Berkshire Country Day School Announces Teacher for New 2-Year-Old Program

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STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Julia Kreilkamp will join the Berkshire Country Day School faculty as the lead preschool teacher for its Reggio-Emilia-inspired 2-year-old class for the program's inaugural year in Fall 2017.

Kreilkamp has more than 20 years of teaching experience, most recently for 10 years as the pre-kindergarten teacher at the Middletown Springs School in Vermont, where she developed several new programs. She received a B.A. from Macalester College and a M.A. in Elementary Education from College of St. Joseph. Of special note, Kreilkamp received the University of Vermont's Outstanding Teacher Award in 2010.

Ms. Kreilkamps's strengths as an educator and communicator will be fundamental to establishing the program, which has been added for the 2017-2018 year in response to growing demand, expanding the school's current 3- and 4-year-old early education. Kreilkamp has been designing the new 2-year-olds classroom and planning for the "investigation stations" that are a hallmark of the Reggio Emilia approach.


"I love getting to know each child individually and presenting opportunities to stretch them in their exploration, play, and learning. They never fail to impress me with how boldly they meet new challenges, and with each step, their confidence and abilities grow," she said.

Berkshire Country Day School is the only preschool in the area currently offering the Reggio Emilia style of early childhood education, which embraces children's natural intellectual inclinations and innate abilities and fosters these dispositions and talents. Today, the core beliefs of Reggio Emilia have been embraced worldwide, and the approach is considered by many to be one of the best and most innovative, and one that is most consistent with how young children learn.

The new program at BCD will expand current offerings and enroll up to 10 children aged 24-35 months, who will be fully incorporated into the school’s intentional, independent, and inspired community of learners. The preschoolers will also enjoy ready access to the many resources of BCD's historic 27-acre campus — from an adjacent playground to the new Kevin Hirt Library and Learning Commons and Kim and James Taylor Music/Performance Space. For more information, visit the website.


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Dalton Board of Health Approves Green Burial Verbiage

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The Board of Health approved wording for the green burial guidelines during its meeting on Wednesday. 
 
The guideline stipulates that "Ebola or any other diseases that the CDC or Massachusetts Department of Public Health deem unsuitable for green burials can not be approved by the town Board of Health." 
 
The board has been navigating how to include communicable diseases in its guidelines to prevent them from spreading.  
 
Town Health Agent Agnes Witkowski has been working to clarify the state's guidelines regarding infectious diseases and green burials. 
 
She attended a presentation on green burials and consulted with people from various organizations, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where it was determined that the state is behind in developing guidelines for green burials.
 
Currently, the only disease that would prevent someone from being able to have a green burial is ebola, board member Amanda Staples-Opperman said. Bugs would take care of anything else. 
 
The town running into situations surrounding an unknown disease would be a very rare occurrence, board members said. 
 
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