School Choice Information

About School Choice

Each year, the Amherst, Amherst-Pelham Regional and the Pelham School Committees meet to decide if they want to participate in the School Choice Program. For the first time since a Choice option was established by the State of Massachusetts, the Amherst School Committee, which governs Grades K-6 decided to participate in Choice beginning with the 2012-2013 school year. Officially, the Amherst Elementary Schools will open up choice slots for September 2012. Since this vote was just taken within the past few weeks, we are still determining the number of Choice slots to open in the district and the grades and schools in which these slots will be made available. Because this is a new endeavor at the elementary level in Amherst, we have decided to accept applications for Choice on a rolling basis; that is, we will begin accepting applications now for all grade levels and will decide on May 1, 2012 how many slots will be opened. It is important to note that families interested in Choice will be applying at a particular grade level, not at a particular school. All applications will be sorted by grade level and a lottery for each grade will be conducted. After the grade-by-grade lottery is conducted, all applicants will be notified of the status of their application and, if selected, of the school to which they have been assigned. All information will be published on our website and local newspapers (Daily Hampshire Gazette, Springfield Republican and Greenfield Recorder), along with an explanation of the process to be followed by interested families. 

Please be aware of the following:

• All three School Committees have approved their participation in the School Choice Program.
• No decisions have been made regarding the number of slots available for the year 2012-2013.
• Applications are made available electronically (attached below) and in hard copies at all school offices and the Central Office (170 Chestnut Street, Amherst, MA)  
• Slots will be awarded through a lottery process
• Parents/guardians awarded choice slots will be responsible for the transportation.

Please contact Ms. Martinez if you have any questions at (413) 362-1871 or at www.martinezm2@arps.org.