Pittsfield Schools Social-Distancing Practices End April 11

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With masks now optional, Pittsfield Public Schools will end its social distancing practices on April 11.

Superintendent Joseph Curtis announced the change in his regular update to PPS students, staff, and families on Friday. It will apply to instruction, transition, and meal service times.

With the change, signage related to masking, distancing, and room capacity will be removed and students will be able to share a lunch table in the cafeterias.

"The cafeteria transitions will take some time as large amounts of existing individual student desks have to be placed or stored," Curtis wrote in the communication.

"Cafeteria tables have to be removed from storage and moved back into their original locations. We anticipate that all cafeterias will have original cafeteria seating in place by Monday, April 25. Each school cafeteria will have limited seating for students who choose to eat at an individual desk."

The district's mask policy was made optional in March and the city's masking directive was changed to an advisory in late February.

Curtis emphasized the need to respect students and staff's choice in masking, whether it is to wear one or not.

Pittsfield is currently in the yellow incidence for COVID-19 transmission with about 19.5 cases per 100,000 people and a positivity rate of 3.5.  There are currently 81 estimated actively contagious cases in the city and six patients in Berkshire Medical Center with the virus.

The superintendent's update also included dates for the district's graduation and moving up ceremonies. 

Both high school commencement ceremonies will be held on-premise on Sunday, June 5. The Taconic High School ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. and the Pittsfield High School ceremony will begin at 4.

Berkshire Athenaeum Seed Library Open for the Season

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:55PM / Thursday, March 27, 2025

Adult services staff Olivia Bowers and Tom Jorgenson cut the green ribbon on the seed library, opening the program for the season.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Athenaeum hosted a ribbon cutting for the seasonal opening of its seed library on Saturday.

 

The athenaeum has had a seed library since 2018 and last year had 217 program members.

 

"It always gets really great membership," Adult Services and Programming Supervisor Olivia Bowers said, "but we really want to advertise that it's available. It's a resource for free seeds to grow healthy vegetables, grow flower gardens and really enjoy nature in the Berkshires."

 

The seed library is funded by the volunteer organization Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum, which raises funds for the library programming and needs.

 

People who want to get seeds must have a library card to sign up. 

 

Members are able to sign out up to 10 seed packets for the season but are also encouraged to exchange seeds from what they grow or get.

 

"The idea is that, yes, it actually is a library, you can take things but we also encourage you to bring seeds back to us and we can use those again for next year," Bowers said.