North Adams Schools Plan Forum on Grade ConfigurationBy Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
05:38AM / Wednesday, March 06, 2024 | |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — School officials are planning a forum for parents on the proposed accelerated reconfiguration of the grades in the elementary schools. The School Department is looking at a $2.2 million deficit in the fiscal 2025 budget, driven largely by contractual obligations, out-of-district special education and the loss of of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds provided during the pandemic. "Both [Business Administrator Nancy Rauscher] and I have been participating in a number of state level meetings regarding the governor's budget because our state aid is determined through the governor's budget," >> Read More |
NA School Building Committee Considers Fields, Emergency ShelterJack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
04:46AM / Thursday, February 29, 2024 | |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Building Committee saw some alternative design options for the Greylock School project, including relocating Fallon Field to Noel Field and enhancing the emergency shelter capacity of the building. Barbara Malkas, superintendent and committee member told the full committee Tuesday that over a series of working group meetings some new design options have come into the conversation "We have had a number of meetings. Many members of the committee have been involved in all of those meetings at various levels. The meetings have been very informative and have really brought us to where we are to date. We are starting to get to that >> Read More |
MCLA Announces 2024 Commencement Speaker and Honorees| 12:22PM / Saturday, February 24, 2024 | |
 NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The keynote speaker at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' 125th commencement exercises will be Shannon Holsey, president of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians. This year's commencement will be held Saturday, May 11, at 11 a.m., in the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts sits on the ancestral land of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians. In addition, MCLA will confer honorary doctorates to four individuals: President Holsey, state Sen. Paul Mark, Mass Humanities Executive Director Brian Boyles and former president and CEO of Child Care of the Berkshires Anne >> Read More |
McCann Passes $12.1M Budget for Fiscal 2025By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
12:37PM / Wednesday, February 21, 2024 | |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Northern Berkshire Regional School District is looking at a 5 percent increase for fiscal 2025. The total budget is $12,092,886, up $593,820 over this year. Superintendent James Brosnan noted that the net school spending for the communities in the regional district has also increased, putting the total over minimum assessment at 1.9 percent. "I want you to notice at the very bottom it says the budget is gone up $593,000, or it's up by 5.16 percent," Brosnan told the McCann School Committee on Thursday. "But I want you to look at the next one, the net school spending was up $340,331. The delta between those two is >> Read More |
FEMA Awards Funds to Massachusetts for COVID School Testing Costs| 11:42AM / Saturday, February 17, 2024 | |
BOSTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending almost $13.5 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse it for the cost of providing testing at public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The $13,450,826 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for contracting with Trans Med USA Inc. and Merrow Medical to provide test kits at schools between July 2022 and May 2023. The department purchased and distributed 1,089,354 COVID-19 antigen tests to students, faculty and staff at schools statewide during that time period. "FEMA is pleased to be able to assist >> Read More |
BCC to Hold Open House| 08:03AM / Thursday, February 15, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Learn more about Berkshire Community College (BCC) on Saturday, March 9 from 9-11 am, including a financial aid workshop at 10 am. The event takes place in the Connector on BCC's main campus, located at 1350 West Street, Pittsfield. Prospective students and their guests are invited to meet one-on-one with BCC representatives from various offices. Participants can speak with faculty about the programs that interest them, take a campus tour and learn about paying for college, transferring to a four-year school, internships and career opportunities. All attendees will receive a breakfast, a discount at the BCC >> Read More |
MCLA Physics Department Launches Speaker Series with Recent Grant Award| 08:00AM / Wednesday, February 14, 2024 | |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass.—The MCLA Physics Department will host its first speaker this month as part of a larger campaign supported by funding from the American Institute of Physics (AIP) Foundation through its TEAM-UP Together Expanding Expertise, Championing Excellence & Leadership (TUT EXCEL) program. Trevor David Rhone, assistant professor in the Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will deliver a presentation on Atoma, a laboratory artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, and how it can be combined with materials research to accelerate science innovation and discovery. The talk will take place in the Feigenbaum Center for >> Read More |
MCLA Announces Music, Gallery and Theater Performances for Winter, Spring Semester| 08:00AM / Monday, February 12, 2024 | |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Department of Fine and Performing Arts at MCLA announced the Winter/Spring 2024 programming including cultural events, exhibitions, performances, workshops, and musical experiences. According to a press release: The first exhibition of 2024 will examine the entangled histories of ecology and migration. "Unfortunately It Was Paradise" features three artists, Lorena Molina, Larissa Rogers, and Jumana Manna, who address how ecology surfaces in our memory, imagination, and present that are shaped by the legacies of slavery, war, and settler colonialism. The show is on view through March 29. To close the semester, the gallery will feature work from a
>> Read More |
Teacher of the Month: Mary QuintoBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
06:28AM / Saturday, February 10, 2024 | |
Mary Quinto has been teaching at Clarksburg School for 11 years. CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Clarksburg School prekindergarten teacher Mary Quinto has been selected as the February Teacher of the Month. The Teacher of the Month series runs for the next three months in partnership with Berkshire Community College. Quinto has spent her entire career working at Clarksburg School. She started as a kindergarten teacher 11 years ago. "I love everything about teaching. It's hard to name just one thing, but I think my favorite thing is just getting to spend my days with four year old kids who are so energetic, and so full of wonder and excitement >> Read More |
North Adams School Committee Takes Slow Roll on Greylock ClosureBy Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
05:33PM / Wednesday, February 07, 2024 | |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Committee delayed discussion Tuesday on closing Greylock School until more information could be provided by the administration. The Finance & Facilities subcommittee is recommending closing the deteriorating building that is set to be replaced by a new school in 2027. School officials say a number of factors are being considered in accelerating the closing — declining enrollment, the building's physical condition and, not least of all, a looming $2.4 million budget deficit. Closing Greylock is estimated to save around $1.2 million. "We are presented with basically three scenarios. One was status >> Read More |
|
|
