We are so thrilled to see our campus once again filled with students, both new and returning! Our classes are all off to a racing start as they dive into their first Main Lesson blocks and settle into their new classrooms.

Program Highlight: Social Literacy Program

Our student support programs previously consisted of two main committees: Care Group for learning support and Restorative Council for behavioral support. We have restructured our Restorative Council committee in order to better meet the needs of our students in a thorough and a more proactive manner. This newly designed part of the Student Support Program is our Social Literacy Care Group.

Over last spring and through the summer the faculty worked to create a revised social literacy program that develops competencies in social-emotional learning. The five core competencies are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. We believe that an integrated approach to our curriculum and pedagogy is necessary to foster and enliven these competencies. Thus, a Waldorf education is designed to expose students to a wide range of disciplines, maintain healthy class habits, and ultimately meet students in a developmentally appropriate way that can integrate these core competencies.

Our revised Social Literacy Program consists of the Social Literacy Care Group, which addresses social-emotional needs of our students. This committee, along with the Learning Care Group (academic needs) make up the Student Support Program. The chairs of these two committees, along with the faculty administrator form an additional group, Executive Support committee, that is designed to oversee all student needs and help facilitate the support that is needed within the program.

This proactive approach to supporting our students is the beginning step. However, we understand that social-emotional incidents do arise. This program enhances language and enacts policy around how we as a school navigate both behavioral and academic situations when they arise.

To review the full Student Support and Social Literacy updates, language and policies, please visit our website here.

If you have questions or comments, please reach out to John Moffitt at john@waldorfschoolrf.org

School News

Welcome our new Outdoor Education Coordinator, Tait Anderson

We are delighted to have Tait Anderson join us as the Outdoor Education Coordinator. He is an experienced outdoor educator who brings a rich history of leading people into the outdoors.

Mr. Anderson holds a Bachelor’s degree from Prescott College, with a minor in Adventure Education. His master’s degree is in Environmental Governance from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

We are extremely thrilled to have Tait bring such rich experience and passion for the outdoors. Additionally, Tait is a graduate of WSRF and it is such a delight to have a graduate bring their passions back to the school.

An Invitation to Connect: Explore the Crystal following Friday Assembly

Enjoy the Autumn colors with a hike up Avalanche Creek followed by lunch at the Redstone General Store.

When: Friday, September 23 after Assembly 8:45 -11 am

Optional lunch Redstone General Store 11:30-1:00

Where: Meet at school to carpool or trail head

Why: To connect with other families in our community and build stronger bonds as we enjoy the beauty that the area offers.

Who: Families of the WSRF community

Organizer: My name is Oriana Moebius, our family has been part of the WSRF community since 2010. We have four children, two of whom have graduated and are now attending CRMS. Our daughter Bella is in the 7th grade and son Taj is in 5th grade. With so many new families and existing families post COVID, I thought it would be nice to host once a month Friday gatherings as an opportunity to connect in a meaningful way. No need to RSVP, unless you want further information regarding the scheduled activity. If you have any questions feel free to call or text 310.467.2992

COVID Guidelines and Protocols- 2022-2023 School Year

WSRF is committed to in-person learning and is making decisions mitigating COVID transmission based on data and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and from Garfield County Public Health (GCPH). Below is our current COVID policy. Please note that this is based on guidance from health professionals and is subject to change.

Monitoring symptoms remains our top mitigation strategy. All employees and community should monitor for symptoms and stay away from campus if feeling ill. If COVID symptoms are present (fever, sore throat, headache, etc), please test negative prior to coming back to school. CDC guidance recognizes antigen tests (rapid tests) as a viable testing strategy.

Testing positive

Quarantine timeline starts with day 0 on the day of symptoms.

Employees or students may return to school after 5 full days following the onset of symptoms

Masking required upon return for 5 additional days unless two negative tests within a 24 hour period on day 5 of quarantine

Exposure

CDC and CDPH are not requiring isolation for exposure, regardless of vaccination status. The current guidelines put emphasis on monitoring symptoms, staying home if symptomatic and testing when appropriate.

Please see the links below for comprehensive information on public health guidelines:

https://covid19.colorado.gov/practical-guide-for-operationalizing-cdc-school-guidance#Quarantine

https://covid19.colorado.gov/isolation

Introducing Community Council: Launching in September

The community council is a group of volunteer parents focused on supporting key community development aspects of WSRF. Council work officially kicks off in mid-September. The council includes three branches: Hands which is focused on physical support of the school including campus beautification and service projects. Heart which is focused on community building and festival support. Head which focuses on parent enrichment, community education, class parent support. To learn more, volunteer or get involved further, please contact Morgan Jacober

Friday Assembly School Song

Faculty have reviewed the lyrics and have made a change in an attempt to be more aware of the message the words portray. A small mandated committee reviewed the phrase “of God and Man” and replaced this with a more specific phrase that evokes the essence of the meaning. The new phrase is “of Spirit’s dwelling”.

Hallelujah For All Things

Of all created things of earth and sky,

of Spirit’s dwelling things lowly and things high,

we sing this day with thankful hearts and say

Alleluia alleluia.

Of light and darkness and the colors seven,

Stretching their rainbow bridge from earth to heaven

We sing this day with thankful hearts and say

Alleluia alleluia.

Of Sun and Moon the lamps of night and day

Stars and the planets sounding on their way

We sing this day with thankful hearts and say

Alleluia alleluia.

Of human hands outstretched for service high

courage and heart truth in their steadfast “I”.

We sing this day with thankful hearts and say

Alleluia alleluia.

Friday Pizza is Back!

Send money directly with your student on Fridays, starting September 9th, to place an order!

Water quality update

WSRF drinking water is sourced by a well on campus. Our system is monitored and maintained by a 3rd party. The linked report here shows the results of our most recent lead and copper testing. All levels are below actionable levels.

Additionally, each classroom has a reverse osmosis filtering system, further assuring that any potential contaminants are removed from the schools drinking water.

If you have any questions, please contact Larry Smith or (970) 963 1960

Annual Fund

Thank you to our entire community for a successful 21/22 campaign!

Please take a minute and a half to explore a quick thank you for helping us reach our goal and the impact of the annual fund on our entire community.

Upcoming Events & Key Dates

Monday September 5th - No School, Labor Day
Thursday September 22nd - 8th Grade Class Play 6pm
Friday September 23rd - 8th Grade Class Play 9am
Thursday September 29th - Book club begins, keep an eye for more details soon!
Friday September 30th - Michaelmas Festival & 12:30pm Dismissal (PreK-8th) 12pm Dismissal for Starflower Toddler Class

Explore More

Waldorf Education in the News

A new article from Time Magazine notes Waldorf Education as it explores the relationships between technology and our children, including thoughtful ways to untangle tech to support our students. The article specifically notes that “Perhaps tellingly, it is well known that Silicon Valley titans put their children in low-tech schools. The school teaches the children of Facebook, Apple, and Google how to cook, knit, and build go-carts instead. Educators at the Waldorf Schools don’t seem to be worried that their students won’t be prepared for the future. The parents aren’t either. They understand that twenty-first-century employers are looking for graduates who are curious, intrinsically motivated, can think out of the box, and solve problems—not if they can make a PowerPoint.”

We encourage you to read the full article here if you are interested to learn more!

Waldorf Education Spotlight

We are kicking off this year’s spotlight section with an introduction to AWSNA’s (Association of Waldorf Schools North America) 7 principles of Waldorf Education. These principles articulate the most important values that inform the policies and practices of Waldorf schools in North America and are held as a central tenet of our schools’ accreditation process. The first two principles are included below and keep an eye on future spotlight sections for the additional principles:

The image of the Human Being as a Spiritual Being informs every aspect of the school: One core insight is that the human being is a threefold being of body, soul, and spirit. Waldorf education enlivens the physical, emotional, intellectual, social, artistic, and spiritual capacities of the human being as the individual moves through the phases of life.

Waldorf Schools foster social renewal by cultivating human capacities in service to the individual and society: Waldorf schools foster development so that, throughout life, individuals are motivated to serve humanity with strength of will, depth of feeling, clarity of thought, and the ability to work with others. The educational program is designed to strengthen these fundamental human capacities in our students.

Curious to learn more or read all 7 Principles now? Explore our blog for recent posts from the school on a range of topics here.