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Dear Colleagues,
A new school year is under way; with the exception of a very few schools, most of you are up and running. The days of “back to school after Labor Day” are a dim memory for most of us! We have been watching the calendar since early August and thinking of each school as your first day of school has come (or will come). I always loved the first day of school: that buildup of preparation, suddenly being out of time for final preparations, readying the classroom, checking supplies and schedules, and greeting colleagues during pre-service days. Then a very slight pause, a stillness, and the students arrive, bringing their life forces, excitement, and noise. They are the essential, central part of our preparation. As they arrive back, we see changes, growth, new abilities, and emerging challenges. We welcome new students into our classes. For most of our students, back-to-school provides much-needed rhythm and grounding, although, depending on their age, they may be reluctant to admit this! For too many, a return to school represents a return to a safe place, trusted adults, regular meals, and a feeling of being seen. Thank you for providing a safe, nurturing, and steady environment for our young people.
Most schools mark the opening of school with festivities and ceremonies, worthy of such a significant event. We would love to see pictures of your opening ceremonies! Most involve a gathering of the community (and a chance to marvel at additional inches!), a welcoming address, singing, and an acknowledgement of progression from class to class. Former kindergarten students are welcomed into the “big school” - often marked with the exchange of a flower (roses for many, sunflowers or similar if roses are reserved for end-of- year celebrations!). These rituals have deep meaning; they develop community connections, perhaps setting the stage for older/younger buddy relationships. They support traditions, a sense of being anchored within the school. They provide important moments of recognition. None of these are required and are not prescribed as “Waldorf”, but they contain deep wisdom and sound community and pedagogical practice. As an educator no longer embedded in a school, I miss the yearly resumption of school life and its ceremonies.
If your school year has started under smoky skies, with hurricane damage, local flooding, or under a heat dome, know that you are, unfortunately, not alone. We are truly experiencing the mighty power of our Earth; it is humbling.
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Like so many of you, we have had a busy, productive summer. We focused on professional development and trust that this was an important, enriching part of your summer months. For us, it included our Fundamentals with a wonderful group of those “new or fairly new” to Public Waldorf, workshops for early childhood, grades, and leadership, and our well-attended, thought-provoking Symposium that explored the theme of Teaching in the Age of AI. This will support a theme for our work this year: what does it really mean to be an educator today? With that in mind, mark your calendars for our annual conference, January 15-17, in Los Angeles. Plan now to have representation from your school in attendance, where WE, together, will deepen our understanding of our work.
The work of the Alliance continues to grow, and we see so much more that we would like to do to support our schools, strengthen and deepen the roots and impulse of Public Waldorf, and advocate for our collective work, nationally and internationally. In response to growing needs and the maturing of our work, I am delighted to announce that our Board of Directors has approved adding a new position, Director of School Development and Membership, to work closely with me and to better meet the needs of our schools. This has been made possible by the many years of volunteer work that built the Alliance and by continued careful stewardship of our resources. Heartfelt thanks to those who paved the way to where we stand today. Please see below for details of the position and the application process.
A few other things on our radar for this fall: we are continuing to enact our new strategic plan, an outcome of a Board/staff retreat in March. We have 6, 12, 18, and 24 month goals to support our work. One important item is continued engagement in our self-study/peer review process. We will be conducting peer site reviews for several schools that have completed their self-study process. If you are an experienced Waldorf educator and are interested in participating in a site visit, please contact me (we are building our pool of prospective team members; it is interesting, engaging work and a great source of professional development). Several other schools are completing their reports; others have just launched the process. School directors, watch for our updated Handbook that will be sent to you next week.
Our regular Zoom Leadership sessions will resume on Tuesday, September 15, at 10 am PT/1 pm ET. Please note the change of time: we hope this will allow more people to participate (with schools in all five time zones, there is no “perfect” time for meetings). We will continue to send out reminders for these meetings the day before, with the Zoom link (also on our website) and reminders of particular themes. Our first meeting will be a catch-up session for the start of the year.
We can confidently promise that boredom won’t be an issue for any of us this year - enjoy the ride!
Sending warmest wishes for this new year,
Liz Beaven
Executive Director
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The Alliance is Hiring
The work of the Alliance continues to expand! We are delighted to announce that our Board has approved a new full-time position: Director of School Development and Membership. This is a rare opportunity to join the Alliance and help shape the next phase of Public Waldorf education in the U.S. Please help us spread the word!
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2026/27 Leadership Meetings
Held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month at 10:00 am PT (7:00 am HST, 11:00 am MT, 12:00 pm CT, 1:00 pm ET)
These meetings are open to anyone in a school leadership role who is able to attend, and are offered as a space to seek advice from colleagues, share resources, or address specific topics of interest. Each session is one hour.
Meeting Dates: Sept. 15, Oct. 6, 20, Nov. 3, 17, Dec. 1, 15, Jan. (no meetings), Feb. 2, 16, March 2, 16, April 6, 20, May 4, 18, June 1
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Save the Date!
2027 Alliance Annual Conference
January 15–17, 2027 | Ocean Charter School, Los Angeles, CA
We encourage our community to begin planning and budgeting now to join us for this important gathering.
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Public Waldorf is a service mark of the Association of Waldorf Schools
of North America and is used pursuant to a license.
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