image description — A graph of 2013 MCAS ELA scores. Number of students scoring proficient or above are on the vertical axis; student improvement is on the horizontal axis.

Berkshire Arts & Tech Charter School Touts MCAS Scores

By Stephen DravisWilliamstown Correspondent
02:12AM / Thursday, September 26, 2013Print Story | Email Story

Principal April West discusses the 2013 MCAS scores with high school students on Wednesday afternoon.

ADAMS, Mass. — The principal of the Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School told her students Wednesday to be proud — but not satisfied — with the recently released results of last spring's Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams.

True, the 2013 MCAS shows the charter school to once again be one of just two "Level 1" districts in Berkshire County.

But even more important is the rate at which students are improving, April West told an assembly of the high school students.

And if they keep "climbing the mountain," there is no reason why BArT cannot be king of the hill, April West said.

"While Mount Greylock [Regional High School] has achievements I really respect and admire, their students are not improving their skills at the rate we are," West told the students.

West showed the students slides based on last week's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education report that show the charter school ahead of nearly every "sending district" that contributes to its student body.

The exception was Williamstown's Mount Greylock Regional, which posted the county's top percentages for students in all grades demonstrating proficency or higher in English language arts (93 percent) and mathematics (77 percent).

BArT checked in with 77 percent of its students at proficiency or higher in ELA and 61 percent at or above the benchmark in math.

Both Mount Greylock and BArT ran well ahead of the statewide average of 69 percent of students proficient or higher in ELA. BArT was right on the average of 61 percent proficient or higher in math.

West pointed with pride to those numbers as well as the category in which BArT leads all of its sending districts — including Mount Greylock: student growth percentile.

In that measure of improvement among students taking the MCAS last spring, BArT posted scores of 68.0 in ELA and 62.0 in math. Mount Greylock was just behind with percentile scores of 59.0 and 51.0.

"Our absolute performance is not as high as Mount Greylock's, but we're growing quite a bit more," West said.

"You're growing more than anybody else [in the county]. We're going to continue to go up and up and up."

West emphasized that drive for improvement by singling out the students in each class who demonstrated exceptional growth on the standardized tests, dubbing the cohort "BArT Mountain-Climbers."

Other highlights from the MCAS report for the 10-year-old charter school included:

• Receiving the highest Progress and Performance Index score in Berkshire County for all students and for high needs students.

• Having 94 percent of 10th-graders proficient or advanced in math; representing the highest percentage of 10th-grade math proficiency in Berkshire County.

• Having 97 percent of 10th-graders proficient or advanced in English.

• The 7th-grade English student growth was the 5th highest in the state.

• Having a composite performance index in both English and math higher than the state’s: in aggregate, for special education students and for low-income students.

Tags: BArT, MCAS, rankings,

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LitNet Opens Pittsfield Location, Seeks Tutors

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
08:17AM / Sunday, September 06, 2026

LitNet has been serving English language learners for 35 years.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — For 35 years, the nonprofit Literacy Network has helped adult learners, particularly immigrants, build English and literacy skills, and its new Pittsfield location makes these services more accessible than ever.

Last week, Literacy Network, also referred to as LitNet, started expanding into its new space in Crawford Square, located at 37 North St.

While LitNet primarily serves Spanish-speaking adults, it also works with learners who speak Portuguese, French, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Eastern European languages such as Ukrainian and Russian.

The organization is maintaining its offices on Park Street in Lee. Executive Director Leigh Doherty said the added 1,500 square feet of space will allow the program to expand upon many of the things it has been doing for years.

The space will serve as a public tutoring hub in Central Berkshire, offering rooms for one-on-one tutoring, classes and workshops, and a welcoming area for learners to read and study. The larger, more visible location will also allow for expanded evening and weekend hours, making it easier for learners and tutors to connect and for community members to discover the program.

Popular workshops include an English for business class, an advanced English book club, and an idioms and slang class to learn the nuances of English, Doherty said. "We listen to our learners."

The feedback the adult learners provide based on their need has helped shape the programs classes and services, she said.

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