ARHS PGO Parent News

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

Who We Are: Parents and Guardians supporting teachers and students, building community. This year we are Susan Bellak, Joy Ifill, Ellen Lindsey, Jennifer Moyston, and Kate Queeney. As Ellen “graduates” from the PGO, we are looking to grow our ranks for next year, and we need you!

What We Do: Help to organize events at school, distribute the newsletter, raise money, distribute grants, and create opportunities for students.

How You Can Help: It can be as easy as giving us your email address to join Power Hour (volunteer to help with a specific one-time task), donating baked goods to Thank-You Thursdays, or, if you have a couple of hours a week to spare, filling an officer position. We need a Treasurer, help with the Newsletter, Fundraising. . . the possibilities are (nearly) endless. If you are interested in helping, please take a moment to fill out this quick survey. Questions about the PGO? Contact us at arhspgonews@gmail.com.

We look forward to rebuilding community and connection for all ARHS families. Together we can do great things.

The ARHS PGO Newsletter will be on hiatus until roughly mid-August, when we will return with start-of-school announcements. You can still follow our Facebook page for any additional announcements that come in over summer vacation. If your student(s) graduated from ARHS, you can remove yourself from the mailing list going forward with the Unsubscribe button at the bottom of this newsletter.

Congratulations to all the ARHS student-athletes on a fantastic year!

Click here to see a slideshow of ARHS senior athletes who will be continuing their athletic careers after high school.

Good luck to the two ARHS track sprint medley relays competing today at New Balance track nationals in Philadelphia: Ruby Austin, Tamar Bryl-Brann, Moriah Luetjen and Anajisa Robinson for the girls, and Tristan Dole, David Pinero-Jacome, Miguel Pinero-Jacome and Tafari Proctor for the boys.

Everyone is invited to Amherst’s Juneteenth celebration on the Town Common from 12-7 pm on June 19. Click here to see a flyer for the event.

On June 21 the Springfield Public Forum presents a free event celebrating 50 years of Title IX, which among other things drastically expanded opportunities for girls and women in sports. Click here for the event flyer and here for a list of featured speakers.

As this week’s newsletter arrives in your in-boxes, we are excitedly awaiting the start of tonight’s graduation ceremony for the ARHS Class of 2022!  As the first graduating class to return to fully in-person learning after more than a year of remote learning, these Seniors have persevered through truly unique and challenging times.  Through it all, they maintained their close connections with their peers, their great intellectual curiosity, and their commitment to making the world a better place for everyone.  I am incredibly proud of these students and grateful to the outstanding ARHS faculty and staff who guided them throughout their 13 years of school and to the parents and caretakers who supported them in every way imaginable.  I know they have been well prepared to move on to their next great adventure.

On Tuesday, Seniors returned to their elementary schools for an opportunity to visit their former teachers and staff and to remind the current students what they are striving for in the future.  It was a wonderful experience for everyone and gave their alma maters the chance to celebrate the Class of 2022. I am happy to share these delightful images from those visits.

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

Here is the ARHS final exam schedule for next week.  Friday the 17th is designated as an exam make-up day.  If students take all of their exams at their scheduled times they will not need to attend school on Friday the 17th. 

There are still 242 items checked out of the ARHS Library! Please help us recover any books or other library materials before the end of the year. While we do not charge overdue fines, students may be billed for lost items. All books are due by June 16th. Please contact ARHS Librarian Ella Stocker at stockere@arps.org with any questions or concerns.

The Amherst Education Foundation (AEF) offers a way to thank individual teachers and staff in our schools by making a contribution in their honor. Click here to see the AEF flyer with all the details–and make sure to make your donation by June 15.

All students are strongly encouraged to read for pleasure over the summer! The ARHS Library is happy to check books out over summer break, help students set up their own public library cards, and connect them to our extensive collection of digital audiobooks and eBooks in the Sora app. Need a book recommendation? The MA Teen Choice Book Award nominees are a great place to start. Students who read at least three MTCBA books over the summer will be entered into a prize drawing this fall! See Ms. Stocker in the library for details. Happy reading!

More accomplishments for the Hurricanes Spring teams this week:

Baseball, Softball and Girls’ Lacrosse all made it to the first round of their respective state tournaments, and all these teams showed immense improvement this season–the future looks bright!

Boys’ Tennis made it to the quarterfinals of their state tournament.

Senior Ryan Yanko placed 2nd at the Western Mass Decathlon championships.

In Track and Field, 9th grader Moriah Luetjen placed 3rd in the 400m out of athletes from ALL divisions at the All-State meet, running a blazing fast 55.76; she also placed 5th in the 200. Other ARHS athletes who competed at the All-State meet after qualifying by placing top 3 at their divisional state meet: David Pinero-Jacome (16th in the 800, the fastest 10th grader in the state); the girls’ 4 X 400 relay (Ruby Austin, Maya Tkachenko, Tamar Byl-Brann, and Moriah Luetjen, 11th); the boys’ 4 X 400 (Tristan Dole, Tafari Proctor, Miguel Pinero-Jacome, David Pinero-Jacome, 15th); boys 4 X 800 (Tristan, Miguel, David and Kyle Yanko, 18th); and The Savior Robinson in the Long Jump (22nd).

In addition to the Boys’ Varsity title mentioned last week, in Ultimate the Girls’ JV placed 2nd in their state tournament, and the Boys’ JV placed 5th.

June 10: Graduation @ 6pm
June 14, 15, 16: Final exams (half days)
June 16: All library materials due
June 17: Make-up exam day (no school for students who finished all exams)
June 17: Staff Appreciation Luncheon
June 18 & 19 Juneteenth Celebration

Everyone is invited to Amherst’s Juneteenth celebration on the Town Common from 12-7 pm on June 19. Click here to see a flyer for the event.

This month we are pleased to celebrate Pride Month in honor of our LGBTQ+ community members. As noted in the Town of Amherst’s proclamation (which can be read in its entirety here), “we celebrate and reflect upon the courage and accomplishments of the LGBTQ+ community who continue to fight for progress towards securing important rights and freedoms to live freely and authentically, often through struggle and adversity.” All are invited to the ceremonial flag-raising tonight at 5:30 at the Amherst Town Hall and to participate in the many community activities planned for Amherst Pride @ the Mill District this weekend.

Today we said farewell to the Senior class at Summit Academy as they celebrated their graduation ceremony with friends, family and the entire Summit faculty and staff.  Congratulations to these students as they pursue their next adventure!  As we celebrate our Summit seniors, I am also happy to share pictures taken by Summit Academy students as part of a very special project they have been working on this year.  You can read more and see their work in the newsletter below.

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

Here is a link to information about the rest of the year for the Class of 2022. Note that today (Friday, June 3) is the last day for senior Chromebook return AND the day seniors pick up caps and gowns at lunch. Check out the sheet for lots more useful dates and times!

The PGO will provide our annual thank-you lunch for ARHS staff on Friday, June 17. Please consider expressing your gratitude to the teachers, paras, and other staff who have worked with your student(s) this year by:

Donating to help fund the lunch: The catered lunch costs about $1,500 and we need to raise about $275 more. Donations of any size are welcome and can be made by mailing a check to ARHS PGO c/o Ellen Brout Lindsey, Treasurer. 288 Shays Street, Amherst, MA 01002, or by Venmoing the PGO at @arhs-pgo

Signing up to help:  You can sign up for various tasks here

Please register for fall sports here. Once registered more information will be sent out by the coach closer to the start date. Coaches directory can be found here. More information can also be found on the athletic webpage.

Mark your calendars! Fall sports night will take place on August 18, 2022 in the high school gymnasium from 6pm-7pm. 

One rite of passage for seniors (AND A GRADUATION REQUIREMENT) is completing the Final Class of 2022 Senior Survey by June 5. To complete the survey:

Log into your Naviance Account (Use CLEVER)

Go to ABOUT ME (upper right dropdown link)

Choose “Surveys From Your School”

Choose “Class of 2022 Final Senior Survey” – 2nd row middle survey…

Survey Completion is due June 5th.

Remember to save your results every ten minutes or so!

If you ordered a lawn sign for your senior, they can be picked up Friday at the seniors’ ice cream social or Monday at the senior dinner. There may be a few extras–you can email Ellen Lindsey directly, and any available signs will be provided at no charge to families whose students qualify for free or reduced lunch

The Boy’s Ultimate team are the MA state Division I champions!

At the Division IV MIAA State Track and Field Championships, 9th grader Moria Luetjen won the 400 meter state title!

Good luck to all the spring athletes who are still competing in postseason play!

Click here for more information about this event for families who are interested in supporting their students in the performing arts at ARHS.

June 3: Last day of school for seniors
June 5: Senior survey due
June 6: Senior pasta supper (tentative)
June 8: Virtual Senior Awards Ceremony @ 6 pm
June 10: Graduation @ 6pm
June 17: Last day of school–Half day
June 17: Staff Appreciation Luncheon
June 18 & 19 Juneteenth Celebration  – More info to come!

Home games

June 3: Varsity boys tennis

Click here to view a flyer showing all the free, family-friendly activities at this event. Click here to volunteer to help out.

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

Hello,

This week during the lunch blocks we have been distributing Covid rapid tests kits to all of the seniors who have bought tickets for the Prom. We are asking them to test themselves between 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM on Saturday, May 28th. We will have a list of all the seniors who bought Prom ticket(s). If their name has not been checked off indicating they have received a test kit, they will need to take a rapid test when they arrive at Prom. Anyone who tests positive at that time, will not be allowed to enter the Prom.

It is the responsibility of our ARHS seniors who are bringing a non-senior or non-ARHS guest, to make sure that they both take a rapid test between 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM on Saturday, May 28th. We are trusting that everyone will test on the 28th and that anyone who is positive will stay home. We do not want the Prom to be a “super-spreader” event.

We know that everyone is still struggling to cope with the recent tragedies in our community, country, and the world. We want the Prom to be a positive distraction from all of that for our seniors and their guests. Please remind your child, or children, to make good decisions, to be safe, and to have a lot of fun the Senior Prom. Thank you all for the support you’ve given to our school community during these trying times.

Take care

Talib Sadiq

Principal

The PGO extends heartfelt thanks to everyone who has reached out in the past week to support the family of Sayhan Islam and the families of other students injured in the tragic accident. That support was made visible by the presence of so many of you at the candlelight vigil Tuesday night. If you wish to donate to the gofundme set up by Sayhan’s family to help them take Sayhan back to Bangladesh, you can do that here. If we learn of other needs in the coming days, we will add them to this document. 

Finally, if you would like to add your name to a contact list of people that we or the schools might reach out to for help with a particular task related to supporting families and students, please fill out this google form. Note that this list may be shared with the schools and the Family Center; it will not be used to solicit help with anything else, and we will not make the list public.

The PGO will provide our annual thank-you lunch for ARHS staff on Friday, June 17. Please consider expressing your gratitude to the teachers, paras, and other staff who have worked with your student(s) this year by:

Donating to help fund the lunch: The catered lunch costs about $1,500 and we need to raise about $500 more. Donations of any size are welcome and can be made by mailing a check to ARHS PGO c/o Ellen Brout Lindsey, Treasurer. 288 Shays Street, Amherst, MA 01002, or by Venmoing the PGO at @arhs-pgo

Signing up to help:  You can sign up for various tasks here, from helping to serve lunch to providing desserts or flowers from your garden.

Let’s send the Class of 2022 some love and support as they prepare to say their final goodbye to our schools!

These signs will be in English on one side and Spanish on the other; rather than including Class of ‘22, the signs will say “Congratulations Seniors!” so they can be reused by future classes and stay out of the landfill. 

Signs are $14 each and we need to order a minimum of 50 signs to make this happen. The deadline is Tuesday, June 1; you can order signs here: https://forms.gle/pCg55GXUYkQUTDif9  

Let our seniors know their communities are proud of their achievements! 

The Art Department is proud to share the AR[T]HS 2022 annual exhibit of outstanding student artwork with our community. Please take some time to view the amazing artistic talents and hard work of our students. 

Click here to read more information about summer jobs available for students in the Facilities department of ARPS, and here for a job application form.

The online hurricane store is now open! The store will be open for only 2 weeks. Thanks for your support and go canes! 

We’re looking for parents to join us to support the Arts in the schools! We are a 501(c)(3) organization of parents, guardians, and community members supporting the performing arts at Amherst Regional Public Schools.  We believe that all students should experience the transformative power of the performing arts, and our goal is to provide financial and logistical support to the performing arts department.

Find out more at the Friends of Performing Arts Meeting Tuesday, May 31, 6:30-8:30 pm at 1310 South East St (home of Lisa Cain).

For 4 1/2 years, ARPS FPA has been raising money to support the arts at the high school and helping with logistics for performing arts events. We’ve helped fund the field trip, lighting, sheet music, new instruments and much more. We’ve held bake sales, a calendar fundraiser and the Valentine’s Day Dinner Dance and Silent Auction. The FPA is ready to come back and support the performing arts and we need new members who want to get involved.  Many of our team have graduating seniors and due to COVID – we haven’t been able to grow. New members are warmly welcomed–minimum meetings, maximum action!

Any questions? can’t make the meeting but want to help out? – please email, call, or text – Lisa Cain lisamasseycain@gmail.com, 413-345-1460

May 28: Senior prom @ 6pm
May 30: Memorial Day – no school
May 31: FPA Meeting 6:30 pm
June 2: Hurricane Boosters Summer Kick-off Party
June 3: Last day of school for seniors
June 8: virtual Senior Awards Ceremony @6 pm
June 10: Graduation @ 6pm
June 17: Last day of school–Half day
June 17: Staff Appreciation Luncheon
June 18 & 19 Juneteenth Celebration  – More info to come!

Home games

May 30: Varsity boys lacrosse
June 1: Varsity boys lacrosse
June 1: Varsity boys tennis

For a pdf version of the ARPS Update, please click here.

Para obtener una versión de la actualización de ARPS en español, haga clic aquí

Para uma versão do ARPS Update em português, clique aqui.

In this week’s newsletter I am pleased to share the link to the annual AR[T]HS art exhibit, which features the incredible work of our talented high school students.  You will also find information about several fun events this weekend, including the Salsa Dance Party to raise funds for a scholarship for bilingual ARHS students; the AEF Mini-Golf Fundraiser; the fundraiser for Center for New Americans, Immigrant Voices: A Celebration of the Arts; and the free community reception to meet the leaders of Amherst’s new CRESS and DEI departments. And since temperatures in the mid-90s are forecast, Amherst DPW will be activating the splash pad at Groff Park today, Saturday and Sunday. The hours of operation will be 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Finally, I want to remind the Amherst Regional Middle School community that the mask mandate has been extended through the end of next week, May 27.  We appreciate everyone’s cooperation as we work together to reduce the number of cases in the ARMS/Central Office building.  Information about ways to access free rapid tests is available in the newsletter below.

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

Hello,

The Senior Award ceremony will be virtual this year. It will take place on Wednesday, June 8th. We will be sending out the link with the time and other details soon. With Covid numbers still rising, and this event happening two days before graduation, we feel that it is safer to have the ceremony happen virtually. The physical awards will be given to the recipients during the graduation rehearsal on the morning of June 10th.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Take care

Talib Sadiq

Principal

The PGO will provide our annual thank-you lunch for ARHS staff on Friday, June 17. Please consider expressing your gratitude to the teachers, paras, and other staff who have worked with your student(s) this year by:

Donating to help fund the catered lunch: The lunch costs about $1500; donations of any size are welcome and can be made by mailing a check to ARHS PGO c/o Ellen Brout Lindsey. Treasurer. 288 Shays Street, Amherst, MA 01002, or by Venmoing the PGO at @arhs-pgo

Signing up to help: You can sign up for various tasks here, from providing supplemental food to bringing some flowers from your garden. Some of these can be done the day before and dropped off; we also could use more volunteers who are available before, during and after the lunch.

Juniors are in the process of requesting their teacher recommendations for next year! They should be sure to check their emails from Ms. Cuffee-Gray for more information.

Ms. Cuffee-Gray is hosting a Common Application Virtual Overview for Juniors and Parents on Thursday, May 26 from 5:00 – 6:00pm! Video call link: https://meet.google.com/kkd-imfe-mzf

Missed out on pre-ordering the 2022 Yearbook? No worries! The yearbook is for sale for immediate ordering at arps.picaboo.com! 

Information on in-person summer school options for ARHS students, including a link to registration and where to direct any questions, can be found on this flyer.

Please join the Amherst Hurricane Athletic Boosters for the next meeting to be held outside of the High School cafeteria on May 25th at 6:00pm. This will be our first in person meeting in a couple of years! We will discuss our exciting projects underway- the Track & Fields Fundraising, our (FREE-open to all) Summer Kick-Off Party at the Drake (6/2) to honor the 2022 Girls State Swim Champions, the annual Golf tournament and Family Celebration (8/27), honoring Ron Moyer and Liz Haygood, and more! If you want to have fun and make an impact on our community athletics, please join us. Bring your own chair or blanket for the grass and a beverage/snack, if you wish.

The Graphic was recently recognized as an online publication by the New England Scholastic Press Association. The paper won a Highest Achievement award and All New England award in its class. Individual students won Special Achievement Awards for News, Feature, and Editorial! Congrats go to ARHS class of 2021 grads Jana Murphy, Cynthia Xie, Mildred Orellana, Clara Lopez, and Sachin Khashu, and current seniors editor Kathryn Carvel, Brynn Sullivan and Nakos Maroudas. 

The online hurricane store is now open! The store will be open for only 2 weeks. Thanks for your support and go canes! 

May 26: Common Application Virtual Overview for juniors & families
May 28: Senior prom @ 6pm
May 30: Memorial Day – no school
May 31: FPA Meeting 6:30 pm
June 2: Hurricane Boosters Summer Kick-off Party
June 3: Last day of school for seniors
June 10: Graduation @ 6pm
June 17: Last day of school–Half day
June 17: Staff Appreciation Luncheon
June 18 & 19 Juneteenth Celebration  – More info to come!

Home games

May 20: Varsity and JV girls lacrosse
May 23: Varsity and JV girls lacrosse
May 23: Varsity and JV boys lacrosse
May 23: JV Girls ultimate
May 25: Varsity baseball

The Jones Library is actively collecting feedback from the community on what they want the new teen space to look and feel like. We especially want to hear from teens on what they’d like to see in this new space. Please take this survey to share your opinions — thank you! www.tinyurl.com/joneslibteenspace

For a pdf version of the ARPS Update, please click here.

Para obtener una versión de la actualización de ARPS en español, haga clic aquí

Para uma versão do ARPS Update em português, clique aqui.

During May, we are pleased to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month,  As noted by reporter and author Minhae Shim Roth, AAPI Heritage Month is held in May in commemoration of the immigration of the first Japanese people to the United States on May 7, 1943 and in recognition of Golden Spike Day on May 10,1869, which marks the completion of the transcontinental railroad—a feat made possible only by the significant contributions of Chinese workers.  Today, in a time of great strides (such as Kamila Harris’ election as the first Asian American Vice-President of the United States), the AAPI community is also facing a deplorable rise in anti-AAPI violence in many areas of our nation.  As a community, ARPS stands in unwavering solidarity with the AAPI community, and we honor and recognize the innumerable contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders throughout our history and in every aspect of our society.

The month of May also marks Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness and educate the public about mental health and wellness.  For those who want more information or need contact information for mental health hotlines, you can visit the Mental Health IS Health website (the numbers from their SOS page are also included below). As we strive for greater understanding of mental health in our community, I want to recognize and thank all of the mental health providers in our ARPS schools who serve our students and families so diligently and well.

Finally, we would like to reiterate that we are strongly encouraging all staff and students to wear high-quality masks to help mitigate the spread of COVID in our schools.  As you may be aware from the ARPS Case Count Dashboard, COVID cases in the schools are on the rise.