image description — Leticia Smith-Evans Haynes is the Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Williams College, a role she has held since 2015. Prior to her work at the college, Haynes directed the Education Practice at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.

Berkshire Health Systems Welcomes New Board Members

02:16PM / Tuesday, February 23, 2021Print Story | Email Story

Julianne Boyd is the founder and Artistic Director of Barrington Stage Company (BSC) in Pittsfield.

PITTSFIELD, Mass — Berkshire Health Systems announced the election of Leticia Smith-Evans Haynes and Julianne Boyd to the BHS Board of Trustees.

Haynes and Boyd were both elected in January 2021 to three-year terms.

"We are excited to welcome Julianne and Leticia to the BHS Board of Trustees," said President and CEO David Phelps. "Both have distinguished themselves as leaders in their respective fields, and we look forward to the insight and perspective that they will bring to our health system."

Julianne Boyd is the founder and Artistic Director of Barrington Stage Company (BSC) in Pittsfield. Since founding BSC in 1995, she has directed numerous productions including "West Side Story" (2018), Company (2017), "Cabaret" (1997). Beyond the Berkshires, Boyd also conceived and directed the Tony-nominated Broadway musical "Eubie!" and the Off Broadway musical revue "A… My Name is Alice." She has also created programs integrating arts, education, and the community including BSC's Playwright Mentoring Project, a program for underserved youth, the 10x10 New Play Festival in partnership with the City of Pittsfield's 10 x10 Upstreet Arts Festival, and the Musical Theatre Conservatory, a pre-professional training program for college-aged performers and directors. Boyd holds a Ph.D. in Theatre History and Criticism from CUNY Graduate Center.

Leticia Smith-Evans Haynes is the Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Williams College, a role she has held since 2015. Prior to her work at the college, Haynes directed the Education Practice at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) where she advocated for equal access to educational opportunities for students of all ages. With more than two decades as an administrator, educator, civil rights advocate, and lawyer, her past experience includes serving as a judicial law clerk to the late Honorable Dickinson R. Debevoise of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, an associate at a global law firm, a policy advisor to former Wisconsin Governor, and a public elementary school teacher in New York City. Haynes holds a B.A. from Williams College and a J.D., M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

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Pittsfield Schools See Better Building Utilization, Continued Choice Outs

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
01:24PM / Wednesday, August 19, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Students return to school in two weeks; Pittsfield will have one less elementary school and around 100 fewer students.

The School Committee was updated on enrollment for the 2026-2027 academic year during last week's regular meeting.

At this time, the Pittsfield Public Schools had 4,586 students, compared to 4,682 at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Superintendent Latifah Phillips said this has been the district's trend for years and is not surprising.

"Across all of these grade levels, we have a decrease. I believe of about 80-90 students. I think it's at eighth grade that we're going to look into and make sure that our data is accurate," she said to the School Committee last week.

"But otherwise, the enrollment is following the trends that we have expected in probably the last decade."

With this school year comes the closure of Morningside Community School and the middle school restructuring that sends Grades 5-6 to Herberg Middle School and Grades 7-8 to Reid Middle School.

Fifth grade enrollment was subtracted from last year's elementary enrollment, and these reflect the reassignment of Morningside students to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams.

Phillips pointed out that this process has increased the use of school buildings, as underutilized buildings were one of the concerns that led to institutional changes.

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