Charles H. McCann Technical School

The Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District was formed as the first vocational regional school district in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1958. McCann Technical School opened in October 1962 following the completion of the construction of our current facility with 285 students. The regional district had to be established, program offerings chosen, and a building site of 80 acres purchased. The campus chosen is located 2.5 miles from downtown North Adams on Route 8A and provides vocationally focused educational services to the district towns of Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Lanesborough, Monroe, Savoy, Williamstown, and the city of North Adams.

The persistence of Charles H. McCann, a proponent of vocational technical education, helped make all this possible. He was a graduate of Fitchburg State College and worked in the Boston area as a tool and die maker. His father worked in Sprague Electric Company as a master machinist and in 1930 Charles moved to the Berkshires and joined his father working at Sprague for ten years. Mr. McCann became the first director of vocational programs for Drury High School and as director recognized the need for a larger more modern space for vocational instruction for all of Northern Berkshire. Through his efforts McCann Technical School was built and he was named the director. Unfortunately he suffered a fatal heart attack before the school could be built and the school was named in his honor.

It opened with nine high school programs and three postsecondary programs. Two more postsecondary programs have been added, surgical technology in 1963 and cosmetology in 1974. A practical nursing program was closed in 1987 and was reopened in 2007. Today the school has an enrollment of approximately 560 students and provides training in nine secondary technical majors and five postsecondary, grade 13, majors.

1962 - McCann Tech was built at former boxer training site at 70 Hodges Cross Road in North Adams, Massachusetts and was an all-boys school until the 1970s.

1969 - "D Wing" constructed on southern side of school

2008 - $1M renovation of Gym/Locker Rooms

2009 - First Varsity boys' soccer team wins Massachusetts State Vocational Championship

2010 - First Varsity Football playoff appearance in school history.

2010 - McCann's Business Professionals of America(BPA) has a record 10 teams moving on to the national competition.

2014 - First Varsity Football Division 6 Western Massachusetts Championship

McCann Technical School is one of the two high schools in North Adams, MA (Drury High School).

Academics include Math, English, History, Physical Education, Spanish, Business., and Science. In 2005, McCann began offering classes in Project Lead the Way, a comprehensive engineering program which prepares students in high tech fields. Students in this program create advanced projects that are viewed by professionals, and are able to earn as many as twelve college credits from the Rochester Institute of Technology. In 2009-2010, around half the graduating student body pursued higher education at a two or four year college/university. The other half choose to either head into the workforce or go into the military.

McCann currently has nine technical majors for high school:

• Automotive
• Business Technology
• Carpentry/Cabinetry
• Computer Assisted Design (CAD)
• Culinary Arts
• Electricity
• Information Technology
• Machine Technology
• Metal Fabrication

In their junior and senior year, students also have the option to pursue employment in their major through the co-operative work program. Places of employment have included: Williams College, Crane & Co., and Morrison Berkshire.

Five postsecdonary programs are also offered:

• Cosmetology
• Medical Assisting
• Dental Assisting
• Practical Nursing (LPN)
• Surgical Technology

There are fifteen sports teams available during the school year (6 fall, 5 winter, and 4 spring). School athletic teams mainly compete against D-III and D-IV schools in Berkshire County and throughout Western Massachusetts, although, the football team is a D-VI program which plays mostly other D-VI schools in the Tri-County League where all teams except for McCann are from the Connecticut River Valley.

In 1958 the Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District School Committee was formed for the first time in the history of the Commonwealth for a regional trade high school. It was precedent setting and became the guide and model for other regional vocational school districts. A vocational school amendment signed into law on June 29, 1959 (appended to Chap. 518) allowed the city of North Adams to join up to 14 area towns in forming a regional school district. Normally the law permits only towns to join other towns for form regional school districts. Originally there were nine communities interested in forming the regional school district, but only 7 decided to continue. The district communities were North Adams, Adams, Clarksburg, Florida, Monroe, Savoy and Williamstown. The district revised its original agreement in 2012 adding the towns of Cheshire and Lanesborough.

The district committee has no official ties with municipal school committees and operates “like a separate municipality”. Representation is based on population.

The Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District Committee hires the superintendent who is responsible for the district’s operations.

• Paul Babeau, sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona

• McCann Website
• Football Website
• Baseball Website