Toubab Krewe Performs in First-grade

Toubab Krewe - Drew and Justin

Every year Rainbow first-graders explore Africa through a large thematic unit which includes animals, food, biomes and stories and dances of its many cultures. African music was the focus when two members of the Asheville based Toubab Krewe visited the first and third graders to talk about their own experiences and play music they learned on their many travels to Africa’s Ivory Coast.

Toubab Krewe is an instrumental band which fuses the music of Mali with American musical styles. Drew Heller, a Rainbow Mountain preschool alumni, and band mate, Justin Perkins, strummed the guitar and plucked the Kora, a string instrument made from a large gourd. Justin learned to play the kora while in Africa and it was the stories of their time there that they shared with the kids.The children watched in awe, swayed to the rhythm and asked all sorts of questions like, “What does Africa smell like?”

Drew said it was great to come back and share music with the students.

A special thanks to Andi Morrell who contacted Toubab Krewe and encouraged them to come visit our school.

School Ski Trip – What a Blast!

fifth grader snowboarding

Approximately 75 children and adults from the Rainbow Mountain community enjoyed a fun-filled day on the slopes skiing and snow-boarding at Cataloochee in Maggie Valley, NC. Participants rose early to carpool from the school parking lot at 7:30 a.m. After arriving and suiting up, students, staff and parents had the opportunity to take an hour-long skiing or snow-boarding lesson from the Cataloochee staff. Afterwards, everyone hit the slopes for the next four hours, challenging themselves, learning from one another and sharing fun times with family and friends. The annual ski trip for 4th through 8th graders and their families has been a tradition at RMCS for 12 years and was organized this year by After-School Coordinator, Andi Morrell. The tired – but happy – group wrapped up the day by swapping ski slope stories over dinner at Garlic Knots in Maggie Valley before heading home to Asheville in yet another winter snowstorm.

Rainbow Mountain Soars on National Test!

The results are outstanding! This past fall, Rainbow Mountain Children’s School students, third through eighth grade, took the Stanford Achievement Test, or SAT10.  Compared nationally, Rainbow students score, on the average, in the 94th percentile in Reading, the 84th percentile in Language Arts, and the 90th percentile in Math by the eighth grade.

There are several remarkable things about the scores.  First, that the average is so high.  Such a large number of students score in the 95% and above (many are at a post-high school level) that the overall score is extremely high.  More importantly, no students score low enough to pull the average down.  This can be attributed to the small classroom size that affords every student the attention they need to be successful and to the research-based and innovative methods Rainbow teachers use.  Second, the students’ test scores steadily increase from the third grade through eighth grade.  Although the chart isn’t a straight line, the general trend in all three subjects is to be well above average in the third grade, while steadily rising through the middle school years.  This data trend speaks to the academic foundation Rainbow provides students in the primary years (focusing on imagination, concrete/hands-on learning, broad content, creativity, and multiple intelligences) and to the increased academic rigor in the older grades.

Rainbow Mountain is a holistic school that assesses students using a wide variety of methods. Standardized testing is only one strategy among many others, such as project work, research, oral response, and more. Rainbow teachers do not, in any way, teach to the test or prepare students for the particular SAT10.  Rainbow administers standardized testing in the fall, so that teachers, parents, and students can better understand their academic skills and goals for the year.  Also, since Rainbow students don’t receive traditional classroom grades prior to seventh grade, the experience with conventional testing is valuable in preparing students for high school.

Finally, Rainbow Mountain always looks at the whole child.  Yes, we are thrilled that our students excel academically, but that is only one piece. Ultimately, true success in life comes from living peacefully, working hard, being creative and resourceful, acting on compassion, and having integrity.