Creating Community

"We are all in this together." - Power of Unity, Conscious Discipline

In cooperatively run schools, parents stand alongside educators and students to shape the growth and progress of the educational environment. Within this setting all stakeholders work together to build a school that honors the needs of all children, inspires families to become active participants and facilitates meaningful connections to the greater community.

Cultivation of this ongoing partnership is not an easy feat, and finding collaborative solutions to problems can often seem daunting. In a diverse School Family, where each individual brings their own unique set of values to the table, finding common ground is an exercise in patience, empathy and active problem-solving. As a young school community, there are times where we have stumbled along this path, reliant upon the strength of our collective effort to right our direction. As an inspired School Family we have also been propelled forward by the power of unity and an acknowledgement that we are, indeed, all in this together.

Recently, I was awarded an incredible honor: to join the esteemed ranks of the Drexel Fund Fellowship as a Drexel Fund Founder. The Drexel Fund invests in nonprofit founders to support the development of innovative schools of promise. I would be remiss in my duty as the founder of a cooperative nonprofit school if I did not share this honor with my School Family. It is only because of their commitment to partnership, perseverance and collaboration that I have been able to share the vision of EcoSchool with those who are also inspired by its growth.

I have consistently been amazed by the willingness of families to rally together in support of each other and a potential that is greater than any of us alone. I am regularly humbled by each individual sacrifice and the grace with which our parents, staff and students give of themselves to further the mission of the Verdi EcoSchool.

I am a part of the community of the Verdi EcoSchool because I believe in the Power of Unity to change the world. WE are the Verdi EcoSchool.

"For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction." - Cynthia Occelli