Community Profile

In such a small community (year-round population of 75), bounded literally by water, every person plays an integral role. One especially key player in the Cliff Island community is Judy MacVane, who single-handedly runs and teaches at Cliff Island School (student body 7).

Judy MacVane

"I like living here because it is so peaceful and
quiet and I get to see a lot of the sky."

Judy grew up in Gorham, Maine and moved to Cliff Island in 1973 when she married Earl MacVane, an islander and lobsterman. This is her second year teaching on Cliff, although she taught previously on the mainland. She's noticed a decline in the student population not only since when she began teaching on Cliff (from ten to seven in the past two years), but also since her husband and mother-in-law attended Cliff Island school. There were once two schools, Seventh Day Adventist and public, occupied by 35-40 students each. Judy's husband taught for 23 years, and witnessed the student body drop from seventeen to five (three of whom were his own kids), at which point Cliff Island School decided to advertise on the mainland. Today high school students commute to Portland (an hour-long ferry ride) and Cliff Island School accomodates all younger ages in the same classroom. Currently the seven students range from first to fifth graders.

Judy's first class (2002-2003)

In addition to running the school, Judy is on the ACE board (Athletics, Conservation and Education), which organizes inter-island activities like performances, movies, and sport events. She's in the Women's Sewing Club on Cliff and has been involved with tennis through her son. Judy especially enjoys fishing during the beautiful summer months on Cliff. During the winter she enjoys sledding, but regrets not having enough time to go very often. She loves living on Cliff, which she describes as "extraordinarily peaceful," where she "can see a lot of sky," opposed to in the city, which is too crowded with buildings and not enough nature.

As mentioned earlier, in a small community, every person plays a big role. Judy in particular. Without Cliff Island School, families would be forced to move to the mainland in order to provide their kids with an education. Furthermore, she teaches a small, but diverse crowd; the range of ages, reading levels, and attention spans presents a challenge, which Judy handles gracefully. The curriculum is ever-changing, since the students she teaches do not change, for the most part, from year to year. This requires creativity and true devotion. She says that working with Cliff islanders has been extremely rewarding; these students are unique and have made her experience in the last two years on Cliff very distinct from previous years teaching on the mainland, according to Judy. She attributes this difference to the work ethic on the island; she finds her students "very independent, reliable, and responsible" at young ages. This profound enjoyment Judy has discovered through facing the challenges unique to such a small island school, and through working with such special kids, is reflected in her intimate and inspiring relationships with the students.