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"Waldorf education addresses the child as no other education does. Learning, whether in chemistry, mathematics, history or geography, is imbued with life and so with joy, which is the only true basis for later study. The textures and colors of nature, the accomplishments and struggles of humankind fill the Waldorf students' imaginations and the pages of their beautiful books. Education grows into a union with life that serves them for decades. By the time they reach us at the college and university level, these students are grounded broadly and deeply and have a remarkable enthusiasm for learning. Such students possess the eye of the discoverer, and the compassionate heart of the reformer which, when joined to a task, can change the planet." - Arthur Zajonc, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physics, Amherst College
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During the school year of 2001-2002, some parents and teachers at the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School (GBRSS) began the process of creating a Steiner high school. Classes began in September 2002 with thirteen students in ninth grade, two teachers and one half-time administrator, plus several adjunct teachers. They occupied one classroom in the GBRSS building, and used the science labs and athletic facilities at Simon's Rock College. That arrangement continued for a second year, incorporating a new tenth grade. A new entity, GBWHS, was incorporated in December 2003. In the spring of 2004, ninth and tenth grade students from both the German and Spanish language classes went abroad in the first participation in a visiting student program - the German students to Munich, attending the Munich Waldorf H.S.; and the Spanish students to Peru for 3 weeks, which included attending the Lima Waldorf School, working on a community service project for women and children, and trekking to Machu Piccu in the high Andes. Both trips were financed by intensive fund-raising by students as well as grants from Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and the German government. Since then the foreign student visitation program has flourished at GBWHS, with visits from German students from Waldorf schools spending time with us, and continued bi-annual trips to Munich and Peru. In addition, the curriculum includes humanities, sciences, mathematics, arts, crafts, performing arts, physical education and foreign languages. Community service is required of all students, and juniors have a week-long internship in the spring, either locally, in New York City or, in one case, Los Angeles. During the school's second year, a successful search for a bigger space led GBWHS to the upper floor of the beautiful Gothic-Victorian building in Great Barrington owned by the Christian Science congregation. As the public elementary and middle schools moved out of town, GBWHS moved in, ensuring the continued presence of students in town. You may see them during lunch hour walking through town - they may even be having lunch in your restaurant! The Great Barrington Waldorf High School added a class each year, and in June 2006 the first senior class graduated.
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