A Welcome Letter to All Families

Dearest Families,

Welcome to the 2017-18 school year at Rainbow Community School and Omega Middle School. This is a very special year; it is Rainbow’s 40th anniversary.

In 1977, three visionary, highly educated women, who believed that education had the power to enlighten the world, decided to open a school founded on love.

Teach Love

Love — what a revolutionary theme for a school! It was so radical that these women spent a year educating parents about what a holistic school founded on love truly means.

Our founders began every school day – just as we do today– with centering, a mindful and heartful time used to create a compassionate classroom and support children in building a relationship with their higher selves.

Grow Love

Love is such a necessary part of being human that when love is nourished, children feel they can be themselves, freeing up their intellectual and creative abilities to become geniuses.

Children thrive when surrounded by love!

Because our children have thrived, our school has flourished.

Little did our founders know that 40 years later, the little school they had opened in a Sunday School room at All Souls Church, would have 222 students enrolled and be located on five and a half acres of central, verdant land.

Inspire Love

Love is contagious!

Not only does it spread from person to person, but when children feel loved, they in turn fall in love with learning.

What these founding women knew intuitively has since been empirically proven.

Thanks to MRI and other neurological technology that didn’t exist in 1977, we now know that emotions are deeply embedded into the brain’s learning processes.

Motivation is fueled by positive emotions, and when children are motivated to learn they can embody their whole selves, expressing their unique passions and sharing their diverse gifts.

Spread Love

Still today – 40 years later – we believe, just as our founders did, that an education based on love builds a solid foundation for strong communities.

Recently RCS founded Rainbow Institute with the purpose of spreading the Rainbow model of education.

This October 6 and 7 we hold our second annual More Than Mindfulness Conference.

This being our Fortieth Anniversary, one of our founders, Nura Laird (aka Ashrita Laird) is traveling from the University of Spiritual Healing and Sufism in California where she chairs the Department of Peacemaking, to give a keynote address on founding a heart-based school.

We are inviting all friends of Rainbow – including all of our former parents, students, and faculty – to attend the conference.

Alumni will also have a special opportunity to share stories about the fascinating and successful lives they now lead.

You are invited too! Register for our conference today.

Learn Love

Love is not to be taken for granted.

Like all good things, it must be learned, cherished, and practiced – at all ages – in order to strengthen it.

This year we begin our new parent enrichment program (PEP).

PEP will give parents and teachers the opportunity to learn from one another.

We will be exploring the science of childhood development and supporting one another in building compassionate understanding for our children and for ourselves.

Celebrate Love

This year, we celebrate 40 years of love.

We celebrate a vision of love that came true through forty years of service.

For forty years, teachers who chose Rainbow have dedicated themselves to enriching the lives of the children and families who chose love.

Serve Love

Ten years ago, I myself chose Rainbow.

And I chose Rainbow, like many of you, in large part because of our legacy of love.

I’ve seen our community grow and change dramatically over the last ten years, and always come back to that foundation of love.

I have learned that love often looks like service, and service is the best way to spread love.

I welcome your visits, insights, and questions as we continue to build on our foundation.

Let us each serve, in our own unique ways, so as to better extend ourselves into a socially just, environmentally sustainable, and spiritually fulfilling future.