AMS Weekly News

Email: ams@sau39.org
Website: https://ams.sau39.org
Location: 14 Cross Road, Amherst, NH, USA
Phone: 603-673-8944

Dear AMS Families,

I hope you had a wonderful and restful holiday break with your students. It is great to see everyone back in the building with a renewed enthusiasm as we head into the new year. We have a long list of events for you below, so please mark your calendars accordingly.

Today, we enjoyed a visit with one of the finalists for the superintendent position. Our students were incredibly kind and welcoming as we toured the building. It is during these occasions that I am especially proud of our students for their positive attitudes and commitment to being contributing members of our school community.

Best,

Kristen

January 10 (Tues): LATE Start Day, School begins at 10:30AM

January 12 (Thurs): Chorus Concerts (snow date 1/17)

January 13 (Fri): Meet the Superintendent Finalists (see info below)

January 13 (Fri): Festive Friday, Cozy Hats & Scarves

January 16 (Mon): NO SCHOOL, MLK Day

January 18 (Wed): 6th Gr Ecology School Parent Info Night, 6:30pm

January 20 (Fri): Festive Friday, Flannel Friday

January 24 (Tues): Spelling Bee Finals

January 27 (Fri): Festive Friday, AMS School Colors-Red, Black, White, Gray

Weeks of Jan. 29 and Feb. 5: NWEA Testing

February 3 (Fri): Festive Friday, Wear Red Day for American Heart Assn

February 7 (Tues): Early Release Day

February 10 (Fri): Festive Friday, Football Jerseys/Gear

February 22 (Wed): Winter Awards Night

February 27-March 3: NO SCHOOL, February Break

Link to District Calendar for 22-23 School Year

Tonight's meeting with Brian O'Connell has been postponed due to weather, but please see the flyer below for information about next week's meet and greet opportunities.

On February 7 and March 7, all SAU 39 schools will have an Early Release in place of the scheduled Late Start. Students will be dismissed to pickup and buses at 12:30PM and you can expect buses to arrive to bus stops about three hours earlier than usual. All students will have an opportunity to access lunch on these days. Thank you for your flexibility as we use this time to support teacher training and professional development.

In the past, you may have received missing work notifications through Empower, our grading and reporting system. This feature was turned off for most of this year but will resume notifications starting next week. If you are wondering about why an assignment might be marked as missing, please ask your student first and then reach out to their teacher if further clarification is needed. Thank you for your support at home to ensure students are completing and turning in work regularly.

Welcome to 2023! Like most people this time of year, we think about resolutions or things we want to try or change for the upcoming year. What about having “Parenting Resolutions?” Have there been some things you’d like to shift as a parent? This article gives some good areas to start with! Maybe even just pick one and see how it goes!

Here's the link to the January PTA Newsletter: https://www.smore.com/mbh3z-amherst-pta

Please NOTE: location and date change of the February General Meeting. It was originally scheduled to be held on Tuesday, 2/21 at AMS. It will now be held on Wednesday, 2/22 at Wilkins.

• Boys Lacrosse Coach
• Assistant Track & Field Coach

Anyone interested in either coaching position this coming Spring should contact Athletic Director Jeff Wing (jwing@sau39.org).

We want to remind all parents/guardians to be safe when dropping off and picking up their student at Amherst Middle School. Please refer to the map below to see the one entrance and one exit for both of these timeframes. Driving slowly and carefully while paying full attention to the vehicles and pedestrians around you is a necessity for keeping students and staff safe. In addition, students should enter and exit the car on the passenger side. We know that dropoff and pickup times can be busy and stressful for some, but please try to have patience and pause before pulling out into the center bypass lane.

Thank you for your understanding and assistance in keeping this process flowing smoothly and safely.

NEW FOR THE NEW YEAR:

CLAY Club begins in the new year and will meet on Thursdays beginning January 5. Open to all students, come play with clay, make sculptural pieces, mugs and bowls! Interested students should check in with Ms. Plank (dplank@sau39.org)

Continuing Clubs and Activities:

• Eagles Jazz Band: All interested students are welcome to join playing typical band instruments (flutes, clarinets, etc.) as well as guitar, piano, and bass! Musicians should see Mr. Swift in the band room for more information.
• Innovation & Design Club, open to all students interested in learning about 3D modeling, graphic design, and the engineering design process. We use the TAZ 3D printers and the 45W Full Spectrum Laser. We meet on Thursdays 3:30-4:30 , for more information see Mr. Opre
• Student Leadership & Service is open to all students interested in activities to support our school community. We usually meet the second Wednesday of the month afterschool. For more information students should check in with Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Dionne or Mrs. Wyborney.

When you log in to PowerSchool and click "forms" you will see a form entitled AMS Student Computer Condition & Use Agreement 22/23. We have received many responses but are still looking for several more. Please fill this out in the coming weeks so we can be sure we have this information on file. This is an integral part of keeping our technology equipment in good shape for years to come.

Attendance

Please let us know if your child will be absent or tardy to school with an email to ams@sau39.org or a phone call to 603-673-8944 ext. 1

Bus Passes

We need a note from home for bus passes with the following information:

• Student's name
• Destination, including bus number
• Your signature

Students drop off their notes in the office in the morning, then pick up their bus passes during their lunch time. We prefer the note from home with a parent signature over an email unless there's an emergency. Thank you for your cooperation!

Students should be encouraged to bring their own snacks, cough drops and a water bottle and should not rely on the Nurse to provide these things. We are happy to help in a a pinch, but lately we have found our supplies are decreasing rapidly. Thank you in advance for your understanding!

One of the Amherst School Board goals is connecting with the community.

If you have questions or thoughts for the Amherst School Board, send them an email at ASB@sau39.org.