26 Berkshire Country Day School Students Recognized for High Scores

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LENOX - Berkshire Country Day, an independent school serving students in pre-kindergarten through ninth grade, is pleased to announce that 26 Upper School students were awarded certificates and medals for their high scores on the 2008 National Latin Exam. The NLE exam is sponsored both by the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. More than 134,000 students from all 50 states and eleven foreign countries took the test in March.

For the Introduction to Latin exam, Achievement Certificates were issued to seventh graders Wolfgang Ballinger (Ghent, NY), Charlie Coan (Ghent, NY), and Lauren Graham (Hinsdale, MA).

For the Latin I National Exam, the following students receive cum laude distinction: Nikolaj Brattke (Grade 8, Lenox, MA), Katherine Crane (Grade 8, Dalton, MA), Jordon Newton (Grade 7, Pittsfield, MA), Ava Paquin (Grade 7, Hinsdale, MA), and Jonah Strassler (Grade 8, Lee, MA).

For the Latin I National Exam, the following student received magna cum laude distinction: Winston Boney (Grade 8, Hillsdale, NY), Roya Daemi (Grade 8, Great Barrington, MA), Eliza Fairbrother (Grade 8, West Stockbridge, MA) and Dylan Cole-Kink (Grade 7, West Stockbridge, MA).

For the Latin I National Exam, the following student received maxima cum laude distinction and a Silver medal: Caleb Braun (Grade 7, East Chatham, NY), Ivy Ciaburri (grade 7, Hinsdale, MA), Malcolm Drenttel (Grade 7, Falls Village, CT), Adam Fraser (Grade 8, Lenox, MA), Sandy Moore (Grade 8, Great Barrington, MA), Harry Rich (Grade 7, Pittsfield, MA), Emily Rowe (Grade 8, Dalton, MA), and Kelt Wilska (Grade 7, Old Chatham, NY).

For the Latin II Exam, the following students received cum laude distinction: Andrew Campoli Grade 9, Pittsfield, MA), Elizabeth Howard (Grade 9, East Chatham, NY), Claire Meyer (Grade 8, West Stockbridge, MA) and Benjamin Paley Grade 9, Pittsfield, MA).


For the Latin II exam, Jeffrey Lowenstein (Grade 9, Sheffield, MA) achieved magna cum laude distinction and Byron Hutchison (Grade 8, Kinderhook, NY) achieved maxima cum laude distinction and a Silver medal.

BCD students participate in Latin from Grade 6 through Grade 9 with teachers Eugénie Fawcett of Tyringham, MA, Marcia Jones of Pittsfield, MA, and Joel Bradley of Windsor, MA.

“We are extremely proud of all of our students for their exceptional placements on this year’s National Latin Exam,” says BCD Head of School Rob Peterson. “It is a testament to the quality of our long standing Latin program and our faculty’s commitment to excellence.”

About Berkshire Country Day School

Founded in 1946, BCD is an independent school serving pre-kindergarten through ninth grade. BCD is an academically rigorous school with a caring community in which students and teachers share in the process of learning. Steadfast in its commitment to learning in the spirit of inquiry and discovery, the school community is dedicated to encouraging academic excellence at the highest level, advancing each student's unique potential for well-rounded development, and fostering responsive and responsible citizenship. More information can be found at www.berkshirecountryday.org
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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