Updated 6:30 pm
On Friday, Adult and Continuing Education of Martha’s Vineyard (ACE MV) held a small graduation reception at the West Tisbury library. The event celebrated the second cohort of Martha’s Vineyard teachers who received master of education degrees from Fitchburg State University through ACE MV’s program.
Richie Smith, the assistant superintendent of Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools, was also present to congratulate the graduates.
The partnership between ACE MV and Fitchburg State University began in 2016. The two-year program is designed to be a combination of online and classroom instruction, all of which happens on-Island. This helps teachers to advance their careers, and supports Martha’s
Vineyard’s education system. Otherwise, adult students would need to travel or even move to further their education.
“I was very grateful that we were able to do this on the Island,” Kellie Davies, a kindergarten teacher at West Tisbury School, said.
The program also helped teachers who did start with an education degree to increase their teaching skills. “The master’s was a great help since my bachelor’s was not in teaching,” Jennifer Weiland, a learning facilitator at Martha’ s Vineyard Public Charter School, said. “I started with a science background.”
Holly Bellebuono, executive director of ACE MV, said that working with Fitchburg State University has been a positive experience. “They have an excellent program. They’ve been so good to work with us. They really understand the dynamics of the Vineyard, and how difficult it is for people to get credentials here. So they’ve been very flexible and very creative.”
Deidre Brown, a social studies teacher at the Charter School, commented on how the program going fully remote due to COVID was less than ideal. “I think most of us agree when we went full remote, it was a loss. It felt impersonal … It was still a great program.”
According to the Massachusetts Department of Education, one program option for experienced teachers to gain eligibility for a professional license is to earn a master’s degree. Bellebuono said this program helps support teachers to fill this need on the Island. “Our towns and school systems are the better for it, and we wish these graduates much success,” said Bellebuono.
ACE MV program coordinator Rachel Hines also held a Q and A session for feedback about the program. The feedback was generally positive, with an agreement from the teachers that the affordability and convenience of the program were what pushed them to pursue it.
Charter School teacher Sylvie Dole mentioned the positives brought by the instructors and ACE MV. “The teachers were incredible. ACE was amazing. I wouldn’t have my master’s or be where I am in my career if it wasn’t for ACE,” Dole said.
With the Charter School moving forward with International Baccalaureate courses, Brown said, it would be great if ACE could help out with this, if possible, in the future.
ACE MV’s programs aim to fill the education and credentials gap that exists on the Island, but there may be potential troubles ahead. Bellebuono said that all six towns of Martha’s Vineyard contribute equal proportions of annual funding to ACE MV. The money is given to the All-Island School Committee, which hires ACE MV to be its provider of adult education. These funds amount to about 17 percent of ACE MV’s revenue.
Oak Bluffs voters approved $14,796 for the town’s share of funding ACE MV at annual town meeting Saturday, despite a recommendation from the town’s finance and advisory board that voters deny it.
The board voted to not recommend voters approve the funding, and instead have it be incorporated into the high school’s budget.
Bellebuono said this was the first time Oaks Bluffs was recommending its voters vote against funding the adult education programs.
Finance board chair Bob Gaffey said that during ACE MV’s inception, the town was told the program would become self-sustaining. Each year the program has continued to request funds from the town.
Several voters spoke out in support of funding the amount, which is a small percentage of the town’s $34 million budget.
Updated to include Saturday’s vote by Oak Bluffs.
Congratulations to you all!
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