Director's Blog
— Renee Owen, Executive Director
Kaleidoscope: Gratitude, Love In Action, and Much to Celebrate
Hallowed Eve. All Souls. Day of the Dead. Halloween. The various cultural traditions of mid-autumn have much in common. In general, the veil between the living and the dead is considered to be at its thinnest this time of year when the plants are dying and all...
Kaleidoscope September 2017
The Many Wonderful Things Going On At Rainbow Howdy! Welcome to the first Kaleidoscope issue for the 2017-18 school year. For those of you who are new to Rainbow, Kaleidoscope isn’t really a newsletter. While it does provide some news, it’s more of an...
Education in the Postmodern Era
From a historical perspective, transitions from one era to the next seem like they happened overnight. But in reality, each transition took lifetimes, and the people who lived through those transitions didn’t fully understand what was happening.
It is becoming clear that we are currently living in such a time of transition. The Modern Era is behind us, and a new era—the Postmodern Era—is ahead. What are the values and skills our students will need to thrive in the Postmodern Era?
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...
Kaleidoscope: May 2017
Happy end of year, everyone! You did it! If you are a parent, you did it all. Through sickness, crankiness, bad weather, and whatever particular trials your family endured, you got your precious ones to school…and most of you got them here on time, with lunch in hand....
Kaleidoscope: March 2017
Welcome to spring at Rainbow Community School! It’s a time of joyful activity, like overnight field trips and lots of celebrations and feasts. For teachers this can be a bitter sweet time. Last night, one teacher reflected that by this time of year her class is so...
The Times: Yes, They Are A-Changing
The Times: Yes, They Are A-Changing What is Postmodernism and What Skills will our Children Need in the New Era? Looking back over history, the transition from one era to another seems like it happened overnight, but in reality, each transition takes lifetimes, and...
Kaleidoscope, November 2016
Kaleidoscope, November 2016 Unfortunately, it has been too long since I have written you. I meant to release an edition of Kaleidoscope in early November, but, frankly, the election put me off-kilter. And with all the smoke in the air, it felt like the world...
Educating for Social Justice
Harvard Grad Delivers Powerfully Poetic Speech On Overcoming Injustice by Taryn Finley of The Huffington Post Last month, Rainbow added "social justice" to our mission statement. Now, more than ever, education needs to be a force for empowerment, rather than...
Kaleidoscope – April 2016
Kaleidoscope, April 2016 The Maypole gets wrapped on Monday at the annual Rainbow May Day Celebration – a quintessential Rainbow event. Fairies, elves, ancient dances, strawberries and cream – anyone who can slip away for the morning from 10:30 to about 11:30 will be...
Mwe: You, Me, and All Our Relations
https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/blog/getting-next-generation-fall-love-planet/ Check out this interview with Dan Siegel on the psychology and sociology of our environment. At Rainbow I often stress that helping students cultivate a deep and personal...
I have made a terrible mistake…
...is how this teacher begins her article, after being a student for two days and finding out what the experience is really like. Teacher Spends Two Days as a Student and is Shocked at What She Learns by Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post
Kaleidoscope – March 2016
Kaleidoscope: The many colorful things happening at Rainbow, from the Executive Director Hello beautiful Rainbow Community. I am so happy spring is here! It was a mild winter in terms of weather, but emotionally speaking, I found it hard to keep the ol’ disposition...
Blended learning sounds great….or does it?
With the intense budget cuts and challenges in public schools, get ready to hear the term "blended learning" more and more. Blended learning is simply a mix of face-to-face classroom time with the added use of technology. The hype and selling point of blended learning...
Does this sound like you?
What type of parent are you? Read this checklist to see if you help your child build resilience. My favorite is "Make the adage that there are at least two sides to every story a mantra in your home." Nurturing Resilience: Reminding Ourselves What Kids Need
Is your child an introvert?
Rainbow Community School has always been a safe haven for introverted children. In a world where social aggressiveness has be glorified, especially in the competitive public education model, Rainbow has always had a way of understanding and honoring the power of the...
Empowered Teachers = Empowered Students
Why does Rainbow have such dedicated, mindful, creative, and loving teachers? Because we follow every single one of the recommendations in this article. Teachers are still treated like blue-collar workers by politicians. At Rainbow they are highly respected...
Spiritual and Religious Education
Religious children are meaner than their secular counterparts, study finds by Harriet Sherwood for The Guardian If this study is accurate, and religious children are less compassionate, what about spiritual children? If we put people into four categories: 1. religious...