Planting Seeds for the Future

A letter from our Head of School

Dear WSP Families,

Yesterday, a kindergartener presented me with this “fairy wing” she found in the play yard. Her voice was filled with wonder as she shared her treasure. Waldorf schools foster wonder and imagination in a way that meets the young child developmentally and plants seeds (we might think of as “winged seeds”) for flexibility of thinking needed for future creative problem-solving.

As a community living through a pandemic, we are experiencing firsthand the importance of flexible thinking and creativity. Again and again, we find ourselves needing to pivot and meet changing circumstances.

On Monday, we welcomed students back to campus for the first time this fall for on-campus and individual family parallel learning. Prior to this, teachers gathered information, planned, and attended workshops led by other teachers who had already experienced a parallel approach — which means teachers teach students in-person while simultaneously teaching students virtually. They received valuable advice regarding the challenges that would come. Just as we learned to make distance learning improvements from last spring to this fall, we anticipate the need for creative problem-solving and pivoting once again.

Whether students are here on campus or joining us virtually, we remain one community with the growing child as our priority. Our teachers and administration are working hard to meet the students’ needs. We know parents are also working hard to support whatever is needed for their children to thrive. Together, we are showing our students what it means to be lifelong learners! As a community, we have the compassion, courage, and creativity necessary to meet whatever may come our way during this unprecedented time.

Congratulations on our first week of this new approach to teaching and learning. Please stay in communication with your child’s teacher, so they know how it is going for you and for your child. It is our aim to make this the best experience it can be for all involved.

With compassion, courage, and creativity, Kirsten Christopherson-Clark Head of School