Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers are the pillars of every Waldorf School, but especially for a growing school like ours. Your service hours help make Waldorf Education available to our children and give you a chance to participate in a community where your skills are needed and appreciated.

Service Obligation/Volunteer Hours

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Waldorf schools traditionally operate with generous contributions of volunteer hours, talent, and donations from their families. This responsibility not only enhances the running of the school, but also strengthens the diversity and fabric of our school community.

Most independent schools depend to a very great extent on volunteerism. The Waldorf School of Pittsburgh utilizes a process that has been pioneered in other Waldorf Schools. A certain number of volunteer hours are required from each family each school year, depending on the class of the family’s oldest enrolled child.

Class Requirements:

Little Friends: 5 hours

Morning Garden: 0 hours

Nursery: 12 hours

Kindergarten: 20 hours

Grades 1–8: 40 hours

Please contact the Front Office with any questions about how to fulfill your volunteer hours.

Ways to Volunteer

School Events

Beautification Weekend (usually the third weekend in August): Volunteers help prepare classrooms and common areas for the new school year.
Winter Fair (the first Saturday in December): Volunteers assist with the biggest school event of the year by decorating, overseeing crafts, making and serving food, monitoring the silent auction, and cleaning-up afterward.
May Fair (the first Saturday in May): Volunteers help the community celebrate the return of spring by performing many of the same tasks as Winter Fair.

Board Committee Opportunities

Development Committee strategizes ways to obtain new funding for the school. Volunteers research foundations and potential grants, write grant proposals, and assist with the school’s annual report, Annual Fund Drive, and other fundraising efforts.
Enrollment Committee works to spread the word about the school in the community and increase enrollment. Volunteers assist with informational events such as open houses and guest speakers.
Buildings, Grounds, and Safety Committee works to manage the school’s facilities and related safety issues. Parents with backgrounds in architecture, building management, or construction are particularly encouraged to be involved.

Parent Association Opportunities

Festivals Committee works to coordinate parent volunteers for Winter Fair and May Fair as described above.
PA Classroom Representatives represent their class at monthly PA meetings and relay important information back to all families in the class.
Hospitality Committee supports events such as open houses by supplying light refreshments and assisting with set up and clean up.
Various project-based opportunities including such events as the Bloomfield Halloween Parade or donation drives such as the Martinmas Coat Drive.

Other Volunteer Opportunities

Facilities Maintenance and Repair: Volunteers should have advanced carpentry skills and familiarity working with old buildings. Meticulous painters with professional experience are welcome as well.
Grounds Maintenance: Volunteers help with spreading wood chips and gravel, weeding, and pruning.
Administrative Work: Volunteers assist with administrative duties as needed, such as answering phones, filling in at the front desk, filing, and mailings.
Legal Work: A pool of attorneys works on legal issues that arise from time to time at the school.
IT/Technical Support: There is often need for input on computer maintenance and repair, technology infrastructure, website programming, software, networking, and telecommunications.