Re: N.E.A.T. School at 46th & Irving (now Rivendell)

11/21/22 - posted by Anna

I attended Rivendell School 83-85, kindergarden and first grade. As a kind of immigrant kid from Germany. Didn’t know any English the first day of school, but I really remember wonderful teachers (Sookey, Kay Coffini, Michael), a sort of ethnically diverse student body, great outings (camping across the bay!, GGPark, museums, …) and - and this is what I talk about most when recalling my early scholarly endeavors the entire “room” dedicated to splatter painting!!! I also printed with a dead fish, watched the neighboring house burn down from the ship in the yard, was terrified of the superloud fire alarm, was scolded for bringing in one (1!) small piece of candy, loved the Halloween parties with Michael dressing up as a vampire and turning his homeroom (maths) into a haunted house, having a snail race (with live snails), breaking my arm feeding the guinea pigs, the tarantula and the cardboard trex skeleton in the main window, my classmate without a last name whose name was a mix of her parents’ name, a classmate with a two letter name made up of his parents’ initials, a certain parent and teacher not vacating the phone when I had broken and dislocated my arm, hug lines before breaks and so much great instruction that I really think gave me sth for life. Overall, really fond memories. Dk about the bussing thing as I was very young and sort of visiting, but I did experience quite a bit of human, cultural, religious, ethnic, needs diversity.
Would love to connect with any classmates from back then. The Japanese girl from our class actually ended up in the same place in Germany where I’m originally from. Small world.