Thursday, August 28, 2014

Save the Date - Crocker Farm Open House

Crocker Farm's annual Open House is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept 30th in the evening.
Details about the evening will be coming soon.
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We hope your children have a great first day of school!   School starts today (Aug 28th) for 1st-6th grades.  Kindergarten students have orientation this week & start school on Tuesday, Sept 2nd. 


Summer Read-a-Thon Followup


Message from the Crocker Farm librarian, Susan McQuaid, about the Summer Read-a-Thon

I hope you've all had a relaxing summer with plenty of time to read for children and adults alike!  Hopefully, the Read-a-thon provided even more encouragement for your children to immerse themselves in lots of great books during July and August.  Summer's not over yet, though, so there's still time for them to add more books to their Read-a-thon book logs.
 
As you begin collecting the pledges from your children's Read-a-Thon sponsors, you might want to remind them that all proceeds go for new library books at Crocker Farm. Each year, records have been broken as more children participate, more books are read, and more money is raised for the library.  Our book circulation numbers in the library certainly reflect the students' anticipation and excitement over the lovely new books that arrive all year as a result of the Read-a-thon. We hope to again break last year's record, as the Read-a-thon has become the main source of revenue for books in our library.
 
Here are some quick reminders as to how to collect and return the Read-a-thon pledge money:
 
1) Please return the cash and checks (made payable to "Crocker Farm Library" in the white envelope that was included in your Read-a-thon folder.  If you've lost the envelope, any envelope will do.  Please seal it and write your child's name on it and "Crocker Farm Summer Read-a-thon".
 
2)  If you still have the book log on which you recorded your child's summer reading selections, we'd love it if you could also return that with the pledge money in the envelope.  It's fun for us to keep track of how many total books were read over the summer.  If you don't have the log anymore, that's OK, too. You don't have to return it to participate.
 
3) If you were unable to locate a sponsor for your child, just return the book log and I will locate a sponsor for you.
 
4) You can return the sealed envelope to the CF front office, to your child's classroom teacher, or directly to the library. 
 
5)  It would be great to receive the vast majority of the pledges by the end of September, but we are happy to accept the pledges at any time!
 
6)  Later in the fall, we will hold a celebratory assembly  for the students who participated in the Read-a-thon. 
 
Again, on behalf of our entire staff and student body, thank you so much for your generous support of our Crocker Farm library.  Enjoy the remaining days of summer!
 
Sincerely,
Susan McQuaid, Crocker Farm librarian

Monday, August 25, 2014

School Bus Schedule


Letters indicating students' school bus pickup and dropoff times went home to families late last week.  If you didn't yet receive this letter, you should be soon.   If you have any questions about the buses or have changed addresses, please contact the Crocker Farm office, 362-1600.


School Menu for Thurs (8/29) & Fri (8/30)

posted online: lunch menu here 

Thursday (8/28):

Soft Beef Taco, Corn. Pineapple Cup, Green Grapes, Garden Side Salad, Pinto Beans
 
 Friday (8/29):

Cheese Pizza Slice, Garden Side Salad, Fresh Cantaloupe Cup, Broccoli Florets, Peach Cup


Lunch Prices
Regular Price Lunch $2.75
Reduced Price Lunch $0.40
Milk / Choc Milk $0.50
100% Juice $0.50 


School lunch payments can be paid via cash or check or though the MySchoolBucks web site. MySchoolBucks charges a small fee per transaction. 

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Free Science Activities for grades 1-6 @ Smith College, 8/30

Elementary School Parents
Smith College Science Center Outreach Offers Free Science and Engineering Activities on 8/30

The Center for Science Outreach will offer a two-hour, hands-on, experiential learning opportunity for elementary students interested in science and engineering. Groups of first through sixth graders will choose from:
--investigating plant structures
--engineering design with balloon-powered cars
--engineering design with pasta towers
--investigating rock and mineral properties
--exploring electromagnetism
--investigating circuits and conductors
  
Pre-registration is required by August 24; see below. Space is limited to first 60 students registered.

Date: August 30, 2014
Time: 3-5 p.m.; check-in begins 2:30 p.m.
Location: Ford Hall, Green Street, Northampton

REGISTRATION form: click here
Also: complete the forms below and bring them to check-in at 2:30 on August 30 (or send them to Tom Gralinski, Clark Science Center, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063).
  • Information and Release (Waiver) required: pdf
  • Video/Audio Release (optional): pdf
For additional information: tgralins@smith.edu

(Not an ARPS or PGO-affiliated event)

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

PGO Seeking Volunteers for Teacher/Staff Breakfast, Tuesday, 8/26

The PGO is seeking a few volunteers to help with the back-to-school breakfast that we are hosting for Crocker Farm teachers & staff next Tues (8/26, 8 am). 

If you can help, please get in touch with Tracy asap (tmz23@zafian.com). Thanks in advance!

Before & Afterschool Program Information

Letter from the Superintendent, Maria Geryk

August 8, 2014

Dear Amherst Parents/Guardians:

We hope you have had a wonderful summer break with your children and are as excited as we are for the new school year!  Once again, we are pleased to offer out-of-school time services for our families in the 2014-2015 school year through the partnership of the Amherst Public Schools, the Town of Amherst and two non-profit organizations. These services include the Before School Care Program and the Afterschool Program at each of the Amherst elementary schools.

The Before School Care Programs operate from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., Monday through Friday.  Students are supervised by school personnel in the cafeteria and may bring their breakfast, purchase breakfast, or participate in the school nutrition program if eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.  The fee for the Before School Care Program is $4.00 per day per child, and an additional $2.00 per day for each sibling.

Our highly-successful Afterschool Programs will continue at each of the Amherst Elementary Schools and we look forward to providing even more enriching and fun activities for our students.  Based on enrollment needs, there will be two programs at Wildwood School this year: The Marks Meadow Afterschool Program and the Prime Time Afterschool Program.  Capacidad will continue to offer the Afterschool Program at Fort River School and the Prime Time Afterschool Program will serve Crocker Farm School.  The fee is $52 per month for one day each week for each of the programs.  Based on feedback from our families, enrollment in the Afterschool Programs will now happen at the building level in order to provide a personal contact with the care provides when families enroll their children. 

As in the past, fee subsidies are available to income-eligible families for both the Before School Care Program and the Afterschool Programs.  For information on fee subsidies or for any general questions about the Before School Care Program or the Afterschool Programs, please contact Jim Regan at 413-362-1818 or at reganj@arps.org.

Sincerely,
Maria Geryk                    
Superintendent of Schools    

After School MONTHLY Rates
All Schools
#Days
Monthly Rate

1 Day
 $              52.00
2 Days
 $           104.00
3 Days
 $           156.00
4 Days
 $           208.00
5 Days
 $           260.00



CONTACT INFORMATION FOR BEFORE & AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS

BEFORE SCHOOL CARE PROGRAMS—ALL SCHOOLS
Jim Regan, Out-of-School Time Coordinator, 413-362-1818, reganj@arps.org.

AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS
Crocker Farm Elementary School
Prime Time Afterschool Program
Town of Amherst, Leisure Services and Supplemental Education, 413-259-3065, www.lsse.org

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Welcome Back to School Event - Aug 27th


 
 


Amherst Town Common,
Wed, August 27th, 5-6:30 pm

5th Annual First Day Celebration

Join friends, teachers, and school staff at the community's Welcome Back to School Party. 

All are invited to attend this free event.

For more info, please contact Kim Stender at stenderk@arps.org or 413-362-1825.

Rain location: ARHS Cafeteria

Friday, August 15, 2014

Letter from Mr. Shea



                            Crocker Farm Elementary School   
        280 West Street
     Amherst, MA.  01002
        (413) 362-1600
    FAX (413) 256-0835


Derek Shea, Principal                                                                                   
Sharri Conklin, Assistant Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,
Ms. Conklin and I would like to warmly welcome you to the 2014-2015 school-year at Crocker Farm School. We are both honored and privileged to have the opportunity to lead this wonderful school. Crocker Farm has vast potential as an elementary school, and to that end, we fully intend to work to help maximize the opportunities for all our children. We have talented teachers and support staff, we have bright and hard-working students and we have committed and involved parents and guardians. Much more to follow in the weeks and months ahead, but for the time being we wanted to say welcome and we look forward to seeing all of you very soon.
Posted below is the most up to date information regarding our teaching staff:
Our classroom line-up for 2014-2015 is as follows:
Kindergarten: Ms. McCloskey and  Ms. Pratt*
1st grade:  Ms. Bartolini*, Ms. Donoghue and Mr. Lefebvre*
2nd grade:  Ms. Carson and Ms. Mattone
3rd grade : Mr. Hughes, Ms. Joyce and Ms. Robinson
4th grade:  Ms. Coley, Ms. Moriarty and Ms. Radtke
5th grade:  Ms. Donovan and Ms. Goodwin-Brown
6th grade:  Ms. Harvey, Mr. Prather and Ms. Teitelman*          
*We have four new teachers joining our teaching team at Crocker Farm. We will tell you more about them in an email/letter next week.
Today, Friday, August 15th, we mailed home a postcard with your student’s teacher placement for the upcoming school year. We spent many hours reviewing the placement of our students, paying careful attention to teacher input, as well as utilizing the parent-guardian placement form to help us develop our classrooms. We know our students will thrive at Crocker Farm School this coming year.
Best,
Derek Shea

carta del Sr. Shea



                            Crocker Farm Elementary School   
        280 West Street
     Amherst, MA.  01002
        (413) 362-1600
    FAX (413) 256-0835

Derek Shea, Principal                                                                                   
Sharri Conklin, Assistant Principal

Queridos Padres/ Guardianes,
La Sra. Conklin y yo queremos darles la bienvenida al nuevo año escolar 2014-2015 de la escuela elemental Crocker Farm. Los dos estamos honorados y nos sentimos privilegiados de poder dirigir esta escuela maravillosa. Crocker Farm es una escuela llena de potencial, y con ese fin, trabajaremos para maximizar las oportunidades para todos los niños. Tenemos maestros y personal de apoyo talentoso, estudiantes brillantes y trabajadores, y padres y guardianes dedicados y envueltos. Hay muchas cosas más que seguirán en las semanas y los meses  venideros, pero por ahora queríamos darles la bienvenida y esperamos verlos a todos muy pronto.
Esta es la información mas reciente que tenemos con relación a nuestro personal docente:
Nuestros salones de clase para el año 2014-2015 son los siguientes:
Kindergarten: Sra. McCloskey y Sra. Pratt
1er grado: Sra. Bartolini*, Sra. Donoghue y Sr. Lefebvre*
2ndo grado: Sra. Carson y Sra. Mattone
3er grado: Sr. Hughes, Sra. Joyce y Sra. Robinson
4to grado: Sra. Coley, Sra. Moriarty y Sra. Radtke
5to grado: Sra. Donovan y Sra. Goodwin-Brown
6to grado: Sra. Harvey, Sr. Prather y Sra. Teitelman*                
*Tenemos a cuatro nuevos maestros que se unen a nuestro personal docente en Crocker Farm. Hablaremos más a su respecto la semana que viene a través de una carta/email.
Hoy, 15 de agosto, hemos enviado una carta postal que incluye la ubicación de su niño para el año que viene. Pasamos muchas horas revisando la ubicación de los estudiantes, prestando atención a los comentarios de los maestros, además de la utilización de la forma de ubicación de padres-guardianes para ubicar a nuestros estudiantes. Sabemos que nuestros estudiantes van a prosperar aquí en Crocker Farm este nuevo año escolar.
Best,
Derek Shea