Coffee with the Principal this Friday has been canceled

The coffee with the principal scheduled for this Fri, May 6th, has been canceled & will be rescheduled shortly. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Coffee with the Principal & Special Guest Assistant Superintendent Mike Morris, Mon, Dec 21st

All are invited to attend next Monday's coffee with the Principal with special guest Assistant Superintendent Mike Morris. 

 8:45-9:45 am in the Crocker Farm cafeteria 

The main topic: the elementary school reconfiguration project. 

Have questions, concerns, thoughts about the project? This is a great forum to share them. 

In January 2016, the Amherst School Committee is slated to vote on which grade configuration option they support. To learn more about this project & the options, you can visit the project web site here (http://wildwood.projects.joslinlesser.com/) or the Facebook page for the project, https://www.facebook.com/Amherst-Elementary-School-Building-Project-968374979880827/

The district recently created a chart summarizing the implications of the main options under consideration.   The chart is shown below (click on it to enlarge it) & can also be downloaded at this link. 

Coffee with the Principal & Special Guests Tara Luce & Amy Baver, Nov 20th

 Next Fri morning: 

Coffee with the Principal & Special Guests Amy Baver, our new school psychologist, & Tara Luce, the Crocker Farm guidance counselor.

Come meet Ms. Baver, hear about the ways in which the Crocker guidance & counseling staff help students, learn about the lunch assigned seating & incentive program, & more. 

All invited. Small children always welcome.

Back-to-school coffee for all parents & guardians, Fri, Sept 4th, 8:45 am

Hope you can make it.   An evening coffee will be scheduled later this fall for families for whom that is more convenient.

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Coffee with the Principal THIS Friday

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Got plans Friday morning?

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This Friday! Don't forget!

Come spend a delightfully informative, deliciously tasty hour at Crocker Farm this Friday morning (8:50-9:50 in the Community Room) with the three School Committee candidates and your favorite elementary school principal.

Want to read up on the candidates before you come? We're there for you. Click on each candidate's name (we put them in alphabetical order to help you out) and listen to their thoughts, hopes, and dreams for our public schools.

Pheobe

Victor
Vira

Want to check out the event on Facebook? Click here and let us know you're coming! We'll save you a muffin.

PGO Coffee with School Committee Candidates - March 27th

Please join other ARPS Elementary Parents/Guardians for coffee with the
Amherst School Committee candidates

(& Crocker Farm Principal Mr. Shea!)

 Talk with candidates & hear their ideas for our schools.

Friday, March 27 8:50 a.m.

Crocker Farm Community Room
 

Hot coffee, freshly baked goods, conversation.

Small children welcome.

Coffee hosted by the Crocker Farm PGO. 

Questions? crockerfarmpgo@gmail.com.

un café con los candidatos para el Comité Escolar de Amherst

¡Favor de reunirse con otros padres y guardians para compartir un café con los candidatos para el Comité Escolar de Amherst

(y con el principal de Crocker Farm, Sr. Shea)! 

Platicaremos con los candidatos  y escucharemos sus ideas
para mejorar a nuestra escuelas

Viernes, 27 de marzo a las 8:50 de la mañana

Salon de Comunidad de Crocker Farm

Café, Pasteles, Diálogo
Niños pequeños son bienvenidos.

El Café está organizado por el PGO de Crocker Farm.
¿Preguntas? Crockerfarmpgo@gmail.com.

Special PGO Coffee with the School Committee Candidates, Fri, Mar 27th

Save the date: The Crocker Farm PGO will be hosting a special PGO coffee with the three School Committee candidates on Friday March 27, from 8:50-9:50 am at Crocker Farm. Come learn more about the candidates (all of whom are parents of current/past Crocker Farm students) in an informal setting, & hear their ideas for our schools.
 
The PGO coffee will focus on the elementary schools, & we are extending a special invitation for parents/guardians of children at any of the Amherst elementary schools to attend. Small children accompanying their parents are also invited.

Middle school schedule changes

Information on the proposed middle school schedule changes is available on the Middle School's APRS web site  (arms.arps.org).

The information posted there includes the school's & district's rationale for the schedule change.  Here is the link to that document.  (link)  

The Daily Hampshire Gazette also published an article about the proposed changes & last week's information meeting for parents.  (link)

After that meeting, one parent with children at multiple Amherst schools, including Crocker Farm, sent out an email about the proposed changes and the decision making process. Excerpts from that email are below. 

The Crocker Farm PGO has taken no position on the proposed middle school schedule changes and is sharing the text of the email strictly for informational purposes.

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"The following is a clarification on the decision process for the ARMS schedule proposal (that among other things cuts language 32% and cuts music 18%), that ARMS Asst Principal Mike Malone told me during a telephone call on Friday 1/9:

• "Per the teachers' union contract, the design of the schedule proposal had to be fixed in place on 12/1/14.  It now has to have an all-of-nothing decision to either accept everything or reject everything, made by the Superintendent by 2/1.  There are no changes that can be made to anything: it either all goes through, or nothing goes through.

• "The teachers' union contract requires that teacher feedback be solicited and replied to, but there is no such requirement to communicate with parents/community, or to present to the SC.  The 1/8 parents meeting therefore was just an FYI; there was no parent input meeting/survey/etc prior to the 12/1/14 deadline to gather input or hear concerns."
  

Tonight's School Committee meeting (7 pm, in the ARHS library), is the only School Committee meeting scheduled before the 2/1 deadline.

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Parents/guardians who have comments or concerns on the proposed middle school schedule changes can contact the School Committee members, the Middle School principal and assistant principal, or the Superintendent's office.

In other news, the Crocker Farm PGO is hosting a Coffee with the Principal and Special Guest Superintendent Maria Geryk on Thursday, January 29th at 8:50 am in the school's Community Room (across from the cafeteria).  All are welcome.  The superintendent will be providing updates on the district and our schools, and there will be time for questions and answers as well.  

Coffee this Friday!

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Mark your calendars!

As you know, Michele Tesauro will be leaving us at the end of the school year.  Our current assistant principal, Derek Shea, will become the new principal.  Sharri Conklin, current math coach and intervention teacher, will step into the assistant principal position.  

Our final PGO Coffee with the Principal will be on Friday, June 6th.  

We'll be able to say goodbye and thank you to Michele.  Sharri Conklin will also be there and get to know us a little better.  Please come to our last Coffee with the Principal of the 2013-14 school year.

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Coffee with the Principal this Friday!

Questions about the school district's budget?  

A terrific new idea to propose to the School Committee?

Want to know if there really is a special School Committee handshake?

We'll have a special invited guest at our next Coffee with the Principal!

 Plus?  We'll have eggnog.  What more could you want?

Coffee with a School Committee member!

Questions about the proposed school budget?  Thoughts about how to get more time spent on learning into the school year?  Any other school-related issues on your mind?

Come speak with School Committee member (and CF dad!) 

Amilcar Shabazz this Friday morning at 8:45.

Crocker Farm Coffee with the Principal

Friday, June 1st at 8:45 AM

Join us for a community "Coffee with the Principal"

Come to the Crocker Farm Community Room this Friday, June 1st

at 8;45 AM and join us for coffee and talk in a casual setting. This is the last opportunity of the year to sit with Principal Mike Morris  in this small and interactive forum. Mr. Morris will respond to your questions, concerns, or comments and will provide information and insights relevant to Crocker Farm and the larger Amherst/Pelham Regional School District.

Tasty treats will be provided and small children are always welcome.

Crocker Farm Coffee with the Principal

Friday, May 4th at 8:45 AM

Join us for a community "Coffee with the Principal"

Come to the Crocker Farm Community Room this Friday

at 8;45 AM and join us for coffee and talk in a casual setting. This is a continuation in the series of monthly opportunities to sit with Principal Mike Morris in an interactive forum. Mr. Morris will respond to your questions, concerns, or comments and will provide information and insights relevant to Crocker Farm and the larger Amherst/Pelham Regional School District.

Tasty treats will be provided and small children are always welcome.

Crocker Farm Coffee with the Principal

Friday, March 2nd at 8:45 AM

Join us for a community "Coffee with the Principal"

Come to the Crocker Farm Community Room this Friday

at 8;45 AM and join us for coffee and talk in a casual setting. This is a continuation in the series of monthly opportunities to sit with Principal Mike Morris in an interactive forum. Mr. Morris will respond to your questions, concerns, or comments and will provide information and insights relevant to Crocker Farm and the larger Amherst/Pelham Regional School District.

Tasty treats will be provided and small children are always welcome.

Final Coffee with the Principal of the year

This is it. Last call.

Come to the final Coffee with the Principal in the Crocker Farm Community Room this Friday morning at 8:45. We'll have coffee and muffins and Mr. Morris will be there to answer any questions you may have about the end of this year or the upcoming one.

Small children are always welcome. See you there!