Quotes from Ventana Graduates

“At Ventana, I got to find my voice. I got to share my opinions with my classmates and my teachers, and that really prepared me for middle school.”

“Ventana really helped me feel comfortable raising my hand and asking for help because in a bigger environment it is a little bit harder. With people you don’t know it can be harder to say, ‘Oh, I don’t understand this. I don’t know. I need help,’ and I feel I was very prepared and I felt comfortable doing that.”

“Definitely some of my fond memories were involving all the creative projects that we got to do. We got to have a lot of freedom with our creativity.”

“Ventana has been such a home to me, I don’t even remember what I was like before I came and now I know that I can change for the better.”

“From the first time you walk into Ventana, to the last time you step out, you have become a better version of yourself.”

Graduation Speech by a 5th Grade Student - Class of 2017

When I think of Ventana, I think of home. Ventana is a place that’s important to me for many reasons. It’s a bit unusual, and different from the traditional schooling that most public schools provide, but Ventana can give an experience one will not so easily forget. Leaving Ventana now is hard for me, and chances are it was hard for everyone else who left Ventana School as a graduate, so I would like to say goodbye to all of you with a full heart. And I would like to say thank you, because without all of you, the wonderful time that I had here at Ventana would not have come true.

In my six years at Ventana, I’ve been shaped and changed into the person I am now. Ventana has taught me how to be part of a community, how to contribute to ideas and projects and how to gain confidence in who you are. Later in life, remembering Ventana, I will think of a place I grew the most in, the place where most of my childhood remains. There will be a piece of me that forever is in Ventana, whether as a student, or an alumni, or even, one day, a teacher.

Ventana is unique and special because not only does it focus on things like problem-solving and leadership skills and social emotional interaction, but it also cares about its students. The faculty and staff here are kind, empathetic, and believe in every child here at this school. I first arrived in Ventana six years ago, in Kindergarten, I was very, very shy, especially on that first day. And now, I’m giving a speech on graduation day to all of you. That’s all because the teachers and staff here at Ventana have helped me learn and become the person giving you this speech.

And I could say that Ventana has made me a kinder person. Or a more empathetic person. That’s all true. But I choose to say that Ventana has made me reach the potential that I had stored up inside me. Ventana has made me become who I am, who I was meant to be, and I’m glad of that. Ventana has made me into me, and that’s what matters the most. I hope that the experience that each of you will get from Ventana School will be as enlightening and life-changing as the one that I got.