Vineyard Montessori School
The Vineyard Montessori School (VMS) Toddler classrooms have been full since the doors opened in the Fall of 2021 and maintain a waitlist. That same year, VMS became the Island’s largest provider of early childhood care and education. The two Toddler classrooms offer 18 children between the ages of 15 months and 3 years old an incredibly rich experience and working families a safe and wonderful placement for their child. Our data indicates that this addition has made a difference and is incredibly successful. The success can be measured in not only its ability to stay full with 18 children daily, but in addition with its "feeding" the preschool classrooms. This stream has prompted VMS to acquire an increased licensing capacity of 78 early childhood care and education slots. This has made a difference Island-wide, and we are thankful for the role that MVYouth played in supporting this expansion. We are now looking to the future! VMS is actively pursuing grants specifically designated for VMS Equitable Access, providing tuition assistance to working families. Childcare issues are workforce issues. When people don’t have access to affordable childcare, they can’t go to work, and when they can’t go to work, our local economies suffer. It’s that simple, and that’s why VMS is making childcare accessible. VMS has also launched the Campaign for Equitable Access to Education: Building Tomorrow Now. This campaign will increase toddler and preschool capacity Island-wide; build a cohesive, vibrant campus with healthy facilities; and generate staff housing. VMS knows there is not enough early education & care available on Martha’s Vineyard, and is positioned to answer the call. By 2025, VMS will have created 30 new spots, for a total of 108 spaces — closing the Vineyard gap by 65%.
Vineyard Montessori School
The Vineyard Montessori School (VMS) toddler classrooms have been full since the doors opened in the Fall of 2021. The two classrooms offer 18 children between the ages of 15 months and 3 years old an incredibly rich experience and working families a safe and wonderful placement for their children. Our data indicates that this addition has made a difference and is incredibly successful. The success can be measured in, not only, its ability to stay fully enrolled with 18 children daily, but in addition it is "feeding" the preschool classrooms, which are currently full for the 2023-2024 school year. In addition, we were able to increase the number of spaces in our preschool classroom to 19. VMS is currently the largest early childhood program on the island with 77 childcare spaces. This has made a difference in our community, and we are thankful for the role that MVYouth played in supporting this expansion.
We are now looking to the future! VMS is actively pursuing grant funding specifically designated for the VMS Strong Start scholarship. The Strong Start Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance to working families, enrolled in our Toddler and Preschool classrooms, that could not otherwise afford the cost of childcare. Our board is dedicated to providing equitable access to quality childcare for all Island children and to the importance of supporting the people who are essential to our community’s well being. Communities that invest in quality childcare for working families reap immediate benefits in the current workforce and are investing upstream in tomorrow's workforce. We believe that this improves the economic prospects of families, allowing parents to enter the workforce and increase earnings while their children gain the foundational skills to make them more productive in a future workforce. Vineyard Montessori’s strategic vision supports this work and care for our island’s future.
Vineyard Montessori School
Vineyard Montessori School is an independent school with a capacity of 107 students, currently serving Martha’s Vineyard and Falmouth, toddler through grade 7. This year, VMS expanded, becoming the largest childcare provider on the island with 77 early childhood spaces. Over the past 46 years, VMS has educated over 2,200 Island students. Five years ago, VMS created a dynamic strategic vision tool with built in flexibility and a wide scope. As a mission driven organization, the board set expansion goals to support working families and create a school community that represents our diverse island population. We have gleaned insight from the last 46 years and are leaning into a future with complex challenges and a renewed purpose for greater community impact building strong partnerships that remove barriers, create access, and narrow gaps.
Vineyard Montessori School
Vineyard Montessori School is an independent non-profit school currently serving Island children Pre-K through Grade 8. Over the past 45 years, VMS has educated over 2,000 Island students. Since reopening on September 8th, after a mandatory closure period, VMS has been providing in-person education to 65 children. We have had to pivot, suspend, and reimagine how we deliver the same exemplary curriculum. The families and students we are serving are incredibly thankful for the opportunity to be in school during a pandemic. This year our satellite campus is located on Church Street in VH. It has been great being a more integral part of the downtown business community. Our Toddler Expansion Building will be complete by spring, with the goal of a grand opening and licensing review to take place prior to the summer months. We are actively searching for Montessori lead teachers to fill the positions now open at the school due to the expansion. The lack of affordable housing further complicated by COVID-19 add to the challenge of locating and hiring qualified people that want to teach on the Vineyard during the pandemic. Four years ago, VMS created a dynamic strategic vision tool with built in flexibility and large in scope. As a mission driven organization, the board set expansion goals that support working families and creating a school community that represents our diverse island population. We have gleaned insight from the last 45 years and are leaning into a future with complex challenges and a renewed purpose for greater community impact, building strong partnerships that remove barriers, create access, and narrow gaps.
Vineyard Montessori School
PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT: Vineyard Montessori School received a $450,000 Expansion Grant to construct a new building on their Vineyard Haven campus that will add thirty-six new childcare spaces by summer 2021 (eighteen toddler spaces and eighteen preschool spaces). Vineyard Montessori School has been operating a preschool and elementary school for 45 years in Vineyard Haven. The school currently serves 60-70 children ages 2.9 years old through grade 6. Based on their enrollment records, historically roughly 40-50 of these children are preschool-aged. VMS estimates it has educated over 2000 children since the school’s inception.
Squash Meadow Construction has designed and will build the 2,400 square/foot modular structure this year. Two classrooms are planned for the downstairs space, each of which will accommodate nine toddlers. A third classroom is planned for the upstairs space that will accommodate 18 new preschool-aged children. Vineyard Montessori Schools plans to open the new space by summer 2021 to run an expanded toddler and preschool summer camp before the 2021/2022 school year begins.