CALENDAR REMINDERS & CHANGES

GRADE 8 GRADUATION: Rescheduled to the morning of June 6th.

NO SCHOOL April 23 - 26th

Dear Parents,

Here we are in mid-April and life at the school is moving in varying directions. For the students, spring is increasingly taking hold of them. The sense of bare feet, warm rays of sun and the anticipation of a long break from school is already beginning to take hold. For the Faculty and Staff, the sense of summer is upon us as well, yet knowing that there are precious days remaining to educate and to inspire so that student learning continues right through to early June.

As the days move forward to that magical time of late spring, early summer, I try as I might each morning to arise from bed thinking, “What is my why for today?” Is it to accomplish paperwork? Is to create product and provide service? To some degree, both questions have a yes answer to them, but in the bigger picture, I like to believe that I wake up in the morning with more opportunities to connect with people. Is not life about people and those connections that we make?

Dr. Drew Gilpin Faust served as President of Harvard University for 9 years, and was not only the first female to serve in this capacity, but was also the first president of the university to not hold a degree from Harvard dating back to 1692. When asked in an interview, how does she spend much of her day, she responded:

“I spend a huge amount of time reaching out to people, either literally or digitally, so that I can connect. I call it leadership by “walking around”. It does not matter whether that be physical or virtual. An enormous amount of my job is listening to people, to understand where they are, how they see the world so that I can mobilize their understanding of themselves in service of the university. What is hard about that is as a scholar, you do not wish to repeat yourself. You are to say it once, publish it and not say it again. As a university president, you have to listen well, and then repeat your message time after time after time.”

Well, the task that Larry, Anne and I carry is not at all equivalent to that of a university president, but the messaging inherent to this, is equally important. One of things that strike us all in these days of spring is to manage the needs of the day to day, while looking ahead to next school year and the planning that must be attended to for August and beyond to be prepared for what comes next. Yet in all of this preparation, one cannot forget why the school is what it is. It is about people. It is about the spiritual nature of each of us; the tangible needs we have; the intangible desires that each of us hold; and the way we reflect upon one another. It is part of our human struggle that we tend to see the lower self of a human being, yet in that connection that Dr. Faust speaks to, the road to follow is that of seeing the best in each other.

In the past months, the Faculty has begun its meetings with a quote from Rudolf Steiner that speaks to perhaps that which Dr. Faust sees in her work:

“Love is higher than opinion. If people love one another, the most varied opinions can be reconciled – thus, one of the most important tasks for humankind today and in the future is that we should learn to live together and understand one another.”

May we all be fortunate to find that varied opinions are reconciled.

Tim Connolly – Faculty Administrator

Larry Smith – Business Administrator

Anne White – Community Development Director

Larry Smith will be on holiday until April 27th. Until his return any questions can be directed to the front office, 970-963-1960 or to info@waldorfschoolrf.org.

Faculty News & Updates

Sunflower Preschool

It was also announced this week to the Sunflower Pre-School class that “Ms. Sigrid” Fischbacher will become the Early Childhood Licensed Program Director beginning in August later this year. Sigrid has been with the school for two decades where she has ushered many a graduate of the school into her classes when they were young, along with her two daughters. Sigrid will step into a role that carries great importance to it.

Enrollment Coordinator, Catherine Woolcott, who has held this role for many years within the school, will become the school’s first full time enrollment coordinator as she hands off this important role to Sigrid. Sigrid will oversee rules and regulations for the program and work in strategic initiatives that surround the internal and external growth of the Early Childhood programs. In addition, Sigrid will serve as a mentor to the EC faculty which as next year begins will have 13 employees, and work hand in hand with the Faculty Administrator and Teacher Mentor to support the Faculty, the students and the growth of the school.

Moonflower Kindergarten

With the growth and the exciting change in the Early Childhood programs, current assistant to the class and to Ms. Heidi, Ms. Amanda Scott has been offered and accepted a permanent role as Moonflower assistant. You might know Amanda, better as Mandy, and for others in the community, mother to Braden who was in Ms. An’s recently graduated 8th grade class. The students have been so pleased to have her with them each day and we are pleased to have her with us next year and into the future.

Rising Third Grade

During the course of this year, 2nd Grade Class Teacher, Clay Allen, and Teacher Mentor, Heather Handy, shared teaching in the 2nd grade classroom. The two of them have enjoyed working in this fashion so much that have elected to continue to do so for the 2021-22 school year. Clay remains as the class teacher teaching all main lessons with an assembly of track classes while Heather will teach five practice periods with the students, focusing on Language Arts.

Rising 6th Grade

It was announced this week to the rising 6th grade parent and student body, that Daisy Glasser will become their class teacher for the 2021-22 school year.

Daisy will be coming to us from Florida where she has been teaching middle school for the past three years. Her university degrees lie in Horticulture and Meteorology with a Master’s in the latter. She will bring a strong science and math background to the class. In addition to this, Daisy is an accomplished walker of sorts. She has transversed the Pacific Crest Trail twice in her life, once in 67 days. She has also completed both the Continental Divide Trail and that of the Appalachian Trail. She was an accomplished athlete at the University of Florida having attained the status of All American in her sport of pole vaulting. Perhaps more important, is that of her character which has been recognized both formally by her university and informally by friends and references.

One of her references described her best perhaps. “Daisy wants always to be in community. She has a voluntary spirit and will be great in everything she does. She is humble and loves being with students and finding the best in them. In short, she is the real deal.”

Middle School News

The school is pleased to announce that 7th grade class teacher, Ms. Diana Baetz, is back with us a full-time basis and co-teaching the 7th grade Physics block with Ms. Patricia Cherney. As you may know, Patricia, has been teaching art to the class all year long on Tuesdays and recently taught the class the 7th grade Chemistry block focuses on combustion. Diana will be continuing with the students on through 8th grade having been with the group since they were in 3rd grade.

Mr. Johnson has been leading the class while Ms. Baetz has been away, and offer our gratitude to Matt for the additional work he took on to lead the class. He continues to teach pre-algebra and art to the class along with the 8th grade. Next year, Matt will return to his regular role of Middle School Support Teacher where he will teach a block of study to each class along with math to the 6th – 8th grades.

Search Update

The Faculty continues its search for lead teachers for both the new Starflower Class as well as for the Sunflower Classes along with assistants for these. We can happily report that we have had an excellent array of applicants for these programs, and plan that we will have nearly completed the interview process by the end of April.

Faculty Administrator and Community Development Administrator Search:

With both Tim Connolly and Anne White not returning in these roles next year, the Board continues their work along with the Faculty in identifying candidates for these roles. The effort on the interviewing and vetting of these candidates has been very active. Trustee, Ms. Frances Lewis, has been leading the Search Committee on behalf of the Board and placing a great deal of time and energy into the process. It takes a great deal of time to determine the best fit and right skillset for these leadership roles, and the Trustees as a collective deserve a great amount of our appreciation and gratitude for their timeless efforts.

School News

Dismissal Safety

It has come to our attention that a student was recently approached by a stranger while walking through Carbondale one afternoon. The student was able to safely leave the situation, and the family contacted authorities to report the incident. Administrative Council has been in contact with Carbondale Police Department who has confined this is the only reported case at this time. They have increased patrolling of Carbondale during after school hours as a safety precaution. We remind you to encourage your children to be aware and practice safety precautions in general when moving about, especially when not in the presence of adult supervision.

If there are any concerns, please reach out to Administrative Council through our main line, 970-376-0043.

Wanted: Gently Used Picnic Tables

If you know of any gently used picnic tables, we would love to add them to our playground. Please call 970-963-1960 with any leads!

Waldorf Curriculum Spotlight: Why do our students woodwork?

Woodwork weaves its way through curriculum from 1st to 8th grade in Waldorf Education. Our 1st graders could be found carving, sanding and crafting cutting boards earlier this year while our Middle Schoolers often take on the more complex challenge of the paddle project. Each student handcrafts their own wooden paddle which has helped many a past class paddle their way through their class trip. Great care, time, attention and focus is poured into this work and the students can be observed fully absorbed in their projects.

In Waldorf Education, we consider wood work as ‘will work’. Students are being challenged to draw on an inner sense of drive and motivation to bring their creations to fruition. The impact is not only work that requires great focus and care but results in work they proudly stand behind knowing the time and attention they have given.

In creating spaces for the human will to be the driving force behind creations, this capacity for action and internally motivated creation is strengthened: a capacity critical for adults capable of building, creating, changing and impacting the world around them.