Courtesy Photo: Radha Svetnicka dancing with Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco
The school that shaped my life
By Radha Svetnicka
Sometimes the most meaningful journeys begin in the most unexpected ways. Mine didn’t start in a classroom or on the first day of school. It started with a phone call from a small school that needed its goats’ hooves trimmed.
I grew up on a small family farm about thirty minutes east of Santa Fe. Along with my three siblings, I was homeschooled throughout my childhood and caring for animals was part of everyday life. One day, my family received a call from Rayna Dineen, founder and principal at the time of Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences. She was a family friend who had previously tutored my brother in reading. The school had goats and needed someone to trim their hooves.
I still remember walking into the school that day. There was something special about the atmosphere. The students were engaged, the teachers genuinely cared, and the school felt welcoming.
As we drove away, I turned to my mom and said, “I want to go to school there.” She replied with something along the lines of, “If that’s what you want, then you should fill out the application.” I was about to enter eighth grade. I completed the application that week, and before long I was accepted. That decision changed the course of my life.
I became part of the school’s very first eighth-grade graduating class of 2004. Although I attended for only one year, it became one of the most influential years of my education. In contrast to my homeschooling experience, Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences was much more disciplined and students worked together on many projects.
Courtesy Photo: Anjali Svetnicka’s first day of school at age 3 years old
One of the opportunities that shaped me most was its middle school mentorship program, which allowed students to explore their interests by working with professionals in their chosen fields. I chose dance.
After school, a small group of us walked to Moving People Dance Studio, where I deepened my passion for dance. What began as an eighth-grade mentorship eventually led to a professional flamenco career with Juan Siddi Flamenco Santa Fe. Over the next ten years, we danced internationally and toured throughout the United States performing at prestigious venues including the Joyce Theater in New York and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts. I also danced with Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco.
After graduating from Santa Fe School for the Arts & Sciences, I earned my GED early through Santa Fe Community College and began taking college courses.
Life moved forward. A few years later, I received another unexpected call from Rayna. “Would you like to work for the school? I need help in the office and I think you’d be perfect.” At the time, Rayna wore nearly every hat at the school. With her only other administrator moving out of state, she needed help. Without hesitation, I accepted.
Returning to the school as an employee gave me an entirely new perspective. I experienced the school from the other side, helping create the same supportive environment that had once nurtured me. I joined the administrative team as the school’s only administrator and also taught music and dance in their afterschool program.
While I worked there, the school began offering overseas language trips. I had the opportunity to chaperone the French class in France, where I learned alongside the students while staying with host families.
During four wonderful years, I had the privilege of being part of the team. It became more than a workplace; it became a second home.
Courtesy Photo: Anjali Svetnicka and her friend Lyra LaRose Skillman exploring sensory activities in the Unicorn classroom
Eventually, my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I moved to San Francisco to begin a new chapter. However, Santa Fe was always home. When I became pregnant with our daughter, I filled out her school application during my first trimester: Unknown Name, Unknown Gender, Unknown Birthdate. I knew we had to return to Santa Fe before she turned three so she could attend the very school that had shaped my own life so profoundly.
Watching my daughter, Anjali, walk into school as a three-year-old was an emotional experience. For the first time, I wasn’t seeing the school through the eyes of a student or an employee, but as a parent. Twenty years after attending the school myself, I returned as its first alumni parent.
As a parent, I have gained an even deeper appreciation for everything the school represents. I now understand the trust families place in Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences every day. I see the patience, creativity, and compassion that help children discover who they are becoming. I see a community that celebrates individuality while encouraging its six character traits: respect, trust, courage, honesty, compassion, and stewardship, along with a lifelong love of learning.
Looking back, it’s remarkable to think that none of this would have happened if a few goats hadn’t needed their hooves trimmed.
One simple act of helping a school introduced me to a place that would shape every stage of my life. It gave me an education that built my confidence, a workplace that became family, a lifelong career in dance, and eventually a place where my own daughter could begin her educational journey.
Courtesy Photo: Anjali Svetnicka exploring the Unicorn preschool class
When I reflect on my connection to the school, I realize I have experienced it from nearly every perspective possible: As a homeschooled student wanting something new, as one of its earliest graduates, as a staff member dedicated to supporting families, students and now as a proud parent watching the next generation thrive.
I feel incredibly fortunate that my story has become part of its history in so many different ways.
Each chapter has deepened my appreciation for what makes this school unique.
Education is often measured by grades, test scores, or academic achievements. But some of the most important lessons cannot be captured on paper. They are found in discovering confidence, building meaningful relationships, feeling accepted and belonging to a community that believes in you.
That is what the school gave me.
Today, as I watch Anjali excitedly head off to school, I often think back to the young girl who left the school after trimming goats’ hooves and told her mother, “I want to go to school there.” Neither of us could have imagined where that simple statement would lead.
Sometimes the most extraordinary journeys begin with the smallest moments. Mine began with a couple of goats, but it grew into a lifelong connection with a school that continues to shape not only my life, but now my daughter’s as well.
For that, I will always be grateful.
Courtesy Photo: Anjali Svetnicka’s first day of pre-kindgergarten
Courtesy Photo: Radha Svetnicka with her family’s goats