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“Waldorf education taught me how to think for myself and be responsible for my decisions.” - Kenneth Chenault, CEO of American Express and a Waldorf school graduate
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The Great Barrington Waldorf High School (GBWHS) is part of the largest independent, non-sectarian school movement in the world. Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, founded a school based on his ideas in Stuttgart, Germany (1919) for the children of workers at a Waldorf cigarette factory. This was the first of what has become a world-wide networkof “Waldorf ” or “Steiner” schools. Waldorf education seeks to develop students’ capacities by taking advantage of their natural learning processes: curiosity, thinking, and action. High school courses address the most basic questions about the nature of the human being, society, and the natural and the mechanical/technical world. There is no handbook or set of rules to develop a school, only suggestions from Steiner. Each school is established independently by parents and teachers, and is self-governing, although there is an association, AWSNA (Association of Waldorf Schools of North America). 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 13 students in ninth grade, 2 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 foreign exchange 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. The foreign student visitation program has flourished at GBWHS. In the fall of 2004, nine German students came to Great Barrington for three weeks. During the following spring, our school sent students to both Germany and Peru. Again this fall (2005), a group of Munich students came to Great Barrington, and it is hoped that students from Peru will finally visit us in December of this year. Another group of German-language students will also go to Munich in April 2006, and Spanish-language students will travel to 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 last year, Los Angeles. First Graduating Class 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 has added a class each year. There are now 22 students spread out over four grades. This year’s seniors are set to become the first graduating class, in June 2006. We look forward to many more graduating classes!
Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School. Qumoz.net - A business directory
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