The Amherst, Pelham, and Amherst-Pelham Regional School Districts’ leadership team gathered for Admin Week 2025, a weeklong series of sessions designed to prepare administrators for the 2025–26 school year. Hosted with the support of Amherst College, which provided meeting spaces throughout the week, the event offered a chance to plan, collaborate, and strategize to ensure every student is supported from day one on August 27.
The week was facilitated by Safire DeJong and Tom Chang, Co-Directors of Joy & Justice in Schools at the Collaborative for Educational Services. The tone was set early with community commitments such as “Speak truth with care,” “name the system, not the person,” and “Remember our shared purpose. Students are watching what kind of leaders we are.”
The week was broken up into five themes for the five days of intense preparation for the upcoming school year. Each theme focused on a different element of procedure or policy to bring new administration to speed and offer a refresher to more veteran staff.
Day 1: Mapping Roles and Building Mini-Ecosystems
On the first day of ARPS Admin week, Administrators focused on activities related to role clarity and collaboration. Using mapping tools, leaders identified their key responsibilities, the people they rely on, and those who rely on them. In small groups, they built “mini-ecosystems” on chart paper, drawing connections between roles and discussing points of clarity, overlap, or uncertainty. The day ended with a gallery walk that encouraged participants to see where their roles fit across the district. These maps were the foundation for the rest of the week’s group activities, as they would showcase the strengths of our current system as well as the areas that could use some more attention.
“I was energized by seeing our leaders engage so openly in mapping their roles and connections,” said Dr. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi), Superintendent. “It reminded me how much collective strength and possibility we have when we step back, look at the bigger picture, and commit to growing together.”
Day 2: Role Clarity Scenarios and Compliance with Purpose
Following the first day’s activities, the groups were working through realistic leadership exercises to determine how the communication structures from day one would hold up when tested by common challenges faced by public school districts. With each group having a different set of three problems, the administrators worked to identify who would be responsible for the task at hand, accountable for the overall resolution, consulted on the steps to address the challenge, and ultimately informed on the entire process. The exercise was designed to iron out any confusion on policy or procedures in place to address these challenges, or to assist in the creation of new procedures if they were noticeably missing.
In the afternoon, the Executive Director of Student Academic Success/Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, Tonya McIntyre, led the session “Compliance with Purpose.” Utilizing examples from a recent DESE evaluation, Director McIntyre emphasized that while “some aspects we were found to need some work, most aspects were at level or exceeding DESE’s expectations.” She, later in the discussion, emphasized that “compliance is the floor, not the ceiling” and challenged leaders to consider how systems can better serve multilingual learners, special education students, and all those requiring equitable access.
Day 3: Guidelines for Investigations and Corrective Action
A quieter day in the week, the morning had the District’s attorney provide an overview of investigation procedures, corrective actions, and legal explanations for the current district procedure and policy. Doing so allowed all administrators to have a more unified vision of the broader picture for district strategy.
This conversation would set the tone for the day, as in the afternoon, the Executive Director of Strategy and Human Resources/Human Resources Director led a thrilling conversation on District policy and procedure as written in the employee handbook. Groups again met to review a single policy in all its aspects as currently written in the employee handbook. What the administrators would find was that while the policies were in good standing, secondary characteristics such as the role of page numbers and the locations within the employee handbook could use some updating. District leadership emphasized the importance of providing greater clarity on existing policies, along with concrete examples and clearly defined follow-up steps. This approach will ensure that all staff members, whether new to the district or seasoned in their roles, have a clear understanding of the policies in place and the procedures required to implement them effectively.
The last leg of the day came from David Slovin, formerly the Principal of Summit Academy, now in a new role meant to advance the “Safe and Supportive Schools” initiatives of the Amherst, Pelham, and Regional districts.
Day 4: Leading from Here
That morning, Executive Director of Family, Advocacy, and Student Well Being, Dr. Marta Guevara, led a conversation on mandated reporting, attendance, and bullying and harassment statistics. This fed into the larger goal of how the districts can partner with families and caregivers to best support all students in their different emotional needs. Following the discussion, district leaders dived into scenarios to better train themselves on mandated reporting and family engagement practices.
That afternoon saw Shannon Bernacchia, the Executive Director of Business and Operations, led a conversation on the state of the district’s finances and operational needs. The goal of this discussion and activity was to ensure that purchase and budget requests align with each school’s unique needs, the district’s strategic plan, and urgent student priorities. This to underscore both the challenge of balancing diverse demands with limited resources and the shared dedication to keeping students at the heart of every decision.
In addition to these lectures, district leadership closed the day by making practical, aligned commitments to improve communication and collaboration in the weeks ahead. All of this is to improve how the district’s leadership team can better serve the broader community of not only students, but their caregivers, families, and educators.
Day 5: Reflection and Responsive Planning
The final day revisited earlier scenarios to see what had shifted as a result of the week’s work. Leaders discussed emerging priorities for 2025–26, set agreements for how they will work together, and closed with a celebration of “the gifts we bring.” Each participant shared an appreciation for the group, reinforcing the value of teamwork in meeting the year’s challenges.
Superintendent Dr. Xi praised the week’s work, noting, “Our administrators lead with care and intention, ensuring our schools are places where every student feels supported and seen. This week reminded us of the collective power we have when we work together toward that shared purpose.”
By strengthening the communication of the district leadership, fostering collaboration between departments to break down silos of information, and having an up-to-date understanding of district protocols, we are able to ensure that stronger, more supportive learning environments for all students and staff can ripple outwards from our dedicated leadership team.