Three Berkshire schools recognized last month for academic excellence have two things in common: They’re using data to spot and address student needs, and they're making a concerted effort to improve chronic absenteeism.

Egremont Elementary School in Pittsfield and Nessacus Regional Middle School in Dalton were among 55 “schools of recognition” honored earlier this month for meeting or exceeding growth and achievement targets in the 2024-25 school year. Those honors, conferred by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, are in large part determined by student scores on the MCAS tests in English language arts, math and science.

They were joined by Lanesborough Elementary School, which also met achievement and attendance targets and qualified for one of two National Elementary and Secondary Education Act (EASA) Distinguished School awards presented by the state. That honor is reserved for schools serving at least 35 percent of the student body with dedicated federal funding intended to address poverty-related educational challenges.

At all three schools, administrators hailed the dedication of faculty and staff, support from families and hard work by students to meet or exceed state-mandated standards. They also praised educators who reached out to students and families to address chronic absenteeism — a significant problem across the county’s school districts.

Fifth grade teacher Judy Callahan, right, sits with Principal Susan Dapson at Egremont Elementary School in Pittsfield to talk about the school being named as a School of Recognition for 2025 by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Egremont Principal Susan Dapson, assistant principal for teaching and learning Allison Bernhard, and fifth grade teacher Judy Callahan said educators made a concerted effort to identify where students needed extra support on mastering state standards and use that data to shore up needs — or provide extras to students ready for more challenges. They also commended Egremont students for doing their best on the standardized tests.

“We have a very experienced and dedicated staff that works very hard to find a way to reach every student. We have continual collaboration. We do cross grade-level collaboration as much as possible,” Dapson said. “And in this building, MCAS belongs to the whole building, not just grades three, four and five.”

Assistant Principal of Teaching and Learning Allison Bernhard, left, Principal Susan Dapson, and fifth grade teacher Judy Callahan, not pictured, talk at Egremont Elementary School in Pittsfield about the school being named as a School of Recognition for 2025. Egremont is one of three county schools honored by the state this year.

Bernhard said the faculty uses its weekly common planning time to review data from weekly assessments and plan how to assure students have command of the knowledge and skills assessed by the MCAS. That review goes all the way back to concepts and skills the children learned in kindergarten.

“We go backwards from where we are to make sure every standard is seen before they hit the test,” Bernhard said.

Nessacus Middle School Principal John Vosburgh credited a core of experienced teachers for his school's success. “Over the last three or four years, we've had very little turnover, and because of that, our teachers are really getting a good handle on what works,” he said.

At Nessacus, Principal John Vosburgh reported his school shares a similar advantage with Egremont: a core of experienced teachers. “Over the last three or four years, we've had very little turnover, and because of that, our teachers are really getting a good handle on what works,” he said.

“But the other piece of that puzzle is, yeah, we have some kids who struggle, and we're able to utilize the resources that we have — mainly, people — to do interventions at the right time with the right kids in a meaningful way,” he said. “And I credit those folks who are where the rubber hits the road for having the biggest impact on all of this.”

Vosburgh the school has adopted the i-Ready assessment platform — an app that provides data showing when and where students are running into difficulty or need additional challenges, and provides customized personal pathways to improvement, with teacher support. Those interventions have a name at Nessacus: “WINN,” standing for “what I need now.”

“It's not only about addressing skill deficits, Vosburgh said. “It's also about jumping in for students who need to be pushed a little bit and giving them the opportunity” to take on new challenges and grow, he said.

At Lanesborough, Principal Nolan Pratt said a combinatiion of “fantastic teachers" and targeted student assessment data has helped promote improvement. Data meetings every six to eight weeks for each grade level help identify needs requiring extra attention.

Of the school's teachers, there's a mix of experience and youthful energy, he said. “Some been here 30 years. Some been here five. Both have a great impact on students and they do use each other as resources."

All three schools also improved chronic absenteeism in 2024-25. That's defined by the state as students missing more than 10 percent of the school year — 18 days in a standard 180-day school calendar.

At Lanesborough, chronic absenteeism dropped from 19.3 percent to 7 percent in 2024-25, Pratt said. At Nessacus, it declined from 25.3 percent to 18.7 percent. At Egremont, chronic absenteeism fell from 20.5 percent to 16.5 percent, and current daily attendance is hovering at 94 percent, Dapson said.

Egremont Elementary School in Pittsfield has been named as a School of Recognition for 2025, an achievement administrators say could not be attained without the school’s improvement in student attendance.

Districts across the county have struggled with elevated levels of chronic absenteeism. While attendance problems are most acute in Pittsfield, five other high school districts reported more than one-third of students opting out of 10 percent or more of classes last year, including Drury, McCann Tech, Monument Mountain, Hoosac Valley and Mount Everett. Among elementary and middle school students countywide, only Mount Greylock and Lee reported chronic absentee rates below the state average of 14.8 percent.

There are many reasons for chronic absenteeism. Lack of transportation access, chronic illness, anxiety, bullying and a lack of understanding about the importance of regular attendance all are reasons kids stay home.

Nessacus Middle School teacher Dave Lennon works with students in his engineering class on Tuesday afternoon.

Pratt said Lanesborough educators reach out with a personal letter to families after five days of absences; when it gets to 10 days, they’ll reach out by phone to better understand the issues. At Egremont, Assistant Principal Amy Sykes works with school adjustment counselors through letters, phone calls and personal visits to understand why children are absent and seek soluioons.

Meanwhile, the school offers incentives to students, including a March Madness-themed competition in which the classroom with the best attendance wins a pizza party.

“Every month we have an assembly, and kids who have been here for the month, their name gets put into a big wheel of names,” Callahan said. “So if they've been here every month, they have a better chance of getting a prize.”

But getting kids to middle school, which can be an awkward and difficult time in the best of circumstances, requires more than pizza. And transportation can be a big challenge at Nessacus, which serves seven towns from Windsor to Becket.

Educators, including adjustment counselors Emily Price and Rebecca Henault, and guidance counselor Kristen Consolini, regularly review attendance data. The outreach process starts with personal letters home, then progresses to family meetings to better understand what's keeping students out of school.

Price and Henault introduced The Eagle to two eighth graders who have become success stories on that score.

Nessacus Middle School student Lennon Greene, 13, second from left, works on a project with fellow students Carter Thompson, 13, left, and Elliot Bush, 13, right, in Dave Lennon's engineering class on Tuesday afternoon.

Lennon Greene, 13, of Becket, said in sixth grade, “I got in trouble a lot and didn’t want to follow the rules. Seventh grade was kind of the same.”

What changed? “I just wanted [eighth grade] to be different,” Greene said. He also found a potential niche in engineering class, as he finds hands-on learning more interesting. And he’s hoping to play baseball next year at Wahconah Regional High School.

Until recently, Juliana Delgado, 14, of Dalton, found it hard to focus on school. Now she says the personalized support she's getting at Nessacus is making a difference. She says English language arts is one of her stronger subjects, and she is also looking forward to high school, and high school sports.

“There’s areas that can be improved,” she said of her educational future. “But I see it getting better.”