Welcome to the Rainbow Community School Blog!
RCS News and Updatesย
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 weโre 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.ย
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...
The Present Moment is All You Ever Have
Theย centering rituals, although all rooted inย mindfulnessย and in sacred spirit,ย vary from Rainbow classroom to Rainbow classroom. For example, the middle school, known asย Omega, opens each centering with a reflection onย a quote, a lyric, or a blessing.ย As centering...
Listening Conferences: A Deep Listening Activity
The words of American spiritual teacher and author Ram Dass encourage us to live FULLY, in the present moment, without judgement. How do you achieve this? What practices do you embrace? โBe Here Nowโ for example, calls on mindfulness practice. โThe quieter you become,...
Turning Routine into Ritual
Fall is here andย fallย break has likely come and gone for many of us. This season oftenย brings a lot of transition for our students. These transitions are embedded in theย rhythms of the natural world, the energy around celebrations and holidays, and within...
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...
The Three Questions
Daily centering practice is a part of every Rainbow classroom.ย Theseย practices, although all anchored in the Rainbow Spiritual Domain Learning Outcomes,ย take on many shapes and forms and evolve based on the learning needs of the children and theย passions of the...
Gratitude Jars
The beginning of an RCS school year serves as a rite ofย passage for every student andย theirย classroom community. This time is symbolic of rebirth, renewal, a newย beginning- a fresh start. RCS teachers begin by creating a sacred and safe foundation in which the...
Rainbow Community School: 40th Anniversary Announcement
Our Executive Director, Renee, has created a video inviting all students, staff, alumni and families of Rainbow Community School to join us in celebrating 40 years of holistic education. Below is a summary of the video, with invitations to the 40th Anniversary...
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 didnโt 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 eraโthe Postmodern Eraโis 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 Rainbowโs 40th anniversary. In 1977, three visionary, highly educated women, who believed that education had the power to...
Return with Elixir
Summer is a breeding ground for travel, adventure, and memory making. Its long days, breaks from school and work, flexible schedules also yield down time, rest, and a chance to turn inward and reflect. Having said this, I share with you an inspiring centering activity...
Nature as Divine Teacher
A culture that is permeated by a materialist philosophy sees the Earth as a commodity- a resource to bought, sold, quantified and controlled. In this view- humans are separate from nature instead of interdependent.ย Many of the educational methods at Rainbow aim to...
Sheila Mraz #teamhighlight
This Tuesdayโs #teamhighlight features, Sheila Mraz, Rainbow Community Schoolโs passionate, loving, and incredibly enthusiastic Admissions Director. Long before she arrived at Rainbow, Sheila was a committed student to the art of education. After growing up in Ohio...
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 schoolโฆand most of you got them here on time, with lunch in hand....
Graduation as a Sacred Ceremony
A rite of passage is an important, sacred ceremony that highlights a transitional period in a person's life- often marking the departure from one group in order to enter another. Graduation is one of those rites of passage and is also known asย commencement,...
Inhale Kind Wishes, Exhale Kind Wishes
Education is a sacred calling. Bridging sacred and school is spiritual work. A strong spiritual identityย among teacherย and studentย is theย catalyst for this meaningful work. At Rainbow, we feel that aย spiritually nourished child is a child ready to learn. We know, just...
Rainbow Alumnus Delivers High School Graduation Speech
Rainbow Alumnus, Geronimo Owen, graduated from Carolina Day School last week with the incredible honor of giving a speech directed at his fellow 2017 graduates. As he and his classmates step into a world of unknowns, Geronimo reminded them of the power of choice....
Preschoolers Lead The Way in Deep Breaths
As we get ready to celebrate our K-8 graduating students tonight let's not forget our Preschool friends, who graduated a week ago in a lovely ceremony held in the auditorium. This rite of passage began, as all things at Rainbow begin, with a centering. Four eager...