Serving the Amherst Regional High School community since 1914.
Myra Ross left big shoes to fill when she retired after 20 years of college counseling, but ARHS lucked out with a vibrant, experienced, and multi-talented new college and career advisor, Deidre Cuffee-Gray. Cuffee-Gray...
Evan Mahnken is enjoying his new home in Amherst. “I like it out here, I really do,” said Mahnken. “I like the idea of living where my commute to work could be ten minutes.” ...
“My students inspire me every day,” said Suzanne Bowes, a new math teacher at ARHS.“I always welcome and try to get feedback from my students, and I use that to reflect on how I...
Between finding her Intentional Living community in Shutesbury, being close to her friends and family in Boston and New York City, and landing her brand new ELL teaching job at ARHS, Alla Azrilyan gushed...
There’s a new ELL teacher at ARHS this year, Ms. Stephani Lopez. “I love being an ELL teacher at ARHS because the students in my classes come from so many different countries,” said Lopez. ...
Philip Grandin, also known as Mr. Grandin to his students, is a new math teacher at ARHS. He teaches Algebra to mostly ninth and tenth graders and geometry to a mix of 9-11 graders....
You may have seen a friendly new face outside the cafeteria or meandering through the halls of ARHS: new hall monitor Darius Collins. Collins likes a lot about his job so far, from “the...
There’s a new paraeducator on the block. Her name is Erin Hutchinson, and she grew up in Connecticut and lived and taught in South Korea. Ms. “Hutch” joined the staff of ARHS in September,...
Patricia Cefalo is the newest Latin teacher here at ARHS. Her students call her Magistra, which is the Latin word for “teacher.” Cefalo began studying Latin in high school, then added Ancient Greek to...
Kristie Morrison never thought she would be back at her own high school after graduating in 2015. As the new ARHS library paraprofessional, though, that’s exactly where is, and she describes this unlikely return...
Before working at ARHS, Myra Ross was an elected member of the School Committee and worked on capital planning for the rebuilding of the school. “My name is on the plaque out there in...
Ann Marie Picard sits behind a large desk, personalized with neatly arranged portraits of family members and covered in organized piles of papers. Every object in the room appears to have an exact purpose...
“If there’s a hard way to do something, I’ll do it,” joked Susie Zygmont, secretary in the Deans’ office, who is in charge of ARHS’s daily attendance. Ms. Zygmont is retiring at the end...
Sue Abdow’s third floor classroom is noticeably different from others. An entire wall is filled with photographs of students on field trips and end of the year picnics. Their smiles light up the room....
Annie Figliola, a library paraeducator better known as Ms. Fig, is ready to retire after 11 happy years working at ARHS. Ms. Fig grew up in the university town of New Paltz, New York....
Sharon Palmer’s path to high school teaching has been paved with adventure. She was born in Pennsylvania but moved to rural San Francisco when she was young. Palmer never thought she would be a...
After 15 years of teaching at ARHS, William Blatner, math teacher, former civil engineer, and avid whitewater paddler, is retiring at the end of the year. Mr. Blatner grew up in western New York....
The average office worker receives about 120 emails a day in a day. Pam White is no exception. “I couldn’t even count without really counting,” she joked. The slew of emails are just one...
“I know a lot because I’ve seen a lot,’’ said former ARHS paraeducator Howard Mentin, who retired in 2018, and sadly passed away in March of this year. Howard Mentin was born in the...
When 2:30 p.m. rolls around on a Tuesday, the small yet cozy bubble tea café we all know and love, Limered, begins to fill with Amherst middle and high schoolers alike. A long line...
Nearly eight years ago, on April 17, 2011, the season one premiere of Game of Thrones was aired on HBO. Over the last eight years, Game of Thrones, sometimes referred to as GoT, has...
Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels recently reached 415 parts per million this year for the first time ever in recorded history, according to the magazine Scientific American. Those rising CO2 levels, the subsequent threat of...
This year’s musical was “Tuck Everlasting,” which was performed by the ARHS theater company. Close to 150 students from all over the school were involved in this year’s production. Four shows were held from...
On March 4, 2019, the dreams of many ARHS students and faculty came true: they finally got their first snow day. It was a perfect day; the light puffy snow was easy to clean...
Paraeducators are an integral part of the school community. Typically, they are assigned to specific students in need of additional academic or emotional support, but they often move beyond their stated role. There are...
My normal hair routine until recently? To cover my fingers in some hair gel and vigorously mess up my hair. But once I accidentally left the lid off the top of the hair gel...
It’s lunch time and you’re sitting across from your friends. You’re joking around and throwing food at each other. You don’t think twice about leaving the mess you just made; in fact, the very...
For many people, the holiday season is synonymous with the sweeping score of The Nutcracker ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; holiday traditions are incomplete without an evening spent at the ballet, watching snowflakes...
Engineering classes at ARHS have always been popular. Despite this, budget cuts have kept teacher Nick Harrison from expanding the program and offering more advanced classes. ARHS currently offers mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and...
You come home from another normal day at school and enter the house to see your parents; in one hand they hold tissues and their other hands are clasped together. Their eyes are about...
