AMHERST — Students in Amherst public schools who have attained proficiency in English and successfully learned additional languages in school or elsewhere are being recognized by the district.
Seal of Biliteracy and Biliteracy Pathway awards are being given to 42 students, recognizing them for multilingualism and promoting their sustained English language, native language, heritage language and global language learning.
Students honored either became proficient or made progress toward proficiency in 11 languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Kinyarwanda, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Turkish, Urdu, Swahili and Tibetan.
“The importance of multilingualism in our global community cannot be overstated, and we are extremely proud of our students who attained Seal of Biliteracy Awards in this inaugural year of the program.” Superintendent Michael Morris said in a statement.
For seniors, this recognition was included in their high school transcripts and a seal was included on their diploma.
To support students in their efforts to attain biliteracy, programs have included the Biliteracy Club at the middle and high schools, Spanish parent/child book clubs, the Caminantes dual language program at Fort River School, and celebration of Linguistic Heritage Month in April.
The schools also partnered with the University of Massachusetts Linguistics Department through the Asi Hablamos program, which brought UMass student volunteers to assist with the Caminantes program.
A satellite store for Atkins Farms Country Market in the Mill District in North Amherst has closed.
The 113 Cowls Road site had its last day in business on July 12 with a sign offering appreciation to the customers who supported it since its opening in August 2015. That sign stated, “Thank you from all the staff up North!”
Atkins was the first tenant in a renovated 4,200-square-foot barn known as the Cow Palace and had been part of the ongoing residential and commercial development that includes the North Square and Trolley Barn mixed-use projects.
Amherst families with children entering kindergarten are encouraged to register them, even if they may not be going to school in the fall.
Children who will be 5 on or before Sept. 1 are eligible to enroll.
Online registration and more information is available at arps.org/k-registration-online.
A 2016 graduate of the University of Massachusetts was inaugurated Tuesday as the new mayor of Gardner.
Michael Nicholson, who earned a dual undergraduate degree in political science and history from Commonwealth Honors College and completed the accelerated master’s of public policy program in 2017, was elected on June 30.
Eight new parallel parking spaces on University Drive South and a dozen additional off-street spaces are approved by the Town Council that will allow a mixed-use project to proceed at 348 Northampton Road.
The Town Council recently voted unanimously to provide the new parking to be associated with One University Drive South.
A small roundabout, or traffic circle, that connects the road to Snell Street will also be built.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring told the Town Council the design of the reconfigured road will slow down drivers and create “better traffic movement.” Planning Director Christine Brestrup said traffic circles are an effective traffic calming measure.
