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The rainbow is said to be an ancient heraldic sign of peace, safe travel and good luck. That same symbolism will be used as the root for the Rainbow Farm School, an alternative school beginning this fall.

The Rainbow Farm School has been a work in progress over the past five years and will begin its first year this fall at the United Methodist Church in downtown Fredonia. Coordinators and educators for the school, Jessamine Daily Griffin and Karen Taverna, recently held two informational meetings regarding the school.

"I realized that I wanted my daughter to have something different than the current model where kids are in desks all day, or most of the day, and not getting outside as much as I think is necessary," Griffin told the group of interested families. "The purpose of the Rainbow Farm School goes back to our teaching philosophy which is that every child deserves respect. We really want the children and the families to be involved in setting the education course for each child. A child needs to play, a child needs to explore, they need to be given opportunities to help direct their learning and so those are all going to be important components of the Rainbow Farm School."

According to Griffin, there will be a lot of outdoor time, and a lot of intentional playtime. The school will be a two-room school essentially, with Griffin and Taverna leading instruction, and housing grades K-6 so curriculum will be geared to each student's learning abilities.

"Our assessment models will be different than those of the public school. We'll be working with the portfolio assessment and observation and documentation, and some anecdotal notes."

"We'll also be drawing things from the Waldorf Philosophy, the Montessori Philosophy, the Reggio-Emilia Philosophy, developmentally appropriate practice, and through New York state and national standards set forth by national organizations," Griffin said. "And then also the Starting Small Project, which is a local early childhood initiative set forth through the Chautauqua County Association for the Education of Young Children. That's the teaching tolerance project, so we'll be doing a lot of work with children on social justice issues, respect and empathy for one another."

The three major philosophies of education being used cover a broad base. The Montessori Philosophy is a place for everything and everything in its place and focuses on a child's play as work and work as their play while in a self-directed environment. The Waldorf Philosophy is a natural, non-toxic environment for art and play materials used for imaginary play usually outdoors and in all types of weather. One change from Waldorf, however, will be a large use of literature and books from the start of the program. And lastly, the Reggio-Emilia Philosophy is project based learning based on scientific thinking and a student's interest to guide curriculum direction, assisted by teachers.

"Sometimes one thing that is lacking in a traditional school setting is that children don't get extended periods of time to get in depth on a subject. They might touch on it and then boom, it's gone and they might not come across it the rest of their time in school," Taverna said. "That's one big advantage that we have is that we could work 9 a.m. until lunch on one topic and then after lunch come right back to it. ... We don't have to go do gym, we don't have to fit in 15 minutes of computer time just of the sake of having computer time. Schools don't have the luxury to do that, but we have a lot of flexibility."

Prospective families of students were given specific documentation breaking down items including: frequently asked questions; the Rainbow Farm School Daily Schedule; policies and procedures; and academic components or curriculum.

The school is looking to hold no more than 25 students at one time. Enrollment will cost $4,000 per student. Classes will be taught by Taverna and Griffin. Griffin has a background in elementary education (through grade 6) with a concentration in geoscience, and also has two children. Taverna has a background in English and early childhood education (through age 8), is the Co-President of Chautauqua County Association for the Education of Young Children and is mother to three children.

Interested families should contact Griffin at jessamine_daly_griffen@yahoo.com or phone at 988-3524; or Taverna at taverna@mmonandme.com or phone at 680-2146. All children who will be attending the Rainbow Farm School for the 2009-2010 school year should be registered by May 31. A non-refundable deposit (one month's cost of the tuition) is due with the registration form.

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