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By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Students are still performing well below pre-pandemic levels on the latest batch of statewide standardized test results, though education department officials say the scores show that the “achievement slide” from COVID-19 “has halted and...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – Fisher Hill Elementary School now accommodates all Orange students in kindergarten through sixth grade, as the expanded 97,000-square-foot building opened its doors for education earlier this month.Students through third grade moved from the...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – The town’s police department and Ralph C. Mahar Regional School’s administration were investigating a reported threat made against the school, though they do not believe students or staff were in any danger.According to a letter drafted by...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Massachusetts students will receive sex and health education that is intended to be more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community and teach about bodily autonomy, mental and emotional health, dating safety, nutrition, sexually transmitted infections...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Officials at the Massachusetts School Building Authority highlighted the resources and flexibility that the new state budget provided for it and its inflation-impacted projects, and said they’re in active conversation about what “even more...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Demolition of Dexter Park Innovation School began on Monday, starting the home stretch of a renovation project that has been in the works for at least six years.The brick school, built in the early 1950s, will be replaced by a wildflower...

By Greg Vine

ATHOL — With a number of faculty additions and a new English Literacy Acquisition program, Athol Royalston Regional School District Superintendent Matt Ehrenworth he’s excited heading into the new school year.Ehrenworth said the school year will have...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Months after Gov. Maura Healey’s initial budget proposal showed a moderate increase to rural school aid, that line item has nearly tripled in the approved budget, in what area administrators say is a step in the right direction toward equitable...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

LEVERETT — Upon moving to Shutesbury in 2017, Samantha Spisiak discovered a weekly story time at M.N. Spear Memorial Library, often bringing her toddler to the get-together with other families.“This has been a really big part of our lives,” Spisiak...

By MAX BOWEN

ATHOL — This fall, Laura Gesner is going from a class of 22 to a class of 600.Gesner, a teacher at Athol Community Elementary School (ACES), has been hired to lead its new STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) program. It’s a new...

By JAMES PENTLAND

Directors of the state’s largest teachers union have voted to back a ballot question aimed at ending the use of the MCAS exam as a high school graduation requirement.The ballot question was among 42 filed with the Attorney General’s Office last week,...

By Mike RocheWe frequently ask questions about what is going to happen in the future. No one has a crystal ball, and we look at things we do and have traditionally been involved with and in many cases, we see change seemingly happening in the way we...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Four school districts in the region will upgrade their security measures with the help of a state grant.The Pioneer Valley Regional, Hawlemont Regional, Four Rivers Charter Public and Warwick school districts each received Safer Schools and...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Legislators, education association representatives, and school and town officials were briefed Thursday morning on bills proposing to codify numerous recommendations to ensure the long-term sustain ability of rural schools.Bills H.3567 and S.2388,...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The four private colleges in Hampshire County generate an annual economic impact of more than $1.5 billion to the Massachusetts economy, including more than 8,000 jobs, according to a report released by the Association of Independent...

By DOMENIC POLI

ERVING – Roughly 20 interested citizens attended Thursday’s Erving School Committee meeting to learn more about the fiscal and educational feasibility of merging the Gill-Montague and Pioneer Valley regional school districts.Alan Genovese and Greg...

By DOMENIC POLI

ERVING – Erving School Union 28 Superintendent Jennifer Culkeen is back on the job following a month-long leave that began June 2, the day after she abruptly walked out of a School Committee meeting during a discussion about student...

By Sam Drysdale and Sophie Hauck

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey moved Wednesday to update the state’s sex education guidelines for the first time in 24 years. The updates are “inclusive, medically accurate and age appropriate,” Healey said at a State House press conference about the...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE – Seventy-six students with few memories of a pre-pandemic high school closed a challenging chapter of their lives Friday when they moved their tassels from right to left at Ralph C. Mahar Regional School’s graduation.The 2023 graduating class...

By Sam Drysdale

BOSTON — Over the past decade, the Senate has passed a bill that would remodel what sex education looks like in Massachusetts on four occasions — but House Democrats have never taken it up.With a new governor who may be more amenable to the measure...