Amesbury Elementary School spent most of the week cut off from the world, when the Internet went down Oct. 30 and stayed down for days, with the school unable to access online resources, attendance, health or other records. Despite the best efforts of the technical staff, the outage persisted until Nov. 5, when it was discovered that a critter, presumed to be a squirrel, had gnawed through the cable and caused the problem.

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Readers are Leaders, a program funded by the Amesbury Rotary in collaboration with Amesbury elementary schools and the Amesbury Public Library, has begun. Books will be checked out from the library, where worksheets will be provided that relate to a monthly theme. A student will only need to read only one book a month for three consecutive months — October through December, January through March and April through June — to receive a reading badge. Raffle tickets will be given to all participants who return a completed and signed worksheet to the library and bring that raffle ticket to their school library. Raffles will be held in the last month of each cluster.

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The AES multi-age classes of Billie McLane and Liz Morris, and second-grade classes of Sarah Pelletier, Cathy Patton and Ellen Elliot had a poetry race to help build reading fluency. Gift certificates to Bertram and Oliver's booksellers were given to students in each class who read seasonal poems to the largest audience. Beverly Browne, from Pelletier's classroom, shared her poetry with 45 people, and Violette Brogan, a student in McLane's classroom, shared her poem face to face, by phone and over the Web on YouTube, where she received several hundred responses.

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The Amesbury Middle School Student Council is holding its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive for the Pettengill House through Nov. 19. Students are asked to bring in canned items and nonperishable goods for their homerooms' collection boxes. Students are hoping to break the record of 3,109 items brought in last year.

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AMS sixth-grade blue team students will be taking their annual snow guesses this week to predict the first day Amesbury will experience a complete white ground cover of snow. The student who predicts accurately will receive a snowflake ornament and the distinction of being the champion snow guesser of 2009.

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The Amesbury High School cheerleaders participated in the Cape Ann League Competition on Nov. 5 at Wilmington High School. Although they did not score high enough to move on to the regional competition, the girls received the CAL Sportsmanship Award. Coach Maureen Boody named senior Chelsea Kolenda as the CAL All-Star for Amesbury.

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The AHS math team remains undefeated in the Tri-State Math League. Captain John Morris was the highest scorer with a perfect 27 in Wednesday's meet in Exeter. Steve Hanshaw, Justin Chines and Emily Noonan all scored the next highest scores of 24. Amesbury is now 24 points ahead of second place Winnacunnet in Division II of the league. Adviser Barbara Leary is gearing her team up for the next meet at Dover High School on Dec. 2.

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With the upcoming launch of the School World Web Management Program, Cashman Elementary School staff will be meeting throughout the month for training. This new Web tool will serve to "enhance communication between school, parents and community," an ongoing goal of the school's strategic plan.

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The annual fourth-grade bridge-building event will be held Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 9 a.m. in the cafeteria. Teams of students will attempt to construct a weight-bearing bridge constructed out of straws, pins and masking tape for CES specialists and staff to judge.

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The first "Iron Chef" bake-off for teachers at Cashman will take place Nov. 20, with the secret ingredient: pumpkin.

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Cashman's Rise and Shine Club will celebrate their progress with an early morning treat, "Princess Leia Danish Dos," Nov. 24. This math club has been meeting twice per week in the early mornings since the beginning of October.

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Important dates:

Today: CES and AES professional release day at 1 p.m.; AMS parent teacher conferences from 12:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Tomorrow: Veterans Day ¬­¬­— no school

Thursday: Fourth-grade classes at CES visit the Lowell Mills

Friday: AMS first term report cards go home

Saturday: Annual PTA mother/son dance at the Cashman Gym from 6 to 9 p.m.

Nov. 16: AHS winter sports meeting, 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria

Nov. 17: AHS Alumni Veterans Day Assembly, 10 a.m.

Nov. 17 to 19: Auditions for PAG-sponsored "Stars on Stage" from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in the AMS performance center

Nov. 18: Winter sports physicals in the health office at 7:15 a.m.

Through Nov. 18: AHS Class of 2013's holiday wrapping paper sale fundraiser

Nov. 19: Financial aid seminar in the AHS auditorium from 7 to 9 p.m.; AMS Student of the Quarter Breakfast at 8:15 p.m.

Nov. 23: CES second-graders visit historical sites of Amesbury by bus

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Liz King covers Amesbury schools for The Daily News. She can be reached by e-mail at lking@newburyportnews.com or by calling 978-462-6666, ext. 3230.