ARHS PGO Parent News

Sept 23: Puerto Rican Heritage Day
Sept 26: Early release
Sept 27: Picture Day
Sept 29: Open House
Sept 30: Free/Reduced lunch application due
Oct 5: No School
Oct 10: Indigenous Peoples’ Day, No School
Oct 11: Coffee with the Principal

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

We are excited to be back to an in-person Open House this year; this is an opportunity. to meet your student’s teachers and learn about their classes this semester. Click here to see the Open House schedule.

College visits start next week! Juniors and Seniors each can attend 3 college visits and it will not count toward any class absences! Students can see the visit calendar and sign up in Naviance. Students must receive a pass from Miss Garrity the morning of the visit to give to their teachers.

Thank you to everyone who filled out the interest survey last week; we will be in touch soon with everyone who offered to help out. If you did not yet fill out the (short) survey, there is still time–just click here. We are particularly in need of 1 or 2 people willing to spearhead our yearly fundraising efforts.

To mark Latino Heritage Month Athletics is highlighting a Latino Athlete each week.

Please remember to check Arbiter Live for live updates on games! 

Sept 23: Puerto Rican Heritage Day
Sept 26: Early release
Sept 29: Open House

The Town of Amherst, along with Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools present Puerto Rican Heritage Day on Saturday, September 23 at Amherst Town Hall, starting at 10 am. Click here for a flyer with more information.

The Amherst Community Land Trust is accepting applications for their First-time home buyers program $125,000 subsidy lottery.  Please click here for more information.

Join us on Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 3 pm in the tent on the lawn of the Jones Library as we kick off Banned Books Week with a public reading event celebrating the freedom to read.  State Representative Mindy Domb and State Senator Jo Comerford will be joined by local authors, elected officials, community residents, and local teens to read excerpts from their favorite banned books. This event is free and open to the public, and best suited for a teen and adult audience, due to the level of the materials that may be read.  For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413-259-3223.   

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

We are excited to be back to an in-person Open House this year; this is an opportunity. to meet your student’s teachers and learn about their classes this semester. Click here to see the Open House schedule.

All parents and guardians of ARHS students are members of the PGO, and we look forward to meeting and working with many of you over the coming year. If you would like to get involved, there are many options to do so, with varying levels of commitment. Please fill out the interest survey here if you’d like to volunteer or to find out more about it.

This year’s PGO board members are pictured below. You can reach out to us at any time by emailing arhspgonews@gmail.com.

An item last week said students should visit their guidance counselor if they need a new Powerschool password, but that is incorrect. They should see Crystal Garrity, the counseling secretary, or the head librarian, Ella Stocker. Unsure about what Powerschool is? Read below!

Powerschool is the way your students’ teachers record their grades for work submitted in class. Students and their families can log into Powerschool to check on whether or a not a student has submitted all the work that has been graded for a class, and what grades the student received on that work.

Students receive a password to log into their Powerschool when they start at ARHS, and they keep that password until they graduate. If a student forgets their password, they can go to either Crystal Garrity in the Guidance Office or to Ella Stocker, the Head Librarian, to get it reset.

If parents or guardians would like to have separate access to their student’s Powerschool to check on their progress and grades, they can obtain their own login. Right now this has to be done in person at the school, and ID is required. Parents and guardians will have an opportunity to get their login during Open House on September 29; if you are unable to attend that, you will need to come into the main office during school hours to get it. Many parents and guardians find it easier to simply access Powerschool with their student, using the student’s login.

When you log into Powerschool, there is a menu on the left side. The most commonly-used window is “Grades and Attendance,” which shows your student’s current progress. Every course for the year is listed on this page; the current grade-in-progress for each course your student is currently taking will be listed in the appropriate box (e.g. “S1” for a 1^st semester course, “Q1” for a 1^st quarter course). There is also a link under each course that lets you. (or your student) email the teacher directly from Powerschool. To see your student’s grade broken down into individual assignments, click on the grade. This brings up a window that lists every assignment the teacher has graded and entered so far, and your student’s grade on each assignment.

You can use other menu items from the left menu bar to check overall student attendance, your student’s past grades, and their daily schedule. 

Finally, it is important to note that different teachers (and different classes) might use Powerschool in slightly different ways depending on the workflow for that class. Some teachers upload grades more than once per week, and some teachers do this less often. 

The online hurricane store closes next Wednesday! Store will close on 9/14/22 and orders will be fulfilled on 10/5/22.  Thanks for your support and go canes! 

To mark Latino Heritage Month, which starts 9/15, Athletics is highlighting a Latino Athlete each week.

Sept 5: Labor Day (no school)
Sept 14: Last day to submit payment for PSAT
Sept 14: Hurricanes store orders close
Sept 26: Early release
Sept 29: Open House

Please remember to check Arbiter Live for live updates on games! 

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

Hello Families & Friends of ARHS,

I hope you all have been able to talk with your children about how school has started out for them. A quick recap in case they did not share a lot of details with you. On our 1st day of school last Thursday, students spent time in their Advisory getting reacquainted and/or getting to know each other. They also met with their guidance counselor and attended a grade level assembly encouraging them to set goals for the year, to get involved in school government or clubs, and they were reminded about some of our expectations regarding phone use, attendance, bathrooms, taking care of one another, and lunches. 

One of the changes around lunches this year is that we are asking you not to have food delivered to school by Doordash or another service like that. We are asking that families bring lunches to school for their children. Doordash drivers do not always check in at the main office and may try to get into the school through another door, as they have done in the past. That is a serious safety concern for us, and we need your help dealing with it. Also, our front office folks are really busy, and I do not want to add getting deliveries from Doordash and tracking down those students to the long list of their responsibilities. 

More about lunches: we are having students enter their ID number at the cash register when they get a school lunch, even though their first school lunch is free again this year. We are required to keep track of who is getting a school lunch. Free and Reduced Lunch forms are being handed out in Advisory today. If you think your family may qualify, please fill out and return that form to us as soon as you can. 

To make drop-off and pick-up safer and smoother, I have some requests:

• Please be a courteous and attentive driver. Our parking lots are busy and full of people trying to get somewhere quickly.
• Obey the One Way, Buses Only, & Do Not Enter signs. That is a big help in keeping people safe and traffic moving smoothly.
• Only drop-off and pick-up in the first One Way lane in the parking lot, or past the crosswalk and barriers by the gym entrance.
• Do not speed. I know everyone is in a hurry, but speeding is a major safety concern.
  Thank you for your help with this.

If you or your child needs to reset your PowerSchool password, schedule a meeting with your child’s Guidance Counselor, or are having issues with their Chromebook, please use the Student/Family Helpdesk link to get assistance with those issues. 

I’m excited about the Professional Learning Groups (PLG’s) that we have started this year. In the beginning, these groups will be made up of adults, who will be working all year long after school ends on Early Release days. They will focus on ways to improve Advisory, the Plus Block, Social/Emotional support for students, and several other topics. Part of their responsibility is to incorporate student voices into that work. Students may be surveyed, interviewed, and/or invited to join those groups. I will keep you posted on their progress.  I’m confident that some great innovations will come from those groups. We are fortunate to have a lot of creative and thoughtful people working at this school.  

Open House will be in person this year. It is scheduled to happen on the evening of Thursday, September 29th. More information about Open House will be shared with you soon. 

Fall sports are beginning. Our student-athletes love seeing all of us at their games. Please come out and support them if you can. Game Schedule

We want this to be a great year for all of our students, their families, and the adults who work in our high school. Our continued collaboration is the best way to make that happen. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me, one of your child’s teachers, a guidance counselor, or our support staff if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

Take care,
Talib Sadiq, Principal

PSAT’s will be administered on Saturday, October 15th at ARHS.  Here is the link to the payment form with additional information.  

The online hurricane store is now open! Store will close on 9/14/22 and orders will be fulfilled on 10/5/22.  Thanks for your support and go canes! 

Please remember to check Arbiter Live for live updates on games! 

Sept 5: Labor Day (no school)
Sept 14: Last day to submit payment for PSAT
Sept 14: Hurricanes store orders close
Sept 26: Early release
Sept 29: Open House

Home games:
Sept 2: Varsity boys’ golf vs Ware
Sept 2: Varsity football vs Smith Voke
Sept 6: JV and Varsity volleyball vs. Central
Sept 6: JV and Varsity boys’ soccer vs. Belchertown
Sept 8: Varsity field hockey vs. Hampshire
Sept 8: JV and Varsity boys’ soccer vs. East Longmeadow
Sept 9: Varsity boys’ golf vs. Longmeadow
Sept 9: Varsity football vs. Westfield
Sept 9: Freshman boys’ soccer vs. Franklin Tech
(See latest game schedules here)

Amherst Community Theater (formerly ALSCT) is creating a fabulous, large-scale musical, with lavish sets and costumes, a full live orchestra, and enthusiastic audiences to fill the 600-seat UMass Bowker Auditorium for nine performances in January.With great fanfare, we’re thrilled to finally be presenting Disney’s The Little Mermaid. A hauntingly beautiful love story for the ages, this timeless fable has a broad scope for a host of actors in incredible roles, and the extravagant production gives student actors an unparalleled stage experience. Actors, singers, and dancers ages 7-107 are encouraged to audition! As an added note, we at Amherst Community Theater are committed to inclusive casting. In addition, Covid-19 precautions will be in place to help guard the safety of all participants, including a requirement that those auditioning be fully vaccinated and masked.

All audition information is at www.amherstacts.org AUDITIONS: Friday, Sept. 9^th, Saturday, Sept. 10^th, Sunday, Sept. 11^th Callbacks Monday, September 12^th

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

If you are new to the district this year, welcome from the ARHS PGO! If this is the first time you’re receiving the newsletter, here is the introduction we posted in our first issue on August 12:

This newsletter is sent out every Friday morning to all the email addresses listed for parents/guardians of current ARHS students. You can also see the archived posts at the PGO website. The newsletter also posts to our Facebook page; if you Follow that page, you will also see occasional time-sensitive updates that we post between newsletters.

The PGO newsletter is meant to be your one-stop shop for all ARHS-related news. We collect communications that go out from the school and district during the week, and we also accept announcements from the community for any events that are free and of potential interest to ARHS students and their families.

You may unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time by clicking on the Unsubscribe link at the very bottom of the newsletter. We do not have a way to automatically unsubscribe families whose students have graduated. If someone else forwarded you the newsletter and you want to subscribe, there is a link at the side of the newsletter.

ARHS adopted the current block schedule last year. We have heard some questions from families about how this schedule works, so here are the basics:

There are 4 regular blocks each day: A, B, C and D. At the end of the day is the shorter Plus Block. You can see the time blocks here; there is also a schedule here that shows how the blocks are shortened on early release days. Students all eat lunch during C block. Each student is assigned to either 1st, 2nd or 3rd lunch, and they leave their C period class for that time period to eat. 

In your student’s schedule you will see some courses marked with a Q and some with an S. The Q courses are quarter-length courses, so for example your student might have one class for Q1 (the first quarter of the year) and a different class for Q2 (the second quarter). The S courses run for the entire semester.

The Plus Block is used for extra help, finishing projects, assignments and labs with the teacher who has assigned this work.  They can also use the time as a Directed Study. The Plus Block days are associated with particular classes, as shown on the schedule.  There are also Academic Skill sessions in the Plus Block in addition to “off season” ensemble practice.  For example if a student is in the Jazz Band in the fall they will have the opportunity to practice during a Plus Block period in the Spring if they are caught up in their classes. The school has a Professional Learning Group set up to continue exploring the possibilities for the Plus Block.  

We would like to use the “Do You Know” feature this year to help answer questions families have about ARHS and to introduce you to people and resources at the school. If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover in the newsletter, please feel free to suggest it by emailing us at arhspgonews@gmail.com.

Sept 5: Labor Day (no school)

Home games:
Aug 26: Varsity boys’ soccer vs Holyoke
Sept 1: Varsity boys’ golf vs Northampton
Sept 1: Varsity boys’ soccer vs Frontier
Sept 2: Varsity boys’ golf vs Ware
Sept 2: Varsity football vs Smith Voke
(See latest game schedules here)

In multiple sites on the grounds of the Hitchcock Center in Amherst, the Rainbow Players (RPs)- as Animals from Habitats across the Earth will host the HOME Sweet HOME Climate Action Community Festival and Obstacle Course for All Ages. We will guide humans through current climate facts through an immersive theater experience in a festival environment.  There will be scheduled events during our time together, allowing an immersive experience to take place as each visitor enters and is guided through the participatory obstacle course.  Together we explore the ways that Climate Change appears in our world, 2022 and beyond. Each person has opportunities to contribute thoughts and art as solutions. With talk show hosts and puppets, giant animal puppet guides and live news updates, each person assesses their level of participation, current and future, in one of the most important issues of our time. Interactive Art walks & Do Nothing vs. Do Something scenarios offer hope. We conclude in a musical gathering and parade of nature, sounds and art making for all ages. *All sites are chosen for accessibility and ease of gathering with the potential of social distancing and masks.” Details available here.

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

Good Afternoon,

On behalf of our administrative team, we are excited that another school year is about to begin, and we’re looking forward to working with you and your child(ren).  As a reminder, the first day of school is August 25th. I wanted to highlight some important details related to the start of school:

1. New students and 9th grade students are invited to our OPEN HOUSE on Monday August 22nd. At this OPEN HOUSE students will receive their class schedules and can participate in a tour of the high school.  Tours are given by high school students, which we have found allows students to engage with high school-aged peers who enjoy greeting and mentoring new and younger students. This has been a successful event in the past and we look forward to it again this year.  The event is a drop-in event from 9AM-12PM.  Please plan to have your child attend.  Most students finish in 20-30 minutes. 

2. We are preparing Chromebooks for all new students. However, many students prefer to use their own device, which is permitted and works well for many students.  If you DO NOT plan to accept a school-issued Chromebook, please email arhsoffice@arps.org so that we can allocate those devices to others.  We have a limited supply, so knowing in advance if you don’t plan to use a Chromebook is very important for our planning.

3. Any student interested in having a hard copy of their class schedule can pick it up on Monday August 22nd between 9AM-3PM in the main office. This is optional for all students. All students will be able to view their class schedules through their PowerSchool portal account starting on August 22nd. 

4. Fall sports night will take place on Thursday August 18th in the high school gymnasium from 6PM-7PM. We are fortunate to have many sports teams, clubs and other extracurricular opportunities available for our students. We encourage all of our students to take advantage of as many of these opportunities as possible. 

Enjoy the rest of the summer, and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Take care

Talib Sadiq, Principal

(From an email 8/17)
Dear ARPS Families:

I hope the summer months have provided time for reflection, enjoyment, and renewal. As much as many of us have enjoyed the pace of summer, I am also excited for the coming school year.  As author JB Priestley stated, “I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.”  After completing a full year of in-person learning during the 2021-2022 school year, I am excited to anticipate another year of learning and growing together in 2022-2023. With the talent, dedication, and commitment I witness in all of our schools on a regular basis, I know our students will be returning to schools with a firm commitment to their success and personal growth.

There are a number of things I want to share with you as the first day of school approaches on August 25:

• While we will continue to be vigilant about the health and safety of our staff and students, COVID protocols have continued to evolve based on guidance from the CDC, MA Department of Health and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  Detailed information about COVID protocols can be found at this link.  As was the case last school year, masks will not be required indoors but continue to be recommended.
• Information about neighborhood bus stops and student pick-up is available here, and the bus stops for all schools will be finalized and shared in the next few days.  This year, the District is partnering with Safe Routes to School to expand interest and participation in walking and biking to school. More information about the program and ways to participate will be available at the First Day Celebration and throughout the year.     
• I invite you to the return of our annual First Day Celebration on Wednesday, August 24 from 5:00-6:30 p.m. This year’s event will be held at Kendrick Park (near the rotary) instead of on the town Common and is free as always. Come out for a chance to meet ARPS staff from all of the schools, meet community partners, and have fun with friends and family.  We hope to see you and your family there.
• On Thursday, August 25, we will welcome our students in grades one through 12 back to the new school year.  This first day of school will be a half-day for students, meaning the elementary schools will dismiss at 12:30 p.m. and the middle and high schools will dismiss at 1:20 p.m.  Our preschool and kindergarten students will begin school on August 30, following student orientations.

Enjoy these last days of summer break and we will see you soon!

Sincerely,

Dr. Michael Morris, Superintendent

Information about sports programs and competitions can be found on the Athletics website:

Practice schedule
Game schedule
Fall sports registration

Aug 19: Football practice starts
Aug 22: All other Fall sports practices start
Aug 22: Open house for new ARHS students
Aug 22: Optional schedule pick-up for returning students
Aug 24; First Day celebration (Kendrick Park)
Aug. 25: First day of school (half day)
Sept 5: Labor Day (no school)

Home games:
Aug 26: Varsity boys’ soccer vs Holyoke
Sept 1: Varsity boys’ golf vs Northampton
Sept 1: Varsity boys’ soccer vs Frontier
Sept 2: Varsity boys’ golf vs Ware
Sept 2: Varsity football vs Smith Voke
(See latest game schedules here)

Haga clic aquí para ver los artículos del boletín en español

This newsletter is sent out every Friday morning to all the email addresses listed for parents/guardians of current ARHS students. You can also see the archived posts at the PGO website. The newsletter also posts to our Facebook page; if you Follow that page, you will also see occasional time-sensitive updates that we post between newsletters.

The PGO newsletter is meant to be your one-stop shop for all ARHS-related news. We collect communications that go out from the school and district during the week, and we also accept announcements from the community for any events that are free and of potential interest to ARHS students and their families.

You may unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time by clicking on the Unsubscribe link at the very bottom of the newsletter. We do not have a way to automatically unsubscribe families whose students have graduated. If someone else forwarded you the newsletter and you want to subscribe, there is a link at the side of the newsletter.

The first day of school at ARHS is a half day on Thursday, August 25. (Note that pre-K and kindergarten start on Aug. 30).

There is an open house for new and 9th grade students on August 22 from 9am-12pm. This is a drop-in format and should last 20-30 minutes. New ARHS students can pick up their schedules then and get a tour of the school; they will also pick up a Chromebook at that time.

Returning ARHS students were asked to keep their Chromebooks from last year. New this year: returning students may come to the school from 12-3 pm on August 22 to pick up their schedules if they would like to. If they don’t come then, they will receive their schedules when they come to school on the 25th.

Celebrate the start of the school year the evening before classes start! Meet your principals, see old and new friends, and enjoy free ice cream. This event will be 5-6:30 pm on Wednesday, August 24 at Kendrick Park in downtown Amherst. Click here to see a flyer for this event.

Fall sports practice begins on August 19 for football and on August 22 for all other sports. If your student is planning to do a fall sport but has not yet signed up, please click here for registration information.

There will be a Fall Sports Night on Thursday, August 18 from 6-7 pm in the ARHS gymnasium. Students and their families are invited to meet coaches and learn about the fall season.

Aug 18: Fall Sports Night
Aug 19: Football practice starts
Aug 22: All other Fall sports practices start
Aug 22: Open house for new ARHS students
Aug 22: Optional schedule pick-up for returning students
Aug. 25: First day of school (half day)
Sept 5: Labor Day (no school)

Home games:
Aug 26: Varsity boys’ soccer vs Holyoke
Sept 1: Varsity boys’ golf vs Northampton
Sept 1: Varsity boys’ soccer vs Frontier
Sept 2: Varsity boys’ golf vs Ware
Sept 2: Varsity football vs Smith Voke
(See latest game schedules here)

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.