Office of the Superintendent

Anthony J. Panella, Superintendent

Debbie Custodi, Secretary to the Superintendent and District Clerk

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January 2026 

Classes resume on Jan. 5 and while I am anticipating many great things in 2026 for our students and staff, I’d like to pause and share some exciting things that happened in December in our schools. 

For the second year in a row, a very special guest speaker assembly was held for our seventh graders right before our winter break. Fidele Dahn, whom some of our students have met because he works as a bus driver transporting our students, shared some of his story of having to flee his village in South Sudan when he was nine years old when it was attacked by government troops. He became one of The Lost Boys of Sudan, which ties into a book seventh graders are studying. His fascinating journey led him to Buffalo. Several years ago he began a medical clinic in his village; the South Sudan Villages Clinic. Last year, Amherst Middle School raised $1,500 to donate to the clinic. This year, the school raised over $1,623 for the clinic. He told the staff and students that the donation would fund many months of medicine for patients.

At the high school, a brave team of students and staff waded into the freezing waters of Lake Erie in early December to support the Amherst Unified Tigers team in the Special Olympics Polar Plunge. With generous support from the community, the ACHS Polar Plunge team raised $6,625 for Special Olympic athletes all over New York. Special Olympics helps support our Amherst Unified basketball and bowling sports teams.

Ten students in the high school DECA Club placed in the top four of their categories in the regional competition in early December to qualify for the upcoming New York State competition in March 2026. Representing Amherst at state competition in March will be Harang An - Apparel and Accessories; Nahiyan Shafy - Entrepreneurship; Mushfiq Bari - Food Marketing; Sarah Justin - Food Marketing; Theodore Good - Marketing Communications; Andalib Islam - Retail Merchandising; Ethan Zent and Darren Przepiora - Sports Entertainment Marketing; Hanna Gilmartin and Peyton Lauria - Business Law and Ethics.

Looking ahead to January, we invite you to see our Amherst Middle School musical. The performance of “Annie, Jr.” will be held Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. in the middle school auditorium. All information about the show is available at our website, amherstschools.org. Tickets at the door the night of the show will be $8 each and will be available at 5:30 p.m. on a first-come, first-serve basis. There is also an option to purchase reserve seating online at $10 a ticket.

I wish our Amherst School community a Happy New Year.