MCLA Returning to Pre-pandemic Patterns, In-class Instruction

By Brian Rhodes05:07AM / Tuesday, October 18, 2022Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — MCLA president James Birge said students are mostly doing well to start the new school year, after two-and-a-half years of remote or hybrid instruction.

"I think all of us know that the pandemic hasn't disappeared. It's in an endemic stage, and so there's a little bit of disease, but generally, the people that I've encountered seem really excited to be back," he said. "Really happy to be sitting with people and not necessarily online."

Birge updated the school's Board of Trustees on the beginning of the semester at its meeting on Thursday. He said the college is starting to return to more familiar patterns, noting that all the courses that had been remote or hybrid during the pandemic are once again fully in-class.

Another return to form from pre-pandemic, Birge said, is the full reintroduction of travel courses.

"There's a group that's going to be going to Peru, a group that goes to South Africa, a group that's going to Japan, and we have a spring break trip that's going to Belize," he said. "I'm excited to see people are starting to realize that it's a big world and there are places for us to go. Obviously, we'll be watching very carefully the emergence, or re-emergence, of the virus and all of those places."

One thing Birge said students are struggling with, however, is mental health. He said many students are taking advantage of the counseling and other services provided by the college.

"It's something that we had anticipated. It's been widely reported in the media nationally that students are struggling more with mental health now than ever before. And we've seen that here," he said. "... We're trying to be as supportive as we can be, either on campus or with off-campus resources."

Regarding COVID-19, Birge said the college is still monitoring the virus on campus. He said students still have the option to get weekly antigen tests and can continue to wear masks if they feel comfortable doing so.

In other business, the board welcomed new Trustee and MCLA Alumnus Jean Clarke-Mitchell to the board. Clarke-Mitchell is currently an Assistant Professor of Social Science at Lesley University and holds both a Master's and PhD in Social Work from Smith College.

"I'm happy to be here and happy to serve," she said. "I'm excited to see what I can contribute and what I can learn."

The board heard an update on the college's New England Commission of Higher Education accreditation review, which will take place next fall. The review judges the college based on nine standards, and MCLA is already working on a self-review in preparation for the visit.

"What NECHE is looking for us to do is to be able to demonstrate across these nine standards, really, a story of an institution," said Vice President of Academic Affairs Richard Glejzer. "Not how we necessarily got here, but that's part of it; but where we're going and the ways in which we get there."

The board performed its required yearly Title IX and equal opportunity training, led by Patrick Connelly, dean for Title IX, equal opportunity, and student wellness.

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Drury High Students Get a Taste of Local Beef

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:25PM / Saturday, November 07, 2026

The pilot program is being funded by a $180K federal grant and is part of a partnership of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures and Mass Farms to School.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Drury High School students don't have to ask "where's the beef" from, now that the school has partnered to bring local meat into its food service system.

Nonprofit Berkshire Agricultural Ventures (BAV) is partnering with Mass Farms to School to bring locally produced ground beef to school cafeterias as part of a pilot initiative funded by a $180,133 USDA Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant. The program is named for the retired Vermont senator who wrote the original legislation in 2010.

North Adams Public Schools is one of two school district partners on the pilot project, Lenox being the other.

BAV hopes the project can takeoff and expand into more schools or institutions.

"We're really hoping that it takes off, and that we, in the sense of we can work with, or more schools can be part of this in the future, and we can kind of work out the kinks, which I think is part of what this is all about" said Audrey Hackett, BAV's communications and development manager.

She said part of the nonprofit's mission is to help strengthen the local food system and work with local farmers.

"Part of BAV's larger work to strengthen our local food system. So a lot of what we do is work directly with farmers and support a lot of livestock farmers," she said. "More than 40 percent of our farmers in our region are livestock, and so we work directly with them oftentimes, but it's also increasingly an opportunity to work, you know, a level up at the food system level to bring together partners for projects like this that bring more local food into to our not only our schools. I mean, there are lots of opportunities across institutions throughout our region, hospitals, prison systems, nursing homes, and all of that remains to be done."

Last week, students were having burgers made from meat brought by Marty's Local, a regional food distributor that works with more than 160 farms and food producers.

Marty's Local CEO Sandra Thomas said it was great to partner with BAV to help bring the meat to the school, citing that getting more local meat into the market fills a gap in the local food system. Thomas was able to work with Cherry Point Beef, a Western Mass distributor that sources cattle from four local farms.

Food Services Director Thomas Lark said they are excited to be a part of the program and that it's important to be able to showcase local food on the menu, especially for the students to be able to try these new things.

"We want them to see local food on the menu, to know that it's coming from somewhere they recognize. A lot of the time with school lunch, there's a little impression of like, oh, what's this? Where did this come from?" he said. "And so, this is a great way to say, this is what it is. This is where it comes from. Like, it's just down the road. You've driven past here before, and have them understand that, like, we're serving local stuff too. It's not mystery meat from far away."

Lark also said they have been working with the meat since earlier this year, testing out new ideas to bring to the students like a Korean beef bowl.

"Was a new thing, but we thought new ingredient, new recipe, let's really highlight it, and it was pretty successful. We're running it again next Monday. Actually, Marty's truck was here this morning delivering the beef for next Monday, and we're going to run that again. And that was one where the students who were willing to try it really liked it, and were telling their friends like, "Oh, you should have gotten this." So we're excited for Monday, we'll probably see even more kids trying it out," he said.

The North Adams Public Schools were highlighted last year by the state for its farm-to-school initiatives to bring fresh, local produce to students.

A couple students who had the burger for lunch said it was good.

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