by Webmaster | Aug 6, 2014 | Alumni News & Accolades, Director's Blog, Home Page News, News
August 6, 2014
Dear Rainbow Parents,
This is my favorite communication of the year – the letter welcoming you to the upcoming school year! As an educator, I can tell you that the beginning of the school year is as full of excitement and anticipation for the staff as it is for the students. Every year brings so much promise.
Ashoka Changemaker School
Last year’s welcome letter predicted that Rainbow Community School was entering a new era. Indeed, it was a banner year. We earned multiple local, state, and national awards, the most notable at the state level being the first Green School of Excellence in North Carolina, and at the national level becoming an Ashoka Changemaker School.
As a result of our Changemaker status, we are being asked to present at national conferences and to write for important educational blogs, such as Edutopia. Rainbow is being recognized as the cutting-edge leader in education that we are. Of course, the biggest, most dramatic change over the last year was doubling the size of our campus!
In one year we shifted from being a small school with unpredictable enrollment, to being near capacity for enrollment and having the ability to powerfully affect the future for our children, our community, and for education on a broader scale. It truly is the beginning of a new era.
We have accomplished something rare for a non-profit organization by going through tremendous change, yet coming through it with more stability than ever before. Pat yourselves on the back for being a part of it and making it happen!
Contacting Alumni
With all this change, it is important now, more than ever, to be true to who we are. We will be contacting alumni families, both recent and from as far back as possible, to remind them that they are always welcome on campus and forever a part of the community.
We will strive to share our good fortune as much as possible by partnering with, and donating to, Children First/Communities in Schools, providing tutoring at Deaverview Housing Project, and by doing other valuable service work; plus we will begin providing auditorium space to the wider community at our new facility.
Speaking of the new facility, please see the update on the Rainbow Rising Capital Campaign. Thanks to your donation dollars, the donated time and expertise of Christopher Fox Builders and Rowhouse Architects, and Max Mraz’s (facility manager) coordination, the first phase of construction is 95% complete, under-budget, and ahead of schedule! (Yes, it has been a busy summer!)
We will have a certificate of occupancy before school begins for the auditorium and for the new Omega (7th/8th grade) space which will be on the new campus. What a huge transformation… and the biggest phase of construction is yet to come.
Parent Summit Night – Sept. 29
Please mark your calendar now for Monday evening, September 29. We are requesting that at least one parent from every family attend the Rainbow Parent Summit that night.
Typically, we schedule this required meeting for February, but this year we are moving it all the way up to September 29 because much of that night will be focused on creating a facilities plan for the future of Rainbow.
How Can Rainbow Fully Serve Your Family?
We will be going into the next phase of construction in January, and need your dreams, desires, and creative ideas before then – both regarding the future of our facilities, and also our program. How can Rainbow more fully serve your family? More information on this board-hosted event will be coming from board chair, Claudia Konijn.
Based on feedback from parents, the administration has grown so that we can better serve the school’s needs. Cynthia Calhoun, woman of many talents, will still be teaching Spanish 1/3 time, and for the other 2/3 she will be heading up community coordinating and communications, including social media, marketing, and running the website.
We have also been fortunate to hire Sara Stender for part-time development management for the fall fundraising campaign.
The faculty continues to grow and become even more dynamic with each year!
Biographies of new staff members can be seen on the Rainbow website. The teachers have been busy preparing their classrooms, updating curriculums, and attending summer trainings. The staff will spend the 10 days before school starts together, preparing ourselves in every domain, including spiritually.
Visible Thinking and Singapore Math
Throughout the year the staff engages in extensive training. This upcoming year, we continue to sharpen our skills in Harvard Graduate School’s Visible Thinking tools and Singapore Math.
The new staff training theme for the upcoming year is in the area of teaching kids how to have agency through engineering and systems thinking. You will receive much more information on this, but what we mean by the word agency in this context is having power and being able to make a difference.
Teachers will be learning about the maker movement and how kids can learn to engineer electronics, robotics, and to think in terms of systems and how best to affect change through innovation.
Susie’s fourth grade class will pilot this program this year. If your child isn’t in fourth grade, feel free to stop by her fourth grade classroom to see their “tinkering table” which is essentially a kid-friendly work bench and to ask Susie what “tinkering” has to do with giving kids power.
Student Support Services
Also new for the upcoming year, we have completely revamped the student support services program. Every student needing special support will be paired with an advocate who will help the student and the family with the support plan, communication, and advocating for each student’s needs.
An excellent student support program doesn’t just benefit students with special needs, but enhances the educational experience of all children by creating classrooms where all kids experience success. The student support team is now headed by Ali Banchiere. We have added a counselor to the team. Blake Smith, formerly counselor at Carolina Day School, will be working on a limited schedule to put together the initial pieces of a budding counseling program at Rainbow.
All of this and much more is carefully crafted to create an environment for your child(ren) to thrive at Rainbow in 2014/15 – a safe space where there are magical arms of a whole community enfolding them and all the resources necessary for children to take risks and try out their agency.
Of course, that looks quite different at different levels of development – from three year olds learning to zip their own coats, 3rd graders navigating their first social dramas, 6th graders experimenting with new personas, and Omegans peering into their soul and preparing themselves for high school and beyond. What will the future bring?
Thank you for joining Rainbow for this journey.
As executive director, I am honored, humbled, to be a part of such an awesome community and a vibrant future, as reflected in the eyes of your children.
Please – please – don’t assume I am too busy to have a conversation on the deck or to see you in my office. (Although we have grown so much – over 400 people including kids, parents, staff — you may need to remind me of your name!) One-on-one conversations are the best opportunities to connect and my favorite part of my job. I care, and I am here.
Let’s get ready for another great year.
Blessings on the journey,
Renee Owen
Executive Director
by Renee Owen | Jul 30, 2014 | Director's Blog
When I read this I thought, That’s what Rainbow teachers do! “A spiritual teacher/mentor’s role is unique in that the goal is not to transmit knowledge or understanding as much as it is to somehow bring about a recognition in the student of the student’s own pre-existing nature. This is a much more subtle thing than simply teaching someone a skill or understanding.” ~Quote from Nirmala in Kosmos Journal, June 2014.
Photo credit: Cynthia Calhoun
by Webmaster | Jun 24, 2014 | Director's Blog, Global Citizenship, Home Page News, News
Rainbow Warriors
Students who come to our school become the Rainbow Warriors. They learn about themselves, how to relate to the world, how to live sustainable lives, and how to respect all people. The Warrior is our mascot.
There is a story behind the mascot. Its roots are deep in the Native American Indian tradition.
This story is adapted from Warriors of the Rainbow by Reneé Owen.
Long ago, when various tribes roamed this land, there was an elder named Eyes of Fire, who could foresee the future. She foretold that because of the greed of the people, one day the fish in the streams would begin to die, birds would fall from the air, the oceans and seas would turn black, and the trees would cease to be.
There would come a time when “keepers of the legend, rituals, and myths would be needed to restore us to health.” The keepers of this sacred knowledge and these Ancient Customs would have a name: the Warriors of the Rainbow.
They will be humankind’s key to survival.
The Rainbow Warriors would be many and great. They must be strong of heart for there will be terrifying mountains of ignorance to conquer. They will find willing hearts and minds that will follow them on this road of returning Mother Earth to beauty and plenty once more.
These Warriors would tell how the world today has turned away from the Way of the Great Spirit and that is why the Earth is sick. Thus, the Warriors must teach the Way of the Great Spirit with love that flows like the pristine mountain streams to the oceans of life. They would show that miracles can be accomplished to heal this world and restore Mother Earth to health.
The Warriors of the Rainbow would see that their young were educated with love and wisdom of their surroundings.
They would teach respect for Nature. They would teach the people the ancient practices of Unity, Love, and Understanding. They would teach of Harmony among the people of all four corners of the Earth.
There would come a day of awakening when all the peoples of all the tribes would form a New World of Justice, Peace, Freedom and recognition of the Great Spirit. The sick and needy would be cared for by their brothers and sisters of the Earth.
The children would once again be able to run free and enjoy the treasures of Mother Earth. The rivers would again run clear, and the forest would be abundant and beautiful. The powers of the plants and animals would again be respected, and protection of all that is beautiful would become a way of life.
The day will come, it is not far away. The day that we shall see how the ancient knowledge will be our key to survival, and return us to harmony with Nature and humankind.
Photo credit: Cynthia Calhoun
by Webmaster | May 16, 2014 | Director's Blog, News
Kaleidoscope, May 2014: All the colorful things happening at Rainbow Community School, from the Executive Director
What a marvelous time to be alive. Life is bursting forth! It’s an exciting time to be a part of the Rainbow Community, as one great thing after another comes alive.
Is Your Child a Future Changemaker?
We received word that after months of interviews and research, that Rainbow is being inducted as an Ashoka Changemaker School. This is a huge honor and responsibility. We join 34 other Changemaker Schools nationally who represent the cutting edge future of education – schools with a mission to educate children to be “changemakers.” Changemakers are social entrepreneurs who improve lives and make a difference in the world with high ethical character, problem solving skills, creativity, and an innovative approach to solving social and environmental issues. The changemaker committee was particularly intrigued with our mindfulness/spiritual approach to education and community.
Did You Hear?
The Mountain Xpress ran an article last week about Rainbow becoming the first NC Green School of Excellence. There are three tiers of achievement for NC Green Schools, and we are the only school to achieve the level of excellence. We scored 99 out of 100 points! On Monday, May 19 at 10am there will be ceremony at school with the Green Schools committee, and WLOS will be filming.
Is it possible for the amazing faculty to get any better?
To prepare for next year’s growing population and to replace the few faculty members who are leaving, we are busy hiring new talent. Every class will have a full time assistant teacher, plus some help from support services. I look forward to sharing the exciting biographies of these new hires this summer. Just to tantalize you, here are a few snippets: a PE teacher with an MA in physical education who spent two years volunteering around the world; a naturalist who was Barbara Kingsolver’s gardener, a British assistant teacher with an MA in education who was the outreach and development director of the Maui Earth Day Festival, a locally loved preschool teacher who is Montessori certified and a mindfulness expert, a Sacred Geometry expert and Science teacher who was hired to teach a Buckminster Fuller-inspired program he designed to all the students at the famous Sidwell Friends School, where the Obama children attend…and more.
On the Run
This Saturday, May 17, Girls on the Run start their 5k at UNCA at 2pm. I will be running it with them this year! I am so proud of these girls. A big thanks to coaches: Pamela Goodrum, Mehera Kleiner, Cheryl Dalton, and Sandra McCassim.
More Recognition
It turns out I have been nominated as Small Business Leader of year through Asheville’s Chamber of Commerce. It’s hard to imagine I will be chosen for the award, given all the dynamic business leaders in our community, but just being nominated is an honor, and it has helped me recognize even more how outstanding our local Chamber is. I hope to partner with them to mentor our young Rainbow entrepreneurs next year (see next article).
Young Entrepreneurs
This year 6th grade piloted a new youth business incubator program, where students developed socially beneficial business plans, including a marketing plan, profit and loss projections, and so on. They presented their plans to a team of investors last month, who provided loans of up to $20 per business start-up. This has been one of the most remarkable pilots ever – I am blown away by the initiative and vigor of these young entrepreneurs, many of whom are continuing their thriving new businesses long past the end of the unit, including feng shui house cleaning, natural egg production, tie-died hand sewn hats, natural candles, pet photographs, and more.
Celebrating the New Expanded Campus and Planning for the Future of Facilities
The annual May Day celebration seemed especially colorful this year, and thank you to the board and everyone who helped coordinate the ceremony to unite the new property with the old property. Wind, our faithful custodian, was the pied piper who played his flute and led us all from the May Day celebration over to the new property, where Stewart Stokes led a simple ceremony, ending with a dance of universal peace with the words “Spirit is around us like a Rainbow ‘round the sun.”
It was good timing to christen the new property, as I am happy to announce that we just broke ground to begin construction to attain our certificate of occupancy (C.O.). Our fabulous architect (and parent), Jeff Dalton of Rowhouse Architects, has taken us through the complex process of analyzing the most cost-effective way to get that C.O. Then, our incredible contractor (and parent), Chris Fox of Christopher Fox Builders, filed the permits and helped us find the best subs for some of the requirements such as new plumbing, fire alarm system installation, electrical exit lights, and panic hardware for the doors.
Immediate Goal: To obtain the C.O for the new Omega classroom (old fellowship hall) and the performance hall in the main building for use for upcoming school year.
Impact: Financial security from expanded enrollment, great programming, awesome community-building performances
Timeline: Complete and moved in by August, 2014
Cost: $97,000.
Funds available: $75,000
Funds needed: $22,000
Details about Funds Available:
Of course, the $200,000 we raised in the fall was the first of the $600,000 capital campaign, and it was to purchase the property. So now we are using the next round of funding for this first phase of construction. The $75,000 already pledged for this phase is:
- $50,000 from the McMichael Foundation
- $25,000 in 2nd year pledges from the Rainbow Rising Capital Campaign.
Details about Funds Needed:
We submitted a grant to the Glass Foundation for $17,000. If it is funded in full, we are only $5,000 short of the $97,000 needed to get our C.O!
Plans to Attain Remaining Funds Needed:
After we hear from the Glass Foundation, we will be asking people who made first year pledges, if they are ready to make a Year 2 pledge, as well as requesting funds from other foundations. If you know of a family foundation that is a fit, or you are ready to help make this project happen with your Year 2 pledge, contact Sandra McCassim at 828-258-9264, ext 120 or Sandra.mccassim@rainbowlearning.org or Micah Pulleyn at micah.pulleyn@rainbowlearning.org.
The Future
Opening up the performance hall and new Omega space is just the beginning. In the fall, we will be posting the architectural plans and gaining community ideas for the next phases of construction and landscaping, including opening up the basement of the main building, constructing a courtyard, expanding the middle school, and eventually building a new building with a large multi-use space and state-of-the-art music, art, and science/tech facilities. Preliminary architectural plans are available in the office, and they are very inspiring!
At the community circle held May 5, the architectural plans were shared as well as fundraising plans to pay for construction costs. Parents brought up the eventual need for a professional development director, and in general, a need to build the administration so that we can maintain or even improve the quality of leadership, communication and attention we provide for staff, students, families, and the wider community. Yes!
Projected Growth
Rainbow has a clear growth plan, designed to provide financial stability and build programming options through a larger population, while maintaining a strong, intimate community.
Enrollment autumn of last school year P-8: 128
Current enrollment P-8: 168
Projected enrollment for 14-15 school year: 186
Approximate enrollment for 15-16 school year: 200.
Sheila Mraz has been doing inspirational work in admissions, so we have many new and interesting families enrolled for next year. The following year, after completing construction on the new property, we can reach our cap enrollment, which will be 42 preschoolers and 16-20 per grade K-6, with the potential to grow the middle school slightly more. Thank you for all the references you have provided. The vast majority of new families are coming through word of mouth. Wonderful!
Sign of the Times
It’s taking a long time to get our new sign! Creative metal-work and sign-maker, David Tomlinson spent months working back and forth with us throughout the fall to design our new Rainbow Community School sign. He went into production in December, but progress has been complicated and slow. Unfortunately, David is now suffering from an injured back. Hopefully, we will have the new sign before next school year.
The old sign has our old name on it, but our official name is still actually Rainbow Mountain Children’s School, but we are filed with the State of North Carolina dba Rainbow Community School. (Therefore use of either name is legally okay.) Steve Schnedler, a skilled trademark attorney with Van Winkle Law firm has been generously working pro-bono to help us gain a national trademark for Rainbow Community School. The process will take another year due to some complicating factors – hopefully the new Rainbow Community School sign will be up long before then!
A Perfect Score
After a very rigorous process, the Rainbow preschool just earned their 5 star rating again – this time earning a perfect score. Kudos to our incredible preschool teachers, who are so conscientious about maintaining the highest quality of programming possible while loving each individual child.
Thursday is the most creative day of the year: Imagine!
Last year’s Imagine was a look inward at who we are. This year’s Imagine has many of the same characters (including the puppets we all created with our artist in residence, Donovan Zimmerman, of Paperhand Puppets), but it is a journey outward. We are ready now to begin reaching out into the community and into the universe to expand our horizons and share vision.
Composers: Richard Gannaway of AO Music, International World Music guru and composer of the Chinese Olympics Theme song. Richard has been composing and recording music with the 2nd grade class.
Billy Goodrum is the other composer for this year’s Imagine. He won’t actually be at Imagine because he has to be at the Cannes Art Festival in France. He created the score for two movies that will be there – one with Sophia Loren, and another that won the 48 Hour Film Festival nationally.
This week Rainbow turns into a giant Imagine production studio. The excitement builds as the children prepare to share their creative depths. It promises to be exquisite and meaningful.
Performances: Thursday 10:30 am and 2:30 at Calvary Baptist Church. Plus, if you can make it, Omega will perform a play at 1pm.
The Big Transition
There are twelve 8th graders who are fully prepared to fulfill their goals in high school. K-8 graduation, June 3, will be on the in front of the Orr Mansion one last time. We are outgrowing the long-standing tradition of holding the ceremony on the front lawn, so unless you get there early, it will be standing room only. Next year, graduation will most likely be moved to the new performance hall, which will be the back-up rain-out location for this year.
Reflecting back to the beginning of this school year, we proclaimed that it was the beginning of a new era for Rainbow. Indeed, it has been a banner year, and there is more to come. As I watch the children on the playground and in their classrooms, I marvel at how much each of them has grown in every domain this year. Each is a wonder to behold. What will their future bring, and what will they bring to the future? We hold this in our hearts, as we plunge toward summer, and many fruitful seasons ahead.
by Renee Owen | Apr 10, 2014 | Director's Blog
This is a powerful video by Ken Robinson entitled, “How to Escape Education’s Death Valley.”
We, as a culture need to think about the Dropout Crisis and engage students. According to Robinson, in some communities, nearly 80% of students drop out of school. If we halved that number and allowed students to flourish, the net gain to the US economy would be $1 trillion over ten years, according to some estimates.
One of the effects of the No Child Left Behind act forces students to focus on a narrow spectrum of material. We have to instill curiosity in children to make them shine, not have them do clerical work for hours on end.
A very important and inspiring video!
by Renee Owen | Apr 9, 2014 | Director's Blog
![Ole Palnatoke Andersen [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons](https://rainbowcommunityschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/kaleidoscope-puzzle-300x225.jpg)
Ole Palnatoke Andersen [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
We will also be saying goodbye to Chris Keeler, PE and After School teacher at the end of the year. Chris is moving to Korea! The definition of GOOD GUY, Chris has made and incredible impact on everyone in the short time he has been here—so incredibly loving, playful, and good-hearted. Of course, we are very happy for him, but he will be so missed. Sigh.
Global Connections
Our dynamic Spanish teacher Cynthia Calhoun, is becoming an expert in global education. In fact, she just finished a webinar with HarvardGraduateSchool on the subject, and her graduate degree has a concentration on the topic. This is going to be great for Rainbow as she would like to help every class adopt an international class next year. I wonder which class will be pals with Chris’ class in Korea?
Annual Campaign a Bust
…which is totally understandable. We re all fatigued with fundraising—both the askers and the givers. We raised an all-time low of $21,000 with only 40% participation. Those of you who made the sacrifice, it made such a difference. Thank you. If you are sad that you didn’t, of course it is never too late—especially if you are a family who arrived mid-year and didn’t get to donate to the down-payment on the church. You can still make your donation and bask in the glow of gratitude. The finance committee meets next week to see where we can cute expenses between now and the end of the year, so that we can still try to come out in the green, as we can’t afford to dip into our reserve with a construction project on the horizon. Not all the teachers have spent their annual campaign classroom money, and being very resourceful people, I am sure they can cut corners. We won’t be able to increase the amount of financial aid we award for next year, which really hurts our potential for diversifying our student body. But—we will get though this, and look forward to doing it differently next year!
And the Town Crier Announces—Important Community Circle n May 5, 4pm—5:30 pm
What is the vision for the new property? Learn what we know, learn what is still unknown, and contribute your ideas. Community Circles are a long Rainbow tradition, where you are asked to gather in a circle, each as an equal, to learn about a topic and to contribute heart-felt thoughts, concerns, ideas. Who should attend? Everyone who can and childcare is free.
Always an Adventure
Over Spring Break I will be attending a Mindfulness in Education conference in San Francisco, hosted by Shambhala. Max Mraz is going to an Amphibian workshop for educators with the NC Museum of Natural Science. He wants to build an amphibian conservation pond here at Rainbow.
Wacky Wednesday
While Wednesdays are an early release day for students, the are the staff’s extra long day. As we stay until 5pm conducting meetings, trainings, planning, and so on. Our Wednesday work is a large factor in why we are able to consistently communicate well and offer quality-cutting edge programming. For the March staff training, West led us in something she called Each One Teach One. About six teachers signed up to teach mini-classes to the rest of us, with the objective being for everyone to learn easy things to use in the class room. We learned an Orton-Gillingham trick for teaching spelling words, how to make a cute easy-to-make book, some fun writing prompts, how to have a “wow” moment by teaching with picture books, and much more. I think it was everyone’s favorite training of the year.
Awkward Subject
I started teaching the 6th grade substance abuse prevention class a couple of weeks ago. If your child is in the younger grades, substance prevention class is something you have to look forward to. Similar to sex-ed, it can be awkward and hard to talk abut, but opening that dialogue between the children and parents is probably the most important aspect of the program. We want Rainbow students to grow up knowing that they can talk to their parents about anything.
What’s Happening?
Rainbow was a sponsor of the Black Mountain College Re-Happening—an innovative and important art event at LakeEden (former location of the famously inventive BlackMountainCollege). I was pleased to hear the emcee announce that RainbowCommunitySchool is “carrying the torch” for BlackMountainCollege. What a compliment.
We also hope to become a sponsor for Asheville FM, the internet radio station that just received its permit to go on the dial! They need to raise $45,000 by May! If they are successful, it is going to be very fun to have a truly local community station located right on Haywood Road. I have already talked to the station manager about Rainbow students having a little spot to broadcaset inspirational moments. To learn more: http://www.ashevillefm.org/
At Rainbow, We Put Children First
Last week, we presented Children First with a check for $846, 25% of the fall hoedown profit. Did you know that every class does a service project for Children First? Some highlights from this year are being posted on the Rainbow website and on Facebook. Be sure to like RainbowCommunitySchool on Facebook if you haven’t already.
My latest Heart of the Matter is hot off the presses! Click here to read “All for One, One for All!”
![Ole Palnatoke Andersen [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWikiglobe_styropor_kaleidoscope.JPG)
