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.

On Wednesday evening we were fortunate to welcome Dr. Cornel West to ARPS as the first speaker in our Evenings with ARPS series, via a live stream event on YouTube. Dr. West is a prominent intellectual who serves as the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminary and holds the title of Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He has also taught at Union Theological Seminary, Yale, Harvard, and the University of Paris. Dr. West has written 20 books and has edited 13. He is best known for his classics, Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and for his memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. For our ARPS event, which can be viewed here, Dr. West shared his insights on education in these difficult times and answered questions posed by members of the ARPS staff.  Next Wednesday, December 8, we look forward to welcoming Joseph “Dr. J” Mathews, Ph.D, author of Things I Wish My Teacher Knew About Me: Memoir of a Disengaged Student.  The livestream will begin at 5:00 p.m. and will be available here.

We were also incredibly fortunate this week to have the second dose vaccine clinics for those students who had their first dose at our on-site clinics three weeks ago.  These clinics, which were provided by the Amherst Health Department, and the one held onsite at ARHS for all students and community members, which was provided by the state’s mobile vaccine clinic, have resulted in a significant portion of our students age 5 and over being either partially or fully vaccinated.  I am happy to share some pictures below of students declaring “I am fully vaccinated!” after receiving their second dose this week.  Those who received their first dose at the clinic held at ARHS will be able to receive their second dose at the same location on Tuesday, December 14.  Thank you to everyone who helped make these clinics happen and who supported our children throughout the process!

Finally, I want to remind families that the test and stay program for unvaccinated students who are found to be close contacts with someone diagnosed with COVID is ending when we break for the winter holidays.  As of our return to school on January 3, 2022, unvaccinated students who are identified as close contacts will be required to quarantine following the standards set by the MA Department of Health.