by Webmaster | Sep 21, 2014 | CEO's Kaleidoscope, Director's Blog, Home Page News
Here we are – together – at Rainbow Community School, 2014.
I would love to hear about your experience and impressions so far this year. What has intrigued your child? What have you learned? What has the staff learned? I think the most important thing I have learned (again) is to simply be myself. After all, who else would I be?
We open the 2014-15 school year with many landmarks.
Campus is twice as big as it was this time last year, and our enrollment has ballooned. There are 195 students enrolled at Rainbow Community School. That’s 50% growth since two years ago! 46 students are in preschool; and 149 are enrolled in K-8. There are 164 families, and over 60 of you are new. We met our goal to have every class full, with 16-20 students and two home-room teachers.
Life-long learning, as demonstrated by one of our founders.
Rainbow’s first Executive Director, Aostre Johnson, called me just before school started. She teaches education at St. Michaels in Vermont, and though she is well into her 60’s she just completed a Fulbright trip to Ireland last year to research contemplative/mindfulness education. She sent us a copy of her latest book, Education from the Heart. It is in the office.
We are IN!
Just in the nick of time, we finally received our temporary Certificate of Occupancy for the new Omega classroom and the auditorium.
Our hard-working contractor, Christopher Fox, probably spent 40 hours in the last few weeks meeting with people at the city offices and dealing with inspectors in order to make that happen. Max has been incredibly patient and diligent.
They definitely have a few stories to tell about the whole experience. (One of many examples: How fair is it for an inspector to say you don’t need a Van Accessible sign, and then a week later at the final inspection the same inspector tells you he won’t pass you because you don’t have a Van Accessible sign?!)
Anyway, we won’t have access to the bottom floor of the main building until the next round of construction (as planned), but the auditorium is now open. Yay! Thanks again to Jeff Dalton of RowHouse Architects. You are brilliant. Thanks to EVERYONE who made the campus expansion possible through donations, guidance, and positivity. You know who you are!!
There is an official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on September 10, from 4:30 – 6:00 pm that the Chamber of Commerce and the West Asheville Business Association are hosting. Wicked Weed is sponsoring and serving beer, so this is an event to leave your children in after school care. Businesses from all around Asheville are attending.
Much Gratitude
You are one dedicated, loyal, and enthusiastic group of parents! Despite being less than half the size of the other schools who won awards, you voted Rainbow Community School as the BEST SCHOOL in WNC. We tied for first place.
You also gave preschool a first place award for Best Preschool, and voted Sue Ford as the best music teacher.
Rainbow’s Art Program won second place! You showed up to vote, and it made a difference. THANK YOU! (As a tangential note: I hope you also show up for this November’s North Carolina’s elections, because you folks know how to make things happen. If you are new to town, be sure to register early and HAVE YOUR ID.)
Another Rainbow Alumnus Makes a Difference
Last night, at a Chamber of Commerce event I met Rick Fornoff, whose kids went to Rainbow Mountain Children’s School in the 1980’s. I always want to know what interesting things our alumni are doing, so I was astounded when he told me that his daughter, Erin, is an award-winning spoken word poet who works for a non-profit organization called Ashoka, and her job is to find social entrepreneurs around the world. (A social entrepreneur is a term for someone who uses entrepreneurial skills to help others.)
What an amazing coincidence! I explained to him that Rainbow just became an Ashoka Changemaker School, and that recognition distinguishes us as a school that teaches kids to become social entrepreneurs – just like his daughter!
Read all about it
We were published in two national/international publications this last month.
Part 1 and Part 2 of the Innovation Generation articles I wrote were published by the Ashoka Changemaker Foundation in August, and they are publishing Parts 3 and 4 next month. This is quite an honor.
Triple Pundit published an article about our cutting edge organizational system, called Dynamic Governance. The article titled, “What Can a School Teach Us About Organizational Agility?” can be accessed here.
Did you know…
…Rainbow’s webpage receives over 4,000 unique hits a month? That means that far more people than our parents or even prospective parents must be accessing our webpage to read the content.
Family to Family
The holistic clinic, Family to Family, which was founded by Rainbow parents, is going to be one of Rainbow’s partners this year. Dr. Susan will be offering an advice column for parents and will be onsite a couple times this year offering classes for parents. Thanks, Family to Family!
Partnering with the Police
We are fortunate to have a good relationship with our local police officers, who keep a special protective eye on our campus. After school started, I called Officer Jones, who is our assigned community resource officer, and let him know school was open and that we were concerned about cars not stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk in front of the school. He said they would spend a few mornings parked there and give out warnings or tickets to help send the message that pedestrian safety in front of our school is essential.
Rise Up to the Summit! Climb the Peak! Be There, or Be Square!
I hope it is an indelible event in your calendar by now: The Parent Summit is September 29 from 5:30 – 8:30. It is a required event, meaning at least one parent from every family is requested to attend. Why it is so important? Why is it so long? At the last summit (three years ago) everyone was asked “What are we called to do?” Almost every answer that came out of that summit has since come to fruition, including expanding our campus. You are an inspiration.
“I believe that education is the fundamental method for social progress and reform.” ~John Dewey.
Education is a powerful tool, so please attend the summit to help guide us in the right direction.
Have you thanked a teacher today?
I bet you have.
Our teachers are blessed to be in a community that understands and appreciates how hard they work and how special they are.
The outpouring of love you have showed your teachers already this year is overwhelming and appreciated. Love is a circle: It comes right back to your child.
Thank you for making it go ‘round.
by Renee Owen | Sep 12, 2014 | Director's Blog
How Can a School Promote a Culture of Innovation?
As I enter the “Omega” (7th and 8th grade) classroom at Rainbow Community School, a large Buckminster Fuller-designed dymaxion world map is on the floor, the basis for a game where students are moving around chips that represent various world resources.
Incorporating Systems Thinking
Two students with laptops are meeting with Jason Cannoncro, one of the lead teachers, about a grant proposal they are writing to create a local non-profit organization that will give homeless people work on the many organic farms in Asheville. Several students are puzzling over models they are creating of sustainable energy systems. One girl is playing a radio powered by a tiny solar panel system she designed herself.
How Can We Design Systems to Ensure All Humans Have Their Needs Met?
The curriculum at Rainbow Community School has been carefully designed and refined to prepare students for the culminating middle school unit described above.The essential problem that students ask and begin to solve in that unit is,
“How can we design our systems and our culture to ensure that all humans on Earth have their needs met, without depleting planetary resources?”
The Native Americans thought of sustainability in terms of seven generations. They might have asked the essential question for the unit in this format: “How can we provide dignity for each human and all living beings for the next seven generations?”In this unit students are asked to think about human equity and fulfillment, and how to get there. They are required to develop designs and prototypes for inventions that help sustain the natural world, while providing for a high quality of living. Students who are successful within this multi-faceted, complex unit are the next generation of innovators. How does Rainbow Community School prepare its students for this culminating unit?
You can find out how RCS prepares its students and more on part IV here.
RCS Director, Renee Owen has a series of Educating the Innovation Generation articles.
Click below to see the other parts:
Educating the Innovation Generation – Part I
Educating the Innovation Generation – Part II
Educating the Innovation Generation – Part III
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.
