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.[4] Its official colors are maroon and white. ARHS's current principal, beginning in the 2023–24 academic year, is Talib Sadiq.[5]
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,[6] "Hurricanes humble Hopkins". The nickname is likely in recognition of the 1938 New England Hurricane.[7] "History of the Class", Goldbug 1939, is entitled "The Epic Of A Hurricane";[8] 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.[9] In 2001 they won the State Championship.[10]
ARHS is one of many high schools in Massachusetts with a nationally ranked Ultimate program.[11][12] 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.[13]
The 1992–1993 girls' basketball team inspired the book In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais.[citation needed]
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.[14][15]
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.[16]
Survival living
ARHS is one of the few schools in the nation to offer a Wilderness Survival program.[17]
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(September 2024)
Annie Baker (class of '99), Pulitzer Prize winning playwright [18]