As students throughout the Berkshires get ready to return to school, we offer this brief visit to a beloved school from the past. The one-room Alford Center Schoolhouse was built circa 1855. The photograph shown above was taken circa 1930s.
Many devoted teachers delivered quality education here including Bessie Conway, Alma Wilcox, Josephine Kelly, Ruth Moulthrop, Jeanne DuVall, and Julie Milani to name just a few. When the Southern Berkshire Regional School District was established in the 1950s, older students were bussed to Mt. Everett Regional School. The photograph immediately below features young students in the early 1960s, with teacher Ruth Moulthrop.
After an intense political battle to close the school, only Kindergarten remained. The school continued as a Kindergarten until 1992, and now serves as town offices. The children’s swing set and slide shown in the present-day photo below remain as reminders of the schoolyard’s playful past.
