Evergreen Academy

! Important EA update from Victoria's Children !

Hello Evergreen Academy Family,

My name is Rachael Lierheimer. I used to work at Evergreen Academy along with my sister, Faith Lierheimer. It’s been several years since we’ve worked at the Academy, but we remember your children fondly and hold Evergreen Academy near and dear to our hearts. I’m writing, with my siblings, to give you a more complete picture about what has been happening behind the scenes at the Academy for several months.

Our mother Victoria has been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Leptomeningitis, or rheumatoid arthritis that attacks the brain. The diagnostic process was long and grueling, stretching over many months since August 2022. It included two invasive brain surgeries, countless hospitalizations, ER visits, and a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to consult with doctors specializing in rare and obscure diseases. This disease has been diagnosed a total of 30 times in the US. It’s vanishingly rare. Because of that, we know next to nothing about the prognosis, nor any treatments. We’d like to walk you through how quickly this disease has progressed.

Last May 2022, my mom and I (Rachael) ran the Bolder Boulder 10k. June 2022, a month later, we celebrated her 58th birthday at the Renaissance Faire in southern Colorado. Later that year, she had plans to go see my brother in New Zealand and hike. Now, April 2023, she needs the assistance of two carers to transfer from her wheelchair to her bed and communicates mostly in gestures, not words.

This has been an incredibly hard transition for us as a family. We watched our dad, Chris Lierheimer, die of colon cancer when we were children, and he was in his early 40’s.

As our mother’s sickness progressed since last summer, we were continually in talks of how to preserve our parent’s legacy as the sole founders and owners of Evergreen Academy.

In January 2023, my brother, Christopher, met with Philip Reimers of Evergreen Lutheran Church of the Cross: Evergreen, Colorado, and members of Evergreen Academy staff. Part of the proposed, not legally finalized transition, was transferring funds from business accounts, controlled by Victoria, to new accounts held by the church. After that meeting, Christopher wrote several checks to the church to begin that transition.

Prior to this meeting, and upon legal counsel, Christopher brought up the idea of paying Victoria, the founder, a modest severance package in line with recommendations from a business attorney. Philip Reimers and the church refused. After the January meeting, Christopher, again, brought up the idea of paying Victoria a nominal amount for her life’s work building and growing this valuable community asset. Again, the Church of the Cross: Evergreen, Colorado refused. Despite the church’s objections, in March, Christopher began disbursing the retirement funds over a six month time frame to ensure there wouldn’t be undue burden on the schools finances.

The church and Pastor Philip stopped responding to our emails after February 23, 2023. In late April 2023, Christopher received a notification of suspicious activity related to Victoria’s Evergreen Academy business accounts, and they were subsequently closed by the bank. As a direct result of the account closings, Christopher, the legal conservator, was cut off from accessing her personal and business accounts online. This placed an immediate and urgent burden on us, as we could no longer access her personal accounts to pay for her ongoing expenses. Cashier's checks containing the balance of the business accounts were picked up at the bank by someone from Evergreen Academy, who was not a signer on the business accounts.

It is frustrating that underhanded actions of someone associated with the Academy has caused these account closures, and risked the wellbeing of Victoria. We are disappointed that the Church leadership stopped communication with our family when we were trying to support the ongoing success of the Academy, while honoring Victoria’s hard work and legacy. The entire transition has felt purely transactional, as neither Pastor Philip nor the board members have visited Victoria once throughout her decline.

We are writing this letter to bring your awareness to the situation. You can support Victoria and her children in a few ways. You can reach out to us, her kids, if you would like to pray over Victoria in her time of need. You can insist, directly to Pastor Philip, that he honor Victoria's lifetime of service to Evergreen Academy, by paying her the remainder of her severance amount. This will directly help us pay for our mom’s highly specialized and ongoing care.

If you have any questions about Victoria, how to send care, support, messages, meals, etc. please email [email protected], which is monitored by her children.

If this situation frustrates you as much as it has us, we encourage you to make your concerns known to the church leadership, starting with Philip Reimers. You can email him at [email protected].

Our family has been incredibly lucky to have been a part of this incredible community for the last thirty years. We love you all, and we are so grateful for your ongoing love and support.

In love,
Rachael Lierheimer
Faith Lierheimer
Abi Lierheimer
Christopher Lierheimer

Here is an excellent article from our friends at Love and Logic.
https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/10-things-parents-should-never-do/?fbclid=IwAR1qgp3uS2j6Rqgwii9as0xXMLSCXaOzXiDobcit3nCaaUyr_UXfoU7x-6s

10 Things Parents Should NEVER Do | Amen Clinics If you love your children and want to help them grow into stable, thoughtful, productive, loving adults, here are 10 things you should avoid doing.

Free Registration Fee at Evergreen Academy!

Welcome to Fall! Fall in the mountains is just such a great time of year. We are in the swing of things here at EA. Our preschoolers and PreK klds learn all kinds of new things every day. Preschoolers are learning our numbers, math concepts, literature attributes, and have lots of time under the great Colorado sky. PreK kids are learning sight words, initial and final consonants, science concepts, music, and lots of other things. Most importantly, we learn about our Father God and how Jesus wants to be our friend. We are open from 6:30 am to 6 pm every weekday, and have space in our preschool and preK rooms. Come in for a tour from now through the month of October and enjoy a free registration fee for those rooms only.

Are you a retired teacher? Licensed Jeffco Substitute? Early Childhood Education Student? Come and work at Evergreen Academy! You have to be able to lift at least 25lbs, be able to work a full eight hour shift, be comfortable moving from classroom to classroom for breaks and teachers being out for sickness and vacation, and play nicely in the sandbox with others! We're more fun than other programs, we read the Bible, sing songs, grow gardens, take great field trips, and pay better than the public schools! Come and see if EA is the place for you!

Evergreen Academy is Evergreen's premier non-denominational Christian preschool serving the mountain community since 1989. Duties include carrying out and supporting classroom plans and activities, assisting in potty training and playground supervision. EA's hours are 6:30 to 6 pm year round, and your day would be 830 to 5 pm. Must be able to lift 35 lbs, pass a health screening, and other pre-employment (paid) trainings.

Evergreen Academy has a need for a long-term substitute in our wonderful Pre-K program. This is a two day/week position, working with our Pre-K kids, ages four and five. Qualified applicants are retired k-6 teachers, people with an ECE background, and a great love for early learners. Pay is equal to, or greater than Jeffco sub pay, depending on experience. Before you apply, please find Evergreen Academy on a map, at 28253 Meadow Drive, Evergreen, CO., and determine if the drive is too long for you. We are located in the Lutheran Church of the Cross in central Evergreen. We are the best faith-based ECE program in the mountain area, serving mountain families for nearly 30 years. Hope to see you soon!

Today is Monday, October 26, and we are CLOSED due to inclement weather. Special note: Friends, as outlined in our Policy Manual, we are closed according to Jefferson County Schools schedule. Regrettably, Jeffco made that decision unusually late this morning, so we Aplogize for any inconvenience.

Looking for something fun to do for your kids in these uncertain times? Evergreen Academy has been serving mountain families since 1989. We are licensed by the state for infants through age nine! We have a great summer planned and would love to have you as part of the EA family this summer! We have space in BOTH our PreK and Superkids program (ages 6-9). (We also have limited space for toddlers and preschoolers). Our schedule will continue to evolve as activities open up again, but in the mean time, we have trips to the park planned, Vacation Bible School, and wonderful themed weeks with all sorts of activities on campus. Come and visit us at 28253 Meadow Drive. (We are up the street from the old location of Da Kind Soups) Call in advance for a tour (303-670-1721). We hope to see you soon!

As of Monday, March 16th Evergreen Academy is closed for a two week period in response to the ongoing Covid-19 situation. I would like to take a moment here and say that the guidance the Colorado Department of Early Childhood has issued is simply irresponsible. They have issued guidelines that suggest early childhood facilities stay open until we have one confirmed case of COVID-19 on our premises. Then they suggest we close for a 'thorough cleaning' for 72 hours. This flies in the face of rapidly evolving, evidence-based conclusions that physicians are publishing about this illness. Simply put, children are asymptomatic carriers of this virus, and can be for up to nine days. That means that children in the population we serve likely will not get this disease, but will carry it to their loved ones for up to nine days. People in the fifty and above age bracket have a 1.4 percent chance of dying from this, people age eighty and above have a 14% chance of death. Colorado Department of Early Childhood, you must revise your guidance. As the owner and founder of Evergreen Academy, I call upon all the local preschools in the area to close until further notice, so that we can do our part to act as a 'firebreak' in the containment process. Here are two evidence-based articles for you to read and consider. https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/03/a-covid-19-coronavirus-update-from-concerned-physicians.html?fbclid=IwAR03cgM7xbEq7hziBMBOFnc6fDx83-KBLDsK7EXVVayWM0qZO_deawzvcXohttps://medium.com//flattening-the-curve-is-a-deadly-delusion-eea324fe9727 https://medium.com//flattening-the-curve-is-a-deadly-delusion-eea324fe9727

A COVID-19 coronavirus update from concerned physicians The actions you take starting today will save the lives of people you will never meet.