ARHS Monthly Newsletter-- December 2009

From the Principal

Dear ARHS Parents and Guardians:

With this newsletter, I would like to address the school’s attendance policy in light of our experience with H1N1.

I have heard from several parents and guardians about the apparent tension between the school’s attendance policy and their interest in keeping their children home when they are obviously sick.

Specifically, as a result of our increased attention to improving student attendance, parents and guardians, often at their children’s urging, feel pressured to send them back to school sooner than they should. So, the question is how to balance this tension well.

Below I have excerpted the relevant passages from out attendance policy. The complete version can be found on our web site under the ‘Policies’ link and in the Student Handbook on p. 4.

When we revisited the attendance policy over the summer, given the first round of H1N1 we experienced during the spring, we tried to anticipate from a policy perspective its return this fall. As a result, we developed the following as a criterion that enabled absences to be considered ‘excused’ and, therefore, not counted toward the absence limit:

· Quarantine or long-term illness; accompanied by a doctor’s note for verification

This represented a change. Historically, all absences, even those accompanied by a doctor’s note, counted toward the absence total. In the judgment of the committee of teachers and administrators who looked at this, it made more sense to identify up front all the legitimate reasons to miss school and categorize them as ‘excused’. An extended illness accompanied by a doctor’s note fits easily within this category.

So, for clarity’s sake: the absences of students with H1N1, or other similar illnesses, along as there is supporting documentation from a doctor, will be considered ‘excused’ and not count toward the absence limit. As we have monitored this situation throughout the fall, many families have indicated that they were unable to get appointments with doctors when their children had H1N1 and, therefore, do not have doctor’s notes to excuse the absence. About this I want to be equally clear: given that this is a well-established pattern, the school will count as ‘excused’ absences attributed H1N1 even without supporting documentation from a physician.

For the latest information about H1N1, the web sites of the Center for Disease Control and the Department of Public Health have been recommended:

www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu. DPH H1N1 flu page.

Thank you.

Mark Jackson

Principal

National Honor Society News

On December 4, 2009, 26 senior members of the National Honor Society at ARHS began the first of at least two "clean up the courtyards" sessions. The local NHS chapter is organizing this project in order to involve all the NHS members in working together doing community service. The NHS officers considered many possibilities, but decided that improving the school grounds would be a great way to involve all 90+ members in one common project. Individual students contributed tools, gloves, bags, and lots of energy into cleaning up the courtyard by the gymnasium. The next session will be in the spring and will involve more cleanup, reconstruction of plant beds, and new flowers. It will be beautiful!

Submitted by Kathy McCarthy, NHS advisor

Fall Sports Update

Congrats to our fall sports teams and thanks to all who help support our athletic program.

Season Highlights:

*All Fall Sports Teams received the Team Academic Excellence Award from the MIAA

Gold level (team GPA 3.00-4.00) Girls Soccer, Boys Soccer, Golf, Boys Cross Country, Girls Cross Country, Field Hockey, Volleyball

Silver level (team GPA 2.50-2.99) Football

Records

Boys Cross Country –8-0 League Champions. Won PVIAC Championship

PVIAC All Stars: Nick Benfey, Niroshan Amarasiriwardena

Girls Cross Country – 8-0 League Champions. Won PVIAC Championship and won Western Mass. Championships for the 15^th straight year

PVIAC All Stars: Leah Haake, Chloe Zimmerman, Audrey Gould, Siobhan O’Brien, Emmy Zimmerman

Field Hockey – Record: 5-7-2 Due to league realignment the team moved up to the top division. They were competitive in all their games against the top teams.

PVIAC All Stars: Emily Goldstein, Ellie Massengill

Football – Record 2-9

Notes: The team continues to improve. Competitive in all games, the team looks forward to next year will a nucleus of returning players who have been on the varsity for at least 2 years.

PVIAC All Stars: Kurt Russavage, Jack McCutcheon, Sebastian Russell, William Jackson, Sam Hart

Golf – Record: 10-10. The team qualified for the Western Mass Championship in their last match.

PVIAC All Stars: Alex Casey, Joe Worthley

Boys Soccer –Record: 7-7-2 Qualified for MIAA tournament, won their first round game against Holyoke and then lost in the WMASS semifinal to East Longmeadow.

PVIAC All Stars: Aaron Mentos, Austin Barnes, Even Tincknell

Girls Soccer – Record: 1-14-1 A challenging season, with many returning players the future looks bright.

PVIAC All Stars: Alyssa Leonard, Simone Frank, Hannah Yee

Volleyball – Record 14-3 Lost in the WMASS semifinal to West Springfield

PVIAC All Stars: Sonia Brown, Jennie Rogers

Mark Your Calendar

December 24-Jan 3: Winter Vacation NO SCHOOL

January 4: Classes resume

January 14: Late Start

January 14: Midpoint of Winter Term

January 15: Teacher Curriculum Day NO SCHOOL

January 18: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day NO SCHOOL

January 21: Evening Coffee with the Principal 7-8pm

January 25: Winter Progress Reports distributed

FBLA News

As many of you may know, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is an organization at AmherstRegionalHigh School dedicated to benefiting and strengthening our school and local community through business ventures. FBLA also provides students with the opportunity to develop leadership skills and incorporate business concepts learned in the classroom into the planning of community service projects.

On January 21^st and 22^nd of 2010, FBLA will be hosting the “Canes for the Cure” fundraiser at AmherstRegionalHigh School to join the fight against breast cancer. The purpose of the fundraiser is to support local breast cancer research and patients by raising money to benefit the breast cancer fund at CooleyDickinsonHospital. As part of our fundraiser, we are selling specially designed t-shirts at our school to raise breast cancer awareness. To promote the event anyone wearing a t-shirt to the boys and/or girls varsity basketball games on January 21^st and 22^nd will receive free admission to the contest. At the games there will be many educational displays, donation boxes and activities that will help raise money and awareness of our cause.

Our members visited many local businesses to obtain sponsorship to help defray the cost of the t-shirts. In addition to the sponsorship businesses have provided a variety of gift items for our raffle.

We hope you will join us in the fight against breast cancer and will support our basketball teams by buying a t-shirt. T-shirts will be sold during the week of January 18 at the high school and before the basketball games on January 21 and 22.

Sincerely,

The FBLA “Canes for the Cure” Team

ARHS Parent Center

About The ARHS Parent Center

The ARHS Parent Center is the parent/guardian organization at the high school. We organizeinformational meetings with the principal for parent/guardians, send out "The Parent News", a weekly newsletter, support the teacher appreciation luncheon and raise funds for mini-grants to teachers.

This Fall we also raised $20,000 (with the help of the Amherst Education Foundation) to keep after school clubs running at the high school!

The ARHS Parent Center Weekly Newsletter

Keep abreast of all that’s happening at your teen’s high school. Do you need reminders of important ARHS dates? Are you aware of all the different programs available? The ARHS Parent Center publishes an email Parent Newsletter with all the scoop delivered right to your desktop each week!

Subscribe to the ARHS Parent News at: http://www.arhsparentcenter.org/

Please Join Us for a Parent Center "Coffee with the Principal"

Please join us for a Parent Center discussion with the Principal. We host monthly brown bag lunches and evening coffees with the Principal in room 13 at the high school. See the schedule below. You are invited to bring your questions and meet other parent/guardians. Refreshments will be served. Room 13 at the high school:

January 21, Thursday, 7-8 pm

February 26, Friday, 12-1 pm

March 18, Thursday, 7-8 pm

April 9, Friday, 12-1 pm

May 20, Thursday, 7-8 pm

Parent Center Executive Board 2009/2010

Co-Chairs: Kate Troast & Adrienne Levine

Vice Chair: Cynthia Gensheimer

Treasurer: Sue Morello

Secretary: Amy Brodigan

For more information contact us at: http://www.arhsparentcenter.org/contact