Amity BOE: Budget Process Underway, Graduation Date Set

Amity Board of Education Special Meeting – Initial Budget Requests

At this time of the year the Board begins work on the 2025-2026 budget. The first step was a special late November meeting for presentations by the various departments of their estimated needs for the 2025-2026 school year. These are submitted to the Superintendent so that she may prepare her budget which will be presented to the Amity Finance Committee (AFC) in January 2025. The Superintendent will then explain her budget to the Boards of Finance of each of the towns, followed by a presentation to the full Board of Education (BOE) in February. Two combined AFC and BOE workshop meetings are planned for January 27, 2025 and February 24, 2025 . These combined meetings allow the Amity Board of Finance, Superintendent, and full Board to refine the budget until the Board feels it can be sent to the voters for their approval at the beginning of May. 

Annual Organizational Meeting of the Board of Education

The Amity Board of Education conducted its annual meeting on December 9, 2024. I (Paul Davis, O) was honored to be re-elected to the position of Board Chair, Patrick Reed (W) will serve as Vice Chair, Michael McDonough (O) was re-elected Treasurer; Donna Schlank (B) was elected as Deputy Treasurer, and Cathy Bradley (O) was re-elected to be Secretary. The Board recently amended their bylaw to change the annual meeting to a biennial meeting, coinciding with Board member election years. The Board of Education set its schedule for regular meetings for 2025 at the November meeting; the regular meeting schedule can be found on the Board website and was filed with the Town Clerks in Bethany, Orange, and Woodbridge. 

Graduation Date Set

The Amity Board of Education set the date of graduation for the Class of 2025. Commencement exercises will be held on Tuesday, June 10, 2024, beginning at 4:00 pm. State Statutes permit Boards of Education to set a fixed date for graduation which does not change because of snow days. Missed days will still be made up at the end of the year and may push the final day of school past graduation for all students except those graduating. 

Dual Credit Enrollment Expansion

In the first year of Amity’s expansion of dual credit enrollment classes, we have enrolled 210 students into a dual credit opportunity. Courses are being offered through two universities. Courses offered through the University of Bridgeport include: AP Psychology, Entrepreneurship, Calculus, Introduction to Technical Drafting, and AP Calculus. Courses offered through UCONN include: AP Latin, AP Chemistry, Chinese IV, AP Chinese/Chinese V, AP French, AP Environmental Science, and Spanish V. We are working to add more dual enrollment options for the 2025-2026 school year and will also track how many students currently enrolled earn credit when they enroll in college next year.

Mock Presidential Election Mirrors National Results

Once every four years, the Amity Regional High School Critical Issues class organizes and conducts a mock presidential election for all three Amity schools. The goals of this project are to create an environment where students can make informed political decisions and to model meaningful, respectful civic dialogue, two goals that reflect both our national civic ideals and Amity’s Portrait of the Graduate. Throughout the last week of October, this process included a presentation to the Board of Education on the mock election goals and process by students and faculty members, a lesson for all students in grade 7-12 on each of the candidates’ platforms planned by our Critical Issues students, and the mock election itself on November 1, 2024. Student participation in the mock election was high at all three schools and election results closely mirrored the national election results, with the Trump/Vance ticket winning the mock election.

Trades Week

The first week of November was Trades Week at Amity Regional High School. Knowing that our students will be pursuing all kinds of career paths after graduation, Trades Week is an opportunity our Career Center offers to expose everyone to a variety of skilled trade career options. The week started with a guest speaker from the CT Department of Labor’s Apprenticeship Office, who shared information about trade apprenticeship options with interested students. After that, representatives from a variety of professions were available at all lunches throughout the remainder of the week. Altogether, ARHS hosted more than 20 representatives from 19 career fields, representing professions as varied as emergency services, health sciences, multiple types of contractors, and skilled manufacturers.

Signing Day

Amity has a long tradition of our scholar-athletes moving on to collegiate athletics, and on November 13, 2024, ARHS held a signing ceremony to honor those senior athletes who have already made commitments to college athletic programs. The honorees were:

• Addelyn Maxwell – Girls Lacross, Kennesaw State University.
• Addison Zalinsky – Girls Lacrosse, University of New Hampshire
• Mia Hartmann – Girls Lacrosse, Southern CT State University
• Haley Mario – Girls Lacrosse, University of Cincinnati
• Jenna Maus – Softball, Eastern CT State University
• Leah Monschein – Softball, Montclair State University
• Alexx Reinwald – Softball, Randolph College
• Dylan Agvent – Baseball, UMASS Boston
• Derek Porto – Baseball, Merrimack College
• Collin Tenney – Baseball, Salem State University
• Marea Li, Swimming, Northeastern University

Amity Creative Theater

The Board would like to commend the Amity Creative Theater for the fall production of The Minutes with performances to the community on December 12^th, 13^th, and 14^th. 

ARHS Homecoming

On November 23^rd, the ARHS Student Government hosted the annual Amity Regional High School Homecoming Dance. Over 740 students participated in this annual tradition. The Board of Education appreciates the teachers, administrators, PTSO, and other volunteers who make this opportunity available to our students.