May PGO Meeting

The next PGO meeting is Tuesday, May 10th at 6:30 PM in the ARMS library.  Please join us to help plan the upcoming End of the Year Events including:

8th Grade EOY Field Trip to Mill River: Thursday, June 16th

8th Grade Social: Monday, June 20 –- HS Cafeteria –- 7-9 p.m. 

8th Grade Moving On Ceremonies: Monday, June 20 

The PGO plays a major role in making these days memorable for our students, and we need many parent volunteers, from both the 7th and 8th grade, in order to help make these events happen.  Please join us for the planning meeting May 10th!

ARMS Spring Social

The SPRING SOCIAL is Friday, April 29^th, 7-9 pm, in the ARMS Cafeteria. This is a fundraiser for ARMS Yearbook, with music, dancing & refreshments for ARMS 7^th & 8^th graders. 

The price of admission is $4. Gratis tickets are available from student counselors for students whose families have financial hardship.  Doors will open at 7 pm, and students must leave the building at 9 pm; so please be on time for pick up.  

We would love to have any parent volunteers to help chaperone the Lobby area.  Volunteers should email Lindsay Grant atgrantl@arps.org to sign up to help.  Volunteers arrive by 6:45 pm. 

HEALTH and SAFETY GUIDELINES for the SOCIAL:

 Parents/Guardians please review with your youngster.

Health and safety is a priority at all ARMS events. For that reason, we are uncompromising about these guidelines. Students who do not comply will have their parent/guardian phoned to take them home.

-The use or possession of drugs, alcohol, tobacco or other controlled substances is not tolerated at any ARMS event.

-All coats, purses and backpacks must be left behind the counter at the door.

-The social is from 7:00-9:00; for safety reasons students will not be permitted to leave the building until 9:00 PM.

-The social is for Amherst Regional Middle School students ONLY. We are sorry we cannot allow guests from other schools to attend: not even ARHS.

-Unsafe behavior or physical aggression is not acceptable. Dancing is great as long as it is appropriate.

-The social ends at 9:00. All Parents/Guardians should please BE IN THE PARKING LOT PROMPTLY AT 9:00! We advise against allowing students to “go into town” to hang out! Please support our health and safety efforts by picking up your student on time! Do not wait for them to call you! Please be waiting at 9:00.

ARMS Yearbook

FINAL DATE TO PURCHASE A YEARBOOK IS MONDAY, MAY 2^nd!!

Many thanks to the families, friends and local businesses who are sponsoring the’ 15-‘16 ARMS Yearbook.  Your donations are greatly appreciated and go towards gift books for students who could not otherwise afford a yearbook.  There is still time to contribute.  Please use the form attached to this newsletter if you would like to be an ARMS Yearbook Sponsor.

Go to www.TreeRing.com/validate     

Enter our school’s passcode: 1014576204314249
Price:  $20.00

For more info please see:

Treering Informational Flyer - English 

Treering Informational Flyer - Spanish 

Treering Personalized Pages Information - English 

Treering Personalized Pages Flyer - Spanish 

ARMS Yearbook Sponsorship Form

Mark Your Calendars

April 29- ARMS Spring Social

May 2- Yearbook Order Deadline
May 3- Valley Gives Day!

May 7 - 8- Amherst Invitational

May 11- Early Release

May 17- MCAS Science (Grade 8 only)

May 19- MCAS Science (Grade 8 only)

May 30- Memorial Day - no school.
June 8 - 7:30 pm, ARMS 7/9 band
June 16 - 7:30 pm, ARMS 7/8 Orchestras
June 16- 8th Grade EOY Field Trip to Mill River
June 20- 8th Grade Moving On Ceremony
June 20- 8th Grade Social

Ultimate Weekend Comes To Amherst May 7-8th

Thirty-two high school teams will compete in the oldest youth Ultimate frisbee tournament in the country, the Amherst Invitational. The 25th Annual Amherst Invitational Ultimate Tournament will take place on Saturday and Sunday, May 7-8, 2016, and is hosted by Amherst Regional High School (ARHS). 

The Tournament will be held on the athletic fields at ARHS and the Amherst Regional Middle School (ARMS) in Amherst, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the growing sport.

This year will also be the largest event in the tournament’s history, with separate A and B divisions for both boys and girls, to reflect the growing popularity of the sport.  ARHS is one of the few high schools in the country that can field three boys and three girls teams, and the middle school team is also very competitive.  All seven Amherst teams (including the ARMS Spring Ultimate teams) will be participating in the Amherst Invitational.  

Come cheer on your favorite ARMS and ARHS Players.  Free.

More information at http://www.facebook.com/amherstinvitational

See more at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbK-TXnnQDA&nohtml5=False

 

AEF ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF THE 2016 EXCELLENCE GRANTS

AMHERST EDUCATION FOUNDATION IS THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE THE RECIPIENTS OF THE 2016 EXCELLENCE GRANTS

Of the fourteen applications, totaling $133,000 in requests, AEF awarded five grantees a total of $35,400!  Champion Course for Elementary Math Coaches: This grant funds math coaches to attend math intervention courses targeting underperforming students of color and lower socioeconomic students in grades 3-6 at the three Amherst elementary schools. Grant Applicant: Fort River Math Coach Amy Chang. AEF Grant: $5000 The Culture Bearers Project: This grant creates cultural enrichment programs at all four elementary schools by bringing in visiting artists to involve students in performing and learning. Grant applicant: Fort River Music Teacher Anne White. AEF Grant: $5400 ARHS Digital Music Lab: This grant pays for hardware and software for two new classes for students to compose, analyze and perform music. The new classes provide access to music to students who are not in other music programs and enables students using similar technology at ARMS to continue their music education. Grant Applicant: ARHS Performing Arts Director John Bechtold. AEF Grant: $10,000  21st Century Biology: Building Biotechnology into the ARHS Curriculum: This grant pays for the purchase of electrophoresis equipment and pipettes, enabling the innovative inclusion of gas electrophoresis technology into all eleven high school biology classes. Grant Applicant: ARHS Biology Teacher Michael Cardozo. AEF Grant: $10,000 Access to Technology for Students with Special Needs: This grant enables the purchase of fifteen laptops and external mice to benefit 100 Special Education Students at ARHS. Grant Applicant: Rebecca Herskovitz. AEF Grant: $5000 These grants will positively impact the education of students throughout the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District. We are so proud to be supporting our teachers and staff in their efforts to provide a first-rate educational experience for our children.

Starlight Youth Theater's Into the Woods

Starlight’s Youth Theatre invites you to take a journey with them Into The Woods   Friday - Sunday May 13 - 15. The success of Disney’s Into The Woods movie starring Meryl Streep has revived the original Tony-Award-winning Broadway musical version by Stephen Sondheim and you can see many of your friends on the Academy of Music stage. This musical brings favorite fairy tale characters such as Cinderella (Kira Cairn), Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk to life; they set off to make their wishes come true but soon learn to be careful what they wish for as witches, giants and wolves loom.  Into the Woods at the Academy of Music on May 13 at 7 p.m.; May 14 at 2p.m. and 7 p.m.; and May 15 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for children/seniors and $14 for adults and are available at the Academy of Music Box Office or online at http://aomtheatre.ticketfly.com/

Ft. River Tag Sale/Car Wash/Cake Walk On 4/30/16

The Ft. River School is hosting a tag sale, car wash and cake walk on Saturday, April 30, 2016 from 9:00 am to 12 pm at the school, 70 South East Street.  There will also be face painting, temporary tattoos, hair braiding and nail painting.

 

The event benefits the 5th grade which is traveling to Boston and New York and the 6th grade which is going to Boston and is graduating.

 

The rain date is May 1, 2016.

ABC To Host Reception; Honor Local Doctor

The Amherst A Better Chance Program will host a reception at the Red Barn at Hampshire College on Thursday, May 19th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Local doctor Kate Atkinson and her staff at Atkinson Family Practice will be honored as 2016 Amherst ABC Local Heroes.

A reception will begin at 5:00 pm. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet with ABC scholars and hear their story. Formal remarks begin at 5:45 pm. At 6:15 pm, there will be a tour of the new R.W Kern Center, Hampshire College’s new “living building,” a structure designed for sustainability and intended to promote ethical citizenship. [Amherst ABC is the FIRST community organization to have the opportunity to tour this exciting new “zero-net energy” building.

Tour leaders will meet guests at The Red Barn and escort them to the Kern Center for tours guided by Hampshire College staff. Tours will start at approximately 6:15.

Everyone is welcome to attend the event on May 19th. We hope that many members of the community join the ABC Scholars and the Board of Directors to celebrate this program, with the bonus opportunity to tour a new facility that promotes sustainability and thus, in a very real sense, can provide all of us as well as future generations with a better chance.

The ABC Board of Directors asks that those who plan to attend send an email to
mail@amherstabetterchance.org by May 13th.

For more than four decades, teenage men of color have come to our community to find “A Better Chance” in our safe, loving, focused boarding home environment while they attend Amherst Regional High School. During that time, Amherst ABC has helped more than 125 young men transcend the barriers to success, nurturing them and encouraging them to reach their highest potential academically as well as personally. It is the Amherst community that has made this incredible success story a reality.

“Just A Piece of Cloth” Screening

“Just a Piece of Cloth” will be screened at Jones Library on Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 7:00 pm in the Woodbury Room for the next film in this ongoing film and discussion series that may education, touch your heart, and inspire you to action to help dismantle racism.  A facilitated discussion will be held after the screening.

Just a Piece of Cloth is a documentary that unravels stereotypes perpetuated by the mainstream media about Muslim women.  It is a film about Muslim women, the hijab, and other issues of Islamophobia and racism.  A facilitated discussion will follow the screening.
Free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413-259-3223.  This film series is co-sponsored by the Jones Library and Coming Together.  More information about Coming Together can be found at http://www.coming-together.org/.

Trivia Night at the Jones Library

The Jones Library invites area trivia buffs to at our monthly Trivia Night, hosted by Mark “Harpo” Power, on the first Thursday of the month, from 6:30 pm until 8:30 pm. The next Trivia Night will be held on Thursday, May 5, 2016 in the Woodbury Room. All trivia aficionados are invited to join in the fun and support the Jones Library!

Bring friends and family as a team, or form teams on the spot, with a maximum of five per team. There will be two rounds of 15 questions each, and there will be prizes for the top teams. Doors open at 6 pm, and the event starts promptly at 6:30 pm. There is a suggested donation of $5-$10 per person to participate. All proceeds benefit the Jones Library. Refreshments will be served.

Open to the public. For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413-259-3223.

Star Wars Events Next Week at the Jones Library

Star Wars Faux Terrariums (ages 10- up)

May 3rd 6:00 pm- 7:00 pm in the Crafts Room

Make your own faux terrarium of the landscape of your choice! Endor, Dagobah, a fairy garden, or whatever you imagine! 

Please pre-register in the kids' room or at 413-259-3091/ kids@joneslibrary.org

 

Star Wars: May the Fourth Be With You

May 4th in the Woodbury Room

10:30 am-11:30 am Space-themed Storytime 

4:00 pm- 6:00 pm Star Wars crafts, trivia, video games and more!

6:00 pm-8:30 pm After-hours free movie screening, for fans of all ages. (Library can be entered through the back/ garden entrance)

Join Rey, BB-8, and old favourite characters on an epic adventure!

Shakespeare Movie Marathon

 As a way of supporting an exciting exhibition of Shakespeare's First Folio at Amherst College during the month of May, the Jones Library is one of several other local institutions in Amherst that are hosting complementary programming to encourage the wider community to enjoy and celebrate this special exhibit. 

 

Join us in the Woodbury Room on Saturday, May 14 for a screening of 3 films based on Shakespeare’s First Folio works. The 10 am screening is an animated film for young viewers that is rated G.  The 12:30 pm and 3 pm screenings are feature films that are rated PG-13.  For the program of specific film titles, pick up a flyer on your next visit to the library or visit our website for complete movie titles and ratings information at www.joneslibrary.org.

 

This film series is possible thanks to the Friends of the Jones Libraries.  Free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223.

 

Mark Your Calendars

May 7 - 8- Amherst Invitational

May 11- Early Release

May 17- MCAS Science (Grade 8 only)

May 19- MCAS Science (Grade 8 only)

May 30- Memorial Day - no school.

AMHERST INVITATIONAL ULTIMATE TOURNAMENT

Saturday May 7th, 9:30 am to 5:00pm and Sunday May 8th, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.

Come watch 32 teams compete in the 25th Annual Amherst Invitational, one of the oldest and most prestigious youth Ultimate Frisbee tournaments in the world.  And it all happens right here in Amherst, the birthplace of Ultimate!  Games will take place at both ARHS and ARMS fields, with the finals on Sunday afternoon at ARHS.  Free admission and awesome layouts!

More information at http://www.facebook.com/amherstinvitational

See more at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbK-TXnnQDA&nohtml5=False