El Centro de la Familia ARPS Presenta. Prevención de Bullying en la Escuela Elemental, 17 de Noviembre

* Aprende como el bullying afecta a los niños en el ambiente de la escuela Elemental. 
* Aprende como un testigo o espectador puede disminuir una situación de bullying.
* Aprende mensajes y técnicas de anti-bullying.

Lunes, 17 de Noviembre
Escuela Superior de Amherst
21 Mattoon Street
7:00pm

Brick4Kidz Upcoming Events

Here is a list of our upcoming events for the holidays

• Wed., Nov. 26 Thanksgiving Fun: half-day program at Michael's in Hadley 12:00 pm-4:00 pm
• Sat., Nov. 29 FREE Open House at the new South Hadley Public Library 10:00 am-12:00 pm
• Sat., Nov. 29 Santa's Workshop at South Deerfield Congregational Church 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
• Sat., Dec. 6 Santa's Workshop at Center Church in South Hadley 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
• Sat., Dec. 13 We are participating in a Macaroni Kid "Holiday Fun Day" in Chicopee 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
• Thurs., Dec. 18 FREE holiday class at Second Chances in South Amherst 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
• Tues., Dec. 23 Winter Fun: half-day program at Michael's in Hadley 12:00 pm-4:00 pm
• Mon.-Tues., Dec. 29-30 "Remote Control Mania" at Munson Library in South Amherst 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
• Fri., Jan. 2 "Get Frozen" at Second Chances in South Amherst 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Please visit our Website to learn more about these programs and to register.

Bricks4Kidz Amherst Area Newsletter by Kfitzgerald
24 Merrick Circle Amherst, MA 01002 

(not PGO or school-sponsored)

Barnes & Noble Bookfair for Crocker Farm this Saturday

Crocker Farm Bookfair at the

Hadley Barnes & Noble

Saturday, November 15^th

Store open 9 am to 10 pm

Stories and performances for children
starting at 9:30 am 

*Bilingual Story Time with Angela Mills, Crocker Farm parent & front office (9:30 am)

*Music with Miss Leticia (Crocker Farm parent) & her students (10:00 am)
*Crocker Farm Orchestra -- individual performances (1:00 pm)

*Crocker Farm 5^th & 6^th grade chorus singers (1:30 pm) 

*Stories & improv with Becca Greene-Van Horn, Crocker Farm parent (1:45 pm)

A percentage of your purchases will go to support our school if you 

mention Crocker Farm when checking out.  Funds raised will be used
for supplemental educational activities, such as field trips and science night, and mini-grants for our teachers. 

Can’t attend our bookfair at Barnes & Noble?
Visit BN.COM/bookfairs to support us online from
11/15/14 to 11/19/14 by entering Bookfair ID 11493400 at checkout. 

Two Meetings Tonight -- Crocker Farm School Governance Council & the APRS School Equity Task Force

Crocker Farm School Governance Council
Meeting Tuesday, Nov 12th, 6 pm, at Crocker Farm
The agenda includes a review and discussion of the:
 ** District Improvement Plan
 ** School Improvement Plan for Crocker Farm
The full agenda is available here:   SGC_Agenda


ARPS School Equity Task Force
Meeting, Tuesday, Nov 12th, 6 pm, at the HS Library

Update (Tues afternoon):  Because of the bomb threat & closure of the HS, the School Equity Task Force meeting for this evening has been moved to the conference room at the UMass Police Station at 585 East Pleasant St., Amherst.

Winter Coat Collection and Distribution Updates

The PGO is still collecting winter coats, boots, gloves, hats, etc. for next week's warm clothing exchange. If you have any coats or other clothes to contribute, please drop them off in the collection boxes in the lobby or at the afternoon parent pickup/preschool entrance.   Thank you!    

We are also seeking volunteers to help give out the collected clothes next Tues and Wed.  A signup link is here.  

If you know any family who might be looking for warm winter clothes, please encourage them to stop by during our distribution hours next week.  Other Amherst public schools will have distribution hours as well.   More info on this will be posted shortly.

November Newsletter From Crocker Farm

You can view the whole newsletter here:  Crocker Farm Nov Newsletter
It includes the daily master schedule & the November & December school schedules 

November 2014
Happy November!
 
Thank you to all our families and teachers who met together in the last few weeks to share student progress in Family Conferences. We appreciate the time it takes to come in to school to meet with your child’s teacher(s) as well as the time our teachers spend gathering assessment information in the first months of school. As always, if you have further questions about your child’s progress, the classroom teacher is your first point of contact.
 
At our school, we have a Master Schedule that outlines, in general, the daily schedule for each grade level. Many factors come into play when the schedule is designed including not overlapping major subject areas, where service providers must be to work with students, the lunch and recess schedules, and the aesthetics schedule – just to name a few. We are attaching the Master Schedule for your information. Please keep in mind that it is subject to change based on the needs of our school and classrooms.
 
As the weather begins to change, please remember that our students go outside for fresh air as often as possible. Make sure to send your child prepared to be outside for their 30 minute recess even when the weather is colder.
Speaking of recess, students often leave articles of clothing, hats and gloves outside after recess. Although we try to remind students to bring in what they went outside with, we still end up with a considerable Lost and Found. To help aid in returning lost items to their owners, we will lay out what has gathered in our lost and found bin so kids and families can have a closer look. If you happen to be at school, take a look outside our main office on the way to the cafeteria and see if you recognize anything that has been missing.
 
Looking ahead:
*No School on Tuesday, November 11th in honor of Veteran’s Day.
* Early Dismissal at 1:20pm on Wednesday, November 26 for the Thanksgiving Holiday.
 
There is a Curriculum Day, Monday, December 1st, so no school for students. Students do not return from break until Tuesday, December 2nd.
 
Wishing you an enjoyable month,
Derek Shea (Principal) and Sharri Conklin (Assistant Principal)

Noviembre carta del Sr. Shea y la Sra. Conklin

Carta completa aquí:  (aqui)
Incluye calendario.

Noviembre 2014
¡Feliz mes de noviembre!

Les mandamos las gracias a todas nuestras familias y a los profesores
quienes se reunieron en las últimas semanas para compartir el progreso
del estudiante en las conferencias de familia. Apreciamos el tiempo que
toma de sus horarios para reunirse con el maestro de su niño. También apreciamos la preparación de los maestros y especialistas recopilando información de evaluación en los primeros meses del año escolar. Como siempre, si Usted tiene preguntas sobre el progreso de su hijo, el maestro debe ser su primer punto de contacto.
 
En nuestra escuela, tenemos un plan maestral que usamos diariamente en cada nivel de grado. Tomamos todo en cuenta cuando se diseña este plan, nos fijamos de no haya superposición de áreas temáticas principales, donde los proveedores de servicios deben trabajar con los alumnos, los horarios de comida y descanso y la programación de estética – solo para nombrar algunos factores. Les mandamos una copia del plan maestral para su información. Por favor, tenga en cuenta, que el plan está sujeto a cambios, estos cambios se basen en las necesidades
de nuestra escuela y las aulas.

Como el tiempo siempre cambia, por favor, recuerde que nuestros estudiantes salen diariamente a tomar aire fresco. Asegúrese de enviar a su hijo preparado para estar afuera por 30 minutos de recreo. Aunque se ponga frio – los niños pueden salir a jugar a los columpios. Como mencionamos a la hora de recreo, los estudiantes a menudo dejan prendas de vestir, sombreros y guantes afuera después de su recreo. Aunque tratamos de recordarles de traer lo que se pusieron para salir, todavía terminamos con una montaña de ropa olvidada. Para
ayudarnos devolver lo que se ha perdido a sus dueños, depositamos las prendas en una caja enorme cerca de la oficina central. Cuando Usted venga a visitar a su niño o si vienen a un concierto, por favor, toman un momento para revisar las prendas de la caja en la esquina.

Mirando hacia el futuro:
** No hay clases el martes, 11 de noviembre en honor del día de los Veteranos.
** Salida temprana a las 13:20 el miércoles, 26 de noviembre para la fiesta de día de
acción de Gracias. 

Hay un día de currículo, lunes, 1 de diciembre, así que no hay escuela para los estudiantes. Los estudiantes no regresan de las vacaciones hasta el
martes, 2 de diciembre.

Les deseamos todo lo mejor para este mes,
Derek Shea (Director) y Sharri Conklin (Asistente al Director)

Rotary Club Gift of Dictionaries for our 3rd Grade Students

A big THANK YOU to the Amherst Rotary Club for their wonderful donation to our school. 

 

This past week, Rotary Club members visited Crocker Farm to bring each 3rd grade student and teacher a new Webster's Dictionary.  As one of our 3rd grade teachers reported, "The children were overjoyed to receive these, put their names inside the covers, and begin searching for new words. After a while one student said, 'guess what page I started on, page 1, and guess what page I'm still on, page 1...there are just so many good words!'" 

We greatly appreciate the Rotary Club's generous spirit of giving in such a meaningful way to our school community.

and as an fyi, the Rotary Club of Amherst is holding one of their main fundraisers next weekend, Nov 14 & 15th.  The funds raised will go to support their initiatives on behalf of our community, our schools, and their other service projects.  You can learn more about the Rotary Club of Amherst at their web site.  The link is here.

 

For information on how to participate on the next weekend's auction and bid on items, please visit   

back.amherstrotaryauction.org/home/

THANK YOU to Last Year's 6th Grade Families

A belated BIG THANK YOU to last year's 6th grade families

In their final gift to Crocker Farm, they left the school funds to:
(1) support our beautiful garden (a great outdoor classroom!) &
(2) subsidize field trips to museums, performances, environmental centers, & more to help make them affordable to all.

Thank you for your generosity, & this wonderful gift! It will leave a lasting impact on our school.

Holiday Gift & Food Programs at the Amherst Survival Center

Dear Friends:

 

This year, the Amherst Survival Center has re-focused our Holiday Gift Program and we’re excited to let you know the changes. We are prioritizing children ages 0-18 whose families use our Food Pantry, and the Program will have three components:

 

1.    Increased food distribution in December for families with school-age children:
With community support, we will offer families with school-age children who use our Food Pantry extra food (a “boost”) in the month of December, since the month includes a school vacation week.

2.    Holiday Gifts: Books & Games!
We hope to distribute specific (but not personalized) gifts to children ages 0-18. Gifts will include: new books, family games (board games, card games, video games), and warm accessories (new mittens – last year’s most popular item! - hats, scarves).
All Food Pantry families will be given the opportunity to choose age-appropriate games and books for their children in December. Donations can be brought to the Center starting in mid-November, and distribution will happen in the Center throughout the month of December, at the convenience of the receiving families.

3.    Access to Sidney Smith Toy Fund: We will have applications available for the Sidney Smith Toy Fund for all families with children who live in Hampshire County. Administered through the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the Toy Fund offers families a $25 gift card to area malls.

 

In last year’s program, each participating child was able to receive 5-7 books. For many of these children this was an incredible start to their own library. We’re hoping we can duplicate that this year.

 

Seeking Donations:

We are seeking donations of the following.  Please bring these items to the Center in mid-November (as gift distribution will start the first week of December):

·        New books (for children of all ages)
·        Games: board games, card games, video games (for children of all ages)
·        Mittens, gloves, hats, scarves
·        Nutritious child-friendly foods

 
 

For more information, please contact:

Tracey Levy

Program Director

413-549-3968 x 102

Amherst Survival Center on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/amherstsurvival/