The Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School (MVPCS) heralded the beginning of construction of a project room and office space with a last day of school celebration on Tuesday morning.
Gathered on the school’s basketball court under an overcast sky, MVPCS students, faculty, families, and community members took in remarks by school officials and honored students and Brazilian culture. School officials commemorated the start of construction with a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony.
The first phase of the construction will add a multi-purpose project room and faculty office space to the school campus during the course of the summer. The project, which is entirely supported through fundraising efforts, will also include an egress hallway, new decks, and eventually, the Bob Moore Learning Center, named after MVPCS’s first director who led the school for 20 years and who died in 2024.
Portuguese teacher Maria Angela Moreira kicked off the ceremony by leading students in grades kindergarten through fourth in dance routines to celebrate Festa Junina, a Brazilian harvest festival that spans the month of June.
“For us the most important is the connection with the culture,” Moreira said. “Thank you, Charter School, for this amazing year and thank you for this amazing talent.”
MVPCS Director Pete Steedman paid tribute to Bob Moore.
“It was Bob’s vision for multi-age learning and project-based learning and to bring different parts of the community of the Island together to make the Island our classroom,” Steedman said. “It’s really his vision that made the school what it is today.”
MVPCS Board of Trustees member Keith Chatinover emphasized that the building updates would align with Moore’s legacy at the charter school.
“Bob was an incredibly important person in my life and so many of us. This is a great way to begin to honor his legacy and contribution,” Chatinover said. “This is just a start, but we’re really excited about the potential this has to make this school even better.”
Using shovels handpainted by MVPCS elementary school students, several school officials and construction project leaders lightly dug into the ground to symbolize the project’s start.
After handing out MVPCS tote bags to departing faculty, Steedman also recognized this year’s eighth grade class.
You’re in the presence of greatness,” he said. “This is an extraordinary class who have really done everything in their power to make the charter school a better place through their efforts in the classroom, and their experiences last year and this year on expeditionary learning. Going out in the community, they were always tremendous ambassadors.”
MVPCS eighth grade class speaker Hazel Hearn reflected on her student experience.
“If I could go back and tell my 11 year-old self how much I’ve grown and changed over the four years I have been here, her mind would have been blown,” Hearn said. “Even though I’m so thankful for all the memories I have made at this school, I think I speak for most kids in this class when I say that I can’t wait to grow and make new friendships.”
The ceremony concluded with the eighth grade class running through a ‘human tunnel’ composed of faculty.
Steedman told The Times that Tuesday’s ceremony marked new beginnings for both the MVPCS building and the people who inhabit its community.
“That’s the whole thing about the ceremonies like this,” Steedman said. “New chapter for eighth graders, new chapter for the building, new chapter for leadership.”