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By ALEXA LEWIS

An initiative that its supporters describe as “historic” and a “generational game-changer” is now reality — community college is free for all Massachusetts residents without bachelor’s degrees.The new MassEducate program included in the state’s fiscal...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — The 20th annual Blooming Backpacks drive has begun and will continue to collect new backpacks filled with school supplies through Aug. 8.The event, organized by Women’s Way, an affinity group of the local United Way of the Franklin &...

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — In an increasingly polarized country, schools have often become battlegrounds for issues relating to free speech and academic freedoms.As the nation prepares for the presidential election — along with continued fallout from college campus...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

Following an overall decline in teacher retention in 2023, Franklin County and North Quabbin school districts saw a mix of increased and decreased retention rates in the 2023-2024 school year, according to data from the state Department of Elementary...

By CHRIS LARABEE

NORTHFIELD — Three years after the idea was tabled, the Pioneer Valley Regional School District School Committee voted to reinitiate discussions regarding the transition of the district’s sixth grade classes from the elementary schools up to Pioneer...

By DOUG SELWYN

Please think of a person you would identify as your best teacher. It might be a teacher you had in a class at school or college, but it could also be someone you took a dance or drawing class with, a coach, an employer or fellow employee, a member of...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

MONTAGUE — The Gill-Montague Regional School District has a few positions that will see new leadership beginning in the fall.Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School Principal Christopher Barnes is leaving the district after a...

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — After roughly 14 years spent in Greenfield’s public schools working her way up from her initial role as an English teacher to her latest position as the district’s assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, Karin Patenaude took...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — Anne Magill Diaz is starting her tenure as the new principal at Shutesbury Elementary School on Monday.“I am thrilled to become the new principal of Shutesbury Elementary School,” Magill Diaz wrote in a June 3 letter to the school...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — The county’s only Catholic preschool is set to open in September near the former site of Holy Trinity School.Beacon of Light Preschool is expected to start inside the Blessed Trinity Parish pastoral center and parish office at 14 Beacon...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — The Franklin County Education Funding Committee used its second online forum to explain how the progress of school funding in Massachusetts has eroded over the years, disproportionately affecting lower-income districts, despite the state...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

TURNERS FALLS — Progress toward the opening of Franklin County Technical School’s aviation program this fall has taken another step forward, with Michael McIntyre, a pilot who serves on the School Committee, being hired as an instructor.McIntyre has...

By LIESEL NYGARD

HEATH — Having been two voters short of a quorum when the articles came up at Annual Town Meeting in May, residents will reconvene Monday to vote on regional agreement revisions that would change the school enrollment formula that is used to calculate...

By CHRIS LARABEE

BERNARDSTON — As work continues on the Pioneer Valley Regional School District’s district agreement, town officials in the three member towns are conducting their own review of the revisions at the same time.At the Bernardston Senior Center Thursday...

By SAM FERLAND

GILL — Four Winds School has officially closed its doors following the end of the 2023-2024 school year and a final liquidation sale last weekend, with a goal of raising money in hopes of reopening somewhere new in the future.“I think a better...

By DOMENIC POLI and MAX BOWEN

Orange and Petersham will receive a combined $134,530 in state money to implement a package of materials for teaching foundational reading skills in kindergarten through second grade.The two North Quabbin towns are among the 18 school districts and...

By ADA DENENFELD KELLY

ROWE — Community members gathered Wednesday in Rowe Elementary School’s gymnasium to talk with students about their careers, running the gamut from nature conservation to cartooning, as part of the annual “That’s a Cool Job” Day.Molly Cantor, a local...

By CHRIS LARABEE

NORTHFIELD — Beginning in August, Pioneer Valley Regional School District students will be prohibited from using cellphones at any time during the school day.In a unanimous vote Thursday, the School Committee approved a policy charging district...

By DOUG SELWYN

Our public school system — the backbone of democracy, the great equalizer, the means by which we can level the playing field — is itself unequal, undemocratic, and badly underfunded. Though education is one of the most significant responsibilities of...