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.

Yesterday, March 31, was International Transgender Day of Visibility, a day dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of transgender and gender nonconforming people while raising awareness of the work that still needs to be done to achieve trans justice.  As a District, ARPS celebrates our transgender and gender nonconforming students and staff members everyday, and I want to take this special opportunity to honor them and recognize how essential they are to our ARPS community. 

As was shared this past fall, the 6th grade students in the Amherst Public Schools (Crocker Farm, Fort River and Wildwood) will start attending Amherst Regional Middle School in the Fall of 2023.  While this change is roughly 18 months away, we have started to explore what models and programs would be best for this age group as the shift occurs.  

Along with a few others, I was able to meet with every sixth-grade classroom and with the Middle School student council to gather feedback and ideas from our students.  Summaries of those conversations can be found here and here.

We would like to engage our staff and families in sharing initial feedback on what the program for 6th grade students at ARMS should look like.  We encourage you to watch for an email in the coming days asking you to complete a brief, open-ended survey.  The results of this survey, along with the student feedback, will be shared with a group of ARPS educators who will be meeting in June to create options and draft documents to be shared with the larger community for additional feedback over the summer.  Your input will be extremely valuable to this work.