People often marvel at how well Rainbow runs. We have an incredible philosophy, curriculum, teachers, community, etc; but all of that doesn’t produce results without great systems. Five years ago, Rainbow adopted “Sociocracy,” also called “Dynamic Governance” — a governance system that collapses the hierarchy at specific times, so that everyone has an equal voice. Not only is this very empowering, but it seeds incredible innovation. It is a critical reason why Rainbow has become the innovative educational leader that it is.
There has been a lot in the media lately about Holocracy — the non-hierarchical governance system that Zappos has adopted. It’s not going so well, as this New York Times article notes. What is different between Holocracy and Sociocracy? The problem is that Holocracy “throws out the baby with the bathwater” by completely doing away with the hierarchy. Hierarchy, for all it’s problems (lack of innovation, lack of empowerment), has one really huge advantage — it’s VERY efficient. Sociocracy, on the other hand, is the best of both worlds. It retains the efficiency of hierarchy, while adding a level of systems that flatten the hierarchy for appropriate times. People have a voice in how the organization is run, they take on leadership and ownership, AND everything runs very efficiently. Best of all, in today’s world of fast-paced change, Sociocracy systems make Rainbow incredibly adaptable. As new ideas are introduced or problems arise that need to be solved (internal or external), innovative and effective solutions and strategies are quickly, often seamlessly, adopted.
Is that Elijah on the tractor? Omega Middle School students started their afternoon elective courses. These 7th and 8th grade students chose “Facilities Management with Max” as one of their electives. They are currently installing a trail from the old campus to the new. This is real learning! (Blisters included.) Other electives offered this year: computer coding, sacred geometry, drama, home ec projects, changemaking through service, 3-D Printing/computer engineering, plus a host of music and art electives.
Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year. At our graduation celebration in June, I asked everyone to reflect on the question “Where are you now?” Of course, this can be looked at through many domains. As a parent, where are you now? Parenting can be the most rewarding and challenging quest of all – providing unlimited learning opportunities. Where are you now, and how is being at Rainbow Community School an extension of your parenting?
Where are we now as a community school? After working so hard for so many years, everything we have been working for is coming to fruition. We are at a place of ripening, and we all get to share in the fruit of our labor. Here are some of the things we have to be grateful for and to enjoy:
Our new and beautiful facilities. We begin the 2015-16 school year with our new campus renovated and open, including the new courtyard and athletic field. This year’s facility project will be designing and fundraising for the outdoor classroom area on the new campus. Stay posted for more information and ways to get involved in this fun, enriching project.
Our community. After growing steadily for several years, we have completed our intentional growth, with about 200 students enrolled for this year. Now we have the opportunity to focus on broadening our population. The board and faculty are making diversity and inclusion the highest priority for the near future. Our children are fortunate to be in a caring, safe, and creative community.
Our accomplishments. We have received multiple awards, including being honored as a national Ashoka Changemaker School and a National Green School. As a national leader in holistic and innovative education, we are being asked to share our holistic programming with other schools and organizations. We hope to positively impact the direction of education on a large scale.
There are a few changes this year I want you to know about:
New Administrative Roles: As our administrative team grows to include more part-time, specialized positions, our roles are shifting. Sandra McCassim is stepping up to the role of Director of Operations. Sandra is now the top manager at the school. A simple way to explain the difference between what Sandra and I do is: I lead; Sandra manages. The difference between leadership and management may seem subtle, and of course, there is a lot of cross-over. I encourage you to read the “Meet the Administrative Team” flier for more explanation.
The New Middle School Program: Our new campus is ready to serve up to 60 middle school students. When I first came to Rainbow, there were 14 students in 6th-8th grade, so the middle school program and curriculum has been through more changes than any other sector of the school. If you have attended graduation and witnessed the profound speeches these young people make, you understand how rigorous and impactful the middle school program is. With the new size of the program and new facilities, middle school students will have a menu of new electives to choose from this year – everything from 3D printing to drama to facilities management. The core of the program will remain the same, which is character building through intimate relationships.
What’s ahead, and what is here and now.
We have a visionary board, faculty, and volunteer base that is working to take us into the future. We plan to positively impact Asheville, as a community. Each year, it will become more evident how much we are integrating with the community at large by hosting events in our community center/auditorium, by providing service and philanthropy, by giving students and parents opportunities to connect, and more.
The future we are all most enthusiastic about is that of each individual child. But for now, let’s circle back around to the present. Where is your child now? Enjoy these last days of summer. Enjoy your child’s ability to completely immerse her or himself in the present moment. Savor each moment, as there will never be another moment exactly like it again. You will be amazed by how much your child will have learned and changed in a mere ten months when we gather again for our graduation celebration.
“The perpetrator has been caught, but the killer is still at large.” We can always count on Reverend Barber, head of North Carolina’s NAACP and leader of the Moral Monday Movement, to speak the Truth. The killer is racism in all it’s forms. Nowadays, when blatant racism is seldom seen or heard in public, the underlying racism in our institutions, societal structure, cultural assumptions, classism, and the like, are even more pernicious. The killer who slaughtered nine of the brightest in Charleston is still at large, and as Professor White Cornell puts it, “The killer is us.” All of us who have been complicit or ignorant to racism. All of us who have watched our non-violent prison population explode. All of us who have failed to make eliminating “othering” from education and to make positive racial identity a key piece of education. All of us who have unchecked privilege. We are all responsible for what happened in Charleston. Once we can come forward and admit to that, hope grows. There is hope. There is always hope!!
If you want to hear Reverend Barber’s full sermon, check here. (It really gets going about 30 minutes in.) One thing you will learn that the media has not highlighted, is that the nine people who were killed were being mentored by the Reverend at Mother Emmanual. He had left his post on the SC senate to help his brilliant mentees become leaders in social action and in the church. Nine potential Martin Luther King Jr’s were just slaughtered.
“When I gave my first concert in Chartes, I felt that the cathedral almost kicked me out. ‘Get out with you!’ she said. For I was young and I tried to perform as I always did: by just playing my violin. But then I realized that in Chartes you actually cannot play your small violin, but you have to play the macro violin. The small violin is the instrument that is in your hands. The macro-violin is the whole cathedral that surrounds you. The cathedral of Chartes is built entirely according to musical principles. Playing the macro violin requires you to listen and to play from another place, from the periphery. You have to move your listening and playing from within to beyond yourself.” ~from violinist, Miha Pogacnik.
Our quest at Rainbow is so far beyond teaching children how to “play their little violins,” that we operate in another galaxy than most schools: We want them to vibrate from beyond (to use Pogacnik’s word). We want every child to sing their heart out!
Rainbow graduates are known to be brilliant. Brilliance is something more than smart or well-educated. Brilliance is indescribable light – so bright it fills us with inspiration. Brilliance captures something that is beyond us and vibrates within us. So what is the formula for teaching brilliance?
The arts are one of the most important means of helping children tap into spirit, or the powers beyond and within us. The arts help teach children how to play their macro violin. When one is truly creating, something takes over that is beyond articulation. When a group of people create together… a force even larger exists. Finally, when that creation is shared with an audience– if the magic happens– everyone is united in something that no one can describe. Welcome to the first IMAGINE performance in our own auditorium – our own humble version of Chartes Cathedral. Sit back, enjoy, and help us play the macro violin together today. Our quest is a journey into the beyond.
