North Adams Students Return to School with Minimal COVID Restrictions

By Brian RhodesiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Students in the North Adams Public Schools return to classes this week with minimal COVID-19 restrictions in place, as the district continues to follow public health guidance on the virus.  

Superintendent Barbara Malkas said students will only be required to wear a mask when in the nurse's office or when returning from COVID-19 quarantine. K-through-8th-grade students returned to classes on Tuesday while Drury High School students began on Wednesday.
 
"Right now, both DESE and the Department of Public Health, in keeping with the guidance from the CDC, is recommending vaccination as a primary personal mitigation strategy," Malkas said at Tuesday's School Committee meeting. "And that includes not only the primary series of the vaccine, which children ages 6 months and up are now eligible for, but also includes boosters." 
 
Students who test positive for COVID-19 and are symptomatic must isolate. Students who are not symptomatic are still expected to attend. 
 
Malkas said parents will have the option to opt-in for symptomatic rapid testing for their child via a consent form. 
 
"If a child presents as being symptomatic, parents will be called, the child will be sent home," she said. "And the expectation would be that the child would either have a waiver to allow us to test them in school or for them to receive testing through the testing center for their health care provider.
 
Employees, Malkas said, will also have to follow U.S. Centers for Disease Control guidance. The committee approved updates to all of the district's student and employee handbooks to reflect the changes. 
 
In other business, Malkas updated the board on summer hires for the district, calling it unique compared to previous years, with difficulties finding qualified applicants. 
 
"This is a very different kind of hiring season than we've seen before, but it is something that is going to take a lot of additional effort and consideration," she said. 
 
The district, Malkas said, has three teaching position vacancies, several assistant teaching vacancies and a vacant adjustment counselor position. 
 
"The state is also very concerned because this is not just a North Adams Public Schools issue, but it has become a statewide issue," she said. "It just feels much harder and much more difficult in regions where we tend to have a limited pool of applicants to begin with." 
 
The committee approved a memorandum of agreement with Custodial Employees union AFL-CIO, State Council 23, Local 204.
 
• The committee approved a settlement agreement with the North Adams Paraprofessional Association/MTA/NEA.
 
• The committee approved a settlement agreement with the North Adams Cafeteria Workers Association. 

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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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