Take a look at what Rainier Scholars – Tacoma has been up to!
Selecting our first cohort: The Tacoma team started combing through approximately 75 student applications in early April and will have decisions for our inaugural cohort ready by the first week of May. There will be a series of events happening before summer to welcome students and families, including orientations, a school tour and home visits. Summer Stretch Academy will start on June 29th.
Deepening partnerships: We spent most of 2021 introducing ourselves and learning from 70+ community leaders and organizations throughout Tacoma and Pierce County. Now we are taking that a step further and are starting to explore specific areas of partnership as we continue to build out the Tacoma program model. While it’s too soon to share specifics, we are thrilled about the opportunity to create a community-centered model that integrates some great work already happening in the region.
Growing our team: We are excited to announce our newest team members who are no strangers to our community! Danny Campa is a licensed psychologist who has been contracting with Rainier Scholars since 2010 — assisting with recruitment assessments, district appeals, and cognitive/academic/social-emotional assessments for students throughout the program. As Tacoma’s Director of Wellness, Danny will lead our Tacoma counseling team and be responsible for helping us integrate wellness into all aspects of our programming. He’ll start with us full time on June 1st.
Rounding out our newest hires is Stephanie Wright, who will join us full time on June 27th as Director of Programs. Stephanie has worked as a teacher for our youngest students at Rainier Scholars (Seattle) and has also facilitated several high school workshops for our older scholars. In her new role, Stephanie will be leading the charge in developing the pipeline of programs for students and families, starting with Summer Stretch Academy which will run for the first three summers of each scholars’ journey.
We are currently hiring for summer teachers in all subject areas, as well as Student Advisors. Please visit the Careers page on the Rainier Scholars website to learn more.
Jennifer Ward
Chief Operating Officer