Faculty: Christine Ferrone, Kevin McGrath, Natalie Munn
Juniors & Seniors: Interested in Capstone?
Read our introductory letter
Spring 2025 Capstone Handbook
Introductory Video
FEATURED CAPSTONE PROJECTS
PAST CAPSTONE PROJECTS
- Juliet Morse: Potting Wellness: Installing Large Planters in Island Locations to Improve Wellness
Presentation - Annabel Eddy: How Does Our Garden Grow? Starting a Garden Club to Improve Well-Being at MVRHS
Presentation - Paige Alley: Improving Women’s Health and Well-Being at MVRHS
Presentation - Kayleigh Bollin: Making the Invisible Visible: Raising Awareness of Mental Illness through Photography
Presentation | MV Times Article - Nick Pecararo: Sound Sleep: Using Binaural Beats to Improve Sleep Quality for MVRHS Student
Presentation - Henry D’Andrea: Shots in the Dark: How Martha’s Vineyard Stands Out in A New COVID-19 Wave
Presentation - Davi Butkowski: Restoration of a 1968 Ford Mustang
Presentation - Madeline Chronister: A Guide to World-building
Presentation - Pete Gillis: Creating a yardage book for Farm Neck
Presentation | Website - Leo Neville: Giving a Hand: Crowdsourced Prosthetics
Presentation - Max Potter: Establishing the MAX DEPTH Podcast Series
Presentation | MAX DEPTH Channel - Gabriela Vieira: Establishing a painting business on Martha’s Vineyard
Presentation | Queen’s Painting Website - Zach Ward: Establishing a fly-tying business on Martha’s Vineyard
Presentation | Vineyard Flies Website - Mavi De Oliveira: Making Beauty Personal: Enhancing Natural Beauty Through Makeup
Presentation | Instagram | Youtube - Linda Borges: Soft Impact: Designing & Selling Clothing to Benefit Education in the Developing World
Presentation - Juan Sanchez-Roa: Designing a Virtual Camera for Blender (Animation Program)
Presentation | Website - Vivian Surprenant: Heroes of the Valley: I Made a Comic Book
Presentation - Maddy Tully: Writing and Recording an Album of Original Songs
Presentation - Jason Davey | Presentation
“Nearly Free”: Writing & Publishing a Novel - Dash Christie: A Tale of Woven-Water: Writing an Original Novel
Presentation | Website - Victoria Scott | Presentation
Sustaining Island Channeled Whelk - Isabelle Youmans: Make it Happen Today | Presentation
More past projects and project ideas are here!
Why enroll in Capstone?
- It sets you apart on college applications. College admissions want to know how you’re creative, independent, have curiosity, and can solve problems.
- Open to both Juniors (in 2nd semester) and Seniors.
- You can follow your passion through a rewarding project-based course.
- It gives you a taste of what college is like.
- It can be taken as an elective or for English credit.
- It is an amazing, unforgettable experience!
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The Capstone program at MVRHS is a multidisciplinary semester-long course in which you have the opportunity to pursue a project of your own interest. All 11th and 12th-grade students in good standing who are curious, determined, and willing to explore a new learning experience are eligible to enroll in the course.
Capstone embodies our school’s core values of resilience, accountability, curiosity, compassion, and community. With faculty, teacher-mentors, and expert-mentors as their guides, Capstone students grow self- and social-awareness. You’ll learn from failure, stretch your abilities, try new endeavors, learn project management skills, proactively assume leadership roles in the context of your projects, design solutions to benefit the island community and beyond, pursue known interests and passions, and discover new ones.
The Capstone course strengthens writing, visual, and oral communication skills. We practice and develop presentation skills throughout the semester.
The course culminates with a final product and a presentation. The final product is a tangible expression of your research and the skills you have developed through the course. A formal presentation, modeled after a TED talk, is a cause for celebration in the community. Lastly, your work in Capstone will last beyond high school as a portfolio of your work.
The most rewarding class I have ever taken…It’s almost like a build-your-own class. You pick what you want your focus to be, and you enjoy the time you spend researching because you actually care about it.
– 2018 Senior Capstone Student
For more info, please see our Spring 2025 Handbook.