Renew. Reset. Refresh.

Preparing for the 2021–22 School Year

Dear Families and Friends of the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh, Welcome to the 2021–2022 school year! I hope you have been able to experience a restful summer and are feeling refreshed and hopefully renewed after a very full pandemic year that continues to ebb and flow. Throughout the summer, our teachers have attended virtual renewal courses and are eager to meet their students in a few weeks’ time. While our campus has been much quieter without students, a lot of important work has been accomplished. This includes the replacement of a portion of our sewer line, removal and replacement of one of our boilers, and preparations for a new fire alarm system to be installed in the weeks to come. This week, the chapel, which serves as our seventh grade classroom, received a professional, restorative cleaning before school starts, so the bricks and tile returned to their original color. One might consider all of this work the renewal of our school’s digestive (sewer) system and nervous (alarm) system, and a reset of our campus’ metabolism (boiler/furnace), along with some physical refreshment (in the chapel) as well! In this spirit, all families are warmly invited to help us clean, organize, and refresh the classrooms and common spaces of the school by attending Beautification Weekend for one or two shifts on either Friday, August 27, 2021, from 1:00–5:00pm or Saturday from 8:00am–4:00pm. If you have more than four people in your family unit, you may sign up for multiple slots. We will be unable to allow any walk-ins this year and all parties must be signed up via SignUpGenius. We are so excited to begin the school year together with students returning for their first day of school on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. All the efforts of the summer come to life when the children return to campus. Their joy and enthusiasm for learning remind us of the power of community and of growth, healing, and renewal. Masks will be required and all health and safety protocols per WSP’s regularly updated Health & Safety Plan will be followed. Caring for our students’ health and wellbeing is at the forefront of everything we do. WSP’s Pandemic Team (formerly known as the Return to School Committee) is meeting weekly to stay abreast of the most up-to-date data and health guidelines/mandates and to ensure all protocols are updated accordingly. Parents and guardians, please mark your calendars to attend our virtual Back-to-School Night to be held on Thursday, September 2, 2021, from 6:30–7:30pm. I look forward to seeing you there! With best wishes for a wonderful school year, Kirsten Christopherson-Clark Head of School

Our old boiler needed to be removed and loaded into a truck in seven sections—each weighing 800 pounds. Once removed, space was clear for the new boiler. Here you see it waiting for final installation.

Mr. Mark built a new fence with a delightful arbor which opens into the Mulberry Play Yard.

New hand washing sinks protected by an awning are ready for use in the courtyard.

A portion of the sewer line stretching from S. Winebiddle Street, past the Chapel, and to the main building was replaced.

Sunflowers, marigolds, and other surprises yet to unfold wait patiently to welcome the students back to campus on August 31.