend one of the Community Group meetings with Dr. Chen please RSVP before July 27th to Sharon Gross at GrossS@arps.org.

Playground Progress

The new playground is ever closer to completion. We are still looking for 15 volunteers to help build on August 13th from 8 AM - 5 PM. We cannot finish this long overdue project without more help! To sign up or for more information, please contact Becky at 230-3306 or beckydemling@yahoo.com. For inspiration , check out the new pictures:

New Assistant Principal Announcement

From: Mr. Morris:

I am pleased to announce that Derek Shea will be the new Assistant Principal at Crocker Farm. Derek has been a guidance counselor at Fort River Elementary School and Amherst Regional High School for the past thirteen years. Derek’s background,
experience, and skills make him a great addition to our school. I look forward to welcoming Derek to the Crocker Farm community.

"Speaking of Tongues" Event

Dear Language Aficionados,

We now have an official date for our screening of "Speaking in Tongues" for Tuesday, August 3rd, at the Jones Library. I have gotten a copy of the film with Spanish subtitles so please invite Spanish Speakers to come as well.

Please feel free to printing this mini poster out and distribute it to all your friends. If you cannot download the attached document, I will give you the bare facts below:

WHAT: Creating a Dialogue on Two-Way Immersion: Screening of Award-Winning film “Speaking in Tongues”

WHERE: The Jones Library 43 Amity Street in the Center of Amherst, MA 01002-228 (In the big meeting room downstairs)

WHEN: Tuesday August 3rd, 2010 from 5:30pm until 7:30pm

AGENDA: 5:30PM : Refreshments served as people arrive

5:45PM: Screening of “Speaking in Tongues”

6:15PM: Panel discussion with participation from the audience

7:30PM: Ending of event with time for more refreshments and informal conversations

WHO: Sponsoring Organizations are FAIR: Familias en Amherst para la Inmérsion Recíproca (Families in Amherst for Two-Way Immersion)

CONTACT: Lissa Pierce Bonifaz, Coordinator of FAIR lissapiercebonifaz@gmail.com

FORMAT: Town Hall Meeting

After the viewing of the film, a panel will open up a discussion with the larger audience on the intersection of language education, student achievement, school integration, global competitiveness, and cross cultural competency in the local context of Amherst. The panel will include activists, professors, parents with different language perspectives, teachers, and experienced students from a nearby Two-Way Immersion School. The discussion will be moderated by an experienced Amherst resident.

CHILDCARE: There will be a Spanish Story Hour in the children's room of the library where parents can rotate with their children at 6:30pm and still get a chance to hear the discussion. Children are welcome to the screening of the movie if they are quiet.

ATTENDEES: The Superintendent of Amherst Public Schools and members of the School Committee will be in the audience. RECEPTION: with refreshments will start at 5:00pm before the movie and after the discussion at 7:00pm.

Playground Build Update

The Town and School Departments have been hard at work preparing for the new playground. Here are pictures from last week showing the changes:

ARPS Backpack Project

In keeping with the Social Justice Commitment of the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools, aspiring toward equity of opportunity, inclusion, respect and community-building in and out of the classroom, our district has envisioned the Back packs Project. This initiative has been designed to help support income-eligible families to acquire the necessary school supplies their children need to be ready for the first day of school and the academic year.

This project will provide free access to backpacks filled with appropriate, grade-level supplies, to families who qualify for Free/Reduced lunch. Our goal is to help ease the financial burden the beginning of the school year can mean for families struggling financially.

We will be collecting supplies during the month of July and the first two weeks of August. Donations can be dropped off in the Central Office of our district, located in 170 Chestnut Street. If you have any questions, please write to Dr. Marta Guevara, guevaram@arps.org or call 413-362-1859. Our goal is to collect enough supplies to provide 200 back packs for elementary students and 200 for middle and high school students. Back packs will be available for families the week before school begins. We will notify families the schedule for distribution during the week of August 23, 2010.

The following supplies will be collected:

For elementary school students:
Assignment books
Backpacks
Colored pencils
Contraction paper
Crayons
Drawing Paper
English Dictionary (both, regular and picture)
Erasers
Folders
Glue sticks
Markers
Pencils (#2)
Pencil sharpeners
Rulers

For MS and HS students:
Assignment books
Backpacks
Binders
Calculators (both, graphic and regular)
Cards (3 x 5)
English Dictionary (both, regular and picture)
Erasers
Folders
Graphic Paper
Highlighters
Locks for lockers
Loose leaf paper
Notebooks
Pencils (#2)
Pencil sharpeners
Rulers

Babysitting Available for Thursday Night

Babysitting will be provided from 5:50 PM - 8:20 PM at Thursday's Assistant Principal forum that will feature the 3 finalists chosen by Selection Committee. We hope you can attend and have a voice in this very important decision.

Assistant Principal Search Public Forum

You are invited to a public forum to meet the three finalists for the Assistant Principal position on Thursday, July 8. The candidates will each have 45 minutes to describe their background and experience and to answer questions from the audience of staff members and families. The event will be held at Crocker Farm starting at 6:00 PM and ending by 8:15 PM.