The Grass is Greener

The dorms at Belchertown State School are large, imposing brick buildings that look like crosses from the sky. Inside, each floor has two large, open rooms with extremely high ceilings where wooden beds were once stacked side by side with upwards of 60 children. In the late 1970's, after the Ricci court case was in full swing, staff finally began to make efforts to make the dorms more comfortable for the children who lived within the walls. Designs were painted on the floors and walls, toys mixed into the molding piles of plaster on the floor speak to the color and joy that were introduced for the first time at BSS.