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,

It was a short but eventful week here at Amherst Middle School. We welcomed 6th grade families on Wednesday evening for an information session about this spring's trips to The Ecology School. I had the opportunity to visit multiple classrooms this week as well, and students continue to work diligently on meeting academic standards as we wrap up quarter two.

Today marks the last official day of the second quarter (first semester), which means we are at the midpoint of the school year. Teachers will be finalizing grades and comments over the next several days, so that progress reports will be available to parents on Thursday, January 26th. You will be able to see these progress reports online through the Empower portal and paper copies will be sent home with students as well. Be sure to ask your student to share the paper copy with you. Please visit this page for instructions on viewing your student's progress through the Empower portal.

Stay safe, stay warm, and enjoy your weekend.

Be well,

Kristen

January 24 (Tues): Spelling Bee Finals

January 26 (Thur): Q2/S1 Progress Reports Available to Parents

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, 12:30 Dismissal

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

February 13 (Mon): 8th Gr Parent Info Night at SHS

February 21 (Tue): Staff v Student Basketball Game, 4pm

February 22 (Wed): Winter Awards Night

February 27-March 3: NO SCHOOL, February Break

March 7 (Tues): Early Release Day, 12:30 Dismissal

Link to District Calendar for 22-23 School Year

We hope to have more details next week about a theater program for this school year. Once we have more details we will share and hope to have a production presented this spring. Please tell your students to look for more details in morning announcenments. Thank you for your support.

What is one skill that can be learned at any time, and used anywhere? Deep breathing. Deep breathing sends a signal to the brain that we are safe and can minimize the fight/flight/freeze response when we don’t need it. Check out this short video that demonstrates 4-7-8 breathing. Practice it with your student - start with right before bed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxbdx-SeOOo

We have received many thoughtful and creative entries for our bathroom beautification contest. Given the weather cancellation today, I would like to extend the submission deadline through Monday, January 23rd. If your student would still like to submit an idea, please encourage them to create a Google Slides presentation and share it with Mrs. Gauthier (kgauthier@sau39.org) no later than Monday, January 23rd.

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.

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.

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

Our first bell is at 8:23am and students are late if they are not in their LP/MM class by 8:30am. 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.