"How could we ensure Maya received all of the support and love she deserved and needed? The RMH filled in the gaps."

Kindergarten is a big year. When folks say “Oh, they just play in kindergarten!" We know it's so much more than that. Kindergarten is the foundation and the beginning of a lifetime of learning. When students begin kindergarten at our school, our teachers pay close attention to this critical transition in the child’s life as it coincides with all the other stress, transitions and loss they may be experiencing. Former student, Maya, made the transition to kindergarten at the same time she made many other difficult moves in her young life. Maya and her family were living and working in Senegal, West Africa when one of her brothers was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. Her brother’s treatment brought them to Minnesota...and brought Maya to our school to begin kindergarten.



Maya joined our school from Senegal, West Africa for her brother's 16-month medical treatment.

Tina, (Maya’s mom) shares...

"When I see the photos of the staff and students at the RMH School, I can’t help but smile from ear to ear. They. Are. Amazing. Our eldest daughter, Maya, started kindergarten at the RMH in September 2011. Just a year and a half prior, she had gracefully grown through a dramatic life change, when she became the big sister to triplets in January 2010. Yet, she was faced with even more transitions to come. In April 2011, one of her brothers, Khalil, was diagnosed with high-risk stage IV Neuroblastoma and within days, Maya had to say goodbye to all of her friends and loved ones and we packed up the only home she’d ever known and moved from Senegal, West Africa to Minnesota so her brother could begin a 16-month intensive treatment to combat cancer."

"It was a difficult time, a tough diagnosis, a logistically complicated move, and just plain challenging with one-year-old triplets.  How could we ensure Maya received all of the support and love she deserved and needed? The RMH filled in the gaps."

"The truth is, looking back, if I had to choose a school for our kids to attend, medical crisis or not, it would be the RMH school. Why? The RMH school sees and connects with the whole child. Each child is nurtured, inspired, given challenges, opportunities and support to thrive regardless of his or her circumstance. Academically and socially Maya blossomed. The staff worked tirelessly to create a family within the classroom and the empathy and compassion each child learned in that setting was matched by the empathy and compassion shown by the staff."

"Maya regularly says how much she misses the RMH school and how she wishes every school could be just like it. When I ask her why and what she liked about it, she always says first, “The people."  Then she says, “My friends, the castle, and the food." She was surrounded by love and inspired to learn there. Her strongest memories of the year and a half her younger brother battled cancer in Minnesota were not of fear or loneliness or sadness, but of being surrounded by love, friendship, warmth and safety. I know the staff and volunteers of the school have made a huge difference not just in who Maya is today, but who she will be in the future, and for that we are FOREVER GRATEFUL."

Maya shares her memories...

Maya even learned to ride a bike without training wheels while at the RMH!

Thank you for sharing your story with us, Maya! You are an amazing, resilient young lady and we're honored to know and love you and your family.