image description — More than 600 people participated in this year's Buddy Walk at Craneville Elementary to celebrate and recognize people with Down syndrome.

Berkshire Buddy Walk Draws Hundreds to Dalton

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:36AM / Monday, September 29, 2025Print Story | Email Story

DALTON, Mass. — There was a penny raffle to support the Berkshire Arc Down Syndrome Family Group in the fields at Craneville Elementary School, but the Buddy Walk of the Berkshires Saturday morning was not about raising money.

And it never has been.

For the 19th year, the families who lift up their loved ones with Down Syndrome and one another on a daily basis welcomed the support of the wider community.

More than 600 participants registered to participate in the walk from the school down to Main Street (Route 8) and back through the neighborhoods many of the participants call home.

"I've been involved with this event from the beginning and, in some way, I believe I've been to all but last year when I got the date wrong," state Sen. Paul Mark told the crowd before the walk began. "What a great event, what a great example of the amazing supportive community that Dalton and the Berkshires is.

"And it's just great year after year to see people gathering, offering support for families and letting everybody know that this is a welcoming community and a place you want to raise a family and a place you want to be."

The National Down Syndrome Society lists more than 100 Buddy Walks nationwide plus two international events, in Japan and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Buddy Walk of the Berkshires is one of three in the Bay State, along with walks in Westfield on Oct. 4 and Wakefield on Oct. 12.

The goal of the Buddy Walk is to educate about, advocate for and celebrate the Down syndrome community.

After carrying the event's banner through the streets of Dalton and hearing the well wishes of the motorists stopped for the walk and residents who waved from their porches, the families and allies returned to Craneville for lunch, face-painting, lawn games and that penny raffle, which featured scores of prizes donated by families and businesses throughout the county.

Planning already is under way for next fall's 20th edition of the Buddy Walk.

See photos here.

Tags: benefit walk, down syndrome,

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Pittsfield Middle School Restructuring Effort Nearing Checkpoint

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
12:49PM / Monday, November 17, 2025

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Action items are coming into focus as the middle school restructuring vote nears.

In December, the School Committee will decide whether to begin moving into an upper elementary and junior high model, with Grades 5-6 in one school and 7-8 in another, or to push it off another year. After running sandbox scenarios, the district transportation team found that the current two-tier transportation system would have to be changed to three tiers.

"It's looking like it would be high school and then middle school and then elementary, but they're running the scenarios to see what would the timetable look like," Superintendent Latifah Phillips recently reported.

"How much time would there be in between the high school start and the elementary start time? And where would the middle school drop off look like?"

Based on her experience with other school districts, Phillips said high schools are usually dropped off earlier to coordinate with sports and after-school programs.

Over the summer, the School Committee voted to create an upper elementary school for Grades 5-6 and a junior high school for Grades 7-8 by the 2026-2027 academic year. A stipulation was added that if goals in the Middle School Restructuring Committee's timeline are not met by the December meeting, it will be delayed one year.

The committee then decided that Herberg will house Grades 5-6 and Reid will be home to Grades 7-8 when the middle schools restructure.

The working group had site visits in Chelmsford and Westfield, where they observed the facilities, educational models, and culture of schools that have restructured in similar ways. It recommended not putting it off another year because "it's what's best for 5th-6th-grade students."

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