The Martha's Vineyard Family Center is losing its home at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School due to program changes. With this petition, we hope to encourage the MVRHS leadership to reconsider its decision.
We are disappointed to learn that the Family Center is now searching for a new home because of the recent termination of the MVRHS Early Childhood vocational program.
While the Family Center’s importance to island families is unquestioned, it is hugely beneficial and important to high school students too. Many attending MVRHS played and grew up in the Family Center and benefited from the support provided to their families. Furthermore, as many high schoolers struggle with core values like identity, responsibility and empathy, mixing with young children allows them to gain confidence and view firsthand the joys and challenges of child rearing.
Island families especially need support with these challenges and there are very few options available. Located in the center of the Island, in many ways the community's new hub with the nearby popular YMCA, the Family Center’s HS location is ideal, providing access for all. Families enjoy that it is open six days a week, from 3-10 hours per day, accommodating a myriad of schedules. During the past year, 650 families participated in at least one Family Center activity. Diverse offerings, which most occur within the walls of the Family Center, include parent education and support groups, parent/child activities, parent consultations, developmental screenings, free childcare for the ACE MV classes, among many others. All services are available to all Vineyard families at no cost. In short, this vital organization helps keep island children and families healthy and cared for.
The Family Center's presence on the high school campus needn't be limited to a vocational program in childcare. Weaving early childhood studies directly into the high school curriculum (academic offerings such as a semester psychology or sociology course, opportunities for internships and mentoring) would appeal to a broader range of students. The Family Center offers many possibilities to enrich the experience of the MVRHS students. Although focused on serving the needs of young families, the Family Center can also be a one-of-a kind, classroom that helps foster what makes this island a special place: community, education, support.
We strongly urge the HS administration, the MVRHS School Committee, MV Community Services, the Youth Task Force, and every entity that deals with children and families, to don their thinking caps as they seek creative ways to expand the Family Center's contributions on the high school campus.
