Our difference

A living, hands-on education that engages the imagination.

Name: The Shepherd’s Play
Start: 2024-12-20
End: 2024-12-20
Location: Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School

Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School engages the heads, hearts, and hands of students so that they may become creative thinkers, conscious collaborators, and confident leaders.

Two female students working together in science class leaning over a desk.

A male teacher instructing a female student how to sculpt a piece of clay on a spinning tray.

Immersive learning and a focus on the whole child.

Learn more about Waldorf Education

Throughout the grades, our age-appropriate curriculum is interdisciplinary, blending academics, fine and practical arts, nature-based activities, music, movement and more.

Young child with long blond hair in pony tail sitting in a circle with other Kindergarten students; her hands are over her head with thumbs touching her head; view is from the child's back

Early Childhood

Middle school students in strings class; focus is on a young boy wearing a blue shirt and playing the violin

Lower + Middle School

High School

Our campus is located within a 900-acre Biodynamic farm in Upstate New York, integrating nature’s rhythms with educational offerings throughout the seasons.

900

Acre Working Biodynamic® farm

2.5

Hours from NYC or Boston

305

number of students

8:1

student-teacher ratio

Dec 20 2024

The Shepherd’s Play

Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School

Jan 01 – 06 2025

Winter Recess

Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School

Jan 06 2025

10 Reasons to attend our school

Childhood flourishes here.

Children should be given the space to explore childhood, the foundation for creative thinking. A growing body of research confirms what we already know: high-stakes testing does little to prepare students for the true rigors of higher education and life beyond school.

Young girl with long hair in the midst of jumping rope in an early childhood classroom; classmates observe in the background; light-filled room with lots of windows

Your child will find a welcoming place to put down roots.

By staying with a class for several years, our teachers build a culture that allows a child to be seen and to grow confident. Our students establish roots in our beautiful valley, forming deep connections to their class, school, farm, and ultimately to our world.

two smiling girls wearing winter hats and coats in snowy outdoors look directly into the camera

Your child will learn to open their senses to better take in their environment.

Overstimulated by media and technology, many children today struggle to focus and learn. By slowing down, our students are able to open their senses to see, hear, and notice their world, allowing them to draw clearer conclusions.

Three young children wearing winter gear peer into sap bucket hanging off a tree outdoors in the winter.

The unique gifts of each age will be honored.

The needs of a kindergartener are different from those of a 9-year-old, 12-year-old, or 17-year-old. Our developmental curriculum is designed to meet the specific questions of each age.

Middle school student in classroom engaged in class discussion with gesturing hands. It is a light-filled room with windows in the background

Your child’s artistic and public speaking capacities will be nurtured.

Humans are expressive beings and the arts provide a valuable opportunity to explore our feelings in life and communicate them. Engaging artistically with complex issues strengthens thinking by deepening perspective. Students hone skills in drawing, sculpting, painting, acting, and movement classes.

High school student engaged with art teacher who is demonstrating a technique on large paper.

Your child will experience the gift of music.

By our very nature, humans are musical: why not develop this innate capacity? Making music together reinforces social relations as we blend our voices. Research shows that music stimulates our brains, building synaptic connections that enhance creative thinking skills. Our students begin learning an instrument in Grade 1 and continue through Middle School and High School. They also participate in singing classes and chorus.

Middle school strings students ready to perform under school's outdoor pavilion. A male student with a bass is looking directly into the camera and smiling. The scene is sunlit.

Your child’s empathy and sense of international citizenship will be encouraged by foreign language study.

After learning both Spanish and German in Grades 1 through 8, our high school students choose one language to continue studying. They participate in foreign exchange programs with Waldorf students from around the world.

Female high school student with long hair sits at her desk listening to lecture. She has one hand on her chin and the other extended in front of her on the desk. Other students are in the background.

Classes in practical arts will give your child agency and lead to skill building accomplishments.

We live in an age where the future is unclear, which can lead to anxiety, stress, and apathy. At HVS, we aim to give our students a sense that there is beauty, truth, and goodness in the world. Engagement in practical arts such as handwork, farming, forging, weaving, building, and orienteering, supports a sense that their choices and actions matter.

Close up of high school student's hands as they work with a loom.

Your child’s intellect and imagination will be fed by dynamic main lesson subjects.

With blocks that last 3-4 weeks, our two-hour long daily main lessons range from World Mythology, Botany, Astronomy, Geometry, Ancient History, Physics, and Meteorology.

Middle school male student taking a close up look at a pulley during a physics lesson.

Your child will receive a generative education.

By sparking an interest in learning, we prepare students to meet the rigors of higher education by developing the capacity to ask further questions in the subjects to which they are drawn. Our goal is to create self-motivated, life-long learners.