Welcome to the Rainbow Community School Blog!
RCS News and Updates
We are so excited to share with you everything that makes Rainbow such a unique blend of holistic education, academic excellence, social responsibility, and integrated community. Here you can find our reflections on the seven domains, our opinions on mindfulness in schools, our upcoming events, and how we’re revolutionizing education from the inside out. Explore the posts below to get a sense of what being part of the Rainbow community is all about.
Kaleidoscope for January — News about Rainbow’s Expansion!
Kaleidoscope, January 2014: The View from Executive Director, Renee Owen The light returns! Yes, each of us in so many ways have made it through the darkest days, and now the light returns. Hope reigns. That was the theme of the Rainbow winter program, The Festival...
The Happiness Index and More
Jeffrey Sachs, one of Time's "Most Influential People," is the world's most important economist. He works for the UN and countries around the world to promote sustainability, and he is on a life-long mission to wipe out poverty. Dr. Sachs is the originator of the...
We DID It!
We raised the $200,000 down payment to purchase the church! We did it on time! Just as the Holiday Performance was about to begin, the final $6,000 was donated on the December 20th deadline! We did it under budget. Thanks to so many great sponsors, volunteers, and a...
Look Who Came to Visit!
Look who came to visit! Nura Laird (formerly Ashrita Laird), blessed us with a visit in November. Ms. Laird is one of the brilliant women who founded Rainbow in 1977. She was executive director for the majority of the Rainbow's first 14 years and an extraordinary...
It’s Just Like Sitting Down With Renee…
...and having a conversation! Click on this link to listen to a Podcast from Asheville Fm's Living Well program. Host Bob Hanna spends an hour with Rainbow Community School executive director, Renee Owen, interviewing her about her own fascinating history and her...
Rainbow Rising! A Success!
Our campaign was a HUGE success! We are just shy of our $200,000 goal to acquire the church property next to the school. Thank you to everyone who came to the event. There was music, food, fun, and games. Our fundraiser yesterday raised $24,000,...
Rainbow In The News!
The Asheville Citizen-Times wrote a great article about the Rainbow Rising! capital campaign. Click to download the PDF!
Fourth Grade Goes Back in Time – Archaeology Unit
The fourth graders just finished an archaeology unit and invited the Rainbow Community to come see. They built a wigwam! We'll let the photos speak for themselves: To build the wigwam, the students harvested local grapevine and learned to weave...
Rainbow Community School In the News – Capital Campaign Fundraiser
We're getting the word out about our wish to expand Rainbow's campus with the Capital Campaign. If you haven't heard, we're having a HUGE fundraiser on Saturday, December 7th called Rainbow Rising! Our director, Renee Owen, had an interview with Asheville Citizen...
Rainbow Community Food Drive – A Success!
Our Third Grade Otters are making a difference! They held a food drive so that families in the area would have food during the Thanksgiving holiday. What a food drive it was! The entire school participated and brought in so much food, here's what West, our 3rd grade...
Campaign Update – Mark Your Calendars!
We Are Making Progress! Take a Tour We want our community informed. Staff, students, families, and the greater Asheville community deserve to know exactly what Rainbow Community School aims to do: expand the school to increase the good work we do. We invite you...
Reconnecting to Our Humanity
From a fellow classmate at Harvard, "The only way for humans to compete with technology is to become more human." (From the Future of Learning, Summer, 2013) As I have written lately, the more technologically advanced society becomes, the less humans are valued for...
Oh My God…
...was my response to this video. Thank you, John Johnson, from Odyssey Community School for sharing it with me.
The Adventurous Renee
Jambo! I had an amazing trip to Africa! My parents from Minnesota, who are in their 70’s, and my sister and I traveled with an organization called VOSH (Volunteer Optometric Services for Humanity) to Marangu, Tanzania – a village at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, to...
The Harvest Hoe Down
What happens when you put an amazing community, fun activities, a gorgeous Saturday afternoon and a fall theme together? You get an awesomerockin' Hoe Down! What a huge success! We had cakewalks, facepainting, inflatables, music and so much FUN! The proceeds will...
Opportunity for Grandparents!
Grandparents: Do you look forward to attending Grandparent’s Tea? Please come to the grandparent event at the Princess Anne Hotel this Sunday, from 2pm to 4pm. Grandparents are an integral part of the community at Rainbow. If you have attended Grandparents' Tea in...
Rainbow’s Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the Playground
Today was a special day at Rainbow Community School. We had a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for our new playground! The Chamber of Commerce came to the school to help us host the event and we gathered as a community to celebrate our new playground. It’s been a long while in...
Kaleidoscope Newsletter – September, 2013
For those of you who are new to Rainbow, I write a little newsletter once a month called Kaleidoscope. It’s your opportunity to look through my eyes at all the colorful things going on at Rainbow. News about the acquisition of new property is at the end! First, the...