Conte Facing New Challenges

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Amid controversy about the value of the middle school model, officials at Silvio O. Conte Middle School are planning for big changes this year.

"We're doing things as if we would do them if Conte were going to be here for 10 years or just one year," said Principal Diane Ryczek at a "First Days" celebration at the school Tuesday. "We want to make a difference in the life of each child and that will always remain the same."

Earlier this year, Mayor John Barrett III announced the School Committee was studying how to consolidate the schools into a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade model, which would eradicate the middle school concept in the city and close Conte.

"It's definitely a bittersweet feeling for me," said seventh-grade English/language arts teacher Sara Luczynski. "I love teaching in middle school but I also think that in a lot of cases, a K-8 building is good for a lot of kids."

Incoming sixth-graders Jessica Sunn, 11, and Hannah Collier, 11, said they would prefer to stay at their former school, Sullivan Elementary, rather than transition to a middle school. "It's just easier to stay with old teachers," said Collier.

On Tuesday night, though, as hundreds of students, teachers, staff and parents flooded the school for tours, school supplies sales, live music from the band and a barbecue, no one seemed to care that this might be the last year.

"We're taking it one step at a time," said Ryczek. "This year, we're looking forward to more new and innovative programs and we really just want these kids to like going to school."

The nearly 400 students attending Conte this year will be the beneficiaries of several major curriculum changes, including the ongoing Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative, which provides laptop computers for all students at the middle school. Students will have the opportunity to excel in several different academic areas this year, as many of the subjects have been revamped to get more of them excited about school.

"We're taking every possible step we can to get students engaged," said Ryczek.

Along with a new math and science curriculum, teachers and students will now utilize "My Access," an online instructional writing and tutoring tool. Students will not only write Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test practice essays using the program, but they will also receive valuable feedback from the system as it provides instant scoring and targeted revision instructions.

"[Conte] is looking forward to everything. We're off to a really good start and we're very energetic and ready to go," said Superintendent James E. Montepare. Also, the middle school will introduce "looping," a process they hope will transform learning. Looping allows teachers to move with their students, effectively starting where they left off the year before. Luczynski, who taught sixth grade last year, will now teach those same students in the seventh grade.

"This is the very first year," she said. "The idea is continuity. So instead of having to get to know the students again for the first two months, you can just jump right in."

She added, "It's much easier to have the same child in front of you."

"Research shows that if [teachers] follow the students, they gain more content knowledge," said Ryczek.

For sixth-grade science teacher Marie Kelly-Whitney, the new school year isn't about new programs or exploring new initiatives - it's about the children.

"I just love science and I love the kids. I want to be here and I'm excited to be back in the classroom and using hands-on experiments with the students," said Kelly-Whitney, who mentioned that her science class would use "test tubes, goggles and real flame."

Though most of the staff is eager to get into the classroom, best friends Sunn and Collier are a little more apprehensive. "It's a little exciting, a little scary," said Sunn. "But I'm excited about learning new stuff."

Why the Massachusetts Art Community Is Worth Continued Investment

By James BirgeGuest Column
10:41AM / Tuesday, April 21, 2026

How do we quantify the value of art on society and culture? Even eye-popping figures, like the $100 million estimate for the jewels stolen from the Louvre, or the record auction last fall that saw a piece by Gustav Klimt sell for more than $236 million can't fully account for the value of the history, stories, and emotions behind the creations themselves. But beyond that, there is a measurable financial, cultural and social benefit of the arts that is often taken for granted. 

Closer to home, arts and cultural production in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts totals nearly $30 billion annually, representing more than 4 percent of the state's economic output, according to the Mass Cultural Council. All told, more than 130,000 jobs are spread across the commonwealth creating a vibrant and thriving artistic community for us all to enjoy. 

Despite the obvious impact, these figures are under threat. A recent survey by MassCreative compiled recent federal cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services and identified 63 grants canceled and $4.2 million in grant funding rescinded across New England so far this year. 

The dollars, of course, are important. But they also only scratch the surface on what they bring to the community. Today, we risk losing part of the culture and identity many now take for granted. 

While others choose to look past these less tangible, but just as vital benefits, we're doing the opposite. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts is all in to ensure the next generation retains their access to works of art, while also being empowered to create themselves. 

Last fall, MCLA officially broke ground on the new Campagna Kleefeld Center for Creativity in the Arts, which will serve as a new hub for the campus and the local community for arts programming. When complete in fall of 2027, our students will benefit, but so will all of Berkshire County and artists in the surrounding area. 

This exciting new facility is just one of the many forthcomings our region can enjoy in the coming years. Just a few miles away, anticipation builds for the Fall 2027 anticipated opening for the Williams College Museum of Art. Years in the making, the museum likewise grows from an enduring commitment to the arts, both in curriculum and in practice. Exciting times are also underway for the Clark Art Institute with the construction of a new facility to house a collection of 331 works of art, including paintings, sculptures, drawings and other works. Their wing is scheduled for completion in 2028. And listeners will no doubt enjoy the sounds and melodies from Mass MoCA Records, the latest endeavor to foster creativity and artistic pursuits through music launched in October as well. Of course, many are also awaiting the reopening of the Berkshire Museum anticipated this summer, after a tremendous renovation process to rejuvenate the experience for visitors. 

So much time, energy, and yes, dollars, have already been invested in taking these facilities from ideas and sketches and making them reality. But they represent much more than new buildings. They represent new opportunities to cultivate and accelerate the thriving arts community in Massachusetts and the northern Berkshires. 

Art, regardless of the medium, is a reflection of who we are, where we've been, and what we aspire to be. It can be inspired by hopes or fears and chronicle collective triumphs as well as tribulations. The goal of art is not only to document history, but to inspire those positioned to change it and to feel something new or even to provoke us to revisit our own assumptions or misconceptions. 

As unfathomable of a number as $30 billion can seem, boiling down the impact to any number inherently discounts the unknowable downstream effects our graduates will bring to the community and the broader world after they leave our institutions. Likewise, rescinding $4.2 million now removes a huge chunk of that growth potential.  

Justification for making these investments today when simply boiled down to dollars and cents still places us on solid ground strictly from a financial perspective that forgoes all of the intangible, but no less valuable, benefits as well.  

The arts are still worth our support. And our community will be richer for it. 

James Birge, PhD, is president of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams.