North Adams Schools Open for Business

By Tammy Daniels07:30PM / Wednesday, September 05, 2007Print Story | Email Story

Ashanti Sampson starts school.

NORTH ADAMS - Hundreds of children headed back to city schools on Wednesday - and quite a few parents tagged along. Echoing the more ambitious First Day programs in nearby Bennington, Vt., several schools opened their doors in the morning to encourage parents to join their children in getting acquainted with classrooms and teachers. "We're thrilled with the turnout we had," said Principal Shelley Fachini at Sullivan School. "We expected good turnout in the lower grades but we got a lot of parents in the upper grades who are here, too." The numbers could be seen in the line of cars down Kemp Avenue and in the crowded cafeteria, where children waited for their names to called. Classes gathered together and were led off by their new teachers. "We're going to get to know each other today," Linda O'Connell told her new kindergarten class. Once the children had their coats and backpacks stowed away in their lockers, they sat down with new friends to eat doughnuts and drink apple juice. "She was very nervous," said Kim Butler of daughter McKenzie after leaving her to O'Connell's care. "But I think I'm more excited than she is." In the classroom next door, Ashanti Sampson and Pacey Heller played with small colorful shapes while their mothers, Patricia Heller and Michelle Sampson, chatted about the joys and tribulations of raising children. "This is my good one," joked Heller bouncing Pacey's baby sister Gabriella. "She's always happy and smiling." Brayton Elementary held a similar morning program; Greylock Elementary held an ice cream sundae social last week and Conte Middle School an open house with activities on Tuesday night. Drury High School students were returning to a building being set up for wireless Internet access and a new program designed to encourage the pursuit of higher education. The Massachusetts Campus Compact College Access Corps, funded by a $1 million grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, selected Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts as a host site for a full-time college adviser and liaison who will work with MCLA's partner school - Drury High. "Hopefully, it will make college realizable for more students," said Drury Principal Amy Meehan last week. The district schools are also implementing the software program PowerSchool, which will allow real-time communications between the district schools as well as manage information for schools and parents. For the kids at Sullivan on Tuesday, it was all about getting used to new teachers, classrooms and schedules. "There was a good turnout all over the place, the buildings look good, the weather's beautiful, there are smiles on everyone," said School Superintendent James E. Montepare, checking in at Sullivan. "Everybody's happy to be here." Fachini was pleased as she surveyed a long hallway of classrooms filled with youngsters and parents. "Schools have changed over the years. It has to be a community partnership." Tiffany DiGennaro didn't need an invitation for the first day of school. She's always escorted daughters Shyloe and MacKenzie Gray on opening day to help ease the transition from home to school. Shyloe was in a first-grade classroom, and she had just bid goodbye to MacKenzie in the fourth-grade wing. With her was the girls' dad, Brent Butler, and his sister Kim Butler - all making sure all their children were settled in. "We're a very close family," said DiGennaro. MacKenzie poked her head out to call "I love you, Mom." "I love you, too," her mother responded. "Now get in the classroom." Tammy Daniels can be reached at tdaniels@iberkshires.com

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North Adams Shop Offers New & Vintage Games to Play

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:18PM / Saturday, February 21, 2026

The shop is located in the corner of the Oasis Plaza, next to the ice cream shop.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A new card shop is bringing old and new games and trades to Oasis Plaza.

Renzi Retro and Repair owner Christian Richardson opened last Friday at 150 American Legion Drive, right next to the ice cream shop.

Richardson grew up collecting and playing different types of video games. He was recently selling games and cards on Facebook before deciding to find a space last month.

"I really just liked video games. I play a lot of video games, and I just started collecting them. And then one day, I was like, Oh, why don't we try seeing if I can make some money doing it?" he said.

His shop is filled with older game consoles, Pokémon cards, sports cards, and video games new and old. He hopes to give people a better deal than other places.

"We're just trying to be different. We're trying to give people better prices than they're given other places. Since prices have got kind of crazy and it's hard to live nowadays, so we're trying to make it a little bit easier," Richardson said.

His shop will also take in items like consoles, cards, and other game accessories for trades or cash back.

"We pretty much take anything in, from cards to retro to modern games to consoles, accessories," he said.

He plans to get televisions and host tournaments on Sundays in the future.

"Tournaments are going to be a big thing that we're going to be working towards. We're also be working on getting TVs set up for certain days so people want to come sit down," he said.

Richardson wants his shop to be a space for people to gather and have fun.

"I just want to get more people off the streets. I mean, the area is not always the best, and people get involved in the wrong things around here," he said. "I just want to be able to bring people in at a younger age and give them a place to be able to play cards, or at some point, we're going to get TVs up so they can play video games. And I just want not everybody to be stuck on the streets and give them something to do in the community."

He hopes to one day expand and create a room dedicated to game play.

"I really want to get a whole store set up just for people to be able to come and play video games and and that's it not to buy things, but more of a place with a membership where you come and you play games, or you you do tournaments all day," he said.

His store is open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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