We recently sat down with Toni Weed, mother of Sebastian and Amos, two RMP Berkeley students, to talk about her experience transferring her son Sebastian (aka Bash) to 3rd grade at Rocky Mountain Prep.
Toni shared that what drew her to RMP was making connections with the staff. “Initially I was unhappy in my neighborhood school and I wanted to come back to Cesar Chavez Academy because it was a better environment... As soon as we came in [to RMP] we saw Ms. Rosy and met Coach [our Assistant Principal of Operations] and we just loved it.” Ms. Rosy, our current Operations Manager at RMP Berkeley also worked at the front desk at CCA. Toni exclaimed, “We were so happy right away.”
Toni has seen tremendous growth from both Amos and Bash at RMP. “The progress I’ve seen my children make, not only emotionally, mentally, but the biggest of all is academically. I struggled with my little one (Amos) and teaching him at home and he made a lot of improvements,” Toni shared. “It totally motivated me to just try harder at home, and Sebastian, I always saw how amazing he was and others did not recognize that and it made me feel sad and RMP recognizing that, I know this is like our second family.”
She described RMP as, “a loving, structured, high-quality place for my children to be.” All of our teachers go through extensive training during the professional development days that happen every Friday throughout the year at our schools. Additionally, Toni shared, “I feel so safe with them here. I love that I can talk to any of the teachers, even the ones that don’t have my kids as students. I love how much they care about all of the students because my kids go to school with these people, they’re important to me too and yeah there is just a family culture here and I really love how a lot of the teachers have volunteered and worked with non-profits. I think that shows how sincere they are about change and helping the community.”
Toni is very satisfied with her decision to transfer her son Bash to RMP. “My goal as a mom is to see my son thrive academically because that eventually will lead to a successful future/career.” Transferring students to different schools can be a nerve-wracking process but RMP provides strong support from the teachers and administrative staff to ensure smooth and helpful transitions.
If Toni were to share with other families why Rocky Mountain Prep is so special to her she would tell them, “I am going to let them know that we have four principals and our teachers really get their coaching and development time. They get observed, which in turn gets them feedback. No kid gets left behind.”
At Rocky Mountain Prep we believe all students deserve access to a great public education that helps them reach their full potential. We're so grateful Toni, Bash, and Amos are a part of the Rocky Mountain Prep family. If you want to learn more or be contacted by a member of our team visit rockymountainprep.org/enroll.
