Dear community,
We hope this note finds you all well as you prepare for a festive summer break. As we wind up 2022, we want to share what we’ve achieved this year and what lies ahead for us in 2023.
Included in this post
Update on school site
New board directors
Round-up of what we have achieved this year.
Get to know us + Future planning day on Thursday 26th January, 2023.
School Site Update
In September, we connected with a local landowner who offered us a beautiful piece of land perfectly located in our target area. We could not have asked for a better partner to help us bring the school to life and for a time there, things were looking very positive and we were in the process of finalising a lease. However, as we conducted our initial checks to determine the site’s viability and chatted with neighbours, it soon became evident that the site on offer was subject to flooding and that the surrounding neighbourhood did not have the capacity to handle the traffic that the school would inevitably generate. If you’ve been following along for a while, you will know that finding a site for our school has been an ongoing challenge but we are persevering and know that with each potential property, we are getting closer to finding ‘the one’. At this stage, we are not giving up on a 2024 start date - but we will need to make a call early in the new year. Stay tuned for updates.
New Board Directors
Last month at our AGM we elected two new board directors, Michael Collins and Jade Tsiavaras. Michael and Jade are active working members of our core team and bring a wealth of experience, commitment and expertise to the project. It is wonderful to have them officially join Rachel Ross as co-directors of Green Mountain Community School.
The core team would like to offer our deep thanks to Chloe Dover and Aime Brennan, founding directors who have now both retired, and we wish them all the best for the future.
What we have achieved this year
The core team met weekly all year long and spent countless hours making phone calls, attending (many) meetings with stakeholders, visiting potential sites and working on all aspects of the project to make this school a reality.
Here’s what we achieved:
+ We started this year with an official new name for our school and company ‘Green Mountain Community School’.
+ We actively explored half a dozen potential school sites, met land owners, toured sites on 4-wheelers, and investigated site viability with town planners, architects, consultants and Shoalhaven City Council. So much time and effort went into this!
+ We’ve researched potential building options that are low cost, demountable and quick to install. We are loving the potential of using geodomes as the initial buildings for our school.
+ We have started forming relationships with our local First Nation mob - notably Gadhungal Murring, who we hope to partner with in the new year to offer cultural events to our community. They are excited about what we are creating.
+ We spent a lot of time refining our business and financial plan - getting clear about the capital required to open our school so we are ready to meet with potential donors/investors.
+ Glenn Hulkes from Magic Numbers in Vincentia has generously offered to work with us pro bono offering financial and administrative wisdom - we are SO thrilled to have access to his expertise.
+ We have started planning community + fundraising activities for 2023, such as offering school holiday programs and cultural workshops - so we can start offering an experience of Green Mountain Community School well before the school opens.
In the new year, we are hopeful of establishing a partnership with Shoalhaven City Council so we can work together with them to establish Green Mountain Community School in our area.
Harvest Gathering : Thursday 26th January, 10am-1pm
What is possible when we connect as a community working towards the next steps in growing our school?
On Thursday 26th January, we’ll spend the public holiday hosting an introduction and planning day in Budgong, near Kangaroo Valley. This opportunity is open to anyone who may wish to learn more about our project, meet the team and get involved in making GMCS happen in our shared community. We’ll be gathering in a gorgeous geodome on a beautiful piece of land with a shared lunch. Watch our socials for details and in the meantime, please reach out if you are keen to join us.
That’s it from us.
From the core and extended team behind Green Mountain Community School, we wish you a joyful time with family and friends with plenty of rest, play and time in nature.
We’ll be in touch soon!
Warm Regards,
The GMCS core team: Fiona, Michael, Jade and Rachel
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