“If you want Santa Claus to be real, then you have to be like Santa Claus.”
Many of you who have told the Santa Claus story to your children, have been concerned about how to handle their disappointment when they realize the myth isn’t real. Although it sounds very cliche (but we are talking about Santa Claus here!), the myth is about having generosity and love in our hearts. Yes, Mom and/or Dad have been providing gifts in Santa’s name all these years, but that is because we want you to feel that love and generosity are real and universal. Love can travel the length of the globe in one night. It really is magic.
The Board of Directors has just released the latest annual report. The report contains information regarding academic performance, financial performance, goals for the year ahead, and much more.
With snow, sleet and low temperatures forecast for this Sunday and Monday we maybe looking at a delayed opening or a snow day this coming Monday. It is important that parents check the WLOS school closings/delay information on any day that weather and/or ice is questionable.
Let’s Talk Snow:
To cancel, or not to cancel, that is the question! At 6:30 am, in the dark, it’s a daunting question, and one I, personally, really struggle with. To be honest, I prefer making people happy, and I’ve learned the hard way that no matter what decision I make regarding potential snow days, someone is going to be unhappy.
So here’s the snow scoop:
-Know that we aren’t going to cancel very often. Although we are not a child care facility, we understand that scrambling to find child care at the last minute is almost impossible for some families (a much different scenario than planning for training days well in advance.)
-IF we decide to cancel or have a delayed start, we usually make our decision later than other schools (partly because we are waiting to see what decision the other schools make.) So keep your eye on WLOS’s website until about 7:30 am. After that time if you do not see that we are closed or delayed we are having school at the regular time.
-We understand that when the roads are bad some of you simply won’t be able to make it. Do NOT put your lives at risk in order to come to school. Although it would seem courteous to call and let us know you can’t make it, we actually prefer you don’t call the office, as the phones are very busy when the weather is bad. (However, your teacher may like it if you call him/her.) If you don’t come on a day that other schools were canceled, we will assume you couldn’t make it.
-If you are able to come later in the day, after the roads have improved, please do so. Typically, when the weather is bad, teachers are not able to proceed with their lesson plans, because of the high level of absenteeism. If you can attend later in the day, that helps the teacher and the rest of the class.
-If we have a delayed opening all classes/grades will begin at 10:00 a.m. There are no Before School services on delayed start days. Your child can arrive at their classroom anytime after 9:45 a.m. on delayed start days.
It was requested that a staff member email everyone at 6:30 am when we have snow closing/delays. While this is a very good idea in theory, it might not always be possible (even when roads are good, no one is in the office at 6:30 am), and it takes about 30 minutes to broadcast an email to all parents in all grades (we can’t do everyone at once, or it gets spammed.) Truly, while it does require some extra alertness on the part of parents to pay attention to the weather, it shouldn’t take any longer to check the WLOS website than it does to check for an email. We really do appreciate your cooperation.
Twice a year, Rainbow’s Omega class takes a field trip in their west Asheville community to their adopted spot on State Street and Amboy Road. It started two years ago when the class, a combined seventh and eighth grade, planted native elderberry bushes provided by Quality Forward. Since then the class has been revisiting the site to check the bushes’ progress, pull invasive, nonnative plants and to clean up the abundant litter left by those who neglect to see the site’s natural beauty.
This November the Omega class was happy to see new growth on the elderberry plants. They were also pleased to notice a lot less trash than on previous visits but still managed to gathered seven bags of garbage and found another discarded computer, an object they find on every trip. They pulled enough invasive plants to form four large piles to haul away. However the find of the day had to be the Rainbow Mountain Children’s School Adopt-A-Spot sign which was laying on the ground, grown over with ivy.
Thank you Omega for your hard work and for making Asheville even more beautiful.
Rainbow Mountain parent, Steven White, recently produced a video for the Bob Moog Foundation. The Foundation’s MoogLab project is in the running to win a $250k grant from Pepsi Co. “MoogLab brings electronic instruments like Theremins and synthesizers into underserved schools to teach children the science of sound, to inspire their own creativity and desire to innovate, and to forge connections between their classroom learning and fun, real-life applications.” The foundation is based in Asheville and the video features Summit Jaffe, a recent Rainbow grad, and Rainbow 3rd graders Bronwyn and Elijah. Visit Pepsi Refresh Project to learn more and vote.
The two projects with the most votes by the end of the month will be awarded the grant. Anyone can vote once a day during that time.
