Schools/Church's in Berkshire County (Pittsfield, North Adams: real estate, apartment, catholic schools)

[Samsoncat]

Well its official!, we will be moving to Berkshire County mid-July

I would like to get some input on public vs Catholic Schools for my kids.
I have a son who will be starting High School 9th grade and a daughter who will be in 5th grade. the schools I have read a tiny bit about are St. Joseph High and St. Stanilaus Kostka.

As for public, it would be Drury HS and Brayton (I think?)

Also, I am looking for Parish recomendations?? I would like an active church that is also somewhat liberal in its practices

Thanks!

[kaday]

Hi we lived in the Berkshires for several years with school age children (elementary). I am an education nut! The Catholic schools did not have a good academic reputation. Many of our friends pulled their kids out after 1 year and put them in public. You are better off looking at Lenox for public highschool or Mt Greylock. If you have daughters I would look ay Miss Halls school in Pittsfield. It is a boarding school but they offer discounts to local day students. You can school choice for better schools. It is a lottery system but most of my friends in Pittsfield would school choice for Lenox or Greylock and get in. Good luck.

[Giantone]

Where is the high school in Lennox,I was up there for years ?I know of Monument Mountian and Mt GreyLock.There us e to be a boys Prep school in Lennox ..Cranwell but that is now gone.

[Xenos]

Where in Berkshire County are you going to be moving to? I would not want to be too far from work as all traffic is local traffic, including the state roads.

[Samsoncat]

Originally Posted by Xenos

Where in Berkshire County are you going to be moving to? I would not want to be too far from work as all traffic is local traffic, including the state roads.

North Adams, and the things you mentioned are not of concern to me.

I would REALLY appreciate some 'locals' replying to my initial questions.
its only a matter of a couple weeks before we are there

[kaday]

Originally Posted by Giantone

Where is the high school in Lennox,I was up there for years ?I know of Monument Mountian and Mt GreyLock.There us e to be a boys Prep school in Lennox ..Cranwell but that is now gone.

Lenox Memorial Highschool on East Street. (Coming down rt 7 from Pittsfield)Turn right at the monument on East Street.

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by kaday

Lenox Memorial Highschool on East Street. (Coming down rt 7 from Pittsfield)Turn right at the monument on East Street.

OK,Thanks been awhile since I rode around Lenox.When I'm there I just hit Tanglewood and Aspinwall Stables...and Cranwell.

[litlux]

North Adams here. But no firsthand experience with the schools. I do find the students I meet from Drury High School to be well educated in general. A handful recently taught a Spanish course at the local senior center and provided evidence of a good school. This small city still has many vestiges from its industrial past in which most residents worked at factory jobs, but the factory owners also lived here, so the educational system was not allowed to slouch off too much.

Of course it is also important that you see for yourself, but even if the schools here in the most rural section of Massachusetts are not the equal of what you have been used to, good students always rise to the top. Look at it this way, instead of being #23 in a class of 200, they could be #2 in a class of 50.

The bounties of nature will be just out your back door, and there is more cultural enrichment around here than you can imagine until you live here a while. There is even a small daily paper, though it is well known the Mayor summons the editor into his office when he writes negative stories about the city. You can find several interesting reports on life here at Berkshire Fine ArtsI have also found the churches very welcoming, as are the newer people in the community. The long time residents are sometimes suspicious of outsiders, especially if they are educated, they feel threatened I guess. Many are still waiting for the factories to reopen and put them back to work, if only the Mayor could be replaced. Small town legends live here, as anywhere.

For those with clear eyes, North Adams is a city in transition, a bargain real estate wise, and best of all a low tax rate given the low assessments.

[kaday]

As I mentioned before, The Catholic schools in the Berkshires, North Adams included do not have a great academic reputation. They have very little funding as well. You are much better off in the public schools.

[Xenos]

I am perplexed by the questions posed. If you have decided to settle in North Adams, then good for you - the city has its problems but has the capacity and inclination to outgrow them, and is overall a lovely place to be living. Which church, and which public or parochial school (is there one or more in North Adams?) you prefer will be best determined once you get there and can get a closer look. Maybe there is some variability between the public elementary schools in NA, and that might help you decide where in NA to find an apartment. That seems to be the sort of question someone can answer here.

The questions you posed related to all of Berkshire County, thus the confusion. FWIW, it would not be practical, I would think, to live in North Adams and drive twice every day to a school in Pittsfield. Maybe it looks close compared to the distances out west, but the local roads get filled with local traffic, and few people out there bother to commute such long distances unless it is to get to unusually lucrative jobs.