Portrait of a Graduate
The Berkshire Portrait of a Graduate project launched in January 2020, just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, when four Berkshire County high schools came together to reimagine the student experience. During Phase I (2020-2021), the collaboration engaged roughly 3,000 community members, students, and educators through convenings and deep community outreach to develop a shared portrait vision and competency framework. Phase II (2021-2022) brought early implementation, piloting signature learning experiences aligned to those competencies, where Phase III (2022-2024) deepened integration into everyday teaching and learning. The collaboration of schools have embedded the portrait vision and competencies into professional development, school improvement plans, and district strategy, with students increasingly involved as co-designers of the work.
Now in Phase IV (2024–2027), the collaboration has entered its most instructionally focused stage centering its work on building a countywide instructional model. Current instructional focus areas including instructional rounds, Looking at Student Work (LASW) protocols, and student visible thinking strategies. These focus areas are intended to support reaching the outcome that all students make meaningful connections to the portrait competencies in their learning. An instructional playbook is in development and will evolve into a comprehensive Berkshire PoG Toolkit by the end of this grant phase by May of 2027.
The project has been funded through generous grant support from The Barr Foundation. The collaboration currently involves five high schools: Berkshire Arts and Technology (BART) Charter Public School, Drury High School, Hoosac Valley Regional High School, Pittsfield High School, and Taconic High School. Monument Mountain Regional High School is currently a partner in practice.
For more information contact Project Facilitator Brendan Sheran
“Berkshire Portrait of a Graduate has really transformed our ability to tap
into resources outside of our individual schools and collaborate with each
other to move our schools forward under a single vision.”
Student Voice
Student voice remains the defining thread of our work. Each partner school maintains a dedicated student team that participates fully alongside educators in network exchanges, professional development planning, and community convenings. To date, over 2000 students across our partner schools have taken part in student voice summits, engaging in meaningful dialogue about the quality of their learning experiences and generating concrete ideas for how their schools can improve.
In May 2025, student leaders facilitated the first Berkshires Student Voice Summit, bringing together approximately 70 students around the theme of A School for All Students: The Purpose and Meaning of the High School Experience. The insights from that gathering are now directly informing the collaboration's planning and work reflecting the project's core belief that the students it serves should be active architects of their own educational experience.
