While on the faculty of the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing, Gail saw firsthand how families went into crisis mode when their children had acute or chronic health conditions that made it difficult for them to fulfill their job duties.
As a solution, Gail opened LeafSpring Schools (Rainbow Station) and created the Get Well Place™, a clinic staffed by a licensed nurse to care for mildly or chronically ill children while their caregivers worked. This support was extended to the entire community, regardless of whether children were enrolled in the school or not.
The Village was created to resemble a town square where school-aged children could experience the freedom they crave within a controlled educational environment that fosters their growth, curiosity and leadership.
The Village creates an atmosphere in which children are free to choose age-appropriate activities in a safe, fun, and stimulating environment staffed by recreation counselors.
Camp Blue Sky offers the perfect summer solution. Kids aged 5-13 get an age-appropriate Summer Camp program where they can have all the fun they dreamt about during the school year while experiencing the world in a structured and active environment.
INSPIRED was designed complement and enhance the existing play and values-based curriculum, PLAYWORKS. The INSPIRED curriculum consists of 6 literacies, or areas of study: Social Literacy, Health Literacy, Environmental Literacy, Civic Literacy, Entrepreneurial Literacy, and Financial Literacy.
In order to continually evolve and improve, Rainbow Station rebrands as LeafSpring School as it launches plans to expand.
The Resilience and Mindfulness literacies were added to the INSPIRED leadership program, making the total number of literacies eight.