Amherst 6th Graders to Attend “6th Grade Academy” at ARMS Beginning in Fall 26
Amherst Regional Middle School. Photo: Toni Cunningham
Jennifer Shiao’s School Committee Blog
Editor’s note: Jennifer Shiao is a member of the Amherst School Committee. Her original posts can be found here. An archive of her blog posts in The Indy can be found here.
At our April 23, 2024 meeting, the Amherst School Committee determined that Amherst 6th grade students will attend a “6th Grade Academy” in the Amherst Regional Middle School (ARMS) building, beginning in the fall of 2026. This means that Amherst 6th graders would be students of the Amherst elementary school district, and they will attend school in the ARMS building; these students would not be enrolled in ARMS. Confused? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
First, some background. There are three elementary schools (Crocker Farm, Fort River, Wildwood) in the Amherst School District, serving students through grade 6. At the secondary level, the town of Amherst is part of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District, which also includes the towns of Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury. The Amherst School District and the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District are two different school districts. The former is a municipal school district (serving the town of Amherst) and the latter is a regional school district (serving four towns).
In Massachusetts, regional school districts are governed by an agreement that is signed by the towns involved. The regional agreement for the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District has been in place for several decades, and provides for the four towns to send their 7th – 12th grade students to Amherst Regional Middle School and High School.
When discussion first began of moving Amherst 6th graders to ARMS (due to overcrowding in our current elementary schools, and the opening of the new K-5 elementary school in fall ‘26), the question was raised as to whether Amherst 6th graders could be enrolled in ARMS; that is, could they be students of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District? In order to do this, the regional agreement would need to be changed to allow Amherst to send 6th grade students to the regional schools. (My understanding is that the other towns are not interested in sending their 6th graders to ARMS.) Changing a decades-old regional agreement is not easy or quick, and requires approval from DESE (the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education), so this is something that needed to be researched far in advance.
At the April 23 meeting, Interim Superintendent Doug Slaughter informed us that, not only would we need to change the regional agreement, we would also need special legislation at the state level, because “the statute regarding Regional School Districts requires all member towns to participate in the region with the same grade levels.” So, in order for Amherst to send 6th – 12th grade students, while the other towns send 7th – 12th grade students, legislation would be needed to allow us to override the statute.
He also shared that, after meeting with representatives from DESE several times, he learned that it is unlikely they would endorse the special legislation or changing the regional agreement.
After hearing that it is highly unlikely that Amherst 6th grade students would be able to be enrolled in ARMS, the Amherst School Committee came to consensus that Amherst 6th graders would attend a “6th Grade Academy” (this is the current/working name) in the ARMS building. We also all agreed that making this move in fall of 2025 is too soon, so the move would be made in fall of 2026.
Between now and then, there is a lot to be done and decided! Here is a non-exhaustive list:
- What will the 6th grade educational model look like?
- How will Special Education services be delivered for 6th graders in the ARMS building?
- Where in the ARMS building will the 6th grade students be located?
- Which staff will move to the ARMS building?
- What will the administrative model look like for overseeing the 6th Grade Academy?
- Will 6th grade students use dedicated bathrooms in the ARMS building?
- The Amherst School District will essentially be leasing building space from the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District. What will that lease agreement look like?
- How will transportation schedules be affected?
Bottom line: This is happening! This year’s 3rd graders (students in 3rd grade in the 2023-24 school year) would be the first cohort to attend 6th grade in the ARMS building.
What questions, concerns, ideas, suggestions do you have? You can email the Amherst School Committee at AmherstSchoolCommittee@arps.org.
This blog reflects my own views about the Amherst and Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committees – it does not represent the view of the committees, the district, or the superintendent. This blog complies with Open Meeting Law, as long as a quorum of School Committee members do not engage in deliberations in the comments. Comments are welcome. I may respond to comments, but I will not respond to all comments. Sign up here using the “follow blog via email” form to be notified when I post a new entry. You can email me at jennifer@jenniferamherst.org.
I have always been against separating 6th grade from our elementary schools. Even if they were part of the regional system, they should still be shielded given all the issues with our middle school. However, they would at least be able to get middle school academics and sports. Having this “academy” is possibly the worst situation of all. Sixth graders won’t be role models to younger grades, have a nice playground etc.. They will be in limbo, isolated AND not able to participate in middle school sports and activities…. Why are we paying taxes in Amherst?
With this policy in place, might one expect increased applications to enroll in area charter schools, leading to adverse sequelae (less funding for Amherst elementary schools, reduced enrollment at ARMS and ARHS, … )?
This is a testable hypothesis, but by the time a test can be carried out, will it be too late to take corrective action?