As you’ll notice on the map, darker green areas have more people in the same amount of space as lighter areas have. The density is greatest in each of the village centers in Montague, in Riverside, Gill Center, and along the northern border of Gill, and in Ervingside and Erving Center.

Small wonder that the original elementary schools in all three towns were located in these centers of population, as young children could walk to school safely. The places where the population density is high are also those where town services are offered and where business is conducted.

We examined population density by age, and how that related to the placement of public schools. Throughout the area, school districts have been discussing ways to save money by closing schools, and we wanted to find out if the schools in our area were in areas close to school age children. (Schools are marked with a yellow dot.)

Some members of the community have also wondered if two elementary schools (Sheffield and Hillcrest) so close together makes sense. We looked at our map, and found that those two schools serve a larger population than Gill, Montague Center or Erving schools. Therefore, having two schools, in close proximity to a center of student population (Turners Falls) does make sense.