Annual Appeal 2025-26
“What I do here matters. Everybody lives downstream.”
-Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
If you know Neighborhood School, you know that what we do here is intentionally small. A five-year-old transforming into an author in front of a devoted audience. Thorough celebration for each young mathematician’s development. A Grad Project advisor dedicated to a single sixth grader’s passion. We love to tend to our little pond, but as Indigenous author Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us, “the water net connects us all.”
The intimate scale of our work is purposeful, and it should not be mistaken for a limited sense of hope. This fall, our staff reexamined and recommitted to our mission statement. Rooted in love, growing toward justice. Attentive here, expansive beyond.
Sometimes, our “pond runs downhill to [our] good neighbor’s pond” in meandering trickles. Our educators guide young students in daily, repeated practices for being mindful, sharing power, and supporting the vulnerable. Slowly, each drop runs into a deep pool. We do not know exactly how students will draw from this resource, now or later, here or elsewhere, but we believe that experiencing abundance makes sharing feel irresistible. Our next newsletter will feature stories from alumni about how rooting in love at NS has shaped their growth towards justice.
There are also direct and immediate ways that “caregiving for [our] little pond spills over to caregiving for other waters.” In the first three months of this school year, NS students and teachers have harvested vegetables to be donated throughout the city. Families and teachers have created a mutual aid network in response to the loss of SNAP benefits. Current students have learned from alumni about their work creating more just food systems. On our new website, you can read more about how community advocacy is integral to our pedagogy.
We, Tracy and Lisa, have spent the past decade caring for the smaller ponds of Levels One and Four. Now as we share leadership for this school we love, we are buoyed by all of you who steward these waters with us.
When you donate to NS, you make transformative education accessible to local families, but your generosity also flows downstream to the broader community. You allow our students to learn in liberatory ways; in turn, they act in solidarity with our neighbors.
Come visit us if you haven’t in a while! We’d love to hear how supporting NS uplifts your life as well. This is a time of many community needs; please give in a balanced way, or maybe you can stretch today. If you can, consider contributing to our first endowment fund, providing a fundraising match, or setting up planned giving. What we do here, together, matters.
With love,
Tracy Pimentel, Director
Lisa Nam, Learning and Teaching Leader
Linocut created by B Ervin, Level Three Teacher