Preschool Open House

The Chilmark Preschool is hosting an open house on Saturday, May 19, from 9 to 11 a.m.

Meet the teachers, tour the facility, and learn about the curriculum. It’s never too early to start learning calculus, you know.

Actually, the Chilmark Preschool prides itself on a play-based program. It serves children ages 2 years, nine months to 5-years-old, Island-wide. For more details, call 508-645-2562, extension 110.

An increase in special needs students is driving Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss to seek hundreds of thousands of dollars for a new combined elementary program targeting children with autism or severe communication disorders.

When four-year-old Dashiell Christy begins his day at the Chilmark Preschool, he decides which activity he wants to do first - playdough, blocks, or maybe making a pot of pretend coffee in a miniature kitchen.

This morning, Dashiell - or Dash, as his classmates call him - chose blocks.

Choice is a central tenet of the Chilmark Preschool philosophy, as laid out by director Christine Abrams.

Armed with the results of an anonymous survey that praised the Chilmark School for it small class sizes and strong sense of community but was critical of its leadership, communication and staff turnover, the chairman of a fledgling school task force unveiled a report last night, urging regional school board members to take action on more than a dozen areas of concern.