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April 25, 2020

Governor Polis announcement

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has ordered Colorado schools to remain closed for in-person learning for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

While disheartened, we recognize the importance physical distancing plays in safeguarding the health of our community. The WSRF family is blessed to enjoy the enthusiastic support of many grandparents, great-grandparents, and community elders. They join us for our class plays, our festivals, and celebrations. By continuing to make smart choices in our daily lives we increase the likelihood we will allbe together again soon.

And as any class teacher would remind us (especially Ms. Pratt!), sometimes the quickest way to get there is by going slowly.

Administrative Council will consult with Pedagogical Council and the broader Faculty to determine what changes, if any, this holds for the balance of the school year. Similarly, AC will be working to support Ms. An as she guides the conclusion of her students' final year at WSRF.

Finally, the last several weeks have served as a constant reminder of the strength of our community and the dedication of our parent body. It is often said that Waldorf education is impossible without parent support. This is doubly true now, when each and every family is rising to meet new and unexpected challenges.

It is an honor to pair with you in support of our students, as we all strive for the highest good. We are grateful for your work.

Submitted by Administrative Council

From the Faculty

Middle School teacher, Diana Baetz, penned this letter this past weekend to the families of the 6th grade. Her class will begin studying the Middle Ages and her words stood out to me as ones that offer inspiration and some insights into her work. I hope that you appreciate her thoughts.

“Today I stole away to WSRF to spend some time in the classroom and begin preparation for May and our last block of the 6th grade year, the study of the Middle Ages. I do not yet know if we will be returning to the class or continue on this remote learning path, but it felt good to act as if I was preparing the classroom for the children.

What I have seen your children accomplish in the last several weeks has been truly inspiring. As I reflect on how to be a Waldorf teacher in these times, I am reminded of why I chose Waldorf education for my family and profession. This education is not only about reading, writing, and arithmetic. Our education is designed to meet the development of the mind, body and spirit of all the children. The lesson we teach and the work the children do, is constructed on a foundation of rhythm, purpose, and resilience. We all feel fulfillment and meaning in our lives when we know what is expected of us, when we know why we do what we do, and there is no denying the satisfaction of accomplishment, especially when we have to dig deep to achieve something. As I prepare my lessons for our study of the Middle Ages, a period of huge upheaval, uncertainty, plagues and fear, I am struck by the wisdom of the curriculum. It was in this that era that the code the knight was written, when monks first committed their lives to faith and a disciplined life service, and when the black plague loomed, unseen and threatening for years. It amazes me, the power of history and its repeated patterns.

I recognize that today we are presented with many unseen challenges , which continue to leave us waiting and wondering about what the future has in store. I offer that we can learn much from the lessons of the past and the wisdom of this education you have chosen for your child. The path of learning at home offers each of your children a sense of purpose to each day, especially in a time when idle influences can so easily draw one in. As we move beyond the first 21 days of a new pattern, rhythm should now begin to take hold in the operation of your week. And although I know it seems daunting at time, for these young adolescents, the prospect of achieving beauty and knowledge in their work, will ultimately support their growth and character in the years to come. I honor all that each of you is managing in your life, your home and with your family. Dare to embrace this opportunity and to wonder at all the blessings we, as a community have in this time of the unknown.

Thank you all for your continued communication, for your flexibility, and courage. I am honored to teach your children and I am blessed by the strength of this parent body to hold steady through these times.”

Announcement of 1st Grade Teacher for the 2020-21 School Year

The Administrative Council and the Faculty are very excited to announce that Ms. Patti Connolly will be the 1st Grade Class Teacher next year!

Some of you may know Patti already as she will be completing her second year this June with the school as the Student Support teacher for children in the Kinderhaus through 3rd grade. As Student Support teacher, she led the 1st grade readiness assessments with Heidi and Baruch in mid-winter, providing an opportunity to get to know the students. I think that it is fair to say that a seed was planted at that time and now as spring arrives, the seed has come to life!

Patti realized that she loved teaching when, as a teen, she volunteered at a community center program for developmentally disabled adults. She graduated university with a degree in education and a California State elementary lifetime credential. She immediately pursued her master’s degree in special education and fell short of completion by six units as she welcomed her first child during that time. Five years later she discovered Waldorf education and enthusiastically pursued her Waldorf teaching certificate in a two-year program in 1990-1992. Since then, she has enjoyed serving as:

• Class teacher for 11 years, leading her first class, grades 1-8, and her second class, grades 1-3.

• Faculty Administrator on three occasions including one year here at WSRF.

• Adjunct faculty member at the Rudolf Steiner College for over 20 years.

• Contributing author to a Waldorf education teaching book, Roadmap to Literacy and co-leads professional development workshops on this topic throughout the United States.

• Co-founder of waldorfinspirations.com, a Waldorf teacher resource website.

• Parent educator at numerous schools on a variety of topics pertinent to Waldorf Education.

• Teacher mentor and evaluator with long term relationships with both the Westside Waldorf School and the Waldorf School of Orange County.

• Teacher educator in both Nigeria and Tanzania.

Patti has two children of her own with her husband, Tim. Both Emi and Zach, attended Waldorf schools when they were young, graduating from the Sacramento Waldorf High School. Emi lives in Malawi abroad with her husband Todd and their twin sons. Zach lives with his partner, Meg, in California.

Submitted by Administrative Council

Waldorf Distance Learning: Creativity, Curriculum and Connection

Waldorf education is centered around enduring human relationships and human interactions constitute the heart of Waldorf education. Certainly, this is at the heart of the challenge Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork faces today with the closure of school and a move to online and distance learning. Administration and faculty hear the call to adapt, be innovative, and create unique ways to reach the hands, hearts and heads of our students, parents, and community; we take that call to action with reverence and care. We deeply appreciate your patience as we take distance learning in stride and develop examples of innovative curriculum delivery and community building opportunities.

Curriculum and subject matter is often a catalyst to the actual education, an education where a world of possibility is cultivated through the relationship between the student and teacher, or teacher and parent. Learning involves the whole human being, and the interactions we have with our students is multi-sensory and experiential. It is not passive, which one finds in a lecture-style of education. Now we find ourselves out of the classroom and into online learning. To add a layer to that, we realize we are asking families to partner with us in exploring the curriculum to maintain the multi-sensory and whole human being approach to the learning, which we understand is difficult with the overwhelm brought on by circumstances.

None of us would choose online learning over face to face interaction, however we feel confident that we have strong and potent relationships with our students that have been cultivated over time, and through this we can shape and give meaning to our version of distance learning. Teachers are adapting and working creatively to delver curriculum, but with the aim to reach the whole human being. We want students and parents to feel safe, welcome, supported, and connected to a greater learning community. We aim to provide context and learning experiences that are layered, and link learning concepts to wider experiences. Faculty is looking to be sure the lessons meet student needs, are relevant in the current context, and truly assess what the needs and what matters to the students today. As a school, we care for all our students, especially when navigating from a distance. When we connect with one another, we hope to nurture a feeling of friendliness and camaraderie with the hopes of forgetting the screen in-between.

And now, as we navigate delivery of curriculum content with experiential and layered learning with reaching the whole human being, we also look forward to addressing the heart of the community with equal priority. We are looking into new ways of focusing on our community to foster connection with one another. To name a few, we are working creative ways of celebrating deep and important community milestones, such as Fly Away and 8th grade Graduation, Mayfaire, Class Trips, and provide supplemental resources for parents to enhance both learning time and unstructured play time while at home, all with a desire to foster our interconnectedness.

While we are all experiencing grieving, we recognize our core values of experiential education and human relationships and will commit to adapting to our current circumstances to meet this new challenge while keeping those values front and center. We will continue to strive to meet our students unique learning strengths and needs and carry on expanding our work to enhance a strong and interconnected caring community. We appreciate your support, feedback, and care as we deliberate and navigate innovative distance learning while holding strong to the core values of Waldorf education.

A little humor: Challenges of Online Learning, presented by Rudolf Steiner School in Ann Arbor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKGfoNM4Eg0&feature=youtu.be

Introducing Liesl Bellack, Marketing Consultant

Ms. Bellack was contracted in February to work on strategic marketing initiatives. She has been instrumental in navigating options to stay connect and support one another during these times. You will see Liesl post to Instagram, Facebook, and work on event ideas with enrollment. We are pleased to introduce you to Liesl! Please continue to send your distance learning photos to Liesl so she can post and share inspiration with one another. They certainly make our day to see!

Liesl was a part of the very first kindergarten class hosted on the Carbondale campus. She graduated from WSRF in 2007 and attended both Aspen High School and the San Francisco Waldorf High School. She holds a Bachelors in Commerce from the University of British Columbia, specializing in Marketing and Visual Arts. She has spent over 5 years working in marketing, communication and brand management in both Vancouver BC and New York City.

To re-evaluate her goals, identity and sense of self, she spent 4-months solo hiking 2,000 miles of the Continental Divide Trail in the summer of 2018. She has since come full circle and returned to Waldorf education. She spent time working in the EC programs at both Shining Mountain Waldorf and the Rudolf Steiner School in Ann Arbor, and is currently a Masters in Waldorf Education candidate at Antioch University.

Mayfaire, Celebration during Distance Learning

Mayfaire is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere. It is an ancient tradition celebrating the arrival of summer. The Maypole dance, often at the center of our Mayfaire celebration, symbolizes the tree of life and growth of spring vegetation. Throughout history, cultures have created rituals that reflect patterns of nature and mark transitions in seasons. Rhythms infuse the life of a Waldorf school, and the purpose of the festival life is to bring the community together and enrich the soul of the individual through community. By celebrating the passages of the seasons, we strengthen our connection to the rhythms of nature.

While we are unable to celebrate Mayfaire together this year, we have a few ideas for you to enjoy a Mayfaire celebration with your family.

An old tradition is to prepare a “May Basket” which is a hand-woven basket of spring flowers. They can be hung on fence posts or left on front steps of neighbors or loved ones wishing them a happy spring. Listen to NPR story on forgotten tradition May Basket Day here: https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/04/30/402817821/a-forgotten-tradition-may-basket-day

Learn a few Mayfaire songs & dance steps: https://www.allaroundthisworld.com/learn/western-europe-and-the-nordic-countries-2/england/england-morris-dancing/#.XqNATy-ZPx4

Make a tissue paper flower bouquet: https://www.verywellfamily.com/tissue-paper-flowers-craft-620428

Knit flowers & hearts and hang around town: https://www.allfreeknitting.com/Knit-Accessories/How-to-Knit-Flowers-13-Easy-Knitting-Patterns

Make flower garland: https://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/make-and-decorate/entertaining/how-to-make-a-floral-garland

Come up with your own ideas and share with us! Take photos and send in and we’ll celebrate Mayfaire together from afar.

We love seeing windows into your worlds during this time of collective distancing!

For those who’ve already shared, thank you! Please continue sending images of activities, rhythms and learning taking place in your homes so we can “see” each other, even if only through small windows for now. All WSRF community members are invited to share.

Please send photos to wsrfinstagram@gmail.com and note the following: name(s), grade level of children and community share only OR media permission given*. (*Media permission will allow WSRF to share photos via social media, website and other broader community distribution.)

Here are some of our favorite images from the past week, you can find more on the WSRF Facebook and Instagram pages.

WSRF COVID Financial Statement

The school is aware that this crisis is creating real financial strain for many of our parents. Lost jobs, few if any customers for your businesses, kids at home making it very challenging for those able to work from home to get work accomplished, the list is long and the challenges real. The school wishes to offer our support, knowing that this too shall pass, and hoping that this occur sooner rather than later. Please know that a core principal of the school’s Financial Aid process is to never lose a family strictly for financial reasons.

At this moment, the school offers these steps to relieve financial burdens:

1) Tuition Payment deferment

a. For parents that have short-term cash-flow constraints that make it difficult or impossible to meet your current tuition payment obligations. Perhaps you hold out hope that either the stimulus check will hit you bank account soon, and/or that the new unemployment benefits will begin to take effect and then your tuition payments can be made.

b. Contact Larry Smith to request payment deferment and to discuss payment plan options.

2) Tuition Payment reduction

a. For parents who have or anticipate longer-term financial impacts and seek to either have current year payments reduced, or will need help for the 20/21 year starting in July, we invite you to participate in our Financial Aid process. Please begin here: https://waldorfschoolrf.com/tuition-financial-aid We know that the documents requested in this process will not accurately reflect recent developments. These documents enable a consistent starting place, and changes due to the crisis will be understood through conversation with the Needs Based Financial Aid Committee.