Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. –Martin Luther King Jr.  

Rainbow Community School is governed by light and founded on love.

Connection to oneself, others, the natural world and the spiritual is at the heart of what we do. We are a school founded on the holistic development of each child. The essence of each child is seen, heard, celebrated and challenged. There is always a circle of light and of love around each child.

We educate for non-violence. We aim to equip children with compassion, empathy, resilience and respect. We teach compassionate communication, positive discipline and healthy conflict resolution. We provide a therapeutic response to education. We are trauma informed. We do this because we see every child, we hear each child, we celebrate and challenge every child. We love each child.

We do this because the world needs schools founded on love, the world needs teachers who see and can support the whole child, the world needs empathetic and compassionate children, the world needs love- now more than ever.

Valentine’s Day is a symbolic day of love but unfortunately, was tragic day for many last week. The events that happened in Parkland, Florida are sobering; it is the 18th school shooting already this year. We mourn for those families and that community, and strive to protect our own, perhaps turning inward to consider how we got to this point and where to go from here.

Keeping all children safe is always the highest priority and most important job of each employee at Rainbow.

This is our first focus- from informing and advising the community of school-wide health concerns to implementing things such as a safe school plan, lock downs and evacuations. These measures are put in to place out of love.

Even still, Rainbow Community School strives to provide an additional layer of protection. This layer is not necessarily visible, but is one that stays with each child well after they graduate. Our school aims to foster healthy relationships, nourish emotional health and well-being, make learning meaningful, support ritual and rites of passage and most of all, cultivate a spiritual identity rooted in purpose.

Contemplation, reflection, deep discussion, heart centered connection, healthy risk taking, simple play, time in nature, communal support and celebration are among the many elements that are woven together to provide these protections.

As we wade through the pain, anger and confusion of each moment of crises, we are left with many questions and become increasingly conscious about protecting all children.

The NRA says, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” but have the members of the NRA or the politicians engineering policy ever stopped and asked…why? Yes- changing gun regulation, policy and law is certainly a step towards ensuring our safety, however, it does not get at the root of the issue. It does not consider how these children end up choosing violence or what society has done or not done to fail them. This is where educational policy, programming, school culture and support come into play. This is where love can make the biggest impact.

How do we support children on their educational journey so they don’t turn to violence?

The answer lies in developing in not only the social, emotional but the spiritual domain. The healthier they are in these affective areas that more protection they have. In The Spiritual Child, psychologist Lisa Miller illustrates a clear link between spirituality and mental health. Her research shows that children who have a positive, active relationship to spirituality are 40% less likely to use and abuse substances, 60% less likely to be depressed as teenagers and are 80% less likely to have dangerous or unprotected sex. Ultimately children are more protected against risky behavior when their education, growth and development is rooted in their own spirituality. The research speaks for itself. This is what we offer kids. This is how we support them. This is how we protect them. This is how we love them.