We are just a week and a half away from the start of a new school year:

First Day for 1st to 8th Grade: August 23rd 8:15am (reminder, 12:30pm dismissal on the first day)
First Day for Early Childhood August 24th 8:15am (reminder 12:30pm dismissal for EC only on the 24th)

We can’t wait to welcome all our incredible families to campus! Please find upcoming dates, programing updates and other important resources in anticipation of the year ahead.

Important Dates

Back to School Work Day - This Saturday August 13

We are excited to announce the return of a beloved summer tradition of on-campus, community fun! Join us for a day of working together to prepare our campus for families to return in the fall with a range of different projects and opportunities to care for our beautiful campus and catch up with fellow community members.

When: Saturday August 13th 9:00am-4:00pm

Who: Parents with children in grades 1-8

Please sign up!

What to bring: work gloves, water bottle, sun hat, hand tools and a smile!

Lunch: Pizza lunch will be provided by WSRF

Rose Ceremony - August 23

All community members are welcome to join us for this special, beloved tradition to welcome our new 1st grade class. Each 1st grader will be welcomed by their new 8th grade buddy and the entire school. Join us on the Sun Porch starting at 8:30am for this special annual start to the school year. Please stay on the Sun Porch afterwards to enjoy coffee and treats with the WSRF administration. As a reminder, we ask that cell phones remain in pockets for these types of events to allow parents and children to be present and fully enjoy this event.

Where: The sun porch

When: 8:30am on August 23rd

Back to School open house - August 23rd

Join us, the first day of school after dismissal, for the chance to explore our campus, meet other community members and learn more about what makes our school unique as your family settles into the new school year! Plus receive a special back to school welcome packet!

When: Tuesday August 23rd (directly following 12:30 release) 12:45-2:00pm

Who: Families grades 1-8

What: A welcome from WSRF administration, introduction of staff and faculty, family welcome bags, parent packets, visits to your student's classroom and more!

*Please pack your child a lunch on this day to enjoy after 12:30 dismissal on the lawn

*8th grade students will enjoy their lunch and field games with children in grades (1-7) whose parents attend this open house.

*Regularly scheduled “after school care” will be available for those who need it

Programming Highlight

Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting programs within our school and the exciting changes and additions taking place! We are kicking things off with expansions to the music program and a detailed look at its impact. Keep reading to learn more!

Music program at WSRF:

Music is at the core of human experience. At the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork, we teach music to all children. We teach music through singing and instrumentation to awaken, inspire and cultivate the innate capacity for music and to share the full range of human emotion and experience that can find expression through music. Rudolf Steiner indicated that music is a product of the will, one that comes from harmonizing breath and rhythm, listening and singing, the head and the body. Working with music allows the children the experience of drawing from a universal stream to bring beauty into the world.

Music can become an intellectual pursuit wherein one can discover and explore a whole realm of theory, concepts and written language. At the school level, musical concepts are not taught directly, but arrived at through musical experience. Working sequentially from simple singing songs and two note flutes up to the more advanced choral arrangements and complicated instruments — including both strings and recorder — provides ample room for such experiences to manifest naturally. Through enlivened musical experience brought with joy and enthusiasm, we can train the ear, explore dynamics and relationships and come together with a shared purpose to bring beauty, unity and harmony into the world.

Our music program for the 2022-2023 school year has been enhanced and will include music classes for lower grades and will provide further options for our middle school students. We are thrilled and honored to have Aspen Music Festival continue their leadership with our strings program for grades four through eight. In addition to this program, Clay Allen will be offering a recorder ensemble for those students who choose not to play violin, cello or viola. In addition, our middle school students will be a part of an all middle school choir that will also be led by Clay Allen. We are excited about these additions to the music program. If you are not familiar with the recorder, its various types, or a recorder ensemble, please see the attached videos below.

Ensemble ~ Information on recorder and video in orchestra ~ Orchestra recorder ensemble ~ Jazz recorder ~ Fun and creative piece

Parent Child Fall Registration open & Classes Start August 30th!

Registration for Fall Parent Child Classes including Peas & Carrots, Sweet Peas and Bilingual Musical are currently open. A few spots are still remaining!These classes are wonderful opportunities for children ages newborn to 3+ years to meet other children in a joyful, nurturing environment! Also a chance for new parents to connect and explore Waldorf Education. Space is limited, secure your spot today and share with other young families in your network who may be curious to explore our school more. Learn more and sign up here!

Important Resources & Information

COVID Information

COVID protocols will likely stay the same as they were at the end of the ‘21/’22 school year. We are continuing to follow guidance from Garfield County Public Health (GCPH) and awaiting their official recommendations. Likely our policy will remain that masks are optional at school and on school buses. We will continue to follow CDC and GCPH guidance for isolation and quarantine. Overall, the guidelines have shifted to a more routine disease control model as defined by GCPH. These protocols are however subject to change as needed to ensure the health and safety of our community.

2022-23 Bus Schedule

Please see attached schedule and note the addition of a stop to the North of Highway 133 in Carbondale at Hendrick Park.

To ride the bus, each rider needs to complete the rider agreement and purchase either an annual pass ($300) or a 10 ride punch pass ($100). Please see the office or bring the attached to the office to get your student’s pass.

Please note:

Morning times are departure times, arrive prior to assure bus will be there

Afternoon buses depart 10 minutes after dismissal. The bus waits for parents of younger children at drop-off, times are approximations - parents please do not be late at your pick-up point.

Traffic Flow Reminder

Please note the one-way direction of traffic flow into our parking lot. Vehicles entering the main entrance are to travel one way in front of the school and then around to the parking lot. For the safety of all, please do not pull directly into the main parking lot.

To assure the smooth flow of vehicles, drop-off and pick up is permitted directly in front of the school when it can be accomplished quickly, otherwise please park your vehicle in the lot. To drop off or pick up quickly, please pull your vehicle to the right side of the driveway and stop just before the crosswalk to drop-off or pick up. Vehicles wishing to pull into the parking lot may proceed to the left of vehicles lined up on the right.

All vehicles traveling to the Kinderhaus are to proceed directly to the left when pulling into the main entrance, and around to the parking spots on the North side of the school.

Please also note the two disabled parking spaces and do not block these. Finally, please note that the Faculty lot is reserved for Faculty only. Thank you for your cooperation.

Aftercare Available Daily from Dismissal to 5pm

For families needing additional care after 3:15 dismissal (or 2:15pm on Wednesdays), our after care program is available. Aftercare runs daily from dismissal to 5pm. Families can pay in advance on TADs for a discounted yearly rate by day or drop in rate (and drop in care) is available. For more information please contact our front office here. To notify the office if your child is dropping in, please call the front office: (970)963-1960.

Parent Handbook and other valuable resources

Looking for common parent resources including the Parent handbook? Find more information on our Current Family page here including the school calendar, information on our Media Approach, a curriculum overview and much more.

Faculty Transitions

As WSRF continues to grow we are excited to share these additional faculty transitions with our community.

Allison Spayd: Early Childhood Assistant Teacher- Willow Forest

Ms. Allison stepped in last fall and took on the role of Lead Teacher for the Toddler program. Allison has decided to step away as lead teacher in the Toddler program and will continue as an assistant in Willow Forest. She is excited about this opportunity and looks forward to being in Willow Forest this coming year.

Marina O’Keefe: Lead Early Childhood Teacher- Toddler Program

Ms. Marina was the Assistant in the Toddler Program last year. She will be stepping in as the role of Lead Teacher for the Toddler program this fall. Marina is excited about this opportunity. Please welcome Ms. Marina as she transitions into the Lead Teacher role.