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.
The Future of Rainbow…and Education
Before school starts each year, educators at Rainbow attend a series of trainings to enhance their teaching careers and to help them prepare for a new academic year. In one of those sessions, teachers brainstormed about the future of education in general and about the...
Rainbow Wins Green Ribbon Schools Award
Rainbow Community School has won a prestigious award: it has become a Green Ribbon School. Why is this so important? From the Green Ribbon Schools website, The Green Ribbon Schools program is where health, education, STEM skills, technology and being green combine to...
Honey Bees and Ravens at Rainbow
At the beginning of the year, each class traditionally chooses a class name, which is like a mascot --an animal or other entity to represent the character, culture, and ideals of the class. When I was a child, I remember reading a tale about how Merlin would turn...
Executive Director, Renee Owen, tells all in Citizen Times!
Our very own Renee Owen is making a difference by making the newspaper! Her journey to Rainbow Community School has been an incredible one. Now, as director of Rainbow, she has used her talents to grow the school community and create a unique school with the "whole...
Thank you, Howard Gardner
Yay! to Howard Gardner, famous Harvard professor who published the Multiple Intelligences theory in 1983. (Even though Rainbow was founded in 1977 and predates Howard's theory, our educational model is essentially based on the same theory, but we call the...
Digitizing the Classroom at Rainbow
The secret to introducting technology into the classroom is doing it intelligently. Most schools need to radically change the way they teach. Technology doesn't do that by itself. To quote Chris Dede, Harvard Graduate School of Education, author of Digital...
The Future of Learning
Very Inspiring! Here I am with legendary Harvard professor, David Perkins. He just laid out a beautiful, succinct formula for 21st Century Learning.
A New Era
Asheville’s oldest alternative school enters a time of renewal. We are transitioning our name to Rainbow Community School, but, to avoid confusion and ensure continuity we will continue to also use the name Rainbow Mountain Children’s School for a number of...
Imagine! Rainbow’s Celebration of the Arts
http://youtu.be/0_zHVkS6kOg Thank you to Steve White Productions for recording the Imagine performance. Imagine was spectacular this year. The script was written by Rainbow teacher, Justin Pilla, directed by teacher, Dusty McKeelan with music written by parent Billy...
Our Teacher Has Mental and Physical Power
What do our teachers do in their free time? Well, West, our second & third grade super star teacher is getting stronger. West had always loved climbing rocks but for the last 20 plus weeks she has been training for a natural bodybuilding competition. She started...
Grandparents’ Tea at Rainbow Mountain
Last week, and every year, Rainbow Mountain students invite their grandparents, or other special elders, to their school for coffee and tea. The grandparents meet each other, nibble on homemade treats, and are entertained by a few classes. This year preschoolers and...
Talented Rainbow Singers Featured on Video
It's here! Aomusic's new music video featuring Rainbow Mountain students in the video and in the recording. Thanks visiting artist and internationally award-winning musician and producer, Richard Gannaway for working with our students -- an experience they will...
Renee Owen on Panel Discussion at UNCA, hosted by Department of Education
The film Race to Nowhere documents the ramifications of America's achievement culture. Hosted by UNCA Department of Education, the film will be viewed in the Highsmith Student Center at UNCA at 7pm, this Thursday, April 11, with a panel discussion to follow. Click...
My Hero
There she is: Ina May Gaskin with me at AB Tech, where she spoke last night. Many of us who had our children at home wouldn't have had the courage to do so without Ina May's book, Spiritual Midwifery. Spiritual Midwifery introduced me to the concept of the "sacrament...
First Grade’s Tour of Africa
A couple of weeks ago I took a tour of Africa in 15 minutes with out having to get my passport renewed. I not only saw all the beautiful sights, I met the people and I learned about sand storms from the Tuareg tribe, medicines from the Baka tribe and the Maasai tribe...
April Kaleidoscope: Scopes out the many colorful things happening from the Executive Director’s point of view.
Introducing New Faculty Members! Great News! Sue Ford has agreed to be our new music teacher, beginning with the 2013-14 school year. She has also begun working with a few Rainbow grades this year -- conducting a music residency with preschool, kindergarten, first...
How creative are you?
"The actual meaning of the word 'original' doesn't mean trying to be different. It means being connected to the origen. You can't be original by trying to be original. You become original by staying true to what your heart sees." ~Cynthia Bourgeault. It has often been...
The New Teacher
What are we looking for in a new teacher? Since we believe in developing the whole child, then our teachers have to be accomplished in all seven domains: spiritual, mental, creative, emotional, social, natural, and physical. As a result of our growth at Rainbow, we...
