(Not a school or PGO-sponsored event)
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Classes at the Center Dance Studio & Perch, a playspace for families
click to enlarge
(Not a school or PGO-sponsored event)
(Not a school or PGO-sponsored event)
Winter Conditioning Clinic for Youth
Winter Youth Conditioning Clinic in Amherst beginning February 7th.
Get in shape for spring! Working with Patrick Schilling, experienced
Exercise Physiologist, develop strength, power and flexibility between
and during your sport seasons. Join
us for 8 weeks of classes that will focus on keeping you fit and
prepare for the next season with exercises that are challenging,
creative, and fun! Grab a friend and sign up today!
TWO OPTIONS:
Sundays, February 7-April 3 (no class March 27); age 12-16 5-6pm, age 8-11 6-7pm
and/or
Wednesdays, February 10-March 30; age 12-16 5:15-6:15pm, age 8-11 6:15-7:15pm
Register for one class per week or two classes per week: 8 sessions $120 or 16 sessions $240. Classes take place at Saint Brigid’s Msgr. Lane Pastoral Center Gym, 43 N. Prospect St., Amherst.
Each one-hour session will focus on exercises and games that are challenging, creative and fun!
Please register today online at: http://goo.gl/forms/
(not a school or PGO-sponsored event)
Friday, January 22, 2016
Makerspace at the Jones Library
There is still room in this weekend's Jones Library Makerspace!
Saturday January 23 2:00pm- 3:30pm
Join us for our ongoing Makerspace (do-it-yourself spaces where people can gather to create, invent, and learn). We will have creative tools and equipment from robotics and coding programs to modeling clay and craft supplies.
This Makerspace program will also feature a 3D printer and CNC machine! (Even better, knowledgeable community volunteers Peter and Arthur Evans will be on hand to help answer your questions about these machines!)
For ages 8-12. Please pre-register in the youth room or call 413-259-3091.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Free chess club at the Jones
Crocker Farm's chess club is up and running and a wild success! Whether or not you've got a participant at home, undoubtedly you've heard all about it. Grand, well pint-sized actually, chessmasters are swaggering the halls of your local elementary school every. single. day. Classmates want to know them, teachers want to be them.
Maybe your kid just can't get enough chess? Maybe your kid hasn't ever tried chess and wants to check it out? Oh boy do the Friends of the Jones Library have a program for your kid!
Click on image to enlarge.
(Not a school-sponsored event but a very cool one nonetheless.)
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Amherst School Committee Meeting today - vote on Elementary School Building options & other agenda items
Amherst School Committee Meeting
Tonight, Tuesday, January 19th
5:45 pm, ARHS Library
Tonight, the Amherst School Committee (SC) is set to vote on a preferred option for the proposed elementary school consolidation & reconfiguration. The elementary School (Wildwood) Building Committee has been considering options for a number of months. These options include renovating or rebuilding Wildwood, creating a new building that would house two K-6 schools to replace Wildwood & Fort River, or creating a new district-wide school(s) for grades 2-6, and then having Crocker Farm become an early education center with the current district preschool program & all district kindergarten & 1st grade students.
A few weeks ago, parents & teachers/staff were asked through online surveys for their feedback on the project & options under consideration. The survey results & comments are available at the links below:
(links provided by the Daily Hampshire Gazette,
Surveys conducted & survey results compiled by McBassi & Co.)
At a School Committee meeting last week. three of the five Amherst School Committee members read statements indicating that they plan to support the option in which Crocker Farm becomes an early education center (preK-1st grade) & a new building is created for grades 2-6 district-wide.
Here's a link to a Daily Hampshire Gazette article from that meeting:
http://www.gazettenet.com/news/schools/20540578-95/majority-of-amherst-school-committee-members-support-replacing-wildwood-and-fort-river-with-750-stud
Tonight, the Amherst School Committee has before it two motions regarding the elementary school project & configuration. These proposed motions were provided to the SC by the SC chair, Katherine Appy, at the end of the last SC meeting:
Proposed Motion - 750 Students: Move to change the grade configuration of the Amherst elementary schools to have Crocker Farm become a PreK-1 school and for the result of the MSBA process to be a 750 student, grade 2-6 school, thereby closing Fort River School, assuming a project scope and budget agreement and funding agreement are enacted. We request that the grade configuration section of the educational plan be updated to align with this official vote of the Amherst School Committee.
Proposed Motion - 670 Students: Move to approve a 670 student K-6 school to be the result of the MSBA process, thereby closing Fort River School, assuming a project scope and budget agreement and funding agreement are enacted. We request that the grade configuration section of the educational plan be updated to align with this official vote of the Amherst School Committee.
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The SC meeting agenda for tonight also includes other items such as a presentation on next year's (FY2017) school budget & a vote on the new Wellness Policy. The school budget narrative & figures and the language for the Wellness Policy are included along with the agenda & other materials for tonight's meeting in the agenda packet. Here's the link: http://www.arps.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_926729/File/Kim%20SC%20materials/ASCAgendapacket1_19_16.pdf
Tonight, Tuesday, January 19th
5:45 pm, ARHS Library
Tonight, the Amherst School Committee (SC) is set to vote on a preferred option for the proposed elementary school consolidation & reconfiguration. The elementary School (Wildwood) Building Committee has been considering options for a number of months. These options include renovating or rebuilding Wildwood, creating a new building that would house two K-6 schools to replace Wildwood & Fort River, or creating a new district-wide school(s) for grades 2-6, and then having Crocker Farm become an early education center with the current district preschool program & all district kindergarten & 1st grade students.
A few weeks ago, parents & teachers/staff were asked through online surveys for their feedback on the project & options under consideration. The survey results & comments are available at the links below:
(links provided by the Daily Hampshire Gazette,
Surveys conducted & survey results compiled by McBassi & Co.)
At a School Committee meeting last week. three of the five Amherst School Committee members read statements indicating that they plan to support the option in which Crocker Farm becomes an early education center (preK-1st grade) & a new building is created for grades 2-6 district-wide.
Here's a link to a Daily Hampshire Gazette article from that meeting:
http://www.gazettenet.com/news/schools/20540578-95/majority-of-amherst-school-committee-members-support-replacing-wildwood-and-fort-river-with-750-stud
Tonight, the Amherst School Committee has before it two motions regarding the elementary school project & configuration. These proposed motions were provided to the SC by the SC chair, Katherine Appy, at the end of the last SC meeting:
Proposed Motion - 750 Students: Move to change the grade configuration of the Amherst elementary schools to have Crocker Farm become a PreK-1 school and for the result of the MSBA process to be a 750 student, grade 2-6 school, thereby closing Fort River School, assuming a project scope and budget agreement and funding agreement are enacted. We request that the grade configuration section of the educational plan be updated to align with this official vote of the Amherst School Committee.
Proposed Motion - 670 Students: Move to approve a 670 student K-6 school to be the result of the MSBA process, thereby closing Fort River School, assuming a project scope and budget agreement and funding agreement are enacted. We request that the grade configuration section of the educational plan be updated to align with this official vote of the Amherst School Committee.
--------
The SC meeting agenda for tonight also includes other items such as a presentation on next year's (FY2017) school budget & a vote on the new Wellness Policy. The school budget narrative & figures and the language for the Wellness Policy are included along with the agenda & other materials for tonight's meeting in the agenda packet. Here's the link: http://www.arps.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_926729/File/Kim%20SC%20materials/ASCAgendapacket1_19_16.pdf
Congratulations to Ms. Zsigmondi!
Ms. Agnes Zsigmondi, our wonderful music teacher, has been teaching in the Amherst schools for close to 30 years.
On Saturday, at the annual Amherst community breakfast in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., Ms. Z was awarded the Norma Jean Anderson Civil Rights & Academic Achievement Award.
A big CONGRATULATIONS to Ms. Z on this most deserved honor!
On Saturday, at the annual Amherst community breakfast in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., Ms. Z was awarded the Norma Jean Anderson Civil Rights & Academic Achievement Award.
A big CONGRATULATIONS to Ms. Z on this most deserved honor!
Amherst Cultural Council has Awarded Crocker Farm Money for Fine Arts Field Trips
For this school year, the Amherst Cultural Council (ACC) has just awarded Crocker Farm $1,440 towards field trips at the UMass Fine Arts Center. This will help reduce the cost for classes to attend.
This Thursday, the 3rd & 4th grades will be attending Freedom Train, a show about Harriet Tubman, and in early February, the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, & 6th grades will be attending Tao: Seventeen Samurai, a production with Japanese Taiko drumming and movement.
Many thanks to the Amherst Cultural Council for their support of our school!
and thank you to Crocker Farm music teacher Ms. Zsigmondi & the other staff who helped with the ACC field trip grant applications.
This Thursday, the 3rd & 4th grades will be attending Freedom Train, a show about Harriet Tubman, and in early February, the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, & 6th grades will be attending Tao: Seventeen Samurai, a production with Japanese Taiko drumming and movement.
Many thanks to the Amherst Cultural Council for their support of our school!
and thank you to Crocker Farm music teacher Ms. Zsigmondi & the other staff who helped with the ACC field trip grant applications.
A Big Thank You to all who helped with the Crocker Farm MLK Jr. Breakfast & Other Activities
Thank you too to Ms. Robinson, Ms. Zsigmondi, & the other staff who helped with the afternoon MLK assembly.
During the morning, each Crocker Farm K-6th grade classroom read Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation, by Duncan Tonatiuh. This non-fiction book contains the story of the Mendez's family fight for equal educational access for their child & other Hispanic children & the case that brought an end to school segregation in California.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Upcoming Meetings about the Amherst Elementary Schools proposed construction & reconfiguration plans
Upcoming meetings on the Amherst Elementary School building study & new construction/reconstruction & reconfiguration options:
**Tonight, Thurs, Jan 14th, 3:30-5:00 pm, ARHS Library: Amherst School Committee (SC) discussion of Elementary School Reconfiguration Plans
**Tues, January 19th, 5:45-7:00 pm, ARHS Library, Amherst School Committee scheduled VOTE for the SC's preferred building & reconfiguration option for the Elementary Schools...
**Thursday, January 21st, 4:00-6:00 pm, ARMS Library, Wildwood School Building Committee meeting
Links to meeting agendas:
Jan 14th SC meeting: http://www.arps.org/…/Kim%20SC%20ma…/AGENDAPACKET1_14_16.pdf
Jan 19th SC meeting:
http://www.arps.org/…/Kim%20SC%20mater…/ASCAgenda1_19_16.pdf
The meetings are public meetings open to all & include time for public comment.
**Tonight, Thurs, Jan 14th, 3:30-5:00 pm, ARHS Library: Amherst School Committee (SC) discussion of Elementary School Reconfiguration Plans
**Tues, January 19th, 5:45-7:00 pm, ARHS Library, Amherst School Committee scheduled VOTE for the SC's preferred building & reconfiguration option for the Elementary Schools...
**Thursday, January 21st, 4:00-6:00 pm, ARMS Library, Wildwood School Building Committee meeting
Links to meeting agendas:
Jan 14th SC meeting: http://www.arps.org/…/Kim%20SC%20ma…/AGENDAPACKET1_14_16.pdf
Jan 19th SC meeting:
http://www.arps.org/…/Kim%20SC%20mater…/ASCAgenda1_19_16.pdf
The meetings are public meetings open to all & include time for public comment.
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