BCC Virtual Information Sessions on Early College Program

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PITTSFIELD, Mass — High school students are invited to get a jump on their college careers by attending virtual information sessions on Berkshire Community College (BCC)'s Early College Program. 
 
Free sessions will be offered on Tuesday, April 11 from 6:30-7:30 pm or on Tuesday, May 2 from 5:45-6:45 pm. To register, visit www.berkshirecc.edu/earlycollege. Registrants will be emailed a Zoom link. There will be time for questions at the conclusion of each session.
 
Early college, also known as dual enrollment, provides an opportunity for students to take courses at BCC while still in high school and earn college credit. Supported by BCC's dual enrollment grant, the Early College Program allows eligible Massachusetts high school students to take up to 15 credits. Tuition and fees are waived; students are responsible for the cost of books and supplies, and they must arrange their own transportation. Funding is limited and is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
"Dual enrollment is a great way to explore college classes and college life. Students can start with one course and build up to additional courses in a semester," said BCC Dual Enrollment Coach Tina Tartaglia, noting that there are both online and in-person classes designed to fit around a high school schedule. "Dual enrollment students have access to all resources, supports and events that any BCC student enjoys."
 
Participants can take a variety of courses ranging from English, science, math and history to art, humanities and computer science. Interested students may submit applications to the fall 2023 program beginning May 1, 2023.

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Worldwide PowerSchool Breach Reaches Pittsfield Schools

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — District students and teachers had their personal information accessed as part of a worldwide PowerSchool breach.

"This is not unique to the City of Pittsfield," Superintendent Joseph Curtis told the School Committee on Wednesday.

"Every one of the 18,000 PowerSchool customers has experienced a data breach. We were informed yesterday with a very brief notice from PowerSchool and our technology department began to dig into the impact near immediately."

The breach reportedly took place between Dec. 19 and 28, when it was detected by PowerSchool and all accounts were locked down. It is being investigated by the FBI and a third-party cybersecurity firm.

On Jan. 8, PowerSchool hosted a webinar with the investigative team to provide school districts with further details about the situation.

The Pittsfield Public School's technology department investigation found that personal information from the fields "Student" and "Teacher" were accessed. This includes home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

Other school districts have reported access to student grades, health information and Social Security numbers. 

As a cybersecurity computer science student, School Committee member William Garrity found the breach "deeply concerning."

"I am concerned by the security practice PowerSchool had implemented before this," he said.

"I think there was a lot of this oversight, I'm not going to get into it in this meeting. Hopefully not just us but other districts around Massachusetts, the county, and the world hold PowerSchool accountable for their security practices."

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