Washington Waldorf School

[Anonymous]

This school has long struggled with finances and enrollment. The high school’s grade sizes are tiny (when my child was there, there was a high school graduating class that had only 7 or 8 students) and is largely populated by staff’s children. Waldorf schools are run to a large degree by the Teacher’s College rather than by administrators who are educated and experienced in operating schools or organizations. The Teacher’s College, comprised of faculty members, makes decisions by consensus. That means that significant changes happen very slowly, and, if consensus cannot be reached, not at all. When we were there, programs for younger children suffered from a lack of resources as a disproportionate amount of funding went towards running the small high school. We had high hopes for WWS but were gravely disappointed. Switching to a school with stable resources and functioning management has eased our stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True Waldorf believers do believe in spirits, gnomes, and eugenics. That’s not most teachers or families though. However, the community is strongly antivax and doesn’t teach STEM like you’d expect in this day and age.

It WAS antivax as part of its anthroposophical foundation. But all that flipped overnight when covid rolled out. How does that work?

They don’t tolerate different opinions.

[Anonymous]

When my kid had trouble sitting still in first grade they insisted we do "eurythmy therapy." It didn't help and doesn't have any real science behind it. It made me lose trust in the school as a source of legitimate teaching for my kid. The parent community was warm on the surface, but when I didn't accept the school's anthroposophical rationale for the way things were done I began to feel outcast. It was a weird juncture in my kid's education, and while there were some neat aspects, like learning to knit, there was a lot that I look back at and ask myself what I was thinking. It took a lot of time and effort for my kid to catch up when they switched to a different school, even though they were already reading when we make the change.

[Anonymous]

Not sure where some of this stuff comes from. Small school, yes. If your kid doesn’t want that, fine. There are lots of advantages to it. It ain’t Ridgemont High. No fairies that we have seen. The anti-vax seems to be California schools. Seniors seem to be fully formed adults who are interesting, and nice. Many go into STEM. Nice that SSFS families have it as an option.

[Anonymous]

As a connoisseur of educational styles, I regard Waldorf as having inherited an interesting mix of well-implemented sensible ideas and oddball granola madness. But I don't think either side is particularly out of alignment was progressive Quakerism. Definitely worth a look by people coming from SSFS, IMHO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure where some of this stuff comes from. Small school, yes. If your kid doesn’t want that, fine. There are lots of advantages to it. It ain’t Ridgemont High. No fairies that we have seen. The anti-vax seems to be California schools. Seniors seem to be fully formed adults who are interesting, and nice. Many go into STEM. Nice that SSFS families have it as an option.

Unfortunately it comes from personal experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a SSFS family and have noted all the posts about looking at WWS. Can anyone there with a child in high school speak to a couple of questions? How many kids per grade? And on the website, the math curriculum seems a little uncompelling. My child is in 8th in Geometry so should be going into Algebra 2 as a freshman - is there an advanced math track that would accommodate that?

When we toured, it looked like less than 10 kids per grade. Not sure about the math curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Like all places, it has evolved over time, and every family and child is different, so past anecdotal experience has some, but not overwhelming, relevance. Families who would be a good fit there will be the kind to take the time to investigate, tour, ask questions, and make their own judgment.

New head of school this year (due to retirement, not crisis); yes it is a small school, on purpose, and there are pros and cons to that -- maybe it could even be an opportunity for SSFS high school students who would like to stay together?

Here's some current personal experience with the high school: https://www.washingtonian.com/2025/03/25/schools-are-banning-phones-what-about-laptops/

[Anonymous]

I don’t know much about the school but a family who moved their kids from Waldorf to our Catholic school last year found out they were way behind grade level academically. The kids needed a significant amount of tutoring to get caught up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like all places, it has evolved over time, and every family and child is different, so past anecdotal experience has some, but not overwhelming, relevance. Families who would be a good fit there will be the kind to take the time to investigate, tour, ask questions, and make their own judgment.

New head of school this year (due to retirement, not crisis); yes it is a small school, on purpose, and there are pros and cons to that -- maybe it could even be an opportunity for SSFS high school students who would like to stay together?

Here's some current personal experience with the high school: https://www.washingtonian.com/2025/03/25/schools-are-banning-phones-what-about-laptops/

That article has a few lines at the end about how the Waldorf no-tech, small class, involved teaching approach helped a struggling student who was chronically addicted to his DCPS laptop. It also doesn’t actually name the school, but if WWS is the only area Waldorf high school that a former DCPS kid would have moved to, then it’s probably talking about WWS.

The article isn’t actually about Waldorf, but about the downsides of universal school-provided laptops and the distraction they pose for kids in class.

[Anonymous]

That's right, WWS is the only Waldorf high school in the area.

And yes, the tech-intentional approach is a distinguishing and fairly unique feature of Waldorf education.

Anyway, agree people should visit and make their own decisions!

[Anonymous]

If you’re coming from SSFS and have a gender diverse student, please make sure to ask very specific questions pertaining to your child’s comfort. It’s one thing to talk the talk. It’s another to walk thewalk. Ask where the gender inclusive bathrooms are. Changing areas, etc..

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure whether that comment is directed at WWS, it does have gender-inclusive bathrooms and changing areas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True Waldorf believers do believe in spirits, gnomes, and eugenics. That’s not most teachers or families though. However, the community is strongly antivax and doesn’t teach STEM like you’d expect in this day and age.

Can someone please speak to vaccinations at WWS? I’d like to hear their view/community position. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Based on conversations I had with other parents when my child was enrolled there not long ago, some families use Maryland’s religious exemption to enable their children to enroll unvaccinated. I knew families that did this even though they didn’t have a true religious objection but rather were untrusting of vaccine safety. Plenty of WWS families do vaccinate their kids, but my sense was that there were more anti-vaxxers drawn to Waldorf Schools than in the general population. I heard faculty express their belief that vaccines block children’s bodies from gaining strength and resilience that is developed through battling viruses. I also heard faculty recommend against giving Tylenol to young children with fevers because they believed that fevers are a sign that the body is doing its job in fighting illness and are instrumental in the development of a person’s physical and mental resilience.