THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, September 27, 2024 Page 13 Pine Barbershop & Beauty Lounge Ribbon Cutting Special to The Advocate M ayor Gary Christenson recently attended the grand opening ceremony of Pine Barbershop & Beauty Lounge, which is located at 285-287 Salem St. in Malden. Business owners Master Aesthetician Erica Nepomuceno and Master Barber Adonias Nepomuceno worked for many years in the beauty and education industry and are excited to open their business – offering a variety of services with top-notch customer service in a relaxing environment. The new owners have substantially upgraded the facility and are eager to look to the Malden community to hire new employees. Services include hair cutting/styling, barbering, facials, nail services, aromatherapy and waxing. For more information or for hours of operation, please visit pinebarbershopbeautylounge@gmail.com or call 781399-1685. I ~ Op-Ed ~ Statement from Senator Lewis on the MCAS Ballot Question will be voting in favor of Ballot Question 2 that will end the requirement that a student must achieve a minimum score on the 10th grade MCAS exams in order to receive a Massachusetts high school diploma. I also intend to file legislation in January (at the start of the new legislative session) to implement an alternative, non-test-based, consistent and rigorous statewide graduation standard. Standardized tests like MCAS provide important and useful data about student learning and progress. Regardless of the outcome of Question 2, MCAS will continue to be administered in Massachusetts public schools, including in Grade 10. However, standardized tests are imperfect and cannot measure the full scope of skills, knowledge, and competencies that we want to develop in our young people and are critical for their future success. Standardized tests also pose particular challenges for students with disabilities and students who are not native English speakers. Research has shown that test scores are highly correlated with student demographics, like family income. I believe we can improve and Pictured from left to right: Pine Barbershop Master Barber Kayky Leandro, Majestic Day Spa Owner Antonio Carlos, Pine Barbershop Co-Owner Erica Nepomuceno, Maria Eduarda Barbosa, Mayor Gary Christenson, Pine Barbershop Co-Owner Adonias Nepomuceno, Majestic Day Spa Founder Carla Barbosa Alencar and Malden Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marianne Cohen. MALDEN | FROM PAGE 1 leases signed in Greater Boston in 2024. The lease further establishes Exchange 200 as one of the region’s key hubs of innovation in the cleantech industry and demonstrates the appeal of the building across a wide spectrum of lab- and R&D-intensive industries, even as the market has seen a slowdown in life sciences demand. Alsym, a developer of next-generation non-flammable, high-performance and affordable non-lithium batteries for stationary storage, anticipates using the larger space in Malden to grow its Boston-area team while increasing its production capacity to address increasing demand for customer samples. By signing this lease, Alsym is affirming the heavy demand for high-performance, non-lithium-ion battery technologies. “Expanding our operations to Malden provides us with the space needed to further advance the commercialization of our battery technology,” said Alsym Energy COO Graeme Grant. “This represents a significant step in our path to providing the world with safe, clean, reliable, and affordable batteries that are so desperately needed to succeed in the global energy transition. Our new cutting-edge space at Exchange 200 gives us the ability to speed up our pace of innovation, increase our capacity to provide samples to both existing and prospective customers, and get to market as quickly as possible. And being close to so many transit options – the MBTA, bike paths, highways – and great local restaurants make Malden an ideal location for our employees, current and future. We are thrilled to be joining the growing Malden tech and business communities.” Malden Mayor Gary Christenson, who has fostered a welcoming business environment for lab, life sciences and R&D companies in the city, stated he is looking forward to Alsym joining the growing ranks of innovative companies who call Malden home. “We are thrilled to welcome Alsym Energy to Malden Center and applaud their mission to ensure that the future of energy will be cleaner, safer, and more affordable for people not only here in our city but all around the world,” said Christenson. “Having a company like Alsym at Exchange 200 Alsym Energy’s new headquarters at Berkeley Investments’ development, Exchange 200 (Photo credit of Berkeley Investments) not only brings jobs and economic growth to the city but further positions Malden on a global scale as one of the top locations where cleantech and life science leaders are choosing to grow their companies and find talent. We look forward to a long and prosperous partnership.” Berkeley Investments’ Senior Vice President and Director of Asset Management, Dan McGrath, said, “Exchange 200 is engaged in leasing discussions with growing companies across these sectors because they’re attracted to the strong employment base and immediate access to rapid transit that Malden provides. The same companies also need the ample power and robust infrastructure that Exchange 200 offers in order to conduct their research and to build and test their products. And, just as important, during the current period of ‘belt-tightening’ by start-ups and venture capital-backed companies, Exchange 200 offers rents at half of the cost of other competitive properties in locations like Somerville and Cambridge.” For more info about Berkeley Investments, access www. berkeleyinvestments.com. For more info about Singerman Real Estate, access https://www.singermanre.com/. For more info about Alsym Energy, access alsym.com. strengthen our public education system for all students, especially disadvantaged students, if we replace the MCAS graduation requirement with a more holistic graduation standard. The legislation I will be filing will require all students (with certain exceptions) to complete MassCore, a recommended set of courses for high school students. MassCore was adopted by the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in 2007 and is currently recommended for all students, but not required. Requiring completion of MassCore in order to receive a high school diploma would strengthen course offerings across all high schools, ensure that all students are receiving a rigorous education, and provide a consistent statewide graduation standard. My legislation will also consider other ways to encourage high-quality student learning experiences, like capstone projects, service learning, vocational/technical education, advanced coursework, and work-based learning. In drafting this legislation, I will be consulting with a wide variety of stakeholders and listening to the voices of students, parents, teachers, and school administrators. Moving away from a graduation requirement based on standardized test scores and replacing it with course requirements and other richer student learning experiences would also align Massachusetts with the vast majority of other states. State Senator Jason Lewis Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Education
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