The Class of 2011 is open. Open to the world — Edinburgh, Prague, India, Costa Rica and France are among the places they have lived and performed. Open to the community — volunteering at the hospital, the animal shelter, the YMCA. Open to opportunities — seeking out mentors at various Island businesses.

School president Rachel Pires called breaking down the barrier between upperclassmen and underclassmen one of their biggest achievements. “I think our grade’s really open to being friends with everybody,” she said.

From its beginnings as a Navy base during World War II to its present-day status as the Island’s only commercial airport, the Martha’s Vineyard Airport has seen a number of airlines come and go. For the past 20 years the main, year-round airline has been Cape Air, with a seasonal presence from U.S. Air bringing in flights from New York and Washington, D.C. This summer, two new airlines began service to the Island. JetBlue and Delta are flying from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and will continue service until Labor Day.

Among them sat an aspiring novelist, an award-winning poet, a future math teacher, budding music-producer, businesswoman and food aficionado. The class of 2011 at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School graduated Sunday afternoon to the cheers of friends, family and teachers. With tears streaming down their cheeks and smiles on their faces, they accepted their diplomas and took in the atmosphere around them.

This Sunday marks not just high school graduation for seven students, but the 10th commencement in the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School’s history and the end of the school’s 15th year. Even before its first day of school on Sept. 16, 1996, the charter school has been attracting attention and a legion of admirers.

Gathered around the picnic table at the Polly Hill Arboretum this week, the graduating class of the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School reminisced about their time there. The group of six (one was absent) felt like a family. They smiled and laughed as they shared stories of their years at the charter school and spoke of the deep affection they had for the school. They loved the feeling of community, the ability to do their own thing, the self-accountability that the school instilled in them along with a love of learning.