Learning is public.
Students produce high-quality work for presentation to audiences within and beyond the school. They reflect on what and how they learn with peers, teachers, and community members. Hallways and classrooms are filled with evidence of learning and beautiful student work.
~From EL Education – A Different Approach to Teaching and Learning
Message from Head of School and Principal
Celebrating Learning, Leadership, and Community
This week is bursting with excitement and pride for the Class of 2025. Our seniors have spent months diving deeply into topics they are passionate about, creating thoughtful and meaningful Graduation Passage projects that showcase both their learning and their impact. Many of these projects extend beyond the classroom, contributing to a better world through service or direct contributions to the community. On Thursday, our entire student body and staff will come together as audience members to witness and celebrate these remarkable presentations of learning.
This is also a moment of reflection and sharing for our juniors, who completed their experiential internships in April. They will be presenting what they learned through real-world experiences, offering insight into their growth, challenges, and aspirations. At the same time, our 8th and 10th grade students are preparing to present their passage portfolios—collections of evidence that show their academic progress, character development, and readiness for the next stage of their educational journey.
We warmly invite families to attend these milestone presentations. Your presence affirms the importance of this work and reflects the strong partnership we value between school and home. Together, we celebrate your children and their achievements.
In the world of athletics, we’re thrilled to share some incredible news from our ultimate frisbee program. Our campus is alive with the energy of five dynamic teams, and both our boys and girls varsity teams had standout performances at this weekend’s PVI tournament. We’re especially proud to announce that the Girls Varsity team has earned an invitation to the national tournament in June! A fundraiser is currently underway to support their travel, and we are so grateful to the dedicated team families who are helping to make this trip a reality. Please join us in celebrating their success and supporting their journey.
This month also brought the inspiring work of our Climate Club, who organized and hosted an engaging Youth Climate Summit earlier this month. This event is a shining example of how our clubs and intensives empower students to extend their learning beyond the classroom, build strong connections, and take the lead on meaningful initiatives.
There’s so much happening across our Four Rivers campus as we head into the final stretch of the school year. Please take a moment to review the calendar and important details included in this edition of Currents. We look forward to welcoming families to campus in the coming weeks as we end the year with collective joy, celebration, and togetherness.
Warmly,
Jenni Manfredi
Quick Links
2024-2025 ACADEMIC CALENDAR • SCHOOL EVENTS CALENDAR • SPORTS CALENDAR • ALMA DIRECTIONS • Join the FAMILY DIRECTORY AY24-25 • GENERAL PERMISSIONS
HEALTH INFO FOR FAMILIES
LUNCH MENU FOLDER
SUBMIT A QUOTE! • FOUR RIVERS APPAREL STORE
Upcoming Events
UPCOMING EVENTS:
This list includes all KNOWN events through the end of the school year. Please refer to the online School Events Calendar for the most current information.
Thurs. 5/22 – 10th MCAS Math & 8th STE Makeup
– Junior Internship Presentations
– Senior Passage Presentations
– Nikki Crosby’s Crew Outing
– Madeline Leue’s Crew Outing/Service w/ Franklin Community Meals
– Family Council Meeting via Zoom (7-7:45pm)
Fri. 5/23 – Last Day for Seniors – Noon Dismissal for Seniors only (no noon bus)
Mon. 5/26 – NO SCHOOL: Memorial Day
Tues. 5/27-Thurs. 5/29 – Senior Trip to Provincetown
Wed. 5/28
– Rene McIntyre/Senna Lauer’s Crew Outing
– INTERIM LOTTERY for AY25-26 – 11th Grade
– Effects of Social Media (6-7:00pm) Student-run workshop for families; at Four Rivers – more info below
Thurs. 5/29 – 8th MCAS Civics
– Joanna Morse/Mindy Dow Crew Service at The Arbors
– Madeline Leue’s Crew Service with Franklin Community Meals
Fri. 5/30 – 8th MCAS STE & Civics Makeup
– Climate Club Clothing Swap
– Senior’s Graduation Rehearsal (3:30-4:30pm)
– Student Art Show at The Lava Center in Greenfield (5-8pm)
Sat. 5/31 – GRADUATION (4pm)
Mon. 6/2-Tues. 6/3 – 8th Grade Passage Presentations
Tues. 6/3 – Sophomores Visit Worcester Colleges
Wed. 6/4 – 10th MCAS Bio I
Thurs. 6/5-Fri. 6/6 – 11th Grade Overnight Trip to Noble View
Thurs. 6/5 – 10th MCAS Bio II
– 7th Grade Bike Trip
Fri. 6/6 – 10th MCAS Bio Makeup
Tues. 6/10 – 8th Grade Cardboard Boats (rain date 6/9)
Wed. 6/11 – Early Dismissal at 12:30 – lunch served, one bus route
– FRCPS Board Meeting
Thurs. 6/12 – Stepping Up Ceremony – Families Invited (10:45-12pm)
– Last Day of School – Early Dismissal at 12:00 – no lunch served, one bus route
In Otter News…
FROM CLIMATE CLUB
Climate Club is hosting our famous thrift swap next Friday, 5/30. Schedule coming soon. In the meantime, please bring in your gently used clothes, bags, accessories, etc to room 207 in the HS. If possible please sort bags based on what article of clothing they are.
Clothing will be accepted until 5/29.
The Prolonged Effects of Social Media – This is a student-led workshop for families and children who want to learn more about the impact of social media on Gen Z and Gen Alpha girls. The event will be held Wednesday, May 28th, from 6-7pm, in the Common Room.
FOUR RIVERS END OF YEAR ART EXHIBITION
Come join us at The LAVA Center in Greenfield and partake in the joys and discoveries of art! There will be a reception for students, families, and everyone else on Friday, May 30, 5-8pm.
The exhibit will also be viewable during LAVA’s gallery hours on Thursday, May 29, 5-8pm and Saturday, May 31, 11am-2pm.
LINK: https://thelavacenter.org/events/four-rivers-school-end-of-year-art-exhibition/
Franklin County Pride – Come join Four Rivers as we march in the Franklin County Pride Parade, Saturday, June 7th! Potluck brunch at Four Rivers at 10:00am; line up at 11:30; march at 12:00.
FROM OUR GIRLS’ VARSITY ULTIMATE FAMILIES
The Girls Varsity team has added another brick to the Four Rivers Ultimate Legacy with the school’s THIRD invite to HighSchool Nationals. This is truly an incredible feat for a small Charter School like ours. It is proof of the Spirit of the game of Ultimate and of the Spirit of our school community. Can you help make this trip happen by contributing to and sharing our GoFundMe? All remaining funds at the close of the trip will be used for future teams to carry forward our school’s travel to Ultimate Nationals events.
The team is ready to catch your financial support here: https://gofund.me/a2d21926
College and Career Corner
Downeast Juniors!
The recent junior college trip to Maine was a huge success. Juniors toured Unity Environmental University at Pineland as well as the Maine College of Art and Design on Monday 4/28, then stayed overnight at the Black Elephant Hostel in Portland. They got to explore downtown Portland in groups and held an impromptu dance party in the Hostel garden (that even got the neighbors dancing)! On Tuesday, they divided into two groups: one went north to see Bowdoin College and Bates College, and the other group went south to the University of New England at Biddeford and then to the Landing School of Boat Building and Design. This trip was a whirlwind 48 hours and a clear highlight of the year, and we hope to repeat it in the future!
Construction and Trades Career Day a Hit
On Thursday 5/1, interested sophomores, juniors, and seniors went to the Franklin County Fairgrounds for Construction and Trades Career Day, sponsored by MassHire. Students met with industry professionals hiring students into apprenticeship programs and directly into careers. They also got to try out a variety of workshops and activities in different fields. Our students did pretty well in the raffle, too! It was an excellent day looking at career options right here in and around Franklin County.
Graduation Passage Presentations and Junior Internship Presentations – We’re excited to celebrate several culminating events in Division 3. On Thursday, May 22, 2025, seniors will present their graduation passages throughout the day. That morning, juniors will also be presenting about their recent junior internships between 8:15 and 10:00 in the Common Room. All Four Rivers students will be attending the junior internship presentations as well as some senior passages. Our larger community of families and friends is welcome to attend junior internship presentations. Senior graduation passages are by invitation, so check with a senior if you’d like to attend their passage!
Current Employment Opportunities
- 11th/12th Science Teacher (Chemistry and Physics)
Full Job Description - Substitute School Nurse
Full Job Description - Substitute Teacher
Full job description - Div 3 Social Studies – Through accessing our internal transfer process, Joanna Morse will be joining the Div 3 team. We are excited for the vision and expertise she brings to the courses and the work of the team.
- Div 2 Social Studies – Through accessing our internal transfer process, Abigail Vondell will be joining the Div 2 team. We are grateful for the passion and deep content knowledge she brings to the coursework and the enthusiasm for the existing Div 2 learning experiences she brings.
- Div 1 Social Studies – The shifts above leave a need in Div 1. We are posting this now open position on School Spring and our other job posting platforms. Please share with your networks.
- Part-Time Facilities Manager – this position is a new addition to our staff as we continue our strategic planning work and tend to aging facilities, we are excited to recruit for a facilities manager.
From Family Council
Our last meeting of the year is May 29nd at 7pm on Zoom. We will be starting to plan for next year. We have several key roles that will need to be filled next year, please come if you’d like to learn more and consider getting involved! We are a fun group! Hope to see you there.
*To get on the Family Council email listserv and keep up to date on the happenings fill out this form: LINK: Join the Family Council Mailing List
From the Health Office
For important information about health forms, Covid-19 updates, immunizations and physical exams, and medications at Four Rivers, please view the letter sent by school nurse Jazmin Miller to families/caregivers through Alma on Friday, August 23th.
Covid Tests
- Free Covid tests can be ordered and delivered to your house. They do have a limit for how many can be ordered per household.
- The Covid tests ordered for school have come in. There are 5 tests per box. Please contact the health office or front office if you would like a box.
End of year:
With the end of the school year coming up very quickly, I wanted to go over some things. If you have any medications for your students stored in the health office please pick it up by the last day of school, 6/12/25. Please send in any updated physical exam forms and/or immunizations records for me to update in their medical records at school. If your student has started any new medication, please remember to update me, even if they only take them at home. This is just so that I know their full medical history and if there was ever an emergency, I would have all the information needed to be passed on to the appropriate people. Also if a student will be taking medication at school or for an overnight trip, please remember to provide me a new medication order at the beginning of the new school year. A new one is needed for each school year, unless the provider has written an ending date into the new school year. If you have any questions please reach out to me. jmiller@fourriverscharter.org or (413) 774-5477 ext 3
Reminders
- Please submit your student’s Annual Health History and Permissions Form if you have not done so already. There are still a lot that I am missing.
Covid and Flu vaccines can be done at various pharmacies . As of right now there is not a vaccine clinic happening at Four Rivers. You can always go to the website to stay updated on where you can receive Covid and Flu vaccines in the area. https://frcog.org/project/vaccine-information/.org/project/vaccine-information/
Athletics
**Scroll down to the bottom of the section for information on upcoming games and most recent game results!**
Ultimate Frisbee
We have been having a terrific ultimate season! Two weekends ago we hosted our 22nd annual Four Rivers Tournament, where all five of our teams got to play against many other teams from the region and from as far away as Maine. Congrats to our Girls JV team for coming in second in their division, and to our Girls and Boys Varsity for winning their divisions! Our Girls and Boys Varsity also competed last weekend in the Pioneer Valley Invitational, a large tournament with over 60 teams held at the Oxbow in Easthampton. Our GV team came in 2nd, losing the championship by one point! And our BV came in 4th! Congrats to both teams on a great tournament!
A final piece of exciting news is that our Girls Varsity has just received an invitation to attend the High School National Invitational, held this year in Allentown, PA. They are one of only 16 teams in the nation that have been invited to compete. This is a wonderful opportunity for our athletes and great recognition of their strength as a team and the strength of our ultimate frisbee program.
SAVE THE DATE for the End-of-Season gathering for all teams and families on Friday, June 6th! More details to come!
Here are some additional updates from our coaches:
Boys Middle School – Coach Marc Guillaume
Middle school has been winning a few games lately. We played (next to) the RVAL tournament and scored well against Charlemont. Later in the week we were at the Oxbow for a shorter game against JFK and tried out some different line configurations. This was a nice game for us, where we outscored the competition. Finally, yesterday, we went up against Amherst. This was a rather uneven game but left us with a lot to work on in our final prep for States. Been a great season so far, with lots of growth!
Boys JV – Coach Ashley Schenk
The Boys Junior Varsity has compiled a 13 – 13 record this season, and more specifically, we’ve gone 9 – 2 against other Junior Varsity Teams. Over the past month we’ve played in four one-day tournaments and we’ve gone 7 – 7 in those games, including one very close loss to the Four Rivers Mixed Varsity Team in RVAL. We’ll be playing in the Division 3 Boys State Tournament at the end of the month and our hopes are high for placing well in that. Over the course of the season our team has shown great improvement in our synergy together and flow. We’ve reduced turnovers on offense and improved the timing of our cuts so that we can now score points by working the disc down the field with five or six straight completions.
Girls JV – Coach Catherine Zacchilli
Our team has made solid progress in mastering fundamental skills, especially throwing and cutting with more precision. Defensively, we have started implementing a zone, which will help us work better as a unit and communicate more effectively. Offensively, we have transitioned to a horizontal stack to improve spacing and disc movement, creating more fluid and dynamic play. Overall, we are growing stronger as a team and building the chemistry needed for consistent success.
Boys Varsity – Coach Terry Plotkin
The Boys Varsity has compiled a 20 – 5 record this season. We have won two tournaments! The NMH Tournament and our home tournament. We came in 4th at PVI, narrowly missing advancing to the finals. We have States this weekend. Soon, we say goodbye to our seniors: Meir Dragon, Eamon Flannelly and Eliot Sanborn. We hope they find ways to keep playing in their future.
Girls Varsity – Coach Julia Fay
We have gone 19-2 this season. We lost a really close game in universe point to Amherst in the finals of the Amherst Invite and also at PVI. We got first place at the Four Rivers tournament. We had a fun senior night last Monday celebrating the last home game for our seniors Ivy, Tirz, Loie, Sora, Cedar, Allie and Mabel. We had a great time playing mixed teams with the boys varsity at RVAL Wednesday; our 2 teams coming in 1st and 2nd. We are looking forward to States this weekend at the Oxbow, and to Nationals!
UPCOMING GAMES AND TOURNAMENTS
Please refer to the Sports Calendar for the most up to date information
Fri. 5/23 – Home – (dismiss 2:30) BJV v PVCICS
Sat. 5/24 & Sun. 5/25 – GV & BV States Tournament (Oxbow Marina)
Tues. 5/27 – Away (dismiss 2:30) – BJV @ PVPA
Sat. 5/31 – GJV & BJV States Tournament (Oxbow Marina)
Sun. 6/1 – BMS States Tournament (Devens, MA)
Fri. 6/6 – Ultimate Frisbee End of Season Celebration – more info to follow!
Reminders
FALL SPORTS INTEREST FORM
Thank you for taking the time to fill out this brief form to let us know if your student may be interested in joining us for the fall sports season. Collecting this information early allows us to start planning for coaches and scheduling.
LINK: Fall Sports Interest Form – Fall 2025
KEY CARDS
Students should bring their key card to school each day to avoid being locked out of buildings. If a key card is lost or not working please report it to kjosephs@fourriverscharter.org as soon as possible. Students who require more than two replacement cards will be billed $5 for each additional card. Clear protective sleeves are available in the front office.
Community Corner
PIONEER VALLEY SUMMER ULTIMATE OPPORTUNITY
Since 2017, Valley Ultimate has also hosted a summer-long youth club program focusing on relationships, culture building, skill building, and fun!
Teams collaborate in practicing throughout the summer and attend competitive events locally & regionally and nationally.
This year they have room for ~100 Western-Mass high-school aged athletes to join us for a growth-filled summer to train and compete in a supportive environment with committed, skilled coaches.
To learn more about our program – please visit our website – or drop us a line or give us a call – 413-687-4880 and we’ll be happy to tell you more
THE BENSON PLACE IS HIRING – BLUEBERRY HARVEST SEASON EMPLOYMENT
“Want to work hard and have fun this summer? Join our harvest team for 2-3 weeks from mid July to early August to rake and sort this season’s wild blueberries.
The Benson Place is a family farm that has over 50 acres of certified organic wild blueberry barrens. We’d love to talk to you about joining our team!
For more information, please contact us at info@bensonplace.org
GREENFIELD YMCA OFFERING AMERICAN RED CROSS LIFEGUARD CERTIFICATION
The YMCA, located in Greenfield, will be offering an American Red Cross Lifeguard Certification course starting next week.
Please reach out to Aquatics Director, Lisa Woodall, at lwoodall@your-y.org with any questions.
In-Sight Photography Project Summer Classes
In-Sight Photography Project is a Brattleboro based non-profit that teaches ages 11-18, how to express themselves and encourage their creativity through photography.
ARTSPACE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER
Offering a variety of both single-day and week-long art workshops this summer beginning at the end of June. Classes explore a lot of exciting materials and subjects such as printmaking, optical illusions, collating, character design, and watercolor to name a few! All of our summer programming is held at Artspace Community Arts Center, 15 Mill St., Greenfield.
LINK: https://www.artspacegreenfield.org/classes-workshops
