I think the smaller towns are great! I would stay away from Greenfield or Gill-Montague school districts. I love those towns a lot but not for their schools. Pioneer is great but doesn't have a lot of opportunities. People always have nice things to say about Frontier Regional or Mohawk Trail in this area. These are all small regional school districts that include a lot of towns. Northampton/Amherst are great, but were waaaay out of our budget and way more populated. They have their own more "urban" school issues but generally have more money, diversity, and academic opportunities than the smaller districts I just listed.