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Superintendent highlights new electives, AP African‑American Studies and Khan AI tutor pilot at Amherst Central School District
Summary
At a board meeting, the superintendent and the high school principal outlined curriculum changes — new half‑year English electives and AP offerings including AP African‑American Studies and AP World History — and described a pilot of a scaffolded AI tutoring tool with Khan Academy intended to expand equitable academic support.
The superintendent of the Amherst Central School District opened the board's superintendent report by recognizing January's through March's students and staff and then turned the presentation over to high school principal Mr. Kapperman, who detailed curriculum additions, extracurricular growth and a new AI tutoring pilot.
The superintendent said the district continues to follow its strategic plan and touted strong outcomes, noting, "we have a 95 almost 96% African‑American graduation rate," and a high six‑year graduation rate that he described as evidence students "persist and they stay." He framed the metrics as the product of sustained support for students with challenges.
Mr. Kapperman described several new course offerings intended to broaden student choice. "We have three new half‑year English electives up there: Media, Film and Society, Creative Writing, and Pop Fiction," he said, adding that the electives give seniors more flexibility and allow some juniors to earn a fourth English credit through electives. He also said the district shifted from AP European Studies to AP World History to reflect broader curriculum goals.
On AP African‑American Studies, Mr. Kapperman said the district adopted the course after observing how the new AP had developed elsewhere. "That course has a project‑based component," he said, adding that students visited African‑American heritage sites in Buffalo as part of the class experience and that the course can serve as an entry point to AP study for students who might otherwise not enroll.
The principal also described an edtech initiative the district calls KIGO, deployed in partnership with Khan Academy. "KIGO is an AI platform sort of with guard rails that we've rolled out this year," he said. "Khan's tutor me function is an AI tutor that's available to students but it's structured to be scaffolded and have guard rails ... we see this as both preparing students for a world where AI is going to be part of what they're doing and as an equity tool." Mr. Kapperman added the district is providing data to Khan to inform further development of the tool.
Student life and co‑curricular programs were a second focus. Administrators said the district has restarted a digital student newspaper (the Jungle Journal), created weekly recognition awards for students (turnaround, perseverance, positive presence and participation) and supported a range of student‑led initiatives including a peer‑to‑peer SAT prep program and renewed participation in competitions such as Physics Olympics and the HOSA health‑career contests.
The presentation closed with a communications note: the principal said the district's Facebook page reached 5,000 followers, which he described as the largest public high‑school Facebook presence in Western New York and a vehicle to showcase student achievements.
The superintendent thanked staff and families and invited attendees to a later high‑school building report. No formal policy votes were taken on the curriculum items during the report; the presentation was informational and framed as ongoing implementation of the district's strategic priorities.
