In a symbolic gesture, nine students on Saturday morning, each with a pair of special scissors, cut a ribbon draped across the historic main entrance of the Tisbury School, officially unveiling the newly-renovated, $82 million project.
“I am a firm believer that the most important building in any community is its school,” said Principal Custer in front of students, families, town and school officials. “Including students in the ceremony was important. After all, the school was designed and built for them.”
The renovation and addition have been long-awaited and follows years of challenges to the nearly century old building. Air-quality issues and chipping lead paint was discovered in 2019, a year after the initial funding request was rejected at a town vote in 2018 by just 21 votes. Town voters finally approved the project in 2022.
Officials were in good spirits on Saturday on hand for the opening. Tisbury town administrator Jay Grande acknowledged that the project coming to fruition was the result of “a community with an unwavering commitment to education.”
“It wasn’t an expense,” Grande said. “It was an investment in the future.”
Following the brief ceremony, select board members, school officials and other attendees were invited to tour the newly finished classrooms, redesigned offices, and recreational facilities.
Music, home economics, and arts and crafts have brand new classrooms located on the second floor of the new building. Updated library spaces—called media centers—are located on each of the school’s three levels and feature an open-door design giving an airy and spacious feel. A bridge above the brand new cafeteria connects the new and old portions of the building.
For many, the star of the show was the new gymnasium, which attendees viewed through a large window with its bleachers yet to be installed. The gym, featuring a stage for performances, is the first full-sized facility of its kind for the Tisbury School, which previously was the only school on Island not to have a full sized gym for kindergarten through eighth grade.
“The gym is a labor of love since we’ve never had a full-sized gym at Tisbury School,” said home room teacher and building committee member Rita Jeffers. “It’s a big improvement. The new ground-level entry improves accessibility.”
Notable features in the building capture a different Island theme on each floor, including nautical-inspired walls. Oceanic blues cover the ground level, sunny yellows on the second floor, and deeper blues cover the top floor.
Attendees also viewed the middle school playground from the second floor, complete with a full-sized basketball court, a “gaga pit” (a newer game that students are playing), and a new playground.
Families and community members were excited with the transformed space.
“Most schools I go into and I’m like ‘I don’t want to be here,’ but I walk into this and I’m like ‘I could be here all day,’” said Elizabeth McBride at the end of her tour, parent of a Tisbury School graduate. “I’ve never loved the way school buildings look but I love the way this looks. The brick looks great.”
Students were also excited. “I like the art room and the libraries with big open spaces and no doors on the first and second floor,” said sixth-grader Lorenzo.
During speeches, building committee member Connie Alexander paid tribute to the late Harold Chaplaine, a former committee chair instrumental in the completion of the renovation project. “Harold left this world too soon, but his tenacious spirit is alive in this building,” she said.
Principal Custer said he hoped those touring felt “grateful, inspired, encouraged, and proud,” of the new building and all its facilities.
“We are truly the best elementary school on Island and I am not afraid to say it,” said Amy Houghton, a longtime Tisbury school committee member and building committee chair.
