From the Superintendent Michael Morris’s email to families May 4: I am pleased to provide an update on the leadership plan for the 2023-2024 school year at Amherst Regional Middle School.  We are putting in place a grades 7-12 leadership structure that will include two Interim Assistant Principals at ARMS, two Assistant Principals at ARHS and one Principal who oversees both buildings.  Principal Talib Sadiq has agreed to serve as the 7-12 Principal, and Miki Gromacki and Samantha Camera will continue in their roles as Assistant Principals at ARHS.  Julio Fernandez, current Assistant Principal at Fort River, and Rich Ferro, current ARMS science teacher, have been appointed as Interim Assistant Principals at ARMS.  Both Mr. Fernandez and Mr. Ferro have administrative experience as well as direct experience at ARMS.  Additional mental health and counseling support, which is being supported by funding designated for mental health services at ARHS earmarked in the Massachusetts House budget, will also be put in place for students.

This year of shared leadership will have profound, long-term benefits for students because it will provide an opportunity to begin the collaborative work of creating a fully-aligned 7-12 educational continuum that draws on the unique strengths of both ARMS and ARHS. I am grateful to Mr. Sadiq, Ms. Gromacki, Ms. Camera, Mr. Fernandez and Mr. Ferro for their willingness to take on these expanded roles next year as we conduct a search for a permanent ARMS principal.