Saturday 6/25 – Parents of El Rio Play Date

An extraordinary K-8 school coming to NELA… pass it on!!!!!!

Our dear friend Kim sent this email out to all her Mommy connections. I was so moved I asked Kim if I could re-post here. Thank you Kim, we love you too!
Here’s what she writes:

Dear Mommy community,

I have had countless conversations with parents frustrated with the options available to them as they launch from the preschool years to the elementary years. Whether they are not happy with the local public school options, whether they got in or wait listed at one of the charters in their area, whether they can afford the $180,000 it would take to put one child thru to just the 8th grade… let alone the buckets of money needed for high school and college!!!! Those just address the “getting in” & financial part of it all… how about which school is actually the best fit for the individual child… or is there even a good fit among the options available! My head is spinning with all that I will be faced with next year!!! I am in research mode… full force!!!

I had heard about Waldorf… I was admittedly narrow minded in my thinking and readily dismissed it (still more personal growth needed.. clearly!). Then, I heard about this new school trying to get started in our area called “El Rio.” I read that it had a sister school in Culver City called “Ocean Charter.” I jumped at the opportunity to attend an Open House which afforded me the opportunity to see Waldorf in the works and it BLEW my mind. I was astounded by the teachers, their caring and passion. I was touched by the children and how they treated one another which respect and grace. I was impressed beyond belief with the deep connection between the teachers, students and the material they were learning. And there is this Waldorf thing.. that I didn’t know was a Waldorf thing.. but I identified it as a rhythm… and strangely enuf.. that’s what they call it.. there was a rhythm in the classroom that was as if the children had choreographed movements when it came time to putting their paintings away, cleaning brushes, putting supplies in cabinets, helping and working together.. it was beautiful. It seems so silly.. but I was awe struck by how they were all so in synch with one another. Classrooms were warm, with gentle lighting, there weren’t walls covered with distractions of all the materials that were to be learned during the year… just simple and beautiful. I could go on and on!!!! I had never seen anything like this before….this was exactly the environment that I wanted for my boys…. EXACTLY!!!!! Just to show you how in love with it I was… I applied for my son to go to Kindergarten (in spite of the hour plus commute)… we didn’t get in. I know we are not the only family from this area (NELA) who applied (I met a few others) and I even met a man who commuted from Ventura County to Ocean Charter daily for his Kindergarten aged daughter and he didn’t regret it — not for a second!!! This school is in HIGH demand & for good reason.

The good news… and I mean REALLY GREAT NEWS… is that El Rio Charter, which holds the same philosophy as Ocean Charter, is coming to our area and it will take this village… OUR village… to make it a reality. Now, I am “just a mom”- I have no affiliation with this school, however I believe in it wholeheartedly and I hope to the high heavens that it can become an option, most likely the best option, we might have for our family when it opens it’s doors in September 2012!

Of course.. anything that brings big change take big effort … LAUSD requires that Charter schools be fully self-funding for the first year…. so here’s where we step in as a community….

Please take a moment to look at El Rio’s website, join their mailing list, become a “friend” on Facebook. If you feel, as I do, that this school would be an asset to the children in our community…. join them for their fundraising launch party called “EAT PLAY GIVE” that will be held on June 11th at Fred Eric’s (of Fred 62) Tiara Café…. dinner, drinks, tapas, music, art auction and discussions about what this school is all about. If you can’t join in the celebration…. and you want to contribute…. please do so.

If you want more information, send an email to the address on the website, post it on Facebook and if you have any questions that I can help you with… go ahead and shoot ‘em my way! I’d be happy to share with you what I know. I have attended some volunteer meetings and I am beyond impressed with the organization, devotion and passion of this stalwart group of parents and educators. The more I learn about El Rio, the more excited I become. I hope you can take the time to learn more to see if this is something that might excite you as well… for your own children and for the children in our greater community. I hope you don’t mind me sharing this school with you … I believe strongly that all good things are to be shared… and this one is reallllyyyy good!!

Here is the website for El Rio…. www.elriocharterschool.org

If you feel this is something you want to share with others…. GO FOR IT!!

Sincerely,

Kim

Trash for Teaching! AWESOME

Development team member Sheila sent this link to a program in LA; Trash for Teaching

They collect cast-off materials from manufacturers, organize them into bins in a mobile “Treasure Truck” and visit schools to do art workshops with the kids. Sooooo cool. Check it out. I joined their mailing list and watched their video. This is something that el Rio will definitely want to do!

“I learned about that… um… you can make anything out of stuff instead of throwing it away.”
-anonymous kid in the video.

Betty Staley article honored by Green Money Journal

Betty Staley’s article, To Educate Future Change Agents, Change Education Today, was selected among its best articles over the last five years by the Green Money Journal.

Betty has been a strong voice advocating for public Waldorf education since way before it was cool

Betty Staley talk at Pasadena Waldorf TOMORROW NIGHT

Veteran Waldorf teacher Betty Staley will give a talk tomorrow night on “Helping Our Children Survive a Media-Dominated World.”
Friday October 16th at 7:30pm – 9:00pm at the Pasadena Waldorf School in the Eurythmy room.
209 E. Mariposa St.
Altadena, CA 91001
Coffee and refreshments will be served at 7:00.

Who’s in?

Friend of el Rio Ilsa Setziol writes about early childhood music education

Another great article from our friend Ilsa Setziol, this time in the Pasadena Weekly. It’s an inspiring read about infant and toddler music classes based on the philosophy of Carl Orff at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. I want to go!

Thanks for the article, Ilsa!

Friend of el Rio Ilsa Setziol blogs about urban nature

For a break from talk of charter schools and public education, here’s an article on the largest animal ever–right off the So Cal coast by friend of el Rio, Ilsa Setziol. This is her first installment in her new web column on urban nature at Emily Green’s blog Chance of Rain. Git it!