Pittsfield School Policy Panel Amends 'Core' Values

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
03:56PM / Tuesday, November 08, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The school policy subcommittee voted to adopt a revised Mission, Vision, Core Values policy after making two amendments during its meeting on Monday afternoon.

Member William Cameron proposed amending the draft to add "Academic Excellence" as a new section in the policy.

The revised section now says the public schools commit to "supporting a community that creates and sustains an atmosphere of intellectual excitement, high student achievement, critical thinking, innovative effective instruction, strong communication, and personal responsibility and growth."

Committee member Sara Hathaway noted that this policy encompasses all forms of student achievement, not just academic.

"One of the points that was driven home to me at the conference that we just attended was that student achievement is the purpose of school committees, helping to ensure that the school system is focused on that," she said.

"They also pointed out that student achievement isn't just academic, and I think this larger mission, the set of core values addresses that."

An "extensive process" of revising the policy began in May 2022, with the District Leadership Council but was then moved to a core committee of staff, family members and community members.

When Superintendent Joseph Curtis presented the draft to the School Committee during one of the meetings, Cameron raised the concern that the draft did not include academic excellence as evident in the proposed core values, Curtis said.

"At that time, I indicated that I would go back through kind of the extensive amount of notes that we have, throughout the process, starting back with the District Leadership Council. As I did recall, a core value relating to academic excellence was in one of the versions," Curtis said.

Curtis sent out the revised draft that included the core value of academic excellence that was in a previous version to the mission and vision committee.

They provided some comments and are now at the point of looking at the proposed draft, the feedback received, possibly making any edits to bring it back to the School Committee.

Tags: Pittsfield Public Schools,

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Crane Park's Mini-Pitch is Open for Fun

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:18AM / Wednesday, October 21, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City officials celebrated the opening of the new Crane Parks mini-pitch on Tuesday.

Players from several local soccer programs, community leaders, and project partners gathered to kick the ceremonial first pitch into the goal on the new facility.

Back in May, the Parks Commission endorsed a project to place a mini-pitch over the aging, cracked concrete surface of Crane Park's former rink. A mini-pitch is a compact, modular field typically used for soccer, and it can also accommodate inline skates.

"The mini-pitch system will create a space that encourages physical activity and welcomes play through teamwork. The space will serve as a location for the community to gather for outdoor fun and recreation for many years ahead. They'll be able to put their cell phones down for a few minutes and actually engage in some great outdoor entertainment," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

The project was funded entirely by grants. In June, the City Council accepted the gift of the mini-pitch facility, valued at over $100,000, and $10,000 from the Mill Town Foundation to ready the site.

The facility has a galvanized steel border with built-in goals and a rubber plastic surface that is clicked together. Cleats are not allowed on the surface, but sneakers and other sports shoes are.

The mini-pitch system came with a light tower and two LED lamps, but Crane Park does not have power, so it won't be illuminated. That could change in the future, officials said.

The pitch is open for the community every day, but Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath reminded users to be mindful as they play as well as to respect the pitch and the neighborhood it resides in.

McGrath said the idea grew out of conversations with Andy Wrba, program director for the Mill Town Foundation.

"There's been a deep, deep soccer community in Pittsfield and throughout the Berkshires for a long time. I've seen it as a multi-generational way for communities to connect and pass down lessons and connect families and everyone. And a big part of that has been the West State Soccer League," Wrba said.

He said the goal is to keep the space active and encourage outdoor recreation and youth engagement.

McGrath said that with the partnership from Mill Town and the city's park commission they were able to bring the pitch to the finish line.

"It's a testament to our ability to bring new and unique facilities into our city that accommodate youth sports. And it really, at the end of the day, is about promotion of soccer. And we are just so pleased that our partners all came together and that we were able to get this mini-pitch completed," McGrath said.

Other contributors as well were the U.S. Soccer Foundation, who provided the mini-pitch system, surface materials, and installation assistance at no cost to the city, as well as Massachusetts Youth Soccer who partnered with Pittsfield to bring the system to the city.

"All these contributions made this project possible, and highlights how our community continues through public and private partnerships to provide new facilities and amenities for all to enjoy," Marchetti said.

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