Letter: BArT Example of Charter School Success

To the Editor:

A recent Pittsfield School Committee discussion included some misinformation about public charter schools that I would like to respectfully correct. (Pittsfield School Committee Endorses Moratorium on Charter Schools, Nov. 13)

Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter Public School (BArT) is a tuition-free, public school, open to all students in Grades 6-12 from Pittsfield and Northern Berkshire County. We prepare students for college by promoting mastery of academic skills and content with a strong foundation in arts and technology. The school provides an educational community that regards everyone, including teachers and parents, as lifelong learners.

BArT serves a student population that is representative of our three main sending districts for students who have special needs or are “economically disadvantaged.” We have a growing population of English-language learners matching the average of the three districts, and we have a higher percentage of African American children.

Julia Bowen
is executive director of Berkshire Arts & Technology Public Charter School in Adams.

Berkshires Turns Out in Protest Against Trump Administration

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
05:37PM / Saturday, April 05, 2025

Hundreds of people were at Park Square on Saturday afternoon to protest actions by the Trump administration and expressed fears about the potential loss of civil rights and Social Security.

ADAMS, Mass. — A cold and rainy Saturday didn't stop hundreds of Berkshire residents from making known their feelings about recent actions by the Trump administration. 

 

At least 150 people assembled in Adams around the Town Common, with the statue of voting rights icon Susan B. Anthony in the background, and at the Adams Free Library where Civil War veterans once gathered.

 

"Last time I was in one of these marches was in 1969 against the Vietnam War down in Boston," said Michael Wellington of Adams.

 

In Williamstown, more than 200 people turned out to line both sides of Main Street (Route 2) in front of First Congregational Church at noon on Saturday afternoon. And hundreds gathered at Park Square in Pittsfield, with chants so loud they could be heard from the McKay Street Parking Garage. 

 

"We need peaceful protest, I think, is the only thing that is going to make a difference to certain people," said Jackie DeGiorgis of North Adams, standing across the corner from the Adams Town Common.  "So I'm hoping we can get more people out here and say their peace. ...

 

"I would like our our representatives in Congress, to do their job and listen to their constituents, because I don't think that's happening."

 

Her friend Susan Larson King, also of North Adams, acknowledged that "government needs to be downsized, maybe."