Summer Wrapping Up for Pittsfield, Berkshire Students
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Students in Pittsfield and beyond are enjoying their last days of summer before classes begin.
Most Berkshire County teachers return to work this month, and students follow in late August and early September.
For Pittsfield Public Schools, staff returns on Aug. 26 and students' first day is Aug. 31; pre-kindergarten and kindergarten begin school on Sept. 2.
Labor Day is on Monday, Sept. 7.
"The summer is pretty much done, and we will be ready and excited to open the doors in about two and a half weeks,” Superintendent Latifah Phillips told the School Committee on Wednesday.
Phillips is returning this year as the permanent superintendent. She was appointed the interim superintendent last spring, and the School Committee voted to hire her permanently in June.
This year also brings the middle school restructuring, moving fifth grade to the middle school level, and the retirement of Morningside Community School.
Welcome night for Reid Middle School students new to the building is on Aug. 18 at 6 p.m.; Herberg will have a sixth-grade welcome night at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 25, and at the same time on Aug. 26 for fifth grade.
Herberg's logo was also reimagined to represent the younger fifth grade students it will now serve. Phillips said School Committee member Heather McNeice did the redesign, featuring a young husky, and helped refresh the Reid Raptors logo.
"It is similar to the prior [Herberg] Husky, but again, because the student age group is a little younger, the husky is a little younger as well,” Phillips said.
Former Morningside students are reassigned to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams elementary schools.
A practice bus ride was scheduled for Friday, Aug. 21, as part of the students' transitions to new schools. The ride is meant to make students and families more comfortable and confident, with an activity at the school before they get back on the bus and ride home.
PPS continues to explore ways to continue offering these students transportation for after-school programming; one of the district's commitments when the vote was taken to close Morningside. Walk routes for former Morningside students also continue to be analyzed to see if they require transportation.
A vast majority of families surveyed at the summer 21st Century Program indicated that they did not need transportation, Phillips reported.
"We did have it in the budget. We are still planning to provide transportation, but we also want to make sure that we are monitoring and evaluating whether that's a resource that really is meaningful and needed for the families,” she said.
PPS received a $400,000 earmark from the state, which State Rep. Tricia Farley Bouvier lobbied for; $300,000 can be used for out-of-district transportation and $100,000 can be used for technology.
First days of school:
- Pittsfield Public Schools: Aug. 31 (pre-k/kindergarden Sept. 2)
- Central Berkshire Regional School District: Aug. 26
- Southern Berkshire Regional School District: Aug. 26
- Berkshire Hills Regional School District: Aug. 31
- Mount Greylock Regional School District: Sept. 1 (pre-k/kindergarden Sept. 3)
- Hoosac Valley Regional School District: Aug. 31
- Lenox Public Schools: Aug. 27
- Lee Public Schools: Aug. 31
- North Adams Public Schools: Aug. 31 (early release the first day)
- Northern Berkshire School Union: Aug. 26
Tags: back to school, Pittsfield Public Schools,
