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Robert Putnam is recognized on his retirement from the Hoosac Valley Regional School District in 2018 by Adams Selectwoman Christine Hoyt. Putnam, on Monday, was named interim superintendent at Mount Greylock Regional.

Mount Greylock Names Putnam Interim Superintendent

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Monday voted to offer an interim superintendent position to the former superintendent in the Central Berkshire and Adams-Cheshire Regional school districts.
 
Chair Christina Conry announced after the committee met in executive session for 38 minutes that Superintendent Kimberley Grady is on an indefinite medical leave.
 
Pending the successful negotiation of a contract, the district is hiring longtime Berkshire County educator Robert Putnam.
 
Putnam taught for 13 years in the Berkshire Hills Regional School District before moving into administration. He was the director of teaching and learning in the Berkshire Hills district from 2001-2003 and 2006-10, principal at Stockbridge Plain and Muddy Brook elementaries from 2003-06, assistant superintendent in Dalton from 2010-14, superintendent of Central Berkshire from 2014-15 and superintendent in Adams-Cheshire from 2016-18.
 
In between superintendent jobs, he returned to teaching in the Berkshire Hills district. He has been working as a consultant since retiring from Adams-Cheshire, now Hoosac Valley, two years ago.
 
"The district explored other possible interim candidates and felt strongly about Dr. Putnam," Conry told iBerkshires.com after Monday's brief, single-item public meeting.
 
The vote to hire Putnam on an interim basis was 7-0.
 
"We want to make sure we have clear directives," Conry said in the meeting. "The No. 1 priority is having our reopening plans mapped out. After that would be acclimating the new administrators to their roles and working with the subcommittees."
 
This spring, Grady hired Kristen Thompson as principal at Williamstown Elementary School and Jake Schutz as principal at Mount Greylock. The latter moves up from the post of assistant principal at the middle-high school. Thompson comes to the district from Albuquerque, N.M.
 
Late last month, rumors began circulating in the district after Mount Greylock Assistant Superintendent Andrea Wadsworth sent an email to district staff informing them that she would be acting as superintendent while Grady was "unavailable."
 
Wadsworth this spring had announced that she was leaving the district to take a job at Berkshire Community College. On Monday, Conry noted that Wadsworth was planning to leave the Lanesborough-Williamstown district on Wednesday, but Putnam is available to begin work right away, so "there will be some crossover."
 
It is the second time in seven years that the Mount Greylock district will be led by an interim superintendent. In December 2014, after the retirement of Rose Ellis, the district hired Gordon Noseworthy on an interim basis. He served from January through June 2015.
 
The School Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Tags: interim appointment,   MGRSD,   superintendent,   

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Swann, Williams College Harriers Compete at NCAA Championships

iBerkshires.com Sports
Mount Greylock Regional School alumna Kate Swann and the Williams College women's cross country team are in Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday morning to compete at the NCAA Division III Championship.
 
Williams crushed the field at the 24-team regional championship in New London, Conn., to qualify for the national championship.
 
On Nov. 16 at the Mideast Regional, Williams finished with 59 points, well ahead of runner-up Rensselaer Polytechnic, which collected 110 points.
 
Swann, a junior, was the second Williams runner across the finish line, finishing 10th overall with a time of 21 minutes, 36 seconds on the 6-kilometer course.
 
Williams has finished first or second in every event it entered this fall, winning titles at its own Purple Valley Classic, Keene State (N.H.) Invitational, James Eareley Invitational (Westfield State), Connecticut College Invitational and New England Small College Athletic Conference Championships.
 
The NCAA DIII Championships get underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course.
 
The Division I Stonehill College women's cross country team placed fourth at the Northeast Conference Championship; Pittsfield High graduate Kellie Harrington was the second finisher for the Skyhawks, placing 17th at the season-ending meet.
 
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