Our Mission

To provide a Waldorf education that honors the foundational experiences of childhood and engages the head, heart, and hands of our students, thereby allowing them to develop their inherent human capacities for clear thinking, creative collaboration, and meaningful work in the world. We value and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion at our school, as hallmarks of an ethical society and as integral to sound learning.

900

Acre Working Biodynamic® farm

2.5

hours from NYC and Boston

305

number of students

8:1

student-teacher ratio

All School Learning Goals

Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School is committed to experiential learning. Our curriculum has been created to inspire students to take an active role in their education. It is our intention that our students have opportunities in the following areas:

Self Knowledge

Engage in practices supporting physical health and emotional well-being
Recognize and honor personal strengths and challenges
Develop capacities for inner reflection and individual integrity

Critical Thinking and Reasoning

Engage the intellect in traditional academic disciplines
Practice the fundamentals of logic and critical thinking
Practice objective observation of world phenomena
Immerse fully in both experiential learning and traditional academic study

Practical Life Skills

Take initiative in developing strategies to achieve personal goals
Take responsibility for one’s own words and actions
Practice sustainable and regenerative life skills
Cultivate resiliency to meet the challenges in life

Imagination and Creative Intelligence

Connect with sources of inspiration
Explore creative expression in a variety of disciplines
Apply imagination to produce original ideas that address practical life problems

Social Competence

Develop the skills of communication, collaboration, and cooperation with peers and adults
Acquire proficiency in maintaining individual identity and adapting as needed when working in a group
Respect diversity and navigate multicultural interactions with empathy
Engage in service to the community and world

Media & Tech Philosophy

View Media Guidelines Chart

It is our goal to increase awareness of electronic media’s influence on learning throughout the stages of childhood development, as well as how it impacts the human experience of relationship and culture. As an educational institution, we are committed to ongoing research and discussion for faculty, parents, and students in this area.

Three high school students - two males and one female - at a table engaged in a lesson; one student is holding a tablet and showing the screen to someone off camera. The other students sit to the right of him, one covering her mouth, laughing, the other staring ahead.

Group of kindergarten students watching a puppet performance. The focus is on the left side of three young girls with other blurry students in the background.

sketch of human eye and a separate sketch of human mouth on one white sheet of paper.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Statement

At Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School (HVS), we are committed to the ongoing work of creating a culture where diversity, equity, and inclusion thrive. We uphold the right of students, parents, faculty, and staff to be welcomed, to be valued, and to feel safe. We believe that the free expression of identity is essential for a healthy school community.

We also recognize our particular responsibility to create an inclusive, equitable school culture with particular attention to race, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, class, and ability. We believe that each individual is responsible for working to create a more just world, and that those with greater privilege in their positions, identities, and experiences bear greater responsibility for that work.

At HVS, we seek to create just structures in which everyone has a meaningful voice in decisions that impact them. We are committed to addressing, through supportive and restorative approaches, any incidents of bias and discrimination that arise within our school.

Cultural Climate Cultivation

We commit to creating an inclusive culture for all families with an emphasis on welcoming diversity in race, culture, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, class, and ability. This goal includes supporting the integration of new families into our school community and maintaining meaningful relationships that support a healthy social life.

This work includes a commitment to seeking ways (e.g. using restorative practices and compassionate communication) to encourage a culture where it feels safe to report incidents and to ask questions, in which feedback, both positive and negative, is welcomed and received with a forward-looking approach.

Curriculum Enrichment

We commit to reviewing and renewing our curriculum to address historical legacies of oppression and contemporary issues of race, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, class, and ability.

Community Outreach and Financial Aid

We commit to developing new financial aid and scholarship opportunities so that we can welcome parents and students from a diverse spectrum of humanity to our school community.