Office of the Superintendent

Anthony J. Panella, Superintendent

Debbie Custodi, Secretary to the Superintendent and District Clerk

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June 2026

We have three weeks left of the 2025-26 school year. June is always a busy month with year-end exams, concerts, moving up days, prom, and graduation. It’s an exciting time that involves transitions for our students. Our seniors in the Class of 2026 will walk across the stage during graduation June 27 to become Amherst Central High School alumni. We are very proud of the accomplishments of our seniors and wish them success in their future endeavors. Our fifth graders will transition to middle school as sixth graders and our eighth graders will transition to high school as freshmen. While such capstone events are exciting, these changes can also be scary when you are facing new situations, new teachers and new schedules. Our Family Support Center has some wonderful resources for parents to help support their kids to cope with change over the summer and as they start school on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026.

At the high school next fall, we will have a new principal at the helm. He is a familiar face to our families and students. The Board of Education appointed assistant principal Patrick Kapperman to the role of principal and he officially begins on July 1. Our current principal, Greg Pigeon, will retire at the end of June after 19 years at Amherst Central High School. By the time you are reading this, we will also have named an assistant principal to fill Mr. Kapperman’s vacancy. Check our website for the assistant principal announcement.

Looking ahead to the summer months, our schools will continue to be busy places. We have our summer academic programs occurring for elementary and secondary students. Our community education sports camps will keep kids engaged and active. Check our website for camp registration information and please know that our community education camps are open to anyone in the WNY community.

Our capital improvement project construction will continue throughout the summer on the Universal Prekindergarten classroom addition at Windermere Boulevard Elementary School. Once open this fall, it will have four new UPK classes, a dedicated entrance and its own play area. Work on the turf field at Dennis Ford field will continue also with a fall completion date. We are excited for our student athletes to be able to use these new fields. At the middle school, work will continue on the auditorium theatrical systems and start at the main office and nurse’s office. We thank the community for their support of propositions #2 and #3 at the May 19 budget vote that authorized additional funding to the existing capital improvement project to allow us to move ahead with work at the high school on the steam-to-hot water conversion, auditorium theatrical systems and south gymnasium renovations.

Toward the end of summer, look for communication from your child’s building principal with vital information you’ll need for back to school. We also encourage you to follow our new instagram account @amherstcsd to stay updated on all the good news from our school district.