.gif)
Amherst High School (Amherst, New York)
Encyclopedia
Amherst Central High School (ACHS) is a public high school
in Snyder
, New York
, a hamlet within the town of Amherst
, which is located within the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area
. It is the only high school of the Amherst Central School District. Its current school enrollment is approximately 1000 students. The building itself dates back to 1931 when construction began.
is a joint organization with the Amherst Middle School. The 15 square miles (38.8 km²) Amherst school district has a population of 24,096 as of October 2007. The high school serves the school district which encompasses villages of Eggertsville and Snyder, as well as small portions of the Village of Williamsville and Town of Cheektowaga.
, It's a Wonderful Life
and The Diary of Anne Frank. Also in the spring of 2008, students directed short one act comedies. Hopes were to make this a seasonal tradition.
They are also known for their music program. The strings department is headed by Mr. Matt Pendrak. Mr. Pendrak directs the high school's Symphony Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, Operetta Orchestra, and Symphonia. Their smaller ensembles include Sweet Sixteens and Varsity Singers, both under the direction of Mr. Justin Pomietlarz, and also the Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Mr. Craig Incontro. Craig Incontro is also the director of bands and the HS music department chairperson. The larger ensembles include the Concert Choir, Concert Chorale, Concert Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, and Wind Ensemble.
Additionally, there is also an Operetta program. , the current Operetta is Urinetown
. Previous Shows shows Amherst has done are Leader of the Pack
, 2009-2010 The Boyfriend (2008–2009), Into the Woods
(2007–2008), Seussical The Musical (2006–2007), Damn Yankees
(2005–2006), The Wizard of Oz
(2004–2005), Once on This Island
(2003–2004), Anything Goes
(2002–2003), and Bye Bye Birdie (2001–2002). Amherst has been doing operettas annually since about 1932.
The high school boasts a state of the art turf athletic stadium, the Dimp Wagner Athletic Field which serves as the home playing surface for the Amherst Tigers football, men's and woman's soccer, men's and woman's lacrosse, woman's field hockey, and many JV and modified teams. The stadium also plays host to many local high school playoff and championship games in various sporting events.
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Snyder
Snyder, New York
Snyder is a hamlet within the town of Amherst in Erie County, New York, United States that is part of the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The hamlet was established in 1837...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, a hamlet within the town of Amherst
Amherst, New York
Amherst is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 122,366. This represents an increase of 5.0% from the 2000 census. The town is named for Jeffrey Amherst, a British Army officer of the colonial period...
, which is located within the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area
Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area
The Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan area, designated by the United States Census Bureau, encompassing two counties – Erie and Niagara – in Western New York, with a population, as of the 2010 census, of 1,135,509 inhabitants...
. It is the only high school of the Amherst Central School District. Its current school enrollment is approximately 1000 students. The building itself dates back to 1931 when construction began.
District basics
The high school served 958 students from grades nine through twelve for the 2007-2008 academic year. In 2007, 223 or 96% of ACHS graduates continued their education after high school. The school's Parent-Teacher AssociationParent-Teacher Association
In the U.S. a parent-teacher association or Parent-Teacher-Student Association is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a public or private school. Most public and private K-8 schools in the U.S. have a PTA, a...
is a joint organization with the Amherst Middle School. The 15 square miles (38.8 km²) Amherst school district has a population of 24,096 as of October 2007. The high school serves the school district which encompasses villages of Eggertsville and Snyder, as well as small portions of the Village of Williamsville and Town of Cheektowaga.
Fine arts
The drama club's past shows include A Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
, It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
and The Diary of Anne Frank. Also in the spring of 2008, students directed short one act comedies. Hopes were to make this a seasonal tradition.
They are also known for their music program. The strings department is headed by Mr. Matt Pendrak. Mr. Pendrak directs the high school's Symphony Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, Operetta Orchestra, and Symphonia. Their smaller ensembles include Sweet Sixteens and Varsity Singers, both under the direction of Mr. Justin Pomietlarz, and also the Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Mr. Craig Incontro. Craig Incontro is also the director of bands and the HS music department chairperson. The larger ensembles include the Concert Choir, Concert Chorale, Concert Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, and Wind Ensemble.
Additionally, there is also an Operetta program. , the current Operetta is Urinetown
Urinetown
Urinetown: The Musical is a satirical comedy musical, with music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Kotis. It satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, and municipal politics...
. Previous Shows shows Amherst has done are Leader of the Pack
Leader of the Pack
"Leader of the Pack" is a 1964 pop song recorded by girl group The Shangri-Las. It became number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 28, 1964.-Original Shangri-Las recording:...
, 2009-2010 The Boyfriend (2008–2009), Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
(2007–2008), Seussical The Musical (2006–2007), Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League...
(2005–2006), The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
(2004–2005), Once on This Island
Once On This Island
Once on This Island is a one-act musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy, set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean Sea...
(2003–2004), Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
(2002–2003), and Bye Bye Birdie (2001–2002). Amherst has been doing operettas annually since about 1932.
Athletics
Amherst is also known for its championship men's (ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation in 2009) and women's lacrosse teams, producing multiple Division I athletes every year. It also boasts championship hockey, tennis, field hockey, and basketball programs.The high school boasts a state of the art turf athletic stadium, the Dimp Wagner Athletic Field which serves as the home playing surface for the Amherst Tigers football, men's and woman's soccer, men's and woman's lacrosse, woman's field hockey, and many JV and modified teams. The stadium also plays host to many local high school playoff and championship games in various sporting events.
Amherst Central Alumni Foundation
Established in 1983, the Foundation funds experiences for students emphasizing projects that extend their horizons or involve helping others. The Foundation also funds mini-grants for teachers for special projects or equipment not otherwise funded by the school district.Notable alumni and former students
- James WhitmoreJames WhitmoreJames Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
- film actor. - Amanda BlakeAmanda BlakeAmanda Blake was an American actress known for the role of the red-haired saloon proprietress "Miss Kitty Russell" on the television western Gunsmoke.-Early life and career:...
- actress best known for the role of the red-haired saloon proprietress Miss Kitty Russell on CBS'sCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
Gunsmoke seriesGunsmokeGunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
(1955–1975). - John SchuckJohn SchuckConrad John Schuck Jr. is an American actor, primarily in stage, movies and television. He is best-known for his roles as police commissioner Rock Hudson's mildly slow-witted assistant, Sgt. Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama McMillan & Wife, and as Lee Meriwether's husband, Herman Munster...
- actor, primarily in stageTheatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, movies and televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. - Jeremy JacobsJeremy JacobsJeremy Maurice Jacobs, Sr. perhaps best known as the owner of the Boston Bruins, is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Delaware North Companies...
- the owner of the Boston BruinsBoston BruinsThe Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
, is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Delaware North CompaniesDelaware North CompaniesDelaware North Companies is a global food service and hospitality company headquartered in Buffalo, New York The company operates in the lodging, sporting, airport, gaming and entertainment industries. The company employs over 50,000 people worldwide and has over $2 billion in annual revenues...
. ForbesForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
magazine ranks him as #746 of the world's billionaires. - Nancy MarchandNancy MarchandNancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
- actress most famous for her portrayal of Margaret Pynchon in Lou GrantLou Grant (TV series)Lou Grant is an American television drama series starring Ed Asner in the titular role as a newspaper editor. Unusual in American television, this drama series was a spinoff from a sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Aired from 1977 to 1982, Lou Grant won 13 Emmy Awards, including "Outstanding Drama...
and, in later life, Livia SopranoLivia SopranoLivia Soprano , played by Nancy Marchand, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. She is the mother of Tony Soprano. A young Livia, played by Laila Robins and later by Laurie J. Williams is sometimes seen in flashbacks...
on The SopranosThe SopranosThe Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
. - Mark RubinMark RubinMark Harrison Rubin is a former American football safety of the National Football League. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Penn State.-Early years:...
- safety for the St. Louis RamsSt. Louis RamsThe St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
and former safety and wide receiverWide receiverA wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
at Penn State. - Andy KulbergAndy KulbergAndy Kulberg was an American musician notable for his bass playing with the groups Blues Project and Seatrain....
--musician, Bass and Flute for The Blues Project