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A call for Community.....From Mountain Valley Community School....To you...Lets be US.
Mountain Valley Community School is a home-care and preschool. But its more than that. It is a special place that is doing its best to co-create a sustainable community of learners, helpers, friends, families, and community partners.
At Mountain Valley our biggest focus is to foster and co-create a close-nit community. To us, a community is environmentally and socially aware/ just, close-nit, caring, sustainable, and festive. Therefore, we have an environmentally conscious, culturally diverse, anti-bias/ anti-racism curriculum. We embrace enriching philosophies such as Montessori, Waldorf, unschooling, attachment parenting, non- violent communication, and original play and blend them with our own special magic/charm/sparkle to create a comfortable, compassionate, fun, and enriching place. We are here to play and create together as well as to cry, heal, and then laugh again together.
Everyone at Mountain Valley eats fresh organic whole foods every day; child/ teacher ratio is kept low enough to connect deeply with each others interests and needs; we buy most of our materials from locally owned businesses; and do our best to buy sustainable products and natural materials whenever possible. We also strive to be socio-economically inclusive.
In the last year Mountain Valley Community School has:
*Started a worm bin and composts most food scraps
*Planted two native trees, three native berries, and one native lilac bush.
*Planted three fruiting trees and a nut tree
*Sheet mulched away our lawn and are in the process of planting an organic heirloom
vegetable garden to provide food for our school.
*Our Curriculum is based on place-making and bringing families together to celebrate
our Pacific Northwest Heritage: we do this by organizing field trips like Salmon Nation
Festival at Oxbow Park, blueberry picking at a local organic farm, and potlucks dedicated
to sharing our family recipes.
*And most importantly; Mountain Valley has facilitated a place for sustainable community
growth by connecting people to each-other and the beautiful place in which we live with
love and a sense of stewardship.
These are great contributions to a sustainable world. Mountain Valley is working towards a sustainable future. True sustainability includes:
-Environmental sustainability:
Examples: using natural materials, composting, organic gardening, reducing,
reusing, recycling, buying local organic food, sourcing materials locally.
-Social sustainability:
Examples: A happy comfortable work environment, paid vacations to re-energize
teachers, teacher and parent trainings/workshops, respecting and appreciating
differences and comfort levels, open communication, apple diversity, plenty of celebrating.
-Economic sustainability:
Examples: Affordable for families of all income levels (we are committed to
providing an exceptional environment that is accessible to all socio-economic
levels), and a sustainable yearly income of $25,000-$35,000 for the
dedicated, hardworking, loving, patient, nurturing (the list goes on) Mountain
Valley teachers and assistants plus health benefits and paid vacations.
We need Mountain Valley to provide a sustainable livelihood for its teachers, a low tuition for families, a high quality building and garden space, and various high quality materials for us to share. We can not meet these goals on our own. In most industrialized countries childcare and preschool are publicly funded and providers of such care are respected, appreciated, and provided with a stable income and benefits. Public funds are not being applied towards these visions and so its going to take people at the grassroots to make this important community growth a reality. In a time where public school is highly under funded, income disparity is growing, stress levels are rising, we have to look to each other for real solutions. Mountain Valley believes it starts with community. We at Mountain Valley are reaching out to you, our larger Portland community. We are asking you to be part of this vision, be part of this community.
There are several ways to be a Mountain Valley Community Partner... Read on...
-You can donate $15- $1000 per month
*This money can be appied to subsidize low income families' tuition
* It can be applied directly to improving our schoolhouse (add a front yard fence, hire a natural landscaper, put on an eco roof
workshop for the community while installing an eco-roof).
* It can be used to ensure health care for all Staff at Mountain Valley
- Help put on a fundraiser
examples
* A concert series at a local Cafe
* A benefit dinner
* A benefit auction
- Offer a Parent Workshop as a fundraiser
-Have an idea to add? Call Susan 971 285 5949
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