A recent MVRHS graduate and Maine Maritime Academy student from Aquinnah died in a car crash early Saturday morning in Castine, Maine that killed four college students and left three others injured.
The Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School has recieved written approval from the Martha's Vineyard Commission (MVC) to add a 36 by 32-foot classroom to its existing facility; a building permit from the town is expected to follow within the next two weeks.
The Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School welcomed 30 new students, a new director and three new teachers last Thursday as it opened for its second year of operation.
The addition of a new class of eight-year-olds is the primary factor accounting for the school's increase in enrollment. Since last year's 14-year-olds will continue on as the 15-year-old age group, the addition brings the school one step closer to reaching its maximum teaching capacity: 180 students ranging in age from five to 19.
Students at the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School will receive a more balanced education during the new school's second year thanks to a new teaching format adopted by the staff.
Last year, students studied all the core subjects established by the state, but they did so on an intermittent basis. For example, instead of studying all the core subject areas simultaneously and year-round, a student might have taken English and history during the first trimester, math and a language during the second and science during the third.
The classroom is both comfortable and practical. Furnished with stacks of books, a Macintosh computer and a sprawling leather sofa, it is a bright room with windows offering a view of a forest and enough light to nourish three potted plants.
Here, nestled in the giant L-shaped sofa, half a dozen students read novels and write in journals. Some talk quietly, and others work on "dialogue journals." That means they write entries directed to teacher Meredith Collins, then leave the notebooks in a basket, where Miss Collins finds them and writes responses.
In Max Butler's first weeks at school, he will help set up a computer system.
Max, 12, will also join other students of various ages in a writers' workshop. He will take classes called understanding math and algebra, studies in science and problem-solving.
And that's only the first month.
An advisor with the new Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School helped Max design this schedule recently. In coming weeks, they will decide what comes next.
"It's pretty exciting," said Max, of Gay Head. "For the first time ever, I can't really wait to go back to school."
For Meredith Collins, public education was not very interesting.
Growing up in rural Maine, she was bored with school. To amuse herself, she made up lab reports. The only class she enjoyed was Latin, because her teacher was enthusiastic.
Most of the time, she found that education was like a prepackaged product.
"You're handed something, and if it's not what you want or what you need, you're out of luck," Miss Collins said.
Wanda Emin is happy with her children's school. Still, she was one of dozens of parents who showed up this week at an open house for the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School.
She came, she said, at the urging of Brooke, 13, and Heather, 10.
"We just came with an open mind, and we'll go home and talk about it," Mrs. Emin said, guessing that her daughters are attracted to the school because "what they like is being able to make their own decisions."
Betsy McIsaac, a long-time seasonal resident, heard that the Vineyard was getting a charter school when she read about it in the paper last summer.
Today, she is part of its educational advisory group. Because Mrs. McIsaac worked as a school administrator for 30 years, her expertise has been greatly appreciated by charter school organizers.
