Got Attendance Issues? Leveraging School Counselors to Improve Attendance Rates

Bob Bardwell has been a school counselor and school counseling director for 32 years.  Most recently he was the Executive Director of School Counseling for the Boston Public Schools, a position which oversaw 132 counselors in 36 schools.   Previously he has worked at Southwick-Tolland Regional High School, Monson High School, Tantasqua Regional High School and Dean Vocational High School.  He is a former Board Director of the National Association for College Admission Counseling and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA).  He is a Past President of New England ACAC and MASCA.  He became the full-time Executive Director of MASCA in July 2025 after having done that part-time since July 2019.  He was the former Team Lead of Reach Higher Massachusetts, an initiative of the former First Lady Michelle Obama.

He received his bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Springfield College (MA), his M.Ed. in school counseling from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and his C.A.G.S. in education leadership from American International College (MA).  In addition to his counseling duties, he is an adjunct professor at Westfield State University and American International College, teaching both school counseling and college admission counseling courses for aspiring school counselors.  He has published numerous articles and presented at over 80 national, regional and state conferences and in 16 states addressing school counseling and college admission counseling topics.