We used to have a village model for elementary schools: there was at least one in each of the five villages of Montague, in Riverside and Gill Center, and in Ervingside and Erving Center. Secondary students from Gill and Montague went to Turners Falls High School and Erving students attended Mahar in Orange.

In 1980, interest in regionalizing the schools for both economic and curricular reasons resulted in Erving’s decision to tuition their secondary school students to Turners Falls High School while retaining their elementary programs in town. By July of 1981, a K-12 district was formed by Gill and Montague, the Gill-Montague Regional School District, which dictated that ordinarily, students would be educated in elementary schools within their town of residence.

Within the past 5 years in Massachusetts, public education has changed with the advent of school choice. Our secondary school building was renovated and an addition added to house the Great Falls Middle School, making us attractive to students from surrounding towns. We have a pool, a greenhouse, a handsome theatre which is very high-tech, videography facilities, and technology in the walls and ceilings which makes delivery of the curriculum a pleasure. Our athletic fields are superb and our music and arts programs, exemplary. We have gone from having a net loss of students under school choice to attracting many more than we send elsewhere.

In the past two years, there has been controversy involving the possible elimination of one or more elementary schools in Montague, where there are currently three, in Montague Center and Turners Falls. No decision has been reached, but the Committee voted to move all sixth graders to the middle school / high school complex this fall. Just last year, the District decided to allow intra-district choice on a large scale to accommodate families seeking options.