Amherst Regional High School (Amherst, Massachusetts)

Amherst Regional High School (ARHS) is a secondary school in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, for students in grades 9–12. It is part of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District, which comprises the towns of Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury, Massachusetts. Its official colors are maroon and white. ARHS's current principal, beginning in the 2020-21 academic year, is Talib Sadiq.

Academics

Amherst Regional High School ran on a trimester system until switching to a semester system in 2016. The students used to take five courses per trimester: normally, three to four were academics, and one to two were electives. Most academic classes ran for two trimesters. They ran either straight through or were broken up by the winter trimester. The exception to this was some social studies and English courses that were a trimester each and some music and AP courses that ran for all three trimesters. Under the current semester system, student take seven classes per semester with a rotating drop schedule. Some classes run for one semester and some for the full academic year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the students now have a Semester and quarter-based 4-block schedule, with each class being 80 minutes.

Most students take five academic subjects (four for students not taking a world language) worth 4 credits each, or the equivalent, each year. The equivalent of a four-credit subject may be two separate classes within the same department. Only credits earned during grades 9-12 count toward graduation. Most full-year courses in grades 9-12 earn 4 credits and most one semester courses earn 2 credits. To graduate, each student must earn a total of 88 credits in grades 9-12, including the following:

* English: 16 credits (including at least one semester-long literature course in both 11th and 12th grade)
* Social Studies: 12 credits (4 of which must meet the U.S. History requirement)
* Mathematics: 8 credits
* Science: 8 credits in laboratory courses
* Physical Education—Adventure Challenge: 2 credits (taken in 10th grade)
* Health Education: 2 credits (taken in 9th grade)

ARHS has 11 departments and programs in total that all offer a variety of classes for students:

* Art
* English
* English Language Education
* Mathematics
* Performing Arts
* Health, Family, and Physical Education
* Science
* Social Studies
* Special Education
* Business, Technology, and Computer Science Education
* World Languages (Chinese, French, Latin, and Spanish)

Extracurricular and non-academic activities

Sports

The school's sports teams are known as the Hurricanes. The nickname first appears in the Goldbug yearbook of 1942, in the Sports/Baseball section, "Hurricanes humble Hopkins". The nickname is likely in recognition of the 1938 New England Hurricane. "History of the Class", Goldbug 1939, is entitled "The Epic Of A Hurricane"; it begins "We are a hurricane."

The boys' cross-country team has been listed in the top 100 high school teams in America, and has won many Western Massachusetts championships, most recently in 2018. In 2001 they won the State Championship.

ARHS is one of many high schools in Massachusetts with a nationally ranked Ultimate program. The program hosts the annual Amherst Invitational Ultimate Tournament which pits 30 high school teams from across the country in the oldest and one of the largest high school tournaments in the USA.

The 1992–1993 girls' basketball team inspired the book ''In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle'' by Madeleine Blais.

The Football team won the 1999 Massachusetts High School Super Bowl by defeating Southbridge, 27–7. It was the first Super Bowl win for Amherst in 25 years.

The boys' soccer team won the first Western Massachusetts Division I Championship in school history in 2012. That team reached the 2012 State Finals, losing to Needham 1-0. The boys' soccer team won the program's second championship in 2014 after beating West Springfield 1-0. The program won its third title in 5 years in 2016.

Amherst High Athletics came to national attention in the fall of 2016, when the entire volleyball team, with the exception of one player, decided to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem at an away game against rival Minnechaug on Oct. 7, 2016. The sole player who chose to stand was profiled by ESPN.

State championships

* Girls' Cross-Country: Seven since 1990
* Boys' Cross-Country: 2001
* Girls' Basketball: 1993
* Boys' Basketball: 2003
* Baseball: 2010
* Boys' Indoor Track: 2014, 2015

Survival living

ARHS is one of the few schools in the nation to offer a Wilderness Survival program. The class meets after school from January through June, and covers subjects such as orienteering, wilderness first aid, emergency shelters, wild edibles, and emergency fire-building.

Performing arts

ARHS has a program in music, dance, and theater for beginners and experienced students. ARHS has a history of performing controversial yet inciting works such as The Vagina Monologues and Spring Awakening.

List of Music Ensembles
* Symphonic Orchestra (audition based upper-level orchestra; often plays the music for the graduation ceremony)
* Philharmonia (freshmen orchestra/open to all string players)
* Chorale (audition based upper-level SATB choir)
* Hurricane Singers (audition based upper-level treble choir)
* Concert Choir (non-audition choir, open to anyone interested in singing)
* Jazz Band (audition based upper-level band)
* Wind Ensemble (audition based upper-level band of woodwinds and percussion)
* Symphony Band (freshmen band/open to all brass, woodwind, and percussion players)

Notable alumni

* Annie Baker (class of '99), Pulitzer Prize winning playwright
* Madeleine George, award winning playwright and young-adult author
* Thomas Bezucha (class of '82), film director and writer of ''Big Eden'' and ''The Family Stone''
* David F M Brown (class of '81), President, Massachusetts General Hospital; Trustees Endowed Professor, Harvard Medical School
* John Henry, former MLB player ( Washington Senators, Boston Braves)
* Michael Hixon (class of '13), American diver
* James Ihedigbo (class of '02), Philanthropist and retired NFL safety who played 2007-2016 for the New York Jets, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens (including 2012 Super Bowl), Detroit Lions, and Buffalo Bills
* Amory Lovins, sustainability guru and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute
* Eric Mabius (class of '89), actor known for his roles as Daniel Meade on ''Ugly Betty'' and as Tim Haspel on ''The L Word''
* Michael E. Mann (class of ‘88), climatologist and geophysicist and current director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University
* Makaya McCraven (class of '02), jazz drummer and bandleader
* Julie McNiven (class of '98), actress
* Ellen Moran (class of '84), Chief of Staff to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce
* Ebon Moss-Bachrach (class of '95), actor
* J Mascis (class of '84), of Dinosaur Jr. and other bands
* Perry Moss (basketball) (class of '76), played two seasons in the NBA
* Benjamin Nugent (class of '95), writer
* Gil Penchina (class of '87), CEO of Wikia
* Robbie Russell, (class of '97), played soccer for the MLS teams Real Salt Lake and D.C. United
* Deb Talan (class of '86), an American singer-songwriter for the folk-pop duo The Weepies.
* Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman (both class of '89), founders of govWorks and stars of the documentary film '' Startup.com''
* Jamila Wideman (class of '93), former WNBA player
* David Romer (class of '76), Herman Royer Professor of Political Economy at the University of California, Berkeley.
* Christopher O. Ward (class of '72), Executive Director of PANYNJ, NYC Commissioner of Department of Environmental Protection
* Kevin Ziomek (class of '10), professional baseball player in Detroit Tigers minor league

References

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Public high schools in Massachusetts
Schools in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Amherst, Massachusetts
1956 establishments in Massachusetts