Year End Report 2021

January 2021 - December 2021

Reimagining Childhood 

Covid has invited us to reflect on and rethink everything we have known early care and education to be. Rather than limiting our program with new Covid restrictions, we have allowed ourselves to reimagine a program at Garden Gate that truly honors childhood and supports children in ways that will have the greatest impact on their early learning and development. 2021 has been both exhausting and exhilarating and we have leaned heavily into our relationships - with the children, with families, with coworkers and colleagues, with Featherstone and within the community - to bring out the best in our program.

Reimagining Learning Spaces

As we entered into our second year of Covid protocols, we continued to be grateful for our beautiful outdoor environments and our switch to reduce the amount of “stuff” in our classrooms. In our “classrooms as studios for learning” and in our expansive outdoor environments, we have witnessed an incredible focus on creative thinking and problem solving and deep social engagement. We are grateful for this time to observe and reflect on our learning environments as we prepare to move forward into new spaces in 2022.

In January of 2021, we began to imagine a permanent move to the Featherstone campus as a reality. We were grateful for the initial work of Matt Hobart and Aaron Robinson who helped us push renovation ideas ahead. We consulted with Ryan Bushey and John Abrams from South Mountain Company, grateful for their feedback and ongoing financial support.

In April, summer program parent, Darren Petrucci, invited Dawn and Leigh Ann to speak with students in the Junior Year Architecture Studio at The Design School at Arizona State University. Students were tasked with the assignment of designing a Reggio-inspired preschool. Our conversations with the students, as well as our reflection on their completed projects, helped us to articulate our own desires and goals as we move forward with our Garden Gate at Featherstone project.

After several conversations with Ann Smith (Featherstone’s Executive Director), Posie Haeger (Director of Development), Perry Patterson (Board President) and Larissa Bernat (Featherstone’s Board Liaison for Garden Gate), we finalized plans for a permanent move to the Featherstone campus in 2022. We joined in meeting with Ezra Sherman of Sherman Associates to begin the process of creating a Children’s Campus at Featherstone that will include a preschool building for Garden Gate, a children’s studio for Featherstone programming and shared outdoor and gallery spaces that will enhance creative and art experiences for our community youth.

Reimagining Educational Priorities

In order to create effective learning spaces, we must be clear in our educational priorities. As we reflect on our curriculum, it is important to understand how education is evolving. “Lifelong learning is the key to success in the 21st century.” In 2021, we recommitted ourselves to a focus on the 21st century skills of critical thinking; creativity and innovation; collaboration; cross-cultural understanding; and communication.

As part of our teachers’ fall Professional Development Day, we watched and discussed a video featuring Peter Gray and his model of self-directed education. Peter Gray, Ph.D., is a research professor at Boston College, author of Free to Learn and founding member of the nonprofit Let Grow. According to Gray, children come into the world with instinctive drives to educate themselves. These include the drives to play and explore. Gray writes for Psychology Today, primarily about these drives and ways by which we could create learning environments that optimize rather than suppress them.

The foundation of self-directed education depends on strong development of emotional well-being and social learning. At Garden Gate we have always prioritized social and emotional learning and in 2021 we looked to ways to strengthen and broaden this commitment. In March, Dawn and Leigh Ann met with Kate Roper, Director of Early Childhood Services, Division of Pregnancy, Infancy, and Early Childhood, Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Kate is a former colleague of Leigh Ann’s. They first met when Leigh Ann was taking graduate courses at Wheelock College and Kate was one of her instructors. Kate was extremely generous with her time and resources and informed us of many early childhood mental health resources and initiatives that are taking place at the state level. Kate is on the Pyramid Model State Leadership Team, focused on effective social and emotional support for young children in the classroom and at home. The Garden Gate staff had begun to join other island educators in island-wide Pyramid Model training prior to Covid. We are following up with leaders on the island to determine where training left off.

In 2021, a commitment to anti-bias and anti-racist education took on renewed meaning. Thanks to a grant from Martha's Vineyard Diversity Coalition we have been able to expand our school library to include 22 new anti-racism books for toddlers and preschoolers. These books written, illustrated and/or about children and families of color and of diverse backgrounds, support our children’s experiences, expand our children’s thinking and open up new perspectives and points of view.

Reimagining Kindergarten

As we reflected on our educational priorities, we were overcome with the need to look at where our Garden Gate children go after preschool graduation. For many years, parents have asked us if we would consider opening a kindergarten program at Garden Gate. This year more than ever, we realized the need to offer children a unique opportunity, an additional year of childhood in a setting that provides an individualized curriculum, inquiry based learning, a focus on friendship and community and ongoing commitment to preserve joy and wonder. We launched our Kindergarten at Garden Gate program in March and started our first kindergartener in September.

In addition to our discussion of self-directed education, we also spent a portion of our fall Professional Development Day exploring the work of Friedrich Froebel, the inventor of the first Kindergarten in 1837. Froebel believed that the best place for young children is a place where the child’s nature can be developed and nurtured. And he believed that learning occurs best through play, exploration, creativity, and educating the whole child through music, singing, dance, art, drama, movement, and the use of the outdoors. 

"Children should not be raised according to the current standards, but to possibly a better future condition of the human race."

In November Garden Gate was thrilled to be awarded a Martha's Vineyard Hospital Community Benefit Grant to support our new Kindergarten at Garden Gate program. This grant will, in part, allow us to fully develop our pilot, allowing us to be fully staffed with a full time Kindergarten/Preschool Lead Teacher and a part time Kindergarten Assistant; to provide professional development opportunities for our Kindergarten Lead Teacher; to purchase math, science and literacy curriculum materials; and to introduce this new program into the community with a reduced tuition for the pilot year. We are grateful for our community’s support of this important new option for families.

Reimagining Teachers 

At Garden Gate we value our staff above all else. Just as we respect the rights of our children and our families, we respect the rights of our teachers - the right to work in a supportive, emotionally healthy environment; the right to earn a worthy wage; the right to meaningful, personally motivated, professional development; the right to participate, be listened to, and make a personal impact on programming; the right to have their own personal and family needs respected; and, in our case, the right to do “nothing without joy”. In 2021, when other programs were losing teachers, some closing classrooms or even entire programs due to staffing shortages, we prioritized the well-being and the stability of the teachers who have dedicated their careers to Garden Gate.

In February, Leigh Ann published a blog post to illustrate the importance of our early childhood educators during this most difficult time of caring for and teaching young children during a pandemic, Taking Care of the Caregivers.

We are proud of the ways our staff has been recognized for its excellence in the community. In March, Dawn and Leigh Ann were featured in the Vineyard Haven Library’s special feature virtual gallery, "Women of Martha's Vineyard”. We were honored to be included among these talented and inspiring women in our community. And in October, we were surprised and honored to be awarded the Martha's Vineyard Insurance 2021 Teacher Grant. Our entire teaching team was nominated for their passion for early childhood education and their support of families and colleagues. Even more meaningful to us personally, were the many thoughts of thanks and gratitude that were collected from families and compiled into a book for teachers at Thanksgiving.

In addition to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, federal Child Care Stabilization funds distributed through Massachusetts EEC allowed us to maintain Covid-safe group sizes and teacher/child ratios. In addition, these grants allowed us to support our teachers and  respond to the teachers’ increased risks and stressors with additional financial compensation. The costs of operating during a pandemic are high - this funding helped to stabilize our program during a very unstable time.

Our teachers have taken on new roles in 2021. Each of us has learned more than we want to know about Covid transmission, prevention protocols, PPE and covid testing. Dawn has taken the lead in formalizing our role in supporting children’s mental health, Leigh Ann has traveled between Featherstone and W. Spring St. to support teachers with curriculum meetings, Amanda and Trina continue to expand their early childhood knowledge with online college courses, Sandra and Delia have held us up with their strength and commitment, our summer program teachers, Andrea and Amanda, have taken on more responsibility and our designated sub Heather has become an integral part of the staff. We continue to grow and learn and challenge ourselves as individuals and as a team of early childhood educators.

We also continue to look for ways to inspire the professional development of teachers beyond our own classrooms. In May, Garden Gate distributed an Impact Survey via social media and email to assess ways early childhood educators have been inspired by our practice. We received responses from educators, teachers, administrators and teacher trainers, in four countries and twelve states. Respondents gained knowledge about our practice through personal connections to Garden Gate, through our ECE retreat, workshops/conferences presented by Leigh Ann & Dawn, through our website and social media and through publications that have featured our work. Over 50% of the respondents report “I've adapted several ideas from Garden Gate into my own practice” or “I've made significant changes to my practice based on what I've learned from the work at Garden Gate.” One respondent expressed just what an impact a past visit to Garden Gate had on her own practice:

“When I think of Garden Gate I think of what is possible when simplicity and meaning intersect. Dawn and Leigh Ann have helped me understand that lesson planning doesn't need to be complicated or time consuming and can be truly responsive to children's interests and needs. I'm also impressed by the sense of community that is fostered through routines and rituals. When I visited, I instantly felt welcomed. As I toured the school it was clear to me that children and families were deeply valued and the environment reflected the unique culture of the school.

Garden Gate has inspired me to reflect upon my own teaching practices and think more deeply about my views around childhood, and my image of the child as a 21st century learner and citizen. Garden Gate has also challenged me to think about children's rights, and freedom of expression. How can I facilitate meaningful dialogue with my learners, about their right to participate in decisions that affect them socially, emotionally, physically, cognitively, and spiritually.”

Reimagining Relationships with Families 

In 2021, we continued to use the Brightwheel app to supplement our daily communication with families. In this year we have used Brightwheel, not only for check-in and billing, but more significantly to communicate easily and efficiently with families, send classroom updates and newsletters, record and share observations of children’s learning and complete lesson plans. Unfortunately, Brightwheel can’t replace the face-to-face gatherings with families that were so instrumental in building and sustaining community. Covid forced us to cancel many of our familiar, traditional events throughout 2021. We were able to enjoy in-person fall conferences and a modified Fall Fest before a resurgence of Covid cases forced us to cancel our end of the year Winter Celebration. We are so grateful to our families who continue to support us and each other in this time.

Participation on our 2021 Parent Advisory Committee has demonstrated families’ desire to stay connected and participate in the life of their child’s school. We are grateful for the leadership of Josie, Jess and Veronika and to all those who have reached out to join them. PAC participation on our Board has also provided great leadership support and will continue to guide us as we move into the exciting transition of 2022.

In May, we asked families to help us kick off capital fundraising for our Garden Gate at Featherstone project with our “Friends and Family Campaign”. We sought the support of families and friends as those most invested in the immediate future of our school. The support we received from Garden Gate staff and families, extended families and close friends was the catalyst for additional capital grant funding from the MV Bank and the Couch Family Foundation. We are humbled by your faith and generosity and enthusiasm for this project!

Reimagining Organizational Structure 

As we move forward in new directions, our Directors, Dawn and Leigh Ann, rely heavily on support and guidance from our staff, our Board and from our developing partnership with Featherstone. We expanded from two classrooms to three, with staff taking on greater responsibilities. And we continued to formalize our Board structure. 

In May, our Board voted to officially enter into a strategic partnership with Featherstone and we are fortunate to have Larissa Bernat serving as Featherstone’s Board Liaison for Garden Gate. This fall, Featherstone began offering preschool after school art classes and many of our children participated in this win-win collaboration in programming. We look forward to increased collaboration with Featherstone’s children’s programming as we move forward.

Reimagining Relationships within our Community 

Former Board member, India Rose, created a new website for us in 2021. Our new site is easier to navigate and provides ways to engage directly with our audience through online newsletter subscription, enrollment applications and donation options. Others in our community rose to the occasion to help us get phase one of our move to Featherstone off the ground. John Firestone, Sandra’s husband, Emily Bramhall, Lindsey Scott and Annie Yuen each played a role in organizing fundraising strategies. Annie Palches, former Early Childhood Coordinator for MV Public Schools, was a huge help in researching and writing grant applications.

The children in both our Featherstone and W. Spring St. classrooms spent many hours exploring their community throughout 2021. In Vineyard Haven, the children took long neighborhood walks, visiting the quiet of the cemetery, the sand and water at the beach and our neighbors on Main Street. At Featherstone, the children took to the trails and discovered neighborhood chickens, a community garden at Island Elderly Housing and a path all the way to the YMCA!

On the Featherstone campus, the children have enjoyed making friends with the people we see each day. Frank Creney is the property manager and he’s spotted all over campus, but most often in the pottery studio where he practices his art as a ceramicist. The children were thrilled to be invited in to collaborate with Frank on the creation of gorgeous pottery bowls. Helen teaches after school art classes right next door in the Children’s Studio and has helped us out in Studio Two from time to time. Visiting Miss Ann and everyone else working in the office is always a treat and the children have come to look forward to their visits to the Gallery.

We look forward to expanding our reach into the community in 2022 and forward as our relationships at Featherstone Center for the Arts continue to grow!