PITTSFIELD, Mass. Apr. 27, 2016 – Greylock Federal Credit Union has donated $12,500 to Hillcrest Educational Foundation in support of our Annual “Bees” Prendergast Reception and Hillcrest Dental Care’s program to provide dental health education in local schools.  

The 2016 Annual St. Patrick’s Reception was held at the Country Club of Pittsfield on March 18, with a great show of support from the local community, including Greylock Federal Credit Union, who was the lead sponsor of the event.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Apr. 26, 2016 – MountainOne Bank has donated $15,000 to Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc.  This generous donation will support the treatment of the students who attend Hillcrest Educational Centers’ residential, day and autism programs. MountainOne Bank is also the lead sponsor for Hillcrest’s 16th Annual Fall Golf Classic and corporate contributor to the Annual Campaign.  

Hillcrest offers a variety of programs to enhance its students' therapeutic experience from gender-specific groups to vocational opportunities, such as obtaining a certificate in food safety or maintaining campus greenhouses that produce fresh flowers and vegetables for retail.  These skills help students develop self-esteem and encourage them to continue their treatment in ways that can help them live more independently in the future.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Apr. 6, 2016—Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. (HEC) has been awarded $7,500 from Berkshire Bank Foundation to support their educational initiatives and address the needs of low-income children in their care.  

This donation directly supports annual fundraising events such as the Annual Fall Classic and the St. Patrick’s Reception whose proceeds provide long term support to the agency and the children and families it serves.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Mar. 25, 2016 – Hillcrest Educational Centers’ Administrative Offices on South Street, Hillcrest’s Housatonic Academy, and the City of Pittsfield’s Park Square will illuminate with special blue lights on the evening of Friday, April 1 in support of Autism Speaks global annual Light It Up Blue (LIUB) campaign to celebrate World Autism Awareness Day and Autism Awareness Month.  

The lights will remain lit through the entire month of April in support of Autism Awareness.  We thank Limelight Productions, Inc. for providing the lighting in Park Square.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Feb. 16, 2016—Hillcrest Educational Centers’ 15th Annual Robert ‘Bees’ Prendergast St. Patrick’s Celebration will take place Friday, March 18, 2016, at the Country Club of Pittsfield from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  Tickets for the celebration are $50 each. Proceeds will benefit the educational programs at Hillcrest Educational Centers. The lead sponsor for the event is Greylock Federal Credit Union with additional support from Berkshire Bank and Rowley Fuel.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. November 4, 2015—Hillcrest Educational Centers is partnering with Endicott College for the second year in a row to offer two new local graduate programs at the Hillcrest Administrative Offices on 788 South Street in Pittsfield, MA starting in January 2016.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. November 3, 2015– Hillcrest Educational Centers' 2015 Holiday Wish Program is now underway.

The Holiday Wish Program provides gifts for the 150 special needs children in their care who are unable to spend the holidays with their family.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  October 14, 2015—Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. (HEC) has selected a new Director of Development and Community Relations, Tim Gallagher.  

Tim Gallagher has a long history with Hillcrest Educational Centers.  Tim first joined Hillcrest as an intern in1988 and had several key roles within the organization ranging from clinical work to staff development and training. After several years of private consulting and other executive management roles locally, Tim was chosen as the Director of Business Development for Hillcrest from 2007-2013.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. October 20, 2015—With generous lead support from MountainOne Financial, Hillcrest Educational Foundations’ 2015 Fall Golf Classic benefit raised over $40,000 from tournament sponsorships and silent auction and raffle sales.  The event was held on Friday, September 25th, at Wahconah Country Club in Dalton, Mass.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  July 23, 2015—Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. (HEC) has selected two Vice Presidents as they continue to grow the organization.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  June 11, 2015—Hillcrest Dental Care has introduced an annual membership plan.   Members of the Smile Savers Discount Plan (The Plan) will pay an annual membership of only $139.95.

The benefits of this membership include an initial assessment, one cleaning per membership period, x-rays with cleaning, and up to 25% off the price of all HDC dental services.  This represents an immediate $70 savings off of Hillcrest Dental Care’s normal fees for these services, but a substantial savings compared to regional costs. Plan members must also agree to pay for any extra services at the time of treatment.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  June 11, 2015—Hillcrest Dental Care has introduced an annual membership plan.   Members of the Smile Savers Discount Plan (The Plan) will pay an annual membership of only $139.95.

The benefits of this membership include an initial assessment, one cleaning per membership period, x-rays with cleaning, and up to 25% off the price of all HDC dental services.  This represents an immediate $70 savings off of Hillcrest Dental Care’s normal fees for these services, but a substantial savings compared to regional costs. Plan members must also agree to pay for any extra services at the time of treatment.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  June 10, 2015—Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. (HEC) has awarded five area high school seniors each up to $300 in scholarships.  Since 2004, Hillcrest scholarships have been made available to students of local high schools in the communities where their agency has programs including, Great Barrington, Lenox and Pittsfield.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. May 27, 2015- With lead support from MountainOne Bank, Hillcrest Educational Centers’ 14th Annual Fall Classic Golf benefit will be held on Friday, September 25, 2015 at Wahconah Country Club in Dalton, MA. The rain date is Friday, October 2nd.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Mar. 31, 2015 – Hillcrest Educational Centers raised over $50,000 from their annual St. Patrick's gala held on March 19th at the Country Club of Pittsfield. The generous lead sponsor for the event was Greylock Federal Credit Union. Other major community sponsors included General Dynamics Mission Systems, Rowley Fuel Company and Berkshire Bank.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Mar. 26, 2015 – Hillcrest Educational Centers’ Administrative Offices on South Street, Hillcrest’s Housatonic Academy, and the City of Pittsfield’s Park Square will illuminate with special blue lights on the evening of Thursday, April 2 in support of Autism Speaks global annual Light It Up Blue (LIUB) campaign to celebrate World Autism Awareness Day and Autism Awareness Month.  

The lights will remain lit through the entire month of April in support of Autism Awareness.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Mar. 9, 2015–Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, through the Office for Nutrition, Health and Safety Programs has awarded Hillcrest Educational Centers a $17,797 School Nutrition Equipment Assistance Grant for High Need Districts for the Center School.  The grant is to encourage schools to increase their capacity to serve healthier meals that meet the 2014-2015 USDA meal pattern as part of participating in the National School Lunch Program.  The Center school will purchase a new walk-in cooler /dry storage unit to replace the outdated, inefficient smaller unit.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Jan. 26, 2015 – The Massachusetts Bankers Association (MBA) Charitable Foundation has awarded Hillcrest Educational Centers (HEC) a $5,000 unrestricted grant during its annual year-end community grant season.

The MBA awarded deserving social service agencies 37 grants in 2014 totaling a record amount of $152,500. Their foundation has given a lifetime total of $1.9 million over its 18-year history. Its membership consists of 170 Massachusetts and New England banks.

The grant awarded to Hillcrest will be used for their 2015 Annual Campaign.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Jan. 12, 2015– Hillcrest Educational Centers is celebrating 30 years of providing therapeutic treatment and special education to children and adolescents with unique psychological and learning needs.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Jan. 13, 2015—Hillcrest Dental Care (HDC) has been awarded an $1,813 grant from The Central Berkshire Fund of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation to provide free, in school, oral health education to elementary school and day care children in Berkshire County. The educational program began in 2011 and Hillcrest Dental Care is committed to educating children while they are young and excited to learn proper oral health care and good nutrition.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Jan. 14, 2015– Hillcrest Educational Centers launches Summer
Internship Program. The program first began in the summer of 2014.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Dec. 15, 2014– Hillcrest Educational Centers holds annual meeting.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Hillcrest Educational Centers is seeking financial contributions toward its holiday gift drive.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Dec. 02, 2014– Hillcrest Educational Centers and Endicott College’s Van Loan School have partnered to offer a local graduate program.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Nov. 21, 2014—Hillcrest Dental Care promotes Tricia Hunt to the new position of Director of Dental Operations. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Nov. 17, 2014- Hillcrest Educational Centers (HEC) has been awarded a Worksite Wellness Stipend by Health New England.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Nov. 17, 2014– Hillcrest Educational Centers' 2014 Holiday Wish Program is now underway.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Oct. 28, 2014 - With lead support from MountainOne, Hillcrest Educational Centers’ 2014 Fall Golf Classic benefit raised over $60,000 from tournament sponsorships and silent auction and raffle sales. The event was held on Friday, September 26, at Wahconah Country Club in Dalton, Mass.

The presenting sponsor for the Fall Classic was MountainOne. Additional lead sponsors included: The Kraft Group and the New England Patriots, Barry Architects, Inc., Graphic Impact Signs, Inc., Commercial Distributing, Inc., Restorations, Inc., Haddad Dealerships, NDS Electronics, Berkshire Bank, Pignatelli Electrical Contractors, Reliable Yarwards, Inc., The Nichols Family and Climate Heating and Cooling, Inc.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Aug. 18, 2014 – Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. (HEC) hires Todd Castine, Director of Autism Services to work on Autism Spectrum Disorder program development and expansion.

Todd Castine is a native of the Northern New York with over 25 years of experience working with children and adults having a variety of handicapping conditions. He is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Aug. 13, 2014 – Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. (HEC) has been awarded $5,000 from The Pittsfield Cooperative to purchase iPads and speech and language applications for the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) Residential Program to help ASD children learn and communicate with teachers, staff, family members, peers and conventional students and to reduce the self-injurious behaviors exhibited due to frustration.

New applications for the iPads are being developed everyday for nonverbal people. A few of the new applications are Grace Picture Exchange for Non-Verbal People and iAssist Communicator. Grace Picture Exchange for Non-Verbal People is a simple picture exchange system developed by and for non-verbal people allowing the user to communicate their needs by building sentences from relevant images. The app can be customized by the individual using their picture and photo vocabulary by taking and saving pictures independently to the app.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Aug. 11, 2014 – Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. (HEC) has been awarded $4,000 by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America to begin a culinary pre-vocational program at the Housatonic Academy campus. A pre-vocational culinary program will enhance both independent living and pre-vocational skills for students at the Housatonic Academy.

Four Hillcrest staff will become ServSafe Food Safety Managers and will be certified as exam proctors, so they may instruct students in the culinary pre-vocational program and certify them in food safety and sanitation, as required by the Massachusetts Food Code.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. Aug. 6, 2014 – Hillcrest Educational Centers, Inc. (HEC) has been awarded $5,418 from Berkshire Life Charitable Foundation to purchase assistive technology, specifically laptop computers and safe desks, for the ASD classrooms at the Housatonic Academy.

This grant will give Housatonic Academy the digital media resources needed to help ASD students understand concepts, practice new skills, and engage in exciting, authentic learning experiences.