News, Notes & Updates 

J u l y    2 0 1 3    V o l .  1

Imbue thyself

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Newtown, CT 06470
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In This Issue
Alumni News
School Yearbooks
Office Hours
Mission
  
Summer Camp



2013 Camp 4   




2013 Camp 1   
  



Archery
Important Links
Housatonic Valley Waldorf School 
 
 
 
 Submissions to
 the 1st and the 15th of every month
 
 
Greetings! 

 

 hope you managed to stay cool during the recent heat wave. One of the coolest things you can do is sign your child up for Waldorf Summer Camp. It is nice to have kids back on campus, hear their stories, and witness their fun-filled days.

 

I thought I would dedicate this summer touchstone to HVWS Alumni.  I recently ventured out on Facebook to ask the graduates of the HVWS Class of 2009 (now graduating high school) and the HVWS Class of 2005 (many graduating college) what they were up to.  Below you will find a variety of responses.  We love to hear from our alumni - regardless of which year you graduated.

 

In honor of all our alumni parents I made an editorial decision to reprint a posting from a blog that I used last year.  The sentiment is timeless:  the value of a Waldorf Education -- priceless!

 

What We Got for $140,000  by Julie Goldberg

 

Keep in touch,

 

Therese Lederer 

Enrollment Director


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2013 Camp postcard 


"Attending a Waldorf school gave our children an education and a childhood very far outside the mainstream of American culture. Waldorf schools begin with an entirely different set of assumptions about the purposes of education. Teachers are not preparing students for a test, or to meet the state standards, to get into an exclusive college (although many do), or even to compete in the workplace (although, of course, Waldorf graduates do that, too).

 

"The purpose of Waldorf education is to prepare students for their freedom and their destiny, and fulfilling those goals requires an expansive definition of education. Children's relationships, physical health, spiritual development, artistic expression, and imagination are given as much attention as their intellects (more, really, in the multi-age nursery-kindergarten), as is their ability to work and play with their hands, limbs, heads and hearts.

 

"The aesthetic of a Waldorf early childhood -- the handmade toys, natural materials, and soft colors, the endless hours of free play in woods and fields in every kind of weather, the candle-time and gnomes and fairy tales -- all contribute to the cultivation of a sense of beauty, ritual and wonder in the little ones. These capacities take time to develop, and the children have all the time in the world. Academic work of any kind, even the alphabet, does not begin until first grade, when the children are six or seven."

 

 Julie Goldberg

parent of a Waldorf graduate

 

  

Alumni News

 

Class of 2005

 

Great to hear from you [HVWS]. I'm doing well. I graduated NYU in May from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, so I designed my own major. I focused on environmental studies, political theory, and journalism. While in college I was editor-in-chief of NYU Local, NYU's student-run alternative daily news site. Right now I'm Front Page Editor at Talking Points Memo, a national politics site I worked for as an intern back in 2011. I'm also associate editor of The Nation magazine's student-oriented blog StudentNation, and I plan to do more freelance reporting in the near future. You can check out my previous work here: http://zoeschlanger.tumblr.com/clips 

I live in Brooklyn, which is lots of fun.

I loved coming to speak at the graduation! It was a beautiful ceremony and made me miss being a student there even more.

All the best,

- Zo� Schlanger

 

I hope you [HVWS] are doing well. Thanks for checking in. I graduated in May from Endicott College in Beverly MA. I majored in Sport Management and minored in Environmental Science. In my senior year I interned with the Boston Bruins and while I do not have a job yet, my internship helped clarify what I am interested in. I hope to be working in ticket sales or service for a pro hockey team.

I have spent the past 5 weeks backpacking around Europe with a friend from Newtown High School and we have one more week until we return to take on the real world. Hopefully I can stop in once the HVWS school year starts up.

-Tucker Grose

 

Bernardo Navarro spoke at this year's graduation and informed us he was taking an extra semester at Fairfield University to finish up his triple major: Economics, Finance and Information Systems. Bernie won the Second Annual Business Plan Competition with his partners, who are Engineering majors. Click to read more about the competition.

 

Zo� Mena is attending the University of New Haven, studying interior design and art.


 
"The media policy is less about protecting children from consumerism, though, than it is about privileging unmediated experience: play, imagination, interaction, working, moving, feeling, and thinking in three dimensions. To me, its greatest value was where it directed their attention, or rather, where it didn't direct it. My children weren't fixated on corporate-created, color-coded characters like the Teletubbies or the Wiggles, and they didn't believe they were having a personal relationship with Elmo or Clifford or Steve from Blues Clues. They were relating to their family, teachers, classmates, and each other (for better or for worse). The imaginary friends with whom they had relationships were products of their own imaginations."

 

 Julie Goldberg

parent of a Waldorf graduate

 

  
 2012-13 Yearbooks
 
 
 
A handful of our beautiful yearbooks are available for $20 each.  You can stop by the office during business hours to purchase one.  They will be available on a first-come, first-served basis until they are all sold. 

  
Alumni News
  

Class of 2009

 

Peter Van Deusen is thoroughly enjoying his summer of freedom after graduating from Weston High School, but also looking forward to college. He will be attending the University of Maine in Orono. He was accepted to several terrific schools and felt the best fit academically and personally was UMaine. He will be entering the School of Engineering Technology and is considering a double major in Electrical Engineering Technology and Mechanical Engineering Technology.

 

Aleksi Tichler graduated from Brewster High and is going to Hampshire College in Amherst MA, majoring in Environmental Science.

 

Elisa Navarro graduated from Bethel High School and will be going to American University for International Relations on a full scholarship.

 

Schuyler Milone graduated from Danbury High School and will attend Sacred Heart University where he will continue his passion for fencing.
  

 "Being a part of this community of like-minded, though quite diverse, parents drawn to Waldorf education was in itself worth much of that $140,000.  Keeping a private school operating takes tremendous parent volunteerism: organizing class activities, assisting at festivals and fundraisers, chaperoning, serving on committees. It's difficult for me to get to know new people in social settings, but working side-by-side for hours with the warm, lively mothers and fathers of my children's classmates created community and friendship. We are from a variety of countries, religious backgrounds, careers and life experiences, but we share certain values that bring us together."
 

 Julie Goldberg

parent of a Waldorf graduate

 


Class of 2013
 High School  and Middle School Choices

Carly Disbrow

Great Barrington Waldorf High School

 

Dylan Lew

Newtown High School

 

Paige Storrier

Wooster School

 

Dyani Gendron

Henry Abbott Technical High School

 

Elliott Bennett

Newtown High School

 

Jacob Game

Newtown High School

 

Burleigh Prahl

Nonnewaug High School

 

Max Khoshabo

Waldorf School in Germany

 

Eric Mihok

Newtown Middle School

 

Louise Fernandez

Harborside Middle School

 

Madison Wittmer

Newtown Middle School

 

Lili Weinstein

still deciding

 

Renata Navarro

Bethel Middle School

 

Marley Marston

Newtown Middle School

 

 


 

"My daughter and her classmates possess a marvelous confidence that they can figure out how to do difficult things. They can sing, dance, play the recorder, some guitar, and an orchestral instrument, draw very well, paint, make dyes from plants, knit wonderful socks, crochet, embroider, sew their own shirts, carve wood, sculpt, and garden. They can spell their names in Eurythmy. They can run a fundraiser and put on a play and teach younger children and pilot a canoe.  My house is full of my kids' handwork, all made from natural materials: the little knitted animals they made in first grade, the swirly watercolors with the corners of the paper rounded off, their pottery and candles and felted mats. I can't bring myself to throw out a scrap of anything they worked on so hard and brought home to place in my hands so proudly. So much of who they are and who they will become resides in those little projects."

 

 

 Julie Goldberg

parent of a Waldorf graduate

 

 

Articles of Interest

 

Some summer reading for you- here are the most recent articles posted on the HVWS Facebook page.  If you haven't already Like us on Facebook 

so you never have to wait to read the articles we post.

 

Letting Kids Just Be Kids - They Thrive on Natural, Unstructured Fun

Natural Awakenings

 

Children Need Their Sleep

Ridgefield Patch

 

11 things I Wish Every Parent Knew

www.mindbodygreen.com

 

Knitting is More Important Than Homework

Huffington Post

 

Please Don't Help My Kids

Waldorf Today

 

Student Science Experiment Finds Plants Won't Grow Near Wi-fi Router

Waldorf Today

 

 

 

*****REMINDER*****

 

School Offices are closed

July 29 - August 9th

and will re-open on August 12th

 

Happy Summer!

 

 

  
  
    The mission of the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School is to develop each child's unique capacity to engage meaningfully in the world.   
    Guided by the principles of Waldorf education, the faculty inspires in our students creative thinking, moral sensibility, and a passion for learning.  We offer a classical education that integrates experiential and artistic learning, in an environment emphasizing academic excellence, respect for diversity, and reverence for the natural world. 
    Our faculty, board of trustees and parents work together, with dedication and warmth, to support our school community.