Most of the people in this audience are not in any way, shape or form related to the graduate. They’re just part of the community and this is important, so they come.”

Cathy Homan, who chairs the Prudence Island School Foundation

Islanders fought hard for their little school

The tiny Prudence Island School on Broadway, which runs east to west on the island, has been operated by The Prudence Island School Foundation since 2009, not long after the local district said it would have to close the building and ferry all island students over to the “mainland” schools. Previously, elementary-aged children stayed on the island, while students in the upper grades had to be transported to the middle school or high school.

“There was a lot of angst on the part of us on the island who did not want that to happen,” said Cathy Homan, who chairs the Prudence Island School Foundation. “We had gone and fought before (the R.I. Department of Education) to keep it open, and they made a decision that said we could not put little people on a ferry at 6:20 in the morning, and they wouldn’t get back until 4, if then. So, we had to come with something.”

A decision was made not to close the school until something was in place for the island students. “A memorandum of understanding came out in September of 2009 that said the School Committee and the island group, now known as the Prudence Island School Foundation, would take care of the little people and any child on the island whose parents wanted them to go to school on the island,” she said.

The Foundation, which raises money through individual solicitations and fund-raising events, started providing services to pre-school and middle and high school students who lived on the island as well. There are only a few paid positions at the school, which has successfully relied on volunteers to fill in any gaps.

The Town of Portsmouth transferred ownership of the schoolhouse and surrounding land to the Prudence Island School Foundation in 2020, and still provides financial support for the education of elementary-aged students.

Naturally, enrollment at the school is small and fluctuates. About 2,000 people live on Prudence Island over the summer, but that number drops below 200 during the academic year.

“Every year it changes,” Homan said. “The first year we started we had one, and then it went up to 13. This year we started with seven, which dropped down to six in the second semester.”

— Jim McGaw

PRUDENCE ISLAND — There was no long procession leading down to an athletic field, no band playing “Pomp and Circumstance,” and no long speeches by multiple students and faculty members. 

And that was just fine with Marissa Vargas, who had a high school graduation ceremony all to herself in the shadow of Sand Point Lighthouse on Prudence Island late Saturday morning.

Marissa is the sole member of the Class of 2024 from the Prudence Island School, the only operational one-room schoolhouse in Rhode Island. (The school opened in 1896 with one room, but a wing was added later when it was being operated by the Portsmouth School Department.) Any islander who doesn’t want their children to board a ferry to attend schools on the “mainland” — referred to as “America” by many Prudence residents — can send them to the schoolhouse.

Marissa, who’s lived on Prudence since she was 2 when her family moved to the island from Pawtucket, started attending the schoolhouse in ninth grade. She was previously enrolled at Portsmouth Middle School.

“It was a big change since going off island — a little different,” said Marissa, adding it was her choice to attend high school classes at the island schoolhouse. “It was much easier than going off island, and I liked it here more. I’m really close to everyone on the island.”

The feeling is obviously mutual, as about 50 islanders attended her graduation ceremony Saturday. 

“Most of the people in this audience are not in any way, shape or form related to the graduate. They’re just part of the community and this is important, so they come,” said Cathy Homan, who chairs the Prudence Island School Foundation, which has operated the school since 2009. “You know everybody, and frankly even if you don’t like ’em you would help them out and take care of them.”

Having the graduation at the lighthouse — which was recently taken over by the Prudence Conservancy — was Marissa’s idea. That’s the privilege of every graduating senior.

“We’ve had it at a place called the Stone Dock, which is on the west side of the island, and we’ve had it at the T Wharf, which is on the south end. It’s our fifth graduation (since the Foundation took over the school), but we had a couple that were doubles,” Homan said.

The sandy spot that offers panoramic views of Narragansett Bay was an obvious choice for Marissa, according to her mom, Valerie Bachini. “She grew up jumping off that dock,” she said, pointing to Sand Point Dock adjacent to the lighthouse and a favorite hangout for young islanders.

‘You will thrive’

Stephanie Jenness, described by Homan as the school’s “teacher/advisor, administrative assistant, gym teacher and a lot of other things,” gave the ceremony’s main address. Jenness said she’s known Marissa since she was a little girl and described her as someone who was shy around new people but outgoing and chatty once you got to know her.

“Marissa, you’ve gained so much confidence in the past four years. You’ve shown yourself and all around you that you have your mind set on something you’re truly passionate about. You will thrive,” she said.

Marissa’s passion is firefighting. “Marissa always talked about being a firefighter and when she turned 16, the first thing she did was join the Prudence Island Volunteer Fire Department as a junior member. She was the only one at the time. Recently, she became an active member now that she is of age,” Jenness said.

Lou Lepere, the department’s new fire chief, has been on the island for just seven months but said he learned about Marissa quickly. “We’ve had her out training. She backed the rescue in for a shot; we’ve got people doing this for 20 years and they need to be watched at all times,” Chief Lepere joked. “She was driving the engine on Tuesday and pulling water out of the bay, which is impressive for such a young person.”

Lepere presented Marissa with a scholarship award for junior firefighters. The graduate also received monetary scholarship awards from the school foundation and the Ladies Club of Prudence Island Churches, as well as citations from the Rhode Island Senate and House of Representatives.

Homan said she was proud of Marissa’s academic journey. “At this point in their lives, most young people carry with them backpacks full of negative thoughts about themselves,” Homan said, noting some people are just lousy at subjects such as foreign languages, spelling or botany.

“Marissa had that same backpack, but when she left the mainland and came across the bay to come to our school, she threw that negative backpack in the water. When she got here, she had a determination to leave all that behind and she was going to be a different person. She made a plan and persevered, and that is why this lady is here today.”