Welcome to the school

few years ago, my wife and I attended our first Open House at the Portland Waldorf School. After the presentation, while driving home, we talked of our impressions and happily learned that we both were favorably impressed. In fact, we wished we could have attended such a school. I felt intuitively that it was a place where our children could flourish. Since then that feeling has grown and is supported by an increasing understanding and appreciation of the Waldorf curriculum brought by Dr. Rudolf Steiner, who founded the Waldorf education system in 1919.

I initially thought of Waldorf as an alternative school. This, I have learned, is not the case. The curriculum is profound and has withstood the test of time, remaining essentially consistent since its beginning. Dr. Steiner’s insights into childhood development have given rise to a unique education system which aims to educate the whole child, the “head, hands and heart”. This curriculum, shaped by our dedicated teachers, enables the children to learn to create and think independently. These, I believe, are traits which are at once rapidly declining and increasingly important in our world. Over the years, we have seen these fruits of the education borne out in the lives of our children, the other children in the school, and, most importantly, in the success and well-being of those students who have gone on to higher education and out into the world.

Educating children is, of course, the primary mission of the Portland Waldorf School. More than a school, however, this is also a community — one which has become very important to me and my family. As members of this community, we all have the opportunity to support the school, to support one another in our choice of a different education for our children, and to partake of a social aspect which arises naturally here.

The challenges and rewards here are many and the opportunities to contribute abound. I invite you to enter into this community, to become involved in the school and see how your involvement can, not only support the education of the children, but also enrich your life.

Welcome to the Portland Waldorf School!

Tom Sparks
PWS Parent

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