The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Crosby Educational Academy
Crosby Educational Academy is a special education school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, serving students in grades one through five. It is part of the Pittsfield public school district, but its designation as a special education school sets it apart from the district's conventional elementary schools. This is the single most important fact about Crosby: it is not a neighborhood elementary school that any local family with a child in those grades would attend. It is a specialized setting for students whose individualized education programs (IEPs) have determined that they require the kind of intensive, small-group, and therapeutic environment that a school like this is designed to provide.
The school is very small, with a total enrollment that makes it one of the smallest school communities in the area for its grade band. A student body of this size, combined with its special-purpose mission, means that class sizes are likely very small and the staff-to-student ratio is high. The student population is diverse, drawn from the city and likely from across the district. The enrollment data shows a roughly equal mix of white and Hispanic students, with a smaller share of students who identify as two or more races.
The state testing results, available through the Massachusetts Next-Generation MCAS, need to be read with the school's mission firmly in mind. In the most recent testing year, no student achieved a score in the proficient range in either math or English language arts. This pattern has been consistent for several years running, with the proficiency rate in both subjects holding at or near zero across the past five testing cycles. A parent looking at these numbers should understand that this is not a typical elementary school where the test results reflect the general educational quality of the institution. For a special education school serving students with significant learning or behavioral challenges, these scores reflect the specific needs of the population the school is designed to serve. Placing these results in the context of the school's mission, a parent evaluating Crosby would want to understand what progress looks like for individual students here, information that is not captured by a cohort-wide proficiency rate on a standardized test that may not be well-aligned with every student's goals.
The academic comparison, which places the school among all districts in Berkshire County, shows an overall proficiency index that lands in the bottom quartile. Again, this is a comparison that includes the county’s standard elementary schools and does not account for the distinct mission of a special education school. The school’s grade band does not produce a graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism data and free-or-reduced-price lunch counts were not available in the data provided. The data also did not include information on staffing, discipline rates, or course access, so a picture of the day-to-day instructional and behavioral environment would need to come from the school directly.
Pittsfield, the city where the school is located, is the commercial and civic hub of Berkshire County. The student population at Crosby is drawn from this city, which has a mix of older industrial sites, newer downtown development, and significant open space. The city's population has declined over recent decades, though there has been downtown investment in housing and cultural venues. The cost of housing in the Pittsfield ZIP code area is moderate relative to Massachusetts as a whole, with home values well below the state median and rents that are also below the state average. A search for recent district-level changes or strategic priorities for Pittsfield Public Schools did not yield much of lasting impact, suggesting that no major boundary shifts or program overhauls are publicly documented in recent years.
Crosby Educational Academy serves a specific, essential function within the Pittsfield school system. It is a specialized placement, not a school of choice in the conventional sense. For a family whose child has been placed here by a team evaluating their special education needs, the relevant questions are about the specific supports, therapies, and instructional approaches the school offers, and how the school measures individual student growth, as test scores alone will not answer that question.
See more original research from School Decision →