Head of Charter School to take mainland job

After nearly eight years of leadership, the head of the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School will be leaving his post and moving into a teaching role off-Island. 

Peter Steedman took the director position at the school in 2018 after an extensive career as an educator. He served as a principal on two continents, in the U.S. and Brazil, for more than 15 years. Before that, he was a teacher in Miami, Norwell, the Netherlands, and Australia. 

After this academic year, he’ll be a teacher yet again, this time in theater at the Sturgis Charter Public School in Hyannis. 

“I’ve been here eight years, and it’s been a wonderful eight years,” Steedman said in an interview with The Times. He lives in Falmouth, and takes the ferry to work every day. “It’s truly an incredible community to be a part of. But after eight years of doing the commute, I think it’s time for me to move back to the classroom.”

Steedman announced this news to the Charter School board, staff, and families of the students, in an email he sent out in late September. 

“Since I arrived in June of 2018, I have been astounded by the grace and positive energy that greeted me from Charter staff, families, and students,” Steedman wrote in the email. “The founders of the Charter School and its former director, Bob Moore, provided a strong foundation that has enabled our small school on Martha’s Vineyard to flourish for 30 years … I am proud to be a part of this story.”

Soon after taking over the mantle, Steedman guided the school through the COVID pandemic, an unexpected turn of events that the school navigated by thinking outside the box and leaning into the gravity of the time. It focused on social justice and history classes, and uplifting the voices of students regarding memory and crisis, and the ways they were viewing the pandemic. He helped the teachers adopt a new math curriculum for grades K-10, bolstered the Brazilian Portuguese language program, and introduced the International Baccalaureate program to students, which is now in its fourth year. 

The Charter School celebrated its 30th anniversary this October, and Steedman said this year marks an opportunity for further growth and forward thinking. While he said this next step is an opportunity, he added, “I’m leaving behind something I truly love here.”

The news of Steedman’s move coincides with administrative changes across the Island’s schools. The superintendent of Martha’s Vineyard public schools, Richie Smith, is also leaving the Island at the end of this school year. There’s an interim principal at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, and many vacancies have been reported in school positions. Additionally, an estimated 60 percent of all teachers across the Vineyard schools are at retirement age. 

The Charter School board, led by board president Sheila McHugh Hazell, has already started the search for Steedman’s replacement. Steedman said he’s “looking forward to both engaging in the usual dynamic work of a school year,” and at the same time “supporting the board of trustees as they lead the process for selecting a new director.”

“Charter students, families, colleagues, alumni, and community partners: Thank you for teaching me so much over the years,” Steedman wrote in the letter announcing his move. “Journeying alongside you has been an honor and a privilege.”