We caught up with Mary Taylor, one of the founders who started Arco Iris 15 years ago. Mary remembers, “I wanted my kids to have a great education, and that included a solid math curriculum, as well as learning a 2nd language. Since I couldn't find what I was looking for locally, I teamed up with (founder) Danielle (Dani) Siver, and founding board member Deonne Knill, who were looking for similar academic qualities.”

There was a lot of work to do and it was a very busy time of running around, finding the right people for help, many hours of research, and getting set up. Mary says, “Dani and I started writing up the charter school application in early 2008 and it took about six months to complete. We held open houses throughout the Beaverton School District, getting people interested. We had people write letters of interest that we gave to the school board; we did surveys.”

The hard work paid off. Mary continues, “Dani got our first federal grant that helped us pay for an attorney to help us with the legal aspects of the application, furniture, building lease, our IRS 501c3 application, etc, that helped us get off the ground. We searched and found other board members, like Jim Mulaney, who was our finance director for the first 10 yrs at our school. We also had Sloan Presidio, a local principal, on our school board.”

Mary secured a second grant of almost $200,000 that, as she says, “helped us get over the initial hump and helped pay for salaries, textbooks, etc. after our start-up was approved. Imagine us driving around in trucks to City Liquidators and auction houses looking for school desks, cafeteria tables, overhead projectors. We were scrappy and industrious!” 

As we reflect on 15 years of success, we're excited about the future. We remain committed to our mission of providing exceptional tuition-free bilingual education in a caring, child-centered environment. Our students are members of a supportive multicultural community valuing diversity, equity and inclusion. We are proud of our rigorous academics taught in a joyful learning style. 

We’re excited to share that plans to open a second location in Tigard are in the works. To stay in the know on this second location, click here.  

Celebration coming soon!

Stay tuned for details on how we'll be marking this special milestone with our school community.