Waldorf education is designed to address the whole child: the head, the heart and the hands. It stimulates the mind with a full spectrum of traditional academic subjects; it nurtures healthy emotional development by conveying information experientially as well as academically; and it teaches the hands to be valued members of the child’s being through a broad range of artistic and physical activities.

Waldorf education emphasizes respect, wonder for nature and reverence for human existence. Learning becomes much more than the acquisition of vast amounts of information; rather, learning becomes an engaging voyage of discovery, both of the world and of oneself. Because it touches children on a deeper level, they remember more easily what they have learned. Learn more here.

Pedagogy is the art and practice of teaching.

Waldorf education, established by Rudolf Steiner and Emil Molt in 1919, has its foundations in Anthroposophy.  At the heart of Anthroposophy is the belief that humanity has the wisdom to transform itself and the world, through one’s own spiritual development.  To that end, Waldorf education holds as its primary intention the ideal of bringing forth—in every child—his or her unique potential in a way that serves the further development of humanity.  The curriculum, pedagogy, and teaching methods are designed to nurture this potential.

These two educational approaches began with a similar goal: to design a curriculum that was developmentally appropriate to the child and that addressed the child's need to learn in a tactile as well as an intellectual way. The philosophies and approaches are otherwise very different. 

SWS is a self administered school; which means that there is no principal or superintendent dictating how the school is run or what the policies are; instead they are created and enacted by the faculty and administration. The board has oversight of the financial and legal realm and as such makes decisions about these. We also have mandated committees who are able to make decisions as a smaller group.

A Waldorf teacher typically remains with the same class for five to eight years.  In this way, the teacher is better able to assess each individual’s development, needs, and learning style– and the children, feeling secure in this long-term relationship, are more comfortable in their learning environment. 

A Waldorf class is something like a family.  Problems between teachers and children, and between teachers and parents, can and do arise.  Schools typically work to resolve such problems through a conflict resolution or grievance procedure.  With the goodwill and active support of the parents and the teacher concerned, our school is committed to resolving conflict. The first step is for the parent to address their concerns with the teacher.  The pedagogical director is available to meet with the teacher and parent together if needed, and our Community Relations Committee is an additional resource for conflict resolution.  

Our goal is to foster passionate readers who continue reading for pleasure throughout their lifetimes. To that end, we introduce reading in a developmentally appropriate way. The foundation for literacy begins in early childhood, not through the written word, but through verses, rhymes, and storytelling. 

Reading is formally taught in the first couple months of first grade when the teacher introduces consonants and vowels through an artistic approach of drawing, painting, movement, and speech. This artistic, deliberate process engages the children with great interest, and by the end of first grade, children are writing simple sentences and  have strengthened their phonemic awareness. .  Students typically begin reading printed readers with their teacher during the second half of second grade. This thorough and artistic approach to teaching literacy has been proven to build a solid base for advanced comprehension and vocabulary skills in later years.

The teacher works with sensory integration and therapeutic movements in a game-like way and imaginative way to support the developmental growth of the child. Removing these hindrances translates into more ease with academic pursuits. 

The Faculty with support from the Pedagogical Committee and Pedagogical Director make curriculum decisions.

Start with your class teacher and if you are not getting answers, go to the Pedagogical Director.

A hiring committee, composed of the Pedagogical Director and a few teachers, is formed.  Members of the hiring committee interview the candidate and observe them teach some sample lessons. After checking references, the hiring committee brings their recommendation to the faculty and  a decision is made. 

Volunteer! We have many opportunities for volunteering and giving back at SWS. Some of these are in person, volunteering at festivals or on field trips or on a committee, and some are more behind the scenes, like baking for an event or sewing costumes for a play. Click here and then click on the Volunteering tab to learn more about volunteering opportunities.

It is! Click here and then click on the Volunteering tab to learn more about the requirements for volunteerism at SWS.

Click here to learn about all of the amazing SWS Committees.

A committee is either created by the faculty, board of trustees or administration. Depending on the committee, it may involve teachers, administration staff, parents, community members or others. Besides an ad hoc committee, our committees do not dissolve. 

People in the school community can express their interest in joining the board at any time, even if there isn't a current vacancy. We encourage interested individuals to start attending board meetings and to join a committee as well. If a vacancy opens up, the board considers any interested people at that time, and people who are already active with coming to board meetings and/or involved with one of the school committees are naturally more likely to fill the open position. We have an official policy that explains more of the details. For more information Click Here

There are several options for paying your bill: you can drop cash off at school with an admin team member, drop a check in our exterior payment box, mail a check, you can work with your bank to set up bill pay, or you can pay by credit or debit card online. For bill pay, you will need to contact your bank and let them know you want to set it up with SWS and they will find us and set up the automatic payment to withdraw from your account each month. The bank will then send SWS a check in the mail each month. For online payments, there is a 3.6% charge added on to your payment.

We will be running a capital campaign to raise funds for our new site. We already have several generous donors who have committed to the fund. The expense for our new site does not come out of our operating budget. Your tuition goes directly to meeting our operation expenses at our current site, including teacher compensation.

We have an Annual Giving Campaign each November that is run by the board and a Spring Auction that is run by parent volunteers. As tuition only covers 80% of our operating expenses, these fundraisers are an integral part of running our school.

The annual fee to be a member of AWSNA is net tuition x 0.00454. As part of AWSNA, we commit to follow the seven AWSNA principles that all Waldorf schools commit to. AWSNA is not “them”, but us. We are AWSNA - all schools in North America who use the name Waldorf are part of AWSNA and work together to strive to enliven  and adapt Waldorf education. Like our school, AWSNA works in a consensus model, so with the hundreds of Waldorf schools and two delegates from each school, any kind of change or decision requires the agreement and consensus of hundreds of people. Find out more about AWSNA here.

Being an AWSNA member has TONS of benefits and is absolutely worth the cost! AWNSA offers training, courses, support, dialogue,  resources, and more to teachers, administration staff, board members, and parents.

Waldorf students have been accepted in and graduated from a broad spectrum of notable colleges and universities and/or have trained at an art or technical institute, apprenticed on farms, traveled and volunteered abroad, created their own business. etc.

Waldorf graduates reflect a wide diversity of professions and occupations including medicine, law, science, caregiving, engineering, computer technology, the arts, social science, government, and teaching at all levels.

According to a recent study of Waldorf graduates:

• 94% attended college or university

• 47% chose humanities or arts as a major

• 42% chose sciences or math as a major

• 89% are highly satisfied in choice of occupation

• 91% are active in lifelong education

• 92% placed a high value on critical thinking

• 90% highly values tolerance of other viewpoints

Our alum can stay connected to SWS by following our social media accounts, participating in school events and more! Each year, graduating SHS seniors who attended SWS visit our school and walk the halls in their cap and gowns. They stay after to meet with 7th and 8th graders to answer any questions about the transition to HS. SWS alumni are also welcome to join AWSNA’s Waldorf Alums Connect.

Click here to stay connected to SWS.