One Incumbent Returns to Pittsfield School CommitteeBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:55AM / Friday, November 07, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The next School Committee will have a couple of familiar faces, but largely new representation.
On Tuesday, voters elected Ciara Batory, Sarah Muil, Daniel Elias, Katherine Yon, Heather McNeice, and Carolyn Barry for two-year terms that begin in January. McNeice was the top vote-getter with 3,995 votes, according to unofficial results, and Elias was second with 2,937 votes.
Elias is a longtime School Committee member, and Yon is the former chair.
Candidates Jacob Klein, Geoffrey Buerger, and Vicky Smith fell short in the race, but Klein earned 2,116 votes, Buerger 2,063, and Smith 2,198.
McNeice feels truly grateful and
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Mobile Museum of Tolerance Comes to Massachusetts By Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
04:43AM / Friday, November 07, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Simon Wiesenthal Center's Mobile Museum of Tolerance advocates for education as a means to address the rising levels of hate and division observed nationally over the past two years. Melissa Mott, Simon Wiesenthal Center's executive vice president of education programs and strategies said the museum is a free, traveling education center fully funded by the state legislature as part of a $61.47 billion fiscal year 2026 budget, which included funding for education filed by Rep. Ken Gordon. Of that, $875,000 went to adding the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Mobile Museum of Tolerance Bus to >> Read More |
Sports Television Pioneer Neal Pilson to Speak at BCC| 10:50AM / Thursday, November 06, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Berkshire Community College (BCC) will present an afternoon with Neal Pilson. "Behind the Scenes of Sports Television" will take place on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 1:30 p.m. at Berkshire Community College and on Zoom. Attendance is $10 for OLLI at BCC members and $15 for the general public. To register, visit https://berkshireolli.org/event-6318172 According to a press release: Pilson has been a transformative force in sports broadcasting for nearly five decades. A graduate of Hamilton College and Yale Law School, he began his career in the legal profession before >> Read More |
Former Washington Post Executive Editor to Speak at OLLI at BCC| 11:41AM / Saturday, November 01, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Berkshire Community College welcomes Marty Baron for a special virtual Q&A on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. Baron will share a behind-the-scenes look at journalism under fire, reflect on the role of the press in a divided nation, and offer an exploration of power in the 21st century, according to a press release. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. To register, visit https://berkshireolli.org/events; a Zoom link will be emailed upon registration. Baron took the helm of The Washington Post in January 2013, just months >> Read More |
Flying Cloud STEAM Challenge Night Brings Science to SchoolchildrenBy Breanna Steele, iBerkshires Staff
06:11PM / Thursday, October 30, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Children and their families were able to learn from a range of science experiments last week night from Flying Clouds annual STEAM Challenge Night. Flying Cloud, an organization that offers programs in the arts and science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) to schools and children in the area, brought together about 20 organizations at the Berkshire Innovation Center to demonstrate science-based projects. "We believe in creative expression, as well as being an integral piece of learning science. And so we call it our STEAM Challenge. And then all the people that we get to work with all through the year, all of these different organizations and
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Berkshire County Regional Employment Board Awarded State Grant| 10:38AM / Thursday, October 30, 2025 | |
BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced more than $8.5 million in career-connected learning grants to support school districts and workforce partners in expanding high-quality career pathways and work-based learning opportunities for students across Massachusetts. In Berkshire County, the Berkshire County Regional Employment Board was awarded a $334,438 Connected Activities Grant. Funding will expand work-based learning immersion experiences, strengthen partnerships with local employers, and build a regional system of support for high schools to connect students with career experiences. "Every student deserves the >> Read More |
BCC Sees Dramatic Increase in Enrollment, Thanks to Free Tuition Programs| 02:36PM / Tuesday, October 28, 2025 | |
 When the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed legislation creating programs that provide free tuition for community college students — MassReconnect in 2023 and MassEducate in 2024 — administrators at Berkshire Community College knew it would be life-changing for so many of its students. Now that data is available, the boon it created is even greater than anticipated. In 2022, amid the pandemic when enrollment was at a historic low, there were just 1,380 students enrolled at BCC for a total of 11,091 credits. Those numbers have risen rapidly in just three years, with 2025 data showing 2,085 students enrolled (a 51.1 percent increase) for a total of 16,868 credits (a 52.1 percent >> Read More |
Pittsfield School Candidates Debate PHS Investigation, District NeedsBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:30AM / Tuesday, October 28, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Candidates for the School Committee weighed in on transparency, district restructuring, and other issues during the Oct. 16 debate hosted by Pittsfield Community Television and iBerkshires.
Nine community members are running to fill the committee's six seats: Ciara Batory, Sarah Muil, Daniel Elias, Katherine Yon, Jacob Klein, Geoffrey Buerger, Heather McNiece, Vicky Smith, and Carolyn Barry. The debate, moderated by iBerkshires Bureau Chief Brittany Polito, was held at Berkshire Community College's Boland Theater. (See coverage of their opening statements here.)
The Pittsfield High School staffing scandal, which began to unfold at the
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Pittsfield Schools Plan Special Meeting Before Middle Restructuring VoteBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
12:25PM / Monday, October 27, 2025 | |
 PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The school district is approaching its progress point that will determine if the middle schools will restructure next school year.
A Committee of the Whole meeting is planned the week after Thanksgiving so that city officials and community members are up to date when a decision is made on Dec. 10, the last School Committee meeting of the year.
"The intent here is not to drop the program without any prior discussion on Dec. 10, but rather also to give the School Committee and the community at large more information about where the work stands at that point, and also to enable the School Committee to have any input or ask any pointed
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School Committee Candidates Debate at BCCBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:26PM / Sunday, October 26, 2025 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Candidates for the School Committee covered pressing city issues during a recent debate hosted by Pittsfield Community Television and iBerkshires.
Nine people are running to fill the committee's six seats: Ciara Batory, Sarah Muil, Daniel Elias, Katherine Yon, Jacob Klein, Geoffrey Buerger, Heather McNiece, Vicky Smith, and Carolyn Barry.
The debate held on Oct. 16 at Berkshire Community College's Boland Theatre was moderated by Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Pittsfield Bureau Chief. Candidates answered enveloped questions from a bulletin board in threes.
Topics ranged from the middle school restructuring and proposed new school in
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