Revisiting Our Values
A Letter from Our Head of School
Dear WSP Parents and Special Friends,
As a school, we strive to cultivate a culture of gratitude as well as a love for learning within our community throughout the year. Therefore, it is our practice to create intentional moments that help us pause to make space for reflection. This week’s faculty meeting opened with all teachers reading our school’s mission and asking the questions, “What brought you to Waldorf Education and to WSP? How do you connect what brought you to the school with one or more of our values?”
These questions have stayed with me, and I felt inspired to ask you: What brought you to Waldorf Education and to WSP? As you read through the values of the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh, what values resonate for you as you reflect on what drew you to our school and what keeps you connected to us? As you read our news posting, do you see our values living in our community? What can we celebrate? How can we do better?
Collaboration: Cultivate shared responsibility for shared challenges
Holism: Foster opportunities for all people to grow into well- rounded individuals.
Empathy: Cultivate in each person the ability to understand others and feel compassion for them.
Curiosity: Awaken in each person a genuine interest in understanding themselves and their relation to the world.
Imagination: Forming new ideas, images or concepts not present to the senses.
Diversity: Celebrating a range of racial identifications, ancestries, nationalities, native languages, socioeconomic backgrounds, family structures, age, belief systems, gender and sexual identities, abilities, appearances, occupations, and political affiliations.
Truth, Beauty, and Goodness: Rudolf Steiner stated that the primary function of education is to exercise the students' faculties of thinking, feeling and willing. These basic human qualities manifest in civilization as the "eternal verities" of truth, beauty and goodness, and these in turn in science, art and religion.
I truly believe we are a community who comes together with earnest, heartfelt striving, wanting to learn and to do better every day. I see this in our students. I see this in our faculty, administration, parents, and board of trustees. I am truly grateful that we have a place that aims to live its values. May we continue this work together.
Peace and gratitude to each of you,
Kirsten Christopherson-Clark
Head of School
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