North Adams Community Schools provides a full continuum of quality special education services by evaluating each student's needs through an individualized approach that defines an education program which incorporates the student's strengths, needs or areas for academic support, and educational goals.

To support our students' successes, our district employs highly-qualified special education teachers to provide academic support to students with high-incidence disabilities and is a cooperative corporation that belongs to a bi-county consortium of school districts which, combined, provide resources and educational services to eligible students with low-incidence disabilities through the support of Adams-Wells Special Services Cooperative.

North Adams is proudly complemented by the partnership, support, program services, reinforcement, direction and leadership that Adams-Wells Special Services Cooperative provides to our district and students to ensure a comprehensive special education service program, in the least restrictive environment, to eligible students enrolled in secondary education, ages 3-22.  

Learn more about Adams Wells Special Services

If you believe your student may be experiencing difficulty in the classroom and could benefit from the academic support services of special education, please follow the steps below to initiate a referral for services:

1: Contact your building principal at Southeast, Northwest, Bellmont Middle School, or Bellmont High School. Discuss your concerns and plans for helping your student achieve academic success.

2: Support your child and educators in utilizing existing resources at the building-level. Guidance counselors can help parents and students to understand programs and interventions such as RTI, Title I, etc. which may help strengthen a student's academic skills prior to a special education evaluation.

3: Convene as a group to discuss the results, success and needs that are still present following the application of intervention activities and programs.

4: If programs and interventions do not appear to be achieving the desired results of the committee, permission for a special education evaluation and testing may be requested.