Special Education Teacher Cherishes the Community and Acceptance at Mountain Song
Ms. Lauren Artino’s Story
Ten years ago, Lauren Artino was ready for a change.
She was moving from New Mexico to Colorado with her family when her dear friend, Shannon Lang, told her about the Waldorf approach to education and the new school opening in Colorado Springs.
“This sounded like something that would meet the kids I work with a little better,” said Lauren, then a special education teacher with sixteen years under her belt.
When Mountain Song’s doors opened for the first time in 2013, Lauren became the sole special education teacher with the help of just a few service providers. Her oldest child, Emma Rose, joined Miss Melinda's Indian Paintbrush Kindergarten.
“It was amazing, and it was magical, and I wouldn't have had it any other way,” Lauren said of the play-based Kindergarten.
“Mountain Song spoke to her inner creativity. It also helped provide a safe and warm environment for her to figure out who she is. It couldn't have been more perfect for her.”
Emma Rose developed strong relationships with her classmates and an ability to think critically. She was one of the lucky few that had the same teacher from first through eighth grade.
“She was like another mother to her,” Lauren said of Ms. Alisia McCabe.
That bond is still strong today. Even though Emma Rose is now a sophomore at CIVA Charter High School, she often drops by at festivals, assemblies, and in Ms. McCabe’s classroom when she has a day off.
Mountain Song has also had a profound impact on Lauren’s son, Matthew, now a 6th grader in Ms. Ieeda Banach & Mr. Kyle McCabe’s class.
“For a middle school boy to feel confident about himself, I think that's worth gold. He feels like he belongs and he feels confident, and what more can you ask for?”
When asked about her favorite “Mountain Song moment,” it’s not easy for Lauren to pick just one.
“When I think back over the years, I think of these beautiful moments, the lantern walk, the Maypole dances, the Spiral Walk… they’re so beautiful and reverent.”
Of course, few moments bring Lauren as much joy and satisfaction as watching her students graduate from 8th grade. Like other teachers that have built close relationships, she’s still in touch with many former students today.
Her dedication has certainly not gone unnoticed. In 2019, Lauren was named Educator of the Year by the Colorado League of Charter Schools and inducted into their Hall of Fame.
“Lauren pours her warm heart, creative problem-solving, open acceptance, and selfless devotion to meeting the varied needs of exceptional students at Mountain Song Community School,” said Dr. Teresa Woods, the Executive Director of Mountain Song. “She holds students to account while also embracing them with love and acceptance for who they are.”
As the Special Education Department has grown to now 3 more special education teachers, 10 paraprofessionals, and a top notch mental health team, Lauren is ecstatic about the $10.8 million BEST grant, which will, among other things, vastly improve special education and counseling facilities.
“My hope is to provide a place where students are accepted and a place where they can grow in whatever that means for them. Maybe it’s communication or learning how to regulate their emotions, but my hope is that they can come here and feel community.”
Because “community” is exactly what Lauren has felt for the past ten years here at Mountain Song.
