Updated June 24.
Amid an ongoing need for infant care on the Vineyard, a small dent has been made with a programmatic expansion at the Vineyard Montessori School.
Early Monday morning, the early education center swung open the small wooden gate to its new infant care classroom and added another seven spots that provide parents access to licensed caretakers.
Over 150 babies are born each year on the Island, but only an estimated 10 spaces exist for licensed infant care. Due to the state requirements for licensure, which require a strict 1-to-3 ratio of providers and infants, caring for babies 15 months and younger is more pricey for centers and family childcare at homes. As a result, there are just a few home providers and centers who offer the service.
The necessity for trusted yet affordable childcare continues to be a top concern for parents, teachers, and administrators in the industry. That concern is accentuated by two alleged cases of child endangerment active in Dukes County Superior and District Court. In one incident, the alleged negligence of the babysitter led to the death of a toddler.
“We know we need safe and healthy infant care for our babies here on the Island, so we’re really grateful to get going on this for families that need it,” Deborah (“Debbie”) Jernegan, the head of the Vineyard Montessori School, said.
The sound of babbling babies could be heard from the playground outside of Vineyard Montessori on the first day the center opened. Inside the classroom, seven wooden cribs lined one wall, with a play center on the carpeted floor on the other. One baby wondered at his reflection in a mirror, while another kicked her feet and waved her hands on a small pillow as an instructor prepared a bottle.
“They’re our most vulnerable population of children,” Jernegan said. “They can’t speak for themselves. They can’t walk. They can’t talk.”
Young parents face their own vulnerability in the process. Waitlists for toddlers and preschoolers are so long that providers advise new parents to sign up as soon as they know they’re pregnant.
“For many Island families, the lack of infant care has created difficult choices between
employment, financial stability, and safely caring for young children,” a press release about the new center stated.
Even if a spot is secured, the cost is the next hurdle. Affordability has become out of reach for parents across the state, according to data collected by Boston researchers Pamela Joshi and Abigail Walters. The pair found that the average Massachusetts resident spends 12 percent of their wage on childcare.
At Vineyard Montessori School, care for one infant is $28,000 a year, a comparable rate to that on the mainland, where the average cost is over $26,000 annually. At the only other center-based infant care provider on Island, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services (MVCS), the cost is $80 per day. Their annual cost is $20,880 for five days a week of infant care.
Still, there are efforts to ease financial burdens. Jernegan said families can fill out forms available at the center that are used to assess families’ financial needs and structure the tuition accordingly. Grants through the state and through local organizations, including the Slough Farm Foundation, can help mitigate high costs for parents. Jernegan also said the school had “been given money to help support families that need it” by the West Chop Community Fund and private donors.
Combined, MVCS’ infant care center and Vineyard Montessori’s new space care for 14 babies under 15 months. There are also multiple family childcare programs on the Island, some of which take in infants, such as Courtney Fitzgerald’s home in Vineyard Haven.
Kate Sudarsky, infant teachers in the new program. —Courtesy Vineyard Montessori School
“I am so grateful that there are now two center-based programs on the Island serving infants. Montessori’s new classroom will help to meet a critical need,” Heather Quinn, director of MVCS’ early childhood program, told The Times in a statement. “The demand continues to be the highest for infants and toddlers. Our infant classroom has been fully enrolled since we opened.”
Jernegan said the infant care center at Vineyard Montessori wouldn’t have been possible without donors and funding sources. Just one year ago, Vineyard Montessori had plans to open an infant care center, but was $4.8 million short. The Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, West Chop Community Fund, Slough Farm Foundation, and Carol B. Kenney, founder of Pathways4Health, were some of the primary supporters of the center this year.
And on opening day at Vineyard Montessori, spirits were high, although teachers were intentionally calm inside the classroom. During a midday visit, the lights were dimmed while some babies napped. Ella Jernegan, the infant program director, told The Times that the first day of the new infant care classroom started with her instructing each parent to turn their babies toward providers when handing them off. She said the purpose of the movement is so the babies can see where they’re going instead of where they’ve been; it’s a rhythm that she’ll replicate all year round.
“I love working with babies,” Ella Jernegan said in a hushed tone as she rocked an infant to sleep.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article said MVCS infant care would cost $29,000 annually for seven-day-a-week care; the center only operates for five days a week.