We now have $15,000 in our Direct Public Offering investment options!
Thank you for choosing and supporting Nia House.
Now is really and truly your chance to invest your money in something meaningful- Nia House. If you are a current family, you can earn interest on your deposit! Friends of Nia House, there are investment options for you too.
Please visit us at: www.niahouse.org/invest to learn more.
Thank you to all the parents, grandparents and loved ones that came to Nia House to celebrate our Family History Project: Our Faces, Our Phenotypes: Understanding the Diversity in Our Community. We enjoyed a wonderful turnout reflecting the phenotypic and generational diversity within our community.
Nia House honors the diversity within our community. Part of our curriculum includes learning the scientific reasons for our phenotypic differences: Why do some of us have more melanin than others? What is the purpose of curlier hair, or lighter eyes? These questions have scientific answers that can be uncovered as we trace our ancestral lineages to the world map. Every phenotype evolved as an advantage in the climates of our ancient ancestors. We would like to explore and celebrate this with you and your families.
We believe that deepening our understanding of the ways and whys for our differences will aide Nia House children in becoming teachers of peace. Instead of simply accepting and tolerating difference, our goal is to help children understand and value difference.
You can help by identifying where on the map your family represents to the best of your knowledge. In many families, members of the same family have lineages from places different than their children. Please share any and all the lineages that best honor your family. We know that not all families have this information but we can help children by making a best guess. Nia House wants identity to be defined by the family and self.
Please participate in this project by providing continents or countries of your child's origin to share. An example is provided below.
Example: Atticus’s lineage can be traced to Asia (China & Japan), Africa (West?), and Europe (all over).
You can email Stacey this information to: stacey@niahouse.org
Thank you for your support in this project.
Inspired by Maria Montessori, for Small Hands, creates tools and toys designed for children- their size and to meet their needs. They have many beautiful and affordable gifts, ranging from cooking tools, art supplies, games, books, toys and more. Browse the catalogue to see if there are gifts for your little loved ones. Place your order with Nia House and the school can earn between 10-15% of your order. Here's how:
1. Order with Nia House before November 19th. Your merchandise will be shipped to Nia House. A Group Order over $500 will yield 15% for Nia House! Stop by the office for an order form, or print one from the for Small Hands website.
2. Order online and use the Nia House School Customer #116006 . Every individual order placed before December 31st earns Nia House 10%.
Please email Stacey with any questions: stacey@niahouse.org
Thank you for supporting Nia House!
Direct Public Offering, (DPO), also known as investment crowdfunding, is an opportunity for the school to raise money from the community, similar to a bank loan, but without the usual high fees. The DPO model allows Nia House to diverge from the conventional bank loan model, reaching out for funding to all community stakeholders, and redefine our local economy in a TRULY local way!
DPO will allow community members who care about Nia House (like you) to invest in our future and realize an economic return on your investments. For parents with children currently attending the school, the annual interest return on this investment could help to offset current tuition costs as well
Below are charts to help you guide you. Check out our DPO Investment page to get your questions answered.
These securities are offered only to California residents who meet certain suitability standards and other requirements pursuant to the Department of Business Oversight permit # 1321. THE COMMISSIONER OF BUSINESS OVERSIGHT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DOES NOT RECOMMEND OR ENDORSE THE PURCHASE OF THESE SECURITIES.
A huge & heartfelt thank you to the Berkeley Project Day and Nia House Parent Volunteers that came out on Saturday. We started painting the playhouse, built new planter boxes, pruned, and more! Your help makes a big difference.
If you could't make it, but still want to help out, worry not! Contact Stacey for ways you can get involved.
In our school curriculum, we address life cycles, family, elders, and caretakers in our life. We enjoy nurturing the relationship between your children and their grandparents or loved elders in their life.
We are preparing to send a unique handmade art invitation to Nia House grandparents!
Please help us to cultivate this relationship by providing up to date contacts for these important people.
Araya is getting the garden ready!
Nia House is known for getting children to eat their greens and vegetables. How? Many parents confess that their children won't touch anything green at home, while at Nia House greens are devoured. One way we do this- the children grow the food! They tend the earth, plant the seed, water it, see it sprout, harvest, wash, cut, cook, and consume!
Here is one of our first carrot sprouts!
Enjoy these blogs and articles on ways to incorporate more vegetables into your child's diet. Also, please share- how do you prepare delicious and desirable veggies?
These articles offer a little insight:
NY Times Blog: Ask Grover: How to Get Children to Eat Vegetables
Here are a couple of sites with beautiful recipes:
Super Healthy Kids: delicious and fun recipe ideas.
Fresh for Kids: Breakfast, Lunch to go, Dinner, soups, smoothies & more!
What do your children love?
Stay tuned for more pictures of an amazing event.
Check out Nia House on KTVU news!
Saturday's celebration of Nia House was beautiful. We will slowly savor the celebration over the next week with pictures and expressions of gratitude to the many people that helped make it all come together.
On the topic of savoring- let's start with the dessert! Meet Christina Sachs, The Wholehearted Chef, and the baker of the delicious cake served on Saturday. When I contacted Christina initially, her quote was outside of our budget. Christina lowered her cost by more than half to support Nia House. The cake you enjoyed was organic, GMO free, and so good! Christina has been so gracious throughout the process. Please read more about her and consider her for your catering and baking needs. Christina has generously offered to continue supporting Nia House. Let's support her in return!
Meet Chef Christina Sachs owner and operator of The WholeHearted Chef, and your baker for the Grand Opening ceremony. She was raised in a health and food conscious family and started learning to cook with her mom as early as five years old. She has lived and cooked professionally in the Bay for nearly ten years and is joyfully committed to the farm to table and slow foods movement. The mission of the WholeHearted Chef is to create beautiful, delicious and nutritious food that celebrates local abundance, supports the local community and can bring family, friends and communities together. The WholeHearted Chef offers a variety of culinary services including private chef, event catering and specialty baking. Chef Christina Sachs has extensive, though not limited to, experience with vegetarian, vegan, raw, gluten and refined sugar-free cooking and can easily work with any dietary requests.
Thank you for including The WholeHearted Chef in your celebration and we look forward to serving you in the future.
Find Chef Christina Sachs on Facebook at The Wholehearted Chef. By email at wholeheartedchef@gmail.com or call (805) 407-7010.
Happy Friday everyone!
We are so excited that the Grand Opening Ceremony and Silent Auction are just a week away! If you haven't already, please make a donation and reserve your space. We want to celebrate with you. Simply click on the words "Grand Opening Ceremony..." and you will find everything you need to make it.
Nia House has been blessed by very generous donations from the community. Here is a sneak peak at some of the exciting donations:
Harry Best and Shebang will be providing live Calypso Steel drum music. Harry Best is a long time family friend to the Wood Family (Atticus) and has agreed to kick the party off from 5-6pm. Don't miss it!
Scotch Bonnet will be catering the event with traditional Jamaican food. Chef OB (father to O'Brien and Evan) has prepared a delicious menu for the event.
The Wholehearted Chef, Christina Sachs, will provide dessert- a Jamaican Toto Coconut cake. It is going to be amazing. Save room!
Thank you all for your giving hearts and support of Nia House.
Click on the names above to visit their sites and learn more.
What a treat to come to a carpet room full of old parents and many new additions. Though all claiming our sides- "South Side!", we all are part of a growing Nia House community.
Thank you for sharing your skill sets. The evening's best:
We look forward to honing in on your strengths to support our school community.
As promised, here are a few important links.
For all the information you need on how to support Nia House through Amazon Smile, Berkeley Bowl Scrip, and more check out our Support Page.
Thanks all. The party on the 26th is going to be FUN! Get your tickets, volunteer, and let's celebrate Nia House!
The Nia House Time Capsule will be buried at the Grand Opening Ceremony on Saturday, September 26th.
You can fill your envelope with a letter to your child that they will receive 20 years from now, photos, art, family stories, store receipts, song lists... you name it!
Commercial envelope size (3.5 x 6 inches) is ideal.
Email or talk to Stacey with any questions: stacey@niahouse.org
Today was an historic day for Nia House, marking the integration of new and old.
The old Nia House children welcomed new friends and practiced the formality of a greeting, including a handshake, name exchange, and a “nice to meet you.” Many of the children’s old friends returned today, to resume the games and works they left off with a week ago, the same old sandbox and playhouse, joined now, by new friends.
Our old office and former toddler wing have beautiful new oak flooring and are prepared for preschool children that will comprise a second new class. The old preschool classrooms remain, anchoring the children to something familiar- their home away from home.
It feels almost as though our old campus simply unfolded, opening into a new and naturally integrated, yet contemporary campus. Our new toddler classrooms have children inside!
It is heartwarming to know that the Nia House experience will be available to many more children and families. Within our beautiful new light filled classrooms and our familiar and established campus, the children of Nia House embarked today on their first day of school for the 2015-16 year.
Thank you, Denise Hall Montgomery, our architect and Nia House alum mother, for envisioning this new campus. Everyone that walks into the office and classrooms from parents, to staff, to the children feel so pleased. You did a beautiful job. Please check out some of Denise's other projects: http://www.dhmarchitecture.com
Thank you teachers and staff for working so hard over the past week and weekends to prepare the school. It feels amazing.
Finally, thank you Eve for guiding us all through this process with such grace and vision.
Welcome to all the families, new and old! We are thrilled to merge our big Nia House family community. It is going to be a special year.
Enjoy a Caribbean infused evening of live music and dinner at Nia House’s Annual Silent Auction.The event will be held on our newly expanded campus.
For everything you need to know, to make a donation for tickets, or reserve childcare, click here Grand Opening Ceremony.
It is a bittersweet day today at Nia House. With confidence and love we send off our graduates, Brazil, Damian, Dashiell, and Olin. We know they have learned the invaluable skills of how to make a friend, solve conflicts peacefully, advocate, concentrate, work independently, and leave with a love of learning.
Allen, Alyna, Celeste, Nathaniel, and O'Brien are off to Kindergarten or another preschool program. We have loved having you here at Nia House. We have certainly grown and felt great joy in knowing you.
Thank you all for being valuable members of our community. Visit us soon!
