RCS Community PotluckPlease join us for our annual RCS Community Potluck hosted by our amazing specials teaching team. Bring your own reusable plates, cups, and utensils to keep our gathering green. We also invite you to bring your instruments, balls, hula hoops, etc.
Please join us for a morning social after dropping your children off at school where you will meet other new families, veteran families, board members and administrators! This fun and informal event is a great way to get connected with the RCS community. Coffee, tea and snacks will be provided.
In May we submitted the next portion of our XQ Super School Project application and are now eagerly awaiting to see if we advance to the final stage on July 1st, potentially moving from 50 applicants to the 5 winning finalists in August! Creating our very own alternative high school model, rEVOLution High, has been an inspiring journey that has engaged our entire community, from students, parents and educators to mental health professionals, consultants, and activists. It has shown us time and time again exactly why “Community” is our middle name. When thinking about what’s best for students and the vision they all deserve for their future, we must pull on all our resources, all our unique strengths and skills to create a team of powerful, creative, and transformative adult guides and mentors. Our students are our greatest teachers. Watch as they submit our XQ application!
Renee, West, several Omega students and other local educators, consultants and community members have been working hard since September to rethink and reinvent learning. The team has emerged with an innovative high school concept-the rEVOLution High model which was recently submitted to the XQ Super School Project. This XQ Super School Project is project is a $50 million campaign, funded by Laurene Powell Jobs and the XQ Institute, to reimagine and design the next public American high school. Recently the Mountain Express did a story on our XQ Superschool Team and its process. Check the article out here.
This XQ Super School Project is project is a $50 million campaign, funded by Laurene Powell Jobs and the XQ Institute, to reimagine and design the next public American high school.
Contestant teams were asked to submit school concepts in November 2015. Our team was deemed eligible! Click here for our pitch video. Then in phase two, the teams were asked to submit comprehensive plans outlining the proposed school model by February 2015. Our team has since moved in to the semi-finalists phase in which 750 proposed school plans were narrowed to 350. Finalists (50 teams) will be announced by July 1, 2016. The XQ Institute will partner least five winning teams (chosen August 2016) and provide them expert support and a budget of $10 million to support to turn their ideas into real Super Schools. Read more about the XQ challenge on its website.
The rEVOLution High team was started by two core members currently working at Rainbow Community School (RCS), West and Renee. The prospect of expanding the RCS Seven Domains model into a high school served as inspiration. This progressive model takes a whole child approach. It brings the sacred into education by emphasizing the social, emotional and spiritual growth of a child as he/she are discovering a personal and a collective identity. Other local educators joined the team because not only do they acknowledge the challenges of the current state of education and are compelled to advocate for something new, they also understand child development and recognize the need for a setting that “sees” the child holistically in relation to themself, their community, and the planet. Most importantly the entire team knows that every child deserves this kind of opportunity- a humane education. We want to manifest holistic education practices widely and make it accessible to a broad demographic of people, and we designed this school because there are currently no free public high schools operating under this unique holistic model in Asheville. We believe that we can change lives, nurture change makers who are not only systems thinkers but are socially just, spiritually fulfilled and environmentally sustainable. This can change the world!
We have assembled a team of over 30 diverse educators, students, consultants, professionals, and community volunteers. Many of them live and work in Western North Carolina and are incredibly invested in the community of Asheville. Some live elsewhere but believe strongly in what we do at RCS and want to support a Rainbow inspired high school. Our core team of eight include educators with expertise in law and policy, school and teacher leadership, school counseling and behavioral health, organizational development and facilitation, equity and social justice, child development and teaching and learning, curriculum design, adult learning, outdoor and environmental education, and holistic and contemplative education. Many of our non core team members have advised the core team on various components of the Design phase including governance, finance, technology, marketing, sustainability and equity. Others have served as community mobilizers during the Discover phase. Finally, we have several non core team members that are enthusiastically and patiently waiting to share their expertise and/or volunteer once we receive the grant.
Below are graphics that explain our mission, purpose, core value and design principles as well as our innovative learning network HUB structure.
Additionally, we have gotten a lot of attention from the XQ institute through postings on our twitter account @RevolveHigh Follow Us!
