5 Reasons to Attend the Omega Open House

5 Reasons to Attend the Omega Open House

 You can learn so much at the Omega Middle School Open House

Our Omega Middle School Open House is right around the corner. We hope you will take some time to be part of this event, no matter your child’s grade in elementary school or middle school. It gives you an opportunity to see a Rainbow / Omega education across the grades, culminating with the 7th and 8th grade years in which students engage in larger projects, presentations, and leadership opportunities.

What made me a supporter of Rainbow, was the kids’ strong sense of self. They knew who they were and were not. They knew their strengths and weaknesses. And even though high school and college brings its own set of social and educational challenges, the students I met were at peace with themselves, ready to take on the challenges of young adulthood with confidence and determination. —Bill Drew, parent of a current 5th grader

Here is this year’s schedule:

Morning Session
8:30 – 10 am

  • 8:30 – 8:45 coffee/tea/chocolate in the auditorium foyer
  • 8:45 – 9:00 short presentation about Omega Middle School
  • 9:00 – 9:30 tour classes in progress
  • 9:30 – 10 Q & A with current teachers & students back in the auditorium

Evening Session
6:30 – 8:00 pm

  • 6:30 – 6:45 – pizza and salad in the auditorium foyer
  • 6:45 – 7:00 – short presentation about Omega Middle School
  • 7:00 – 7:15 – tour classrooms
  • 7:15 – 8:00 – meet recent graduates and ask questions with our alumni panel

The five big reasons you should come to the Omega Open House:

1. Meet teachers

During the school year, it’s not always so easy to speak with a teacher who is not attending to other tasks – students, planning, teaching, training, in a meeting, etc. Having their undivided attention to answer all your questions about what they teach and how becomes such a gift! The open house provides you this opportunity. Meet all the teachers in our Omega Middle School: Susie (division head), Susan, Jason, Niki, Justin, Lisa, Jenny, and some of our specialists.

open house


2. Meet students

We love opening up our campus so that you can meet students and see how incredible they all are. The programs and curriculum in the Omega program allows them to explore their interests more in-depth through our regular academic program and through our electives classes. We have extensive electives courses and our students can tell you about them.

open house

3. Meet recent graduates

You also have an opportunity to hear from recent graduates who can give you candid answers about how prepared they felt for high school. They can share about their Rainbow experiences, the transition to high school, and tell you much more about their academic and extracurricular careers as a result of their Rainbow / Omega experience.

You can get a great feel for how this works with our past alumni panels who have spoken at other Open Houses:

 

4. Visit classes

On the morning of the Open House, you can see classes in progress. On any given day, students engage in different experiential activities involving collaboration, problem solving, math, language arts and social studies.

omega open house

5. Get all your questions answered

We cannot stress enough the value in being part of an event like this. You get to see the “whole Rainbow story” and how proud we are of our young students and who they grow to be.

Last year, one parent attended and felt so moved by the event, he wrote a long letter of how this event alone helped him decide on a middle school for his child. Take a look! at Bill Drew’s Testimonial Letter.

We hope you will join us for an evening of connection, information, and fun! We’ll have door prizes and other giveaways, too!

Kaleidoscope – September 2019

Kaleidoscope – September 2019

Kaleidoscope

A publication by Renee Owen for parents to get a better understanding of what’s happening through her perspective

I believe that every child should feel utterly special. That’s what we are aiming for at Rainbow. Therefore, in early September, when I found myself on stage for Rainbow’s opening ceremony, I told our students that we are all in a special place (Rainbow), and the reason Rainbow is a special place is because each of them is here. I also wanted them to know about their place. I explained that before us, a church “lived” on the spot of the auditorium for 60 years, and before that the venerable Dr. Orr had a “gentleman’s farm” that spread out over this part of West Asheville, and he lived in the Historical Building… and sometime before that the Cherokee stewarded this land for a long, long time. We thanked the Cherokee people for taking care of this land so well before us and we honored all native people. In particular, we thanked First Nations people for sharing some of their most important stories with us — stories to help us learn to live in harmony.

I told the story of the Warriors of the Rainbow who were prophesied by many native legends to be the keepers of the ancient wisdom who would help to heal the earth and unite humankind. I explained that these aren’t warriors of war, but warriors of the heart. The Warriors of the Rainbow would have incredible courage – the courage to tell the truth even when people wouldn’t believe them and the courage to love even when people were hateful.

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Warriors of the Heart

I hope we are worthy of sharing that vision with the native people who told the legend. I want all of our children to think of themselves as Warriors of the Heart, or Rainbow Warriors – confident, accomplished, and creative learners who are prepared to be compassionate leaders in building a socially just, spiritually connected, and environmentally sustainable world – as our mission reads. That may sound lofty, but that’s what we show up to do every day at Rainbow. It takes compassionate courage from all of us to be here.

The work before the work

At Rainbow, teaching is considered a spiritual path. Not only do our teachers have to be master teachers by traditional standards, they also have to be highly developed in all seven domains. That’s partly why we spend so much time in professional development, learning from one another and learning from experts. Even before students arrive in the fall, Rainbow teachers have spent many days together learning, prepping lesson plans and materials, and also preparing themselves for the deeply emotional and spiritual work of teaching. Parker Palmer calls this “The work before the work.”

kaleidoscope march

Wholeness

This year, to honor our school-wide theme of “wholeness,” I am leading the faculty in six training modules from my dissertation research. The training is called “The Path of Authentic Learning”, and the six modules are Connection, Aliveness, Mindfulness, Openness, Authenticity, and Meaning and Purpose. We completed the Connection and Aliveness modules before school started. This helped the teachers develop connections with one another and the natural world, and it helped them to build a sense of deep connection and aliveness within their classrooms. The goal is to develop a sense of authenticity, or wholeness, where each teacher feels their inner self is in harmony with their outer self. How do we develop authentic kids? With authentic teachers.

Learning through listening: A Response to the End of Year Survey

Were you one of the people who filled out the 2018-19 End of Year (EOY) survey in May? If so, thank you. The EOY survey is an incredibly valuable tool that helps the Administration and the Board gain a better understanding of family experience at Rainbow and how we can improve. We really analyze the results.

To view the quantitative results of the survey, you can view the preschool results, and the K-8 results. As you can see, the overall results are very positive. Not surprisingly the “Quality of teachers” is the highest ranking response. Right behind that are communication, opportunities for involvement, the Rainbow philosophy, and the quality of the educational program. Some of the lower scoring items were diversity and equity, facilities, and safety.

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The RCS Board

While Board leadership didn’t have any scores below “fair,” that item had the fewest “very good” scores. I would like to put in a good word for our Board. There is an old saying that “board leadership is a thankless role.” Our current Board has been through days of training and retreats. They are diligent, wise, and very dedicated. Look for some upcoming messages from the Board in Rainbow Reminders this year.

Appreciations & Comments

Besides the quantitative items, your comments were rich and informative. I spend a lot of time with the survey results and even informally “code” the responses to look for trends. The vast number of written comments are about teachers and an appreciation for the holistic curriculum, the academic program, the community, the emotional safety, character building, and general appreciation. For example, “Nurturing, genuine teachers with a passion for teaching advanced, fascinating curriculum!”

Other than those appreciations, the biggest category of responses was about diversity and equity – both multiple positive appreciations and multiple requests to please do more. Yes, yes, yes! Equity and inclusion will be an ongoing focus for years to come. It’s work that is never “done,” and this is work that all of us – every parent, board member, faculty, and student – is a part of.

Some of the facilities comments expressed longing for a gym. (Wouldn’t that be awesome?!) Also, there were comments about the need for more after school space and a proper space for art and music. There were several appreciations for the aesthetic beauty of our campus. There were a few requests for a high school and a request for improved security. (We agree, and our new security cameras will be installed soon, in addition to all the other safety measures we invested in over the last year).

Beyond that, most of the other comments were singular — many that seemed particular to the family, or particular to a teacher. The most helpful comments are the ones that provide some context.

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About the Calendar

There was one comment about the number of days off. While our total number of calendar days is right in range with the other private schools in Asheville, I know the student days off are incredibly inconvenient, especially for preschool parents. We heard you! I hope the new program for child care during some of those days is helpful for K-8 working parents (and we wish we had the space and personnel to offer it to preschool).

Also, I ask readers to please note the high quality of the teachers that is so appreciated is directly correlated with the amount of time teachers have for training, collaborative meetings, planning, and the time they have to meet with parents on all of our conference days, plus the work days they have to write narratives and prepare for conferences. We are trying to find a balance that works for everyone, while ensuring your teachers have everything they need to be at their very best every minute, of every day.

kaleidoscope

Who is the Administration?

There was also one comment on the end of year survey about the number of people in Administration. The overall quantitative score for administration was mediocre in the survey. So, I thought it might be helpful to provide some more context:

The administrative team is here to serve families, students, and faculty. At Rainbow, we truly see our administrative role as one of service. Some administrative roles are very public, such as hosting events or providing direct one-on-one services–such as a Division Head helping a family navigate a child’s academic or behavioral challenges. These are the aspects of administration that are most visible.

However, most of our administrative work is quite invisible. This may seem counter-intuitive, but invisible is good. The Administration is most invisible when the school is running smoothly and everyone—teachers, family, and students—has what they need. We recognize that it can be puzzling to understand what all those “invisible” people on administration do, but I promise you, if they weren’t doing it, we would all notice it!

Of course, the teachers have the most visible and the most important role on the school staff. And behind every teacher is a host of administrative support—making sure campus is safe and clean, the bills are paid, equipment is working, marketing ensures enrollment is full, communication is flowing, technology is high-functioning, funds are raised, staff is well-trained and cohesive, events are effective, records are kept, laws abided by, staff are hired and evaluated, students and families are supported, materials are purchased, plans are made and disseminated, protocols followed, and on and on.

The administration does all of this so that the teachers can focus on brilliant teaching. To me, the teachers are rock-stars. Behind every rock star is a giant operation. The administration is the business, the promoters, the crew, and the entourage!

The most important thing? Rainbow’s number one top priority is for the children to have an extra-ordinary holistic learning experience. As a non-profit organization, my role as the chief executive officer is to write and administer a budget that uses all of our funds as efficiently as possible, while being fair and equitable and meeting our goals.

Our budgetary priority is for teachers’ salaries to be as high as possible and tuition to be as low as possible, while providing the highest quality of education and service possible. One way we do this is by keeping administrative salaries very low compared to other independent schools and public schools. (Also, about half of our administrative and non-teaching staff work part time.)

While every administrator would make budgetary decisions a little differently, and I certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with all our decisions, I appreciate the good faith the community places in the work we do as an administration in all of our behind-the-scenes service.

I wish I got to be in Omega Middle School!

Along with a rigorous curriculum delivered by the classroom teachers, Omega Middle School creates opportunities for our students to engage with diverse learning experiences that reinforce a holistic approach to education. This includes a dynamic offering of electives classes that are taught by our highly qualified teachers at Rainbow. These courses are designed so that students can dive deep into a topic that resonates with their personal interests and skills. It also provides an opportunity rich with inquiry and wonder as it connects to new learning and the Seven Domains.

I recommend reading the choice of electives for middle school, especially if your child is in third, fourth, or fifth grade. Personally, I want to take them all! Computer coding, inventing, gardening, social justice, facility maintenance, electronics, religious studies, plus all the great art, music, drama, Spanish choices, fitness choices, and much, much more.

Did you know there is a desperate shortage of blood?

When first grade teacher, Rachel Hagen, learned about the blood shortage recently, she couldn’t imagine the heartbreak of being denied urgent medical care due to a blood shortage. So she reached out to the Red Cross to organize the drive. Are you able to make the sacrifice and help?

What you need to know:
Blood Drive Info

You are invited: ZOOM at NOON Moved to October 4

Zoom at Noon was scheduled for this Friday, September 20, but that is when the Global Student Climate Strike is happening. So we moved it. Please click on the Zoom link at 12pm on Friday, October 4, or come to my office. We will discuss the value of social emotional learning and how it affects academic learning. Specifically, we will look at vulnerability. Vulnerability sounds scary! Let’s talk it through!

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What is the Student Climate Strike?

From the interweb: Since Greta Thunberg’s first school strike for climate a year ago, young people have revolutionized the way humanity perceives the scope of the climate crisis. On September 20, 2019, young people will kick off a worldwide week of action with an international strike. September 20th will be the largest mass mobilization for climate action in human history. This time, adults will be joining the youth-led call for climate action to demand world leaders take meaningful steps to address this crisis with the urgency it requires. Youth and adults will stand arm-in-arm in the fight together for the future of humanity.

Omega Middle School teachers and parents are supporting middle school students who want to strike. Many of Omega Middle School students will be attending the event downtown, where many local students are speaking. Click here for more information, or to join the event. I’m proud to honor the voices of our youth.

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A Sacred Invitation

Finally, we honor of our year-long theme of wholeness and the coming of autumn, we are holding a sacred fire on September 20. The fire will be in the outdoor classroom (next to the upper parking lot.) Feel free to stop by the fire to contemplate, celebrate, reflect, and simply “be.” The invitation:

as the wheel turns
  we come together
    and mark the time
reminding our selves
  of our connection to the rhythm
    of our presence in the story
      of our place within the whole

in humility in gratitude in love
we will hold fire

Friday September 20
from ~9 until school day ends
the space is open for all

Katie Wilson – Team Highlight

Katie Wilson – Team Highlight

We have some pretty amazing staff here at Rainbow Community School.

We have so many folks with myriad talents.

This month’s team highlight is Katie Wilson, our 5th grade teaching assistant. You’ll never guess what Katie was able to do last summer.

It all starts with a story about how she found Rainbow in the first place.

Katie Wilson staff

How did Katie become a part of the staff at Rainbow?

Katie’s life has been serendipitous! She temporarily relocated to Boone, NC after living abroad. She’d been teaching English in Mexico and returned to the US to continue her teaching career here.

While up in Boone, she found out about an opening in the after school program at Rainbow and decided to take it. Right then, she was working as a nanny part-time.

She loved Rainbow so much, that when the opportunity came to be able to work with Susie in fourth grade as a full-time employee, she jumped at the chance.

Later, she was able to move up with the same students to fifth grade this year.

Earlier in the year, the director from a summer camp where Katie used to work contacted her.

He was leaving his company to focus on retirement and asked if she would be willing to take on directing the summer camp for international students who wanted to learn English.

Katie’s former director worked the business side of the camp while she worked the educational and development side, including overseeing staff.

Knowing that she always wanted to develop her own educational programs, it was a great opportunity.

This past summer, she developed the entire ESL curriculum for the summer camp, as well as all the programming. She also had the pleasure of locating it at Rainbow!

The Summer Camp: Visions USA

The camp operated by recruiting students from Germany, Spain, and Italy who were interested in learning English. It provided an authentic setting in which to learn English as a Second or Other Language, as well as give students an incredible international cultural experience.

Students stayed with local host families and attended English classes in the morning at Rainbow for four days per week, and then engaged in more fun activities in the afternoons.

They spent time volunteering one day per week as part of the program. Volunteer work is an important component of camp programming.

This gave international students a chance to see what the Asheville community was all about, the struggles people faced and provided visiting students with opportunities to give back to the community in which they were living and learning.

Similar to what Rainbow students do during the school year, campers went to Manna, Black Mountain Home for Kids to help with events, volunteered at local high schools, helped to paint a mural, and more.

Fridays were reserved as field days where they would go rafting, to Carrowinds, go on an overnight to see the Atlanta Braves, or other similar activities.

The camp also offered language courses for the host families’ siblings, as well.international students

What were some things Katie learned about running a summer camp?

The summer camp session of 2017 was incredibly successful.

Students from different countries experienced US culture, and experienced each others’ culture in a supportive environment.

In only three weeks, they became best friends and formed deep friendships that will last well beyond their time at camp.

Katie loved the fact that she was affiliated with Rainbow and how she was able to share the attitudes that Rainbow cultivates, including its teaching styles, with all the international students.

Activities included centering, teaching to the domains, and incorporating positive discipline techniques to students who hadn’t experienced that before.

[bctt tweet=”Students can tell that Rainbow Community School is different: they value the whole child.” username=”@rainbowcomsch”]

The international students could really tell that life at Rainbow was different.

They were accustomed to a more regimented school setting and often remarked about the freedom and support they had.

Were there any challenges you faced as you ran the camp?

Katie reported how it’s interesting that every country and municipality has stereotypes and attitudes that they form about other cultures and people.

She found it necessary to look for ways to get past those preconceived ideas and really reach students to show them that we humans are more alike than we are different.

Overall, however, she had a successful first year as the director of a summer camp right here at Rainbow! She’s already gearing up for the 2018 session.

If you’d like more information about summer camp and even possibly hosting students, check out Visions USA.

Sheila Mraz #teamhighlight

Sheila Mraz #teamhighlight

This Tuesday’s #teamhighlight features, Sheila Mraz, Rainbow Community School’s passionate, loving, and incredibly enthusiastic Admissions Director. Long before she arrived at Rainbow, Sheila was a committed student to the art of education. After growing up in Ohio and graduating from the University of Dayton, she took the bold step of moving to North Carolina on her own. She taught everywhere, from an inner city school in Charlotte, to a Hendersonville public school, to a local prep school. Her experiences, while fulfilling, left her questioning what her true purpose was exactly. Within each of the three very different environments in which she taught, she found restriction after restriction. She felt limited as a teacher and asked herself what effect she was truly having on her students. Not only that, she began seeking something more for children everywhere.

It was at this time that she brought two of her own children into the world and the issue became more pressing than ever. Sheila says, “I loved this child like nothing else. I saw perfection in him and wanted, needed a school that was different”. She homeschooled for a few years before stumbling upon Rainbow Community School. She had heard about it previously, but had been turned off by rumors from the past. When she visited the school herself, however, what she found astounded her. While she had experience with multi-disciplinary learning and broad thematic units, the depths of “holistic education” were totally unknown to her and yet resonated on profoundly personal and spiritual levels.

Having attended catholic school for all of her education, Sheila was used to having spirituality be part of her school culture. While she didn’t want catholic school for her kids, she did want them to have a safe space in which to explore and openly talk about their spiritualities. She was relieved to see that here was this school that neither shied away from integrating the spiritual into the pedagogical, nor held onto religiously dogmatic beliefs in the classroom. She both enrolled her sons and applied to work at Rainbow immediately. While she had always taught Middle School math and sciences, she was offered the special challenge of being the new 3rd grade teacher. Her sons started preschool and kindergarten and so began the epic saga of the Mraz family at Rainbow. Three years later Max Mrax, Sheila’s husband, joined the facilities department and soon thereafter Sheila transitioned from being a full time Rainbow teacher, to being a full time Rainbow cheerleader and Admissions Director.

It’s clear to anyone who has ever interacted with Sheila why she makes such a great Admissions Director. Not only is she insanely passionate about Rainbow and holistic education as both a teacher and a parent, not only can she bring her experiences as a teacher at other schools into the conversation, not only is she charismatic, emotionally intelligent, and socially adept, but she also has a sparkling authenticity that flows through her every interaction. When asked if she ever gets tired of giving the same tour to prospective families she responds, “Not at all. Every tour is going to be completely different. The first thing I ask is, ‘What question do you want to make sure is answered by the time you leave today?’ and always that first question that’s on the top of their heart helps me navigate the conversation because I know that that’s what’s most important to them.” In many ways Sheila sees her role as reaching far beyond Rainbow. She is both a gatekeeper to our community as well as a beacon of light to so many families who are looking for something different, something profound. When she welcomes prospective families into her magnificent sunlit, plant-filled office she takes the time, energy, and heart-space to create a safe environment. She explains it this way, “I know that when they’re talking about their most precious person in their world, their child, many emotions come up and I want to be able to let them know this is a comfortable place. It’s ok to be vulnerable, to open up. I want them to know that not only will you be accepted and loved but your child will be too”.

Sheila acknowledges that not everyone can attend Rainbow and when asked what the hardest part of her job was she immediately replied, “Telling families no. That we don’t have space. Time and time again. That to me, rips my heart out.” Just because a family doesn’t end up attending Rainbow doesn’t mean their relationship with Rainbow is over or that their time and emotional investment in the school was a waste. In fact Sheila thinks that it’s more important than ever before that families, no matter if they end up attending Rainbow or not, come to witness what is truly possible. She says, “I want them to know that this is what education can look like… and should look like. I want them to have this type of model to envision for their child. If they can come here, awesome, but in reality so few can, and I want them all to see education from a different angle. I see that as one one my most important roles.”

At heart Sheila is a changemaker, a feeler, and a doer. She is highly tuned into the emotional and social domains and is constantly considering her place within her community and how best to support all those around her. Plus, she is an absolute dynamo of a self-starter. A true live wire. Something you might not know about Sheila is that when her kids were little and she had stopped teaching for five years, she and her husband Max, started not one but two businesses: a white water rafting business and an event planning business. Now that she’s been in the groove of admissions for six years, she’s finally started the photography business she’s fantasized about for years. You can look her up at http://sheilamraz.com/photography/. This woman just does not stop.

And this featurette on Sheila would be utterly incomplete without an explicit shout out to Rainbow Community School Admissions, so… if you’d like to find out more about the school (especially Omega Middle School 😉 check out our website to request a private tour with Sheila! She’ll be so happy to welcome you into her loving office, ready to hear what’s at the very top of your heart.

Kaleidoscope: May 2017

Kaleidoscope: May 2017

Happy end of year, everyone! You did it!

If you are a parent, you did it all. Through sickness, crankiness, bad weather, and whatever particular trials your family endured, you got your precious ones to school…and most of you got them here on time, with lunch in hand. You made huge financial sacrifices to pay tuition. And on top of all that, you donated and volunteered in order to sustain Rainbow as a healthy community.

If you are a grandparent reading this, you are probably highly involved. According to our information, you have probably paid some tuition, and have most likely donated to keep this school thriving. You understand the value of an extended family – not just the value of providing your grandchild with an intergenerational family, but also the value of surrounding your grandchild with a vibrant community.

If you are a faculty member, a teacher, you are completing another rotation in the grand theme of life – transformation. In your own way you have birthed, nurtured, and raised a new crop of loved ones, only to watch them move away from you. Once again, you remember that when you truly love someone, you set them free.

If you are a student, you are probably not reading this. But whether you are 4 or 14, you will have had the opportunity to reflect upon your growth this year. Who were you nine months ago? Who are you today? So much about you has changed, yet you – the thing about you that makes you indescribably unique, your soul – remains eternal.

And so it is, that each of us with our own perspectives and our own inner lives came together for a year and became as one – one community growing, morphing – each of us unique pieces of something greater than ourselves, something that would have been different were any one of us not a part of it.

Coming and Going
This is also the time of year that we bid adieu to students who are graduating or not returning next year as well as to faculty members who are moving on. Our wish is to send each of you onward full of beautiful memories and feeling prepared for your next adventure. Faculty members who are moving on are Ange Moore who is moving to California, but will be back to help with our More Than Mindfulness Conference on October 6 and 7; Bryan Gillette (preschool), Micah Gardner (preschool), Dave Leflar (5th grade), Gloria Ray-Sheberle (5th grade), Danny Peters (3rd grade), and Itiyopiya Ewart (1st grade) who is having a baby!

Most of you have probably heard that Doreen Dvorscak, one of our revered kindergarten teachers, is retiring from Rainbow this year. Doreen has been here for 12 years. She has taught every current Rainbow student who has been here since kindergarten. For twelve years she has brought the magic of childhood to young Rainbow children with her theatrical passion, clever wit, compassionate spirit, and clear insight. A butterfly garden is being planted in her honor near Max’s Gazebo so that Doreen’s magic can stay with us long after her time here has come to a close. As Doreen always says, “Once a Mariposa, always a Mariposa”! Doreen leaves behind a powerful legacy, one we will cherish and hold dear as we move forward into a new era for the Kindergarten Mariposas.

Looking beyond the 16-17 School year

There is nothing more important than having the right people working with your children.
Someone once asked me what I look for when hiring faculty, and I replied, “I look for inspired educators who are both highly developed in all seven domains as well as master teachers.” Sandra and I truly invest so much of our emotional energy into the hiring process, which can be very intense. So we are very happy to announce that we have completed the hiring process for the 17-18 school year! We hired six new assistant teachers, almost all of whom have lead teaching experience. Because they share and embrace our holistic educational philosophy, they are each extremely excited to be working at Rainbow. Besides our fresh crew of new assistant teachers, we have also hired a new lead after school teacher in preschool – Lauren Levine.

We had one lead elementary teacher to hire this year, and we were flabbergasted when someone who we consider to be a famous teacher applied to teach at Rainbow. Rainbow Community School is incredibly fortunate to welcome Paula Denton as our fifth grade lead teacher. Paula taught grades 3rd – 6th for eleven years in Massachusetts at The Greenfield Center School. As a “demonstration school” that trains teachers in best practices, the Greenfield Center School only hires and retains the finest teachers. Paula holds a PhD in education from Amherst and was on the faculty at Antioch for six years. Paula has trained thousands of educators across the country. She is author of two award-winning books on education, “The First Six Weeks of School” and “The Power of Our Words.” You will find “The First Six Week of School” on many Rainbow teachers’ bookshelves with covers falling off and dozens of dog-eared pages, as it is considered by many holistic educators to be the most important book about teaching ever written. Paula created “The Responsive Classroom” teacher training programs, which have been required for all Rainbow teachers in the past. She is a foremost expert in positive discipline and holistic, integrated teaching. Paula is a “superstar” educator, but most importantly, she is compassionate, loves children, and is very passionate about being a classroom teacher. We are extremely honored that Paula has decided to work at Rainbow Community School.

What goes on during the summer?
By this time of year, the administration has one foot in completing this year, and one foot in the 2017-18 school year. This summer the administration and the board will be doing our own versions of soul-searching. The board immerses itself into a multi-day retreat. They look back on our progress and take a deep dive into divining Rainbow’s future. They recraft the strategic plan and prepare the vision.
Meanwhile the administration pours over data – financial, academic, and performance data. We reflect on the end of year survey that you, our dedicated parents, provide to help us understand what your experience was like as a family, what we need to do differently, and what we need to treasure. (If you haven’t filled out that survey quite yet, go ahead and complete it HERE.) We re-design systems in an ongoing effort to continuously improve. Operations go into full gear, getting everything prepared for the school year – materials ordered, new staff readied, technology repaired and upgraded, and so much more. With the end of the fiscal year on June 30th, the business office calculates our financial standing and prepares for our financial review and annual report, while Max and Shaun give the facilities a makeover. Teachers spend three days together working on curriculum in June, and then they are in and out all summer long, preparing their classrooms, preparing for the children, getting lesson plans ready, and doing professional development. Our biggest push begins around August 1st, as we prepare for the teachers to return on August 14th. Then the whole staff and faculty meets and trains for about 10 days, preparing for your children. Thank goodness preschool is in session all summer long, because those precious preschoolers bring such joy to those of us on administration. We can get lonely on an empty summer campus. After all, we work here because we love children!

The Poignancy of Endings
At the close of the year, when reviewing all we have gained, all the ways we have changed that we could never have predicted, it becomes startlingly clear that the only thing left to say is… thank you. Thank you for raising children we can’t help but love from the moment they enter the classroom to the moment they step up to the microphone to deliver their 8th grade speech at graduation. Thank you for creating these creatures that inspire us with purpose and passion every day. I can speak for each of us who work here at Rainbow when I say that your children are the ones we owe our transformation to this year, and next year, and the year after that. They move us beyond what we could have ever imagined. So now that we’ve arrived at yet another ending, let’s take the time to celebrate, to express our gratitude, to foster our connections, and to bask in each poignant moment as it comes and as it goes.

With love,
Renee Owen