Morning meeting looked a bit different at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School Wednesday morning, as the school honored one of their most important leaders.

Bob Moore, former director of the school, was recognized by the school for his 20 years of service. Mr. Moore retired in 2018 and a new multipurpose building will be named in his honor: The Bob Moore Learning Center.

Current school director Pete Steedman welcomed students, parents, teachers, alumni and community members to the outdoor ceremony, recognizing that much of the school’s community and culture is due to Mr. Moore’s work.

Current director of the charter school, Pete Steedman. — Ray Ewing

“Thanks to Bob Moore and his vision and his willingness to trust teachers and collaborate with them, he created a bold new vision for education on this Island,” Mr. Steedman said. “We have unique experiences that can only be found at this school.”

Charter school board president and alum Sheila McHugh Hazell commended Mr. Moore for his leadership.

“Bob led us with respect and integrity and curiosity, compassion and empathy, trust and stability,” she said. “He had such vision for our school, and he had commitment and strength, and he gave all of that to us.”

Recently retired teacher Jonah Maidoff reflected on Mr. Moore’s dedication to various learning experiences for students.

Toni Kauffman, Calder Martin, Paul Karasik and Bruce MacNelly.

“Bob saw what many others might have overlooked, the incredible potential of our students to learn, not just from books, but from experiences under his leadership,” he said. “The arts flourished at this school, not because we had state-of-the-art facilities, but because Bob knew that creativity, expression and collaboration were essential parts of the learning process.”

Mr. Moore took to the podium and thanked the teachers and staff members at the school.

“Our teachers change the lives of every kid every day they get in school,” he said. “Believe me when these people tell you, we have a talented group of teachers in this building, and believe me when Pete says our kids lives are changed every day.”

As part of the ceremony, sophomore Zora Morais played keyboard and sang Wildflower by Billie Eilish.

Mr. Steedman presented a sketch of the anticipated building signed by everyone at the school to Mr. Moore, and seniors Morgan Caruso and Quinn Floyd unveiled the banner.

Mr. Moore ended his speech by referencing a specific, prominent pillar of the charter school that he based his leadership on: trust.

“I trusted every person who walked into this building everyday to do the best they could do everyday and that’s what happened,” he said. “Our students and our teachers came to work everyday and did the best they could do. You trust people and they will perform at a level that you could not imagine.”