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Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth Mar. 27 – 29
by Stephen Sagarin, High School Chair - 18 Mar 2008

A Dinosaur! A Mammoth! Adam and Eve! Moses!

Homer! A Bingo Caller! A Telegraph Boy!

A Suburban Family!

You are cordially invited to the

Great Barrington Waldorf High School's

production of

Thornton Wilder's

play about EVERYTHING...

The Skin of Our Teeth

Thurs., Mar. 27 – Sat., Mar. 29 @ 7 p.m. & Sun., Mar. 30 @ 2 p.m.

Dewey Hall, Route 7, Sheffield , MA

Suggested Donations:

Adults $10

Students $6

Family $25

Please call (413) 528-8833 for more information.

No reservations required.

Welcome Eleanor Haftel
by Stephen Sagarin, High School Chair - 03 Mar 2008

Please welcome Eleanor Haftel, another visiting student from the Munich Waldorf School, who will join us Monday and is staying with Elizabeth Orenstein and Sarah Bingham.

She is our 5th visiting student this year, adding to Andreas Hochleitner (staying with the Robbins-Meyerowitz's) and Andreas Bergner (staying with the Stanton's) from the Munich Waldorf School, Malin Frey (staying with the Williams family in Connecticut, otherwise not connected with our school) from the Wiesbaden Waldorf School, and Jose Manuel Rojas Rosero, from the Cali, Colombia, Waldorf School (staying with the Gallagher's).

Winslow Eliot is meeting with the students at least once a month as a volunteer to help put out the Globe (student newsletter). If you haven't seen it, ask your children to bring a copy home! You can also find it here on our website.

The Skin of our Teeth poster
by webmaster - 01 Mar 2008

Small school, big world ad in Womens' Times
by webmaster - 01 Mar 2008

OPEN HOUSE Tues, Mar 11, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
by Office Coordinator - 11 Mar 2008

OPEN HOUSE

Tues, Mar 11, 2008 @ 7:30 pm

The Great Barrington Waldorf High School
Seeking Truth, Developing Imagination, and Fostering Responsibility

For more information, please call Renni Greenberg Gallagher at (413) 528-8833.
PO Box 905, 454 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230 (Link to Google Map see below.)

(2nd floor of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, corner of Rtes. 23/41 and 7)

Volleyball evenings
by Office Coordinator - 05 Feb 2008

You are invited to Steiner/Waldorf Volleyball Evenings at Simon's Rock gym to get students and parents from high school and lower school involved in a friendly, energetic game... The first meeting is 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 12, and will end around 8:30 p.m. The second game will be Tues., Feb. 26.

If you don't want to play, come to watch and cheer...

Spaghetti dinner to welcome visiting students Feb. 9, 6 p.m. !
by Stephen Keith Sagarin, PhD - 31 Jan 2008

6 p.m., Feb. 9, Sat., spaghetti dinner to welcome visiting students at GBWHS at Dewey Hall in Sheffield. Please bring friends and family!

The cost for the spaghetti dinner is $12 per person; childen under 12 pay their age (or their parents pay for them, more likely).

Money raised will benefit student travel to Germany and Peru this spring.

See you there!

Ebay Student Fundraiser
by Office Coordinator - 29 Jan 2008

Help us raise money by selling things you don’t want or need on E-Bay!

You can complete the online form here or

Download the Ebay submission form and send by regular mail (GBWHS, PO Box 905, Great Barrington, MA 01230).

Send a digital photo if possible. Otherwise, we will contact you to schedule taking a photo.

All donations are fully tax-deductible; the Great Barrington Waldorf High School is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

OPEN HOUSE Thurs, Jan 24, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
by Office Coordinator - 24 Jan 2008

OPEN HOUSE

Thurs, Jan 24, 2008 @ 7:30 pm

(And then Tues, Mar 11, 2008 @ 7:30 pm

The Great Barrington Waldorf High School
Seeking Truth, Developing Imagination, and Fostering Responsibility

For more information, please call Renni Greenberg Gallagher at (413) 528-8833.
PO Box 905, 454 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230

(2nd floor of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, corner of Rtes. 23/41 and 7)

Welcome Students
by Stephen Keith Sagarin, PhD - 15 Jan 2008

We welcomed 3 and 1/3 new students last week as we returned from vacation. Andreas Hochleitner (staying with the Robbins-Meyerowitz family) and Andreas Bergner (staying with the Bischoff family at the Steiner School) join us from Munich as visiting students. Malin Frey (staying with the Williams family in CT, not previously related to our school) joins us for 3 months from Wiesbaden. And Martin Summer has joined us for a month of chemistry only.

In the last week of January, Conor Gallagher and Jose Manuel from Colombia will (re)join us and the HS will be bursting at the seams, or at least it will feel that way.

Waldorf High School Graduates: Who Are They, Where Are They Going?
by Winslow Eliot, Globe Advisor - 28 Nov 2007

For the past few years researchers at the Research Institute for Waldorf Education (RIWE) have formulated, conducted, and evaluated a survey of North American Waldorf high school graduates, starting with the first Waldorf school senior class in 1943 and culminating with the class of 2005.

Based on a sample of approximately 550 participants spanning some sixty years, the survey finds that a majority of Waldorf school graduates share many characteristics, of which three predominate:

1. Waldorf school graduates value the opportunity to think for themselves and to translate their new ideas into practice. They both value and practice life-long learning and have a highly developed sense for aesthetics.
2. Waldorf school graduates value lasting human relationships—and they seek out opportunities to be of help to other people.
3. Waldorf school graduates sense they are guided by an inner moral compass that helps them navigate the trials of professional and private life. They carry high ethical principles into their chosen professions.

This survey is the first of its kind on this continent, and the findings parallel similar surveys conducted recently of Waldorf school graduates in Germany and Sweden. With more than 250 Waldorf schools in North America, and more than one thousand internationally, Waldorf education is one of the strongest independent school movements in the world.
The survey shows that a typical Waldorf high school graduate:

-Highly values interpersonal relationships (96%)
-Attends college (94%)
-Is self-reliant and highly values self-confidence (94%)
-Highly values verbal expression (93%) and critical thinking (92%)
-Practices and values life-long learning (91%)
-Highly values tolerance of other viewpoints (90%)
-Is highly satisfied in choice of occupation (89%)
-Graduates (or is about to graduate) from college (88%)
-At work cares most about ethical principles (82%) and values helping others (82%)
-Majors in arts/humanities (47%) or sciences/math (42%) as an undergraduate
-Expresses a high level of consciousness in making relationships work—both at home and on the job.

The survey is comprised of twelve major sections and a statistical analysis performed on the findings of several sections, including comparisons of Waldorf school graduates and the general U.S. population, as well as contrasts of recent and older graduates.

Additional chief findings of the survey show that Waldorf school graduates:
-are committed to self-assessment and working through life’s difficulties;
-are creative problem solvers, able to “think outside the box;”
-exercise environmental stewardship;
-demonstrate high levels of both “social” and “emotional” intelligence.

Employers of Waldorf graduates as well as college and university professors who had Waldorf high school graduates in their classes were asked to rate Waldorf students with whom they had contact. On the whole, their comments support the statistics.

Both professors and employers rate Waldorf alums even more highly in terms of moral and life skills than graduates rate themselves.
In response to questions about their greatest gifts and joys, students overwhelmingly single out their personal relationships, especially those involving family and close friends.

But they also point to their love of practicing art and being active in nature, as well as their desire to help others. Regarding their greatest challenges, their most common responses involve self-questioning, achieving a balanced life, and deciding which of their many interests to follow and deepen.

The survey is published by the Research Institute for Waldorf Education. Research and analysis is by Douglas Gerwin, PhD, and David Mitchell, with statistical analysis by Ida Oberman, PhD, and Yasuyo Abe, PhD.

It is printed with support from the Waldorf Educational Foundation. An article summarizing the survey and the complete report can be read at http://awsna.org/pubsofinterest.htm.

Read about GBWHS in Passport to Education Autumn/Winter 2007 Magazine
by webmaster - 20 Nov 2007

Read about The Great Barrington Waldorf High School in Passport to Education Autumn/Winter 2007 Magazine

"Why do home-schooled children often far exceed the minimum standards set for public school performance? And how do independent schools, such as those offering a Waldorf education, where creativity is a cornerstone, produce so many exemplary students..."

View the New High School Globe!
by Tom Stier, webmaster - 06 Nov 2007

New High School Globe can be viewed here

Who wants to cook dinner and clean up after it on a Friday night?
by Stephen Keith Sagarin, PhD, Faculty Chair - 18 Oct 2007

So join the High School for a spaghetti dinner at Dewey Hall, 6-9 p.m., $10 adults and children under 10 pay their age... Support the high school, eat homemade spaghetti sauce and homemade apple crisp, and enjoy the company of our great community. See you there!

Open House - Tues, Nov 27 at 7:30 pm
by Stephen Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 21 Sep 2007

The Great Barrington Waldorf High School
Seeking Truth, Developing Imagination, and Fostering Responsibility.

For more information, please call Renni Greenberg Gallagher at (413) 528-8833.

High School Graduation Announcement
by Stephen Keith Sagarin, PhD - 24 May 2007

Performance schedule Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit May 24, 25, 26, and 27
by webmaster - 24 May 2007

The Great Barrington Waldorf High School
Proudly presents

Noel Coward’s
Blithe Spirit

Opening Night Tonight!
Thursday, May 24, at 7 p.m. (Cast A)

Also Friday, May 25, at 7 p.m. (Cast B)

Matinee, Saturday, May 26 at 2 p.m. (Cast A)

Final Performance: Sunday, May 27, at 7 p.m. (Cast B)

In Dewey Hall, Route 7, Sheffield, MA GoogleMap
(Call 413. 528. 8833 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. for more information or for directions.)

Suggested donation: $10 adults, $5 students

Support our students and our school. Enjoy what promise to be wonderful performances of a very funny play. Invite your friends and relatives!

ALSO: There will be a Bake Sale at each performance; snacks and also larger items for sale for the Memorial Day holiday.

Small school. Big world.
by Stephen Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 16 May 2007

“WHERE ARE WE GOING? Pittsfield?

What’s in Pittsfield?”

“You know, that artist guy, Michael.”
“Michael Zelehoski?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh. Cool. He’s great.”

...And we’re off, in our blue van, to Michael Zelehoski’s painting studio in the basement of a run-down old school building (Sam Kasten, the weaver, is upstairs).

We know that Michael is a smart, verbal, honest man. He shared some of the challenges of his life with us—an education in itself—at one of our weekly “Forum” periods, when we invite speakers from outside the school.

And he invited us to see his work.

We are amazed by his technique—carving and burning images in old boards, then filling them up with translucent wax to create deep, almost photographic images that seem simultaneously very modern and very old.

We spend an hour with him, then head back to school. This is a memorable day for us, and fairly common.

SMALL BY DESIGN, our school is responsive to students and parents, intimate, nimble, and flexible. As part of our outstanding academic, artistic, and social education, our students get out into the larger world often.

It’s a big campus. Here is a partial list of student travels and activities (and this doesn’t even include individual projects and internships):

Munich, Germany: German students visit for three weeks in alternate years or visiting for 6 weeks to 3 months, attending classes at the Munich Waldorf School, working as interns at a BMW factory, and touring Bavaria, among many activities.

Lima and Cuzco, Peru: Spanish students visit for three weeks in alternate years or remain for extended visits of up to three months, attending the Lima Waldorf School, hiking the Inca Trail, and working for Projecto Q’Ewar, a community of single women, among other activities.

Maine: Seniors spend a week at the start of the year on Hermit Island, studying zoology with more than 100 seniors from other North American Waldorf schools.

New York: Several visits per year. This year, the Guggenheim, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center, and Keith Haring Foundation, and the films “Das Parfum,” and “La Niña en la Piedra.”
Boston: Once or twice a year. This year, the “Freedom Trail,” Quincy Market, and the Goethe House.

Montreal: Seniors spend a week at the end of senior year in Montreal, where they visit the Olympic Park, Biosphere, Mont-Royal, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Museum of Archeology and History, while enjoying nightlife and restaurants.

Hadley, MA: We visit the Hartsbrook Waldorf School a few times a year for soccer, basketball, baseball, and dances.

Ghent, NY: We visit the Hawthorne Valley School to compete in cross-country races and JV basketball, and to attend their prom. This year, we spent a grueling but joyful week on the farm, mucking stalls, packing sauerkraut, and working in the greenhouses.

Berkshire County: Some recent activities include: Shakespeare & Co., Merry Wives of Windsor.

Three day Orientation at Camp Hi-Rock, hiking, canoeing, and living together. Elizabeth Lombardi hosts students at her painting studio, and makes lunch for them when they arrive.

Dewey Hall, Sheffield: Our Town last year and Blithe Spirit this year.

A Vikki True concert and eurythmy classes.

Also in Sheffield, photography at Will Wendt’s studio.

Dance and eurythmy classes at Berkshire Pulse.

Great Barrington: Dan Bellow’s studio for pottery; Peter Barrett’s metal shop for blacksmithing (with John Graney). _ Morning movies at the Mahaiwe and Triplex theaters. Annual Housatonic River Walk clean-up.A tea ceremony at Bizen.Students visit town each day for lunch. Use of the athletic center, library, and chemistry lab at gracious and generous Simon’s Rock College. Also, a Ken Burns lecture and preview of his latest documentary.

PLEASE CONSIDER A DONATION to keep this amazing place going. Tuition covers only 80% of our costs. Your donations will support the arts, keep a scholarship student in school, and even keep diesel fuel in our van.

Welcome Chemistry Teacher Gary Banks
by Stephen Keith Sagarin, PhD, Faculty Chair - 09 May 2007

Please welcome Gary Banks as chemistry teacher starting Monday, May 14, until the end of the year.

He is an actual rocket scientist with a master's in aerospace engineering.

He worked on water purification systems for the International Space Station before becoming a Waldorf teacher about 12 years ago.

Ninth and Tenth Grade Farm Practicum
by Stephen Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 27 Apr 2007

Ninth and Tenth Graders enjoyed a Farm Practicum at Hawthorne Valley Farm from Monday, April 9, through Thursday, April 12.

You should know that everyone who worked with our students was amazed by the quantity and quality of their work and by their uncomplaining, can-do attitude. Gary Ocean, who runs landscaping, said he'd hire any of our students for his summer crew. Seth Travins, "Sauerkraut Seth," said that no student group has ever packed as much sauerkraut as our group--121 cases in 3 sessions. And Stefan Schneider, when it was announced Thursday that this was our last day, said, "That's a shame." He also complimented the students' attention to detail in their work.

I thoroughly enjoyed working beside our students, too. Their good humor and hard work speak well to the work we are doing here in our high school, I believe.

A letter from the faculty chair
by Stephen Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 12 Mar 2007

The following letter was sent last week to last year's Steiner School graduates:

Recently, a student from another school applied for mid-year entrance. I asked him why he wanted to come to our school. His answer? “I want to learn again.” He transferred to our school, and, after one week of cell biology, said, “I’ve learned as much this week as I learned in a semester at my old school.”

I hope you are having a great school year. If you are not entirely happy where you are, however, if your experience is not perfect, I am writing to invite you to visit our High School, to apply, and to consider coming here next year. I’ll use the rest of this letter to tell you why we would be an excellent choice for the rest of your high school education.

First, we are having our strongest year since our founding five years ago. The atmosphere in our school and in the studios, libraries and labs that we visit is happy and energetic. Right now, the floor is shaking with our students’ singing as they prepare for a concert with great local singer, Vikki True.

Seniors loved studying zoology in Maine, and they are enthusiastic about their senior projects, work that will take them out into the worlds of journalism, flight school, woodwork, and professional photography for three weeks in April. One senior has already been accepted at all 6 of the 6 colleges to which he applied and the rest are waiting for April to learn about their applications. Freshmen enjoyed history through art, trips to New York and Boston, and visiting Michael Zelehoski’s studio in Pittsfield. Sophomores were enthusiastic about studying the history and culture of Africa and they eagerly attend their non-fiction writing workshop, which “rocks.” All of the
students are excited about Noel Coward’s comedy “Blithe Spirit,” which they will perform in May.

Our teachers are uniformly respected and admired, and they are committed to our school; all will return next year. They are enthusiastic experts in what they teach. They have great experience and credentials. Dr. Sagarin studied art history and fine art at Princeton University, and later received a PhD in history from Columbia University. Mrs. Robbins studied literature at Barnard College. Frau Wirth is a graduate of the Munich-Schwabing Waldorf School, and she has taught German and English in South Africa and Germany. Senora Nunez majored in languages at Wichita State University and studied languages in graduate school at Middlebury College and Hunter College. Mrs. Gallagher taught dance for the Merce Cunningham Studio and is a certified specialist in therapeutic education. Ms Blexrud has her BA from Colorado College and her MAT from Queens College; she has also studied educational administration at Central Connecticut State College. On average, these teachers have taught in Waldorf schools for more than ten years. Our arts teachers, too, are outstanding—come to our school and study pottery with Dan Bellow, blacksmithing with John Graney, and photography with Will Wendt. Paint with Mrs. Lombardi and sculpt with Lukas Zay. Sing with Vikki True and play music with Jon Suters. The Berkshires are rich in the arts, and we are rich in talented artists who teach at our school.

At the Great Barrington Waldorf High School, we provide a deep, broad, and meaningful education, one that will reveal its treasures as much when you are an adult as when you apply to college. At other schools, you pick history courses from a smorgasbord. This may be superficially attractive, but, without context, cannot be meaningful. Our comprehensive history curriculum—from ancient to modern, U.S. and world—supplemented by courses in cultural history—art, music, drama, and architectural history—will place you in the world prepared for college and ready to be a world citizen. This is just one example from our curriculum. In addition, you will learn to think. Through observation, comparison, analysis, interpretation, constructive criticism, and synthesis, we will lead you through a careful development of thinking. You’ll leave us as a strong individual, able to hold your own and make your mark on the world.

You will be prepared for college and your application will stand out from the crowd. Private school students make up 10 percent of high school students in the U.S., but 50 percent of elite college admissions. By attending a private school, you are, in effect, multiplying your chances of getting into the college of your choice by five times. Not all private schools are the same, however. At a large high school, fierce competition will hurt your chances of admission—many of the students are qualified to go to elite colleges, but colleges will not take more than a small quota from these schools. Research shows, over and over, that small schools are best. Further, in addition to your excellent academic preparation—all of our courses are honors level—you will have a portfolio of work in glass, ceramics, wood, photography, painting, and drawing. You will have been part of our annual plays, our student council, our newsletter, our student forums, our sports teams… In a small school, everyone stands out. Your “extracurricular” resume will shine.
In addition, you will have visited Munich or Peru—our school travels here every other year—and perhaps even spent a few months on visiting in these countries. No other school can guarantee you the opportunity for an visit or extended visit, but we can. Colleges will see you as a person of the world—our students have helped impoverished Peruvians to make adobe bricks and build shelters; our students have built houses and school buildings in Romania.

As a small school, we are flexible. Are you interested in photography, as one of our students is this year? Tell us, and we’ll work all summer to find a teacher and facilities for you to pursue this interest—we’re building a darkroom that will be ready to receive students in March. We’ll arrange an internship for you, and for three weeks in each of the years in which you don’t travel to a foreign country, you can try a different art, skill, or career. Our students haven’t just pursued pottery and glass blowing, they have also worked behind the scenes at the 92nd Street YMHA in New York, in a New York law office, at Fairview Hospital, and on an archeological dig near Boston.

By joining us, you’ll become a big fish in our small pond, and you’ll help us grow. Your growth will become part of our growth, your strengths our strengths, and your struggles our struggles, too. Years from now you’ll remember us vividly, and we’ll remember you. You won’t be just a donor or a number on a list of alumni; you’ll be a valued member of a great school. You’ll be able to say that you helped a great school find its feet, that you were part of something real.

Before I end this letter, I want to address two more points that may concern you. The first is sports. Here are the current possibilities for sports at our school: Soccer, cross-country, and basketball. We are growing and adding games to our schedule. Play for us; don’t sit on the bench at a large school where upper-class students play and 9th and 10th graders don’t. At our school, too, you can join Simon’s Rock athletic teams. We offer more than it may appear, and we’ll work to accommodate your interests. Two years ago, Tavish Gallagher was recruited to play baseball for NCAA Division II and III teams—he chose Occidental College—despite the fact that we have no baseball team. He played for the Mt. Everett team, American Legion baseball, and a “Fall Ball” team. He made it work.

The last point is this: Please don’t believe that coming to our high school will be “just more Steiner.” It won’t. We don’t have class teachers. We won’t ask you to decorate notebook pages; for many courses, you won’t even make a notebook. What will you do? You’ll read, write, think, discuss, create, and solve problems. You’ll change and grow and discover who you really are. In our high school, it’s fair to say, you’ll be a different person each year—maybe even each month or week or day. And we’ll accommodate and challenge and teach you as you grow and change.

Please call me or talk to me if you have any questions about this letter, our school, or anything else.

Sincerely,
Stephen Sagarin, Faculty Chair

Photography equipment needed!
by Stephen Keith Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 12 Mar 2007

For photography classes we could use an old SLR (not digital) camera (students have provided 3 and we need a 4th). Does anyone have one to donate or lend?

Also, you should see the beautiful darkroom that Tom Sierau and Will Wendt have built in our basement (with the help of the seniors), and for very little money.

We have one enlarger and could use another. Does anyone have old darkroom equipment in a closet or attic to donate or lend? Let us know asap.

Like, You Know… How DO You Teach Teenagers Anyway? - Open House on Tuesday, March 20, at 7:30 p.m.
by Stephen Keith Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 09 Feb 2007

The man or woman who solves the riddle of teaching adolescents will become a billionaire. In the meanwhile, given our devotion to the work of Rudolf Steiner, how does a Waldorf high school teach teenagers to seek truth, to foster imagination, and to develop a sense of responsibility, while preparing them for college and a meaningful life?

Dr. Sagarin and our High School teachers will address this topic in a talk, followed by questions and answers, at our Open House on Tuesday, March 20, at 7:30 p.m. Please join us for a lively conversation, refreshments, and a look at the work of our students.

Please call Renni Greenberg Gallagher, Enrollment Coordinator, at (413) 528-8833 for more information.

Vikki True benefit concert March 3 - 7:30pm
by Office Coordinator - 06 Feb 2007

Vikki True has asked our high school chorus to perform with her at a benefit concert for the Healing Arts Association on March 03, 2007. The concert will be held at Dewey Hall in Sheffield, Massachusetts on Saturday evening, at 7:30pm. This performance is a mandatory school function. It's an honor for our students to perform publicly with Miss True, a local hero and consummate professional.

We need parent support! This is an early notice to allow for time to arrange work or other obligations. We at the school are willing to facilitate arrangements and help set up transportation with parents. We're all counting on one another, so please call.

Parents and Friends: By attending you will support your students, the Healing Arts Association and the Great Barrington Waldorf High School. You will also hear great music! Miss True has brought out some amazing voices from our students through the gospel songs that they are working on. Come, enjoy and bring family and friends.

Basketball Practice Schedule
by Steve Sagarin - 27 Dec 2006

Great Barrington Waldorf High School

Basketball Practice Schedule

Winter Holiday Break
• Students schedule with coach
January
Mon. 1/8 1-2:30 p.m. (or 2:15-3:15)
Wed. 1/10 3-5 p.m.
Fri. 1/12 3-5 p.m.
• Sat. 1/13 Students schedule with coach
• Mon. 1/15 MLK Day; students arrange any time
Fri. 1/19 3-5 p.m.
• Sat. 1/20 Students schedule with coach
Mon. 1/22 1-2:30 p.m. (or 2:15-3:15)
Fri. 1/26 3-5 p.m.
• Sat. 1/27 Students schedule with coach
Mon. 1/29 1-2:30 p.m. (or 2:15-3:15)
February
Fri. 2/2 3-5 p.m.
• Sat. 2/3 Students schedule with coach
Mon. 2/5 1-2:30 p.m. (or 2:15-3:15)
Wed. 2/7 3-5 p.m.
Fri. 2/9 3-5 p.m.
Mon. 2/12 1-2:30 p.m. (or 2:15-3:15)
Wed. 2/14 3-5 p.m.

Games

Mon. 1/22 vs. BCD HOME
Wed. 1/24 vs. BCD AWAY (date may be changed)

TBD vs. HVS (2 games)
TBD vs. Simon’s Rock (1 game)
TBD vs. Hartsbrook (2 games)

OPEN HOUSE • Thurs., Jan. 18, 2007, @ 7:30 p.m.
by Steve Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 22 Dec 2006

Teachers will present our rigorous college preparatory program. Learn about our creative, flexible curriculum. Meet students, parents, and teachers. See student work. Bring questions. Join us for refreshments.

For information, please call Renni Greenberg Gallagher at (413) 528-8833.

The Great Barrington Waldorf High School: Seeking Truth, Developing Imagination, and Fostering Responsibility.

Great Barrington Waldorf High School, 454 Main St. Great Barrington, MA 01230

(2nd floor of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, corner of Rtes. 23/41 and 7)

School Profile 2006-2007
by Stephen Keith Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 09 Dec 2006

School Profile: Great Barrington Waldorf High School
454 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230
phone (413) 528-8833
fax (413) 528-5132
email info@gbwaldorfhighschool.org
web www.gbwaldorfhighschool.org
web www.waldorfhigh.org
Stephen Keith Sagarin, PhD, Faculty Chair
Renni Greenberg Gallagher, Enrollment and College Guidance
CEEB code: 220901

School and Community Information: The Great Barrington Waldorf High School is a rigorous, college preparatory, independent, coeducational Waldorf day school. We enroll 15 students in grades 9-12 this year, our fifth year of existence, and celebrate our first graduating class of seven seniors last June.

As a Waldorf school, founded on the educational principles of Rudolf Steiner, we aim to balance rigorous academic work with required fine art, practical art, and performing art classes.

As a school on Main Street of a small town, we aim to integrate our school into our community, aiding community soup kitchens, a local environmentally-friendly river walk, and local community-supported organic farms, while using local resources—libraries, artists’ studios, museums and the great outdoors—to extend our small campus.

Great Barrington, a town of 9,000 year-rounders and 22,000 summer vacationers in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts, straddles the Housatonic River, site of several paper mills. Approximately half our students come from southern Berkshire County; the rest come from northern Litchfield County in Connecticut and eastern Columbia County in New York.

Their parents are teachers, dairy farmers, doctors, publishers, building contractors, small business owners, and paper mill employees. Almost all are college graduates.

Our school is open to all, regardless of ability to pay. Our student body is white, but the economic range of our students is significant.

Unique Elements of Our Curriculum: Many academic courses—history, English, science, and some math—are taught in 3-4 week blocks as seminars that meet for 100 min. per day, five days per week. Other academic courses—foreign languages, mathematics, and some English—meet 3 to 4 days per week for 50 min. Arts and electives meet 50-100 minutes 1-2 times per week.

All academic courses are required for all four years of high school, and we offer only one “track,” which we consider the equivalent of an honors or advanced track at any other school.

English: English classes meet 3 times per week to focus on reading, writing, and interpretation. Additional English seminars cover American literature, the Odyssey, Tragedy & Comedy, Bible as Literature, Poetry, Parsifal, Shakespeare, the Transcendentalists, and Russian Literature.

Math: In addition to a standard course of study that progresses from Algebra I through Geometry & Trigonometry and Algebra II to Precalculus and Calculus, we require seminars in Statistics & Probability and Projective Geometry.

History: History seminars cover U.S. history and world history from the ancient world to the modern world. In addition, seminars in history through art, history through drama, history through music, and history through architecture present the evolution of human consciousness as evidenced by the cultural artifacts of the diverse civilizations that constitute world history.

Foreign Languages: German or Spanish with an emphasis on conversational facility and reading. Each class takes a 3 week visit to Lima and Cuzco, Peru, or to Munich, Germany in 9th or 10th grade; many, if not most, students then visiting with Waldorf schools in these cities in 11th grade. We host approximately 10 visitors from Germany and Peru for visits of 3 weeks and visitings of 6 to 12 weeks each year.

Science: In addition to sequential seminars each year of high school in biology, chemistry, and physics, we offer seminars in earth science, botany, geology, astronomy, and environmental science. Transcripts record which seminars have a laboratory component.

Arts: All students take required and elective courses in fine, practical, and performing arts each year.

Graduation Requirements: Except in extraordinary circumstances, all students take all courses at our high school. Transcripts may reflect credit earned while on foreign visiting.
Grading and Ranking Procedures: We grade from A+ (98 %) to F (60%). Seminar teachers may offer courses pass/fail as they see fit.

We do not weight our students’ grades; all academic courses are required. We do not rank our students.

Test Score Information: 100% of our seniors and juniors have taken the SAT I this year. Mean scores for the SAT I are:

verbal/critical reading 646
math 544
writing. 606

Please note that our school does not give nor prep for standardized tests, SAT or other. For most of our students, the PSAT is the first standardized test they encounter.


College Attendance: We anticipate that 100% of our graduates will attend 4 year colleges. Last year’s graduates were accepted at:

Bard College
Clark University
Ithaca College (2)
*Occidental College
Reed College
*Rochester Institute of Technology
*Skidmore College
SUNY Purchase (2)
UC Santa Barbara
UMass Amherst
*UMass Boston
Umass Framingham
*University of Washington


*Currently attending. One graduate is pursuing a modeling and acting career and one is traveling for the year.

Course Of Studies
by Stephen Keith Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 09 Dec 2006

The following classes run through the entire academic year:
» English I, II, III, or IV (3 x 50 min. per week)
» Algebra I, Geometry with Trigonometry, Algebra II, or Precalculus (4 x 50 min. per week)
» Spanish I, II, III, or IV or German I, II, III, or IV (4 x 50 min. per week)
» Physical Education (1 x 100 min. per week)

The following classes are block scheduled for 3-6 weeks:
» Seminars in Science, History & Geography, English, or Math (see lists below) (Block schedule: 5 x 100 min. per week)
» Fine Arts (See lists below; block schedule: 2 x 100 min. per week)
» Performing Arts (See lists below; block schedule: 1 x 100 min. per week)

12th Grade Seminars (3-4 weeks each)
SCI Zoology (with lab)
SCI Astronomy
SCI Evolution and Genetics
SCI Physics: Optics
SCI Chemistry: Atomic theory
HIST History Through Architecture
HIST U.S. Constitutional History
HIST Modern World History
LIT The Transcendentalists
LIT Russian Literature

11th Grade Seminars (3-4 weeks each)
SCI Embryology
SCI Botany (with lab)
SCI Organic Chemistry (with lab)
SCI Physics: Electricity (with lab)
MATH Projective Geometry
HIST History Through Music
HIST European History
LIT Shakespeare
LIT Parsifal
LIT The Old Testament

10th Grade Seminars (3-4 weeks each)
SCI Physics: Mechanics
SCI Chemistry: Periodic Table (with lab)
SCI Biology: Cell Biology
SCI Computer Science
SCI Geology
HIST Ancient History
HIST History through Language
HIST Chinese Culture and History
LIT The Odyssey
LIT Comedy and Tragedy

9th Grade Seminars (3-4 weeks each)
SCI Physics: Thermodynamics
SCI Chemistry (with lab)
SCI Biology: Anatomy and Physiology
SCI Earth Science, Ecology
MATH Statistics and Probability
HIST History through Art
HIST U.S. History
LIT Poetry
LIT American Literature

Fine Arts (6 week blocks)
Painting
Drawing
Block Printing
Ceramics
Marble sculpture
Weaving
Felting
Joinery
Basketry
Blacksmithing

Performing Arts (6 week blocks)
Early Music Ensemble
Jazz Band
Steel Drum Band
Chorus
Drama
Eurythmy
Modern Dance

Please Note: All of our courses are required. All of our courses are honors level. We do not rank students. We do not offer AP courses. We do not offer SAT or other test prep, although we review test material and test-taking procedures in math and English classes in 11th and 12th grades.

2006-2007 German Visiting Student Program with the partner school Rudolf Steiner Schule, München, Germany
by Ursula Wirth - 03 Dec 2006

Individual students studying German II,III and IV who qualify for this visiting program can apply in order to attend school fulltime and receive credits for courses taken.

Applicants must continue to be enrolled at GBWH, i.e. tuition must also be paid for the period of absence and the student is expected to return after the visiting and continue with his/her classes at GBWH.

Any changes within the period of visiting need to be negotiated prior to the student's departure from the point of origin.

As the visiting is reciprocal it will allow for equal time to be spent in each country.

Supervised group visits to München, Germany

A German group visit to Munich, supervised by a teacher for a period of not less than three weeks, which can take place during the time of the Spanish service trip to Peru, will be supported and will be partially funded by GAPP German American Partnership Program.

Membership was established 2003/2004 for the visiting program between Rudolf Steiner Schule München and GBWH which qualifies them as registered partner schools and entitles both to receive funding.

These supervised group visits are also reciprocal between the schools.

Parents Evening December 07th, at 7:30 pm.
by Kathryn Jenen - High School Coordinator - 08 Dec 2006

Thank you all, teachers, parents and students, for the successful Open House on Tuesday.

Special thanks to Renni Greenberg Gallagher for her leading roll, Beth Robbins for being available for everything, Elizabeth Lombardi for organizing all the student art, Ursula Wirth and Julia Nuñez for their very interesting and beautiful language displays, all the parents who responded so quickly with snacks.

The event went really well due primarily to our amazing students’ personalities, enthusiasm and public communication skills.

The next important event is the Parents’ Evening, which was postponed due to a power outage. Please come next Thursday, December 07th, at 7:30 pm. You’ll be able to have all your questions answered and more.

We’ll have a full agenda with any number of topics. You can request additional agenda items by calling Steve before the meeting.

The process of choosing the Spring play is in its second stage: the faculty has presented a choice of three plays for the students to research and comment on: Come Blow Your Horn by Neil Simon; Blyth Spirit by Noel Coward; Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw.

The English faculty will make a final decision before the end of 2006.

November Bake Sale in Downtown Great Barrington Saturday, November 4th
by High School Board - 31 Oct 2006

The Great Barrington Waldorf High School will hold its November Bake Sale this Saturday, November 4th. The language department is asking you to help raise money to support our German and Peruvian visiting program. Everyoneís generous participation helps us cover the sponsorship costs and some of their living expenses. Our students benefit both by getting to know people from other cultures and languages plus gaining the opportunity to visit and absorb other ways of life in visiting.

The sale will be set up in front of Matrushkaís Toys and Yellow House Books on Main Street in Great Barrington. Weíve done really well there. Your participation is critical, so please bring all your yummy baked goods to
drop off there between 9:30 and 9:45 am this Saturday.

The six German students with their teacher have completed their first week. So far they have shared our final chorus class with Vikki True and a trip to Boston to experience the ìFreedom Trailî as a beginning to our American History block. Everyone at the high school is enjoying having a ìfull
houseî!

Thank you for everything you do to support your students and their Waldorf High School. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Camp Hi-Rock
by Mr. Sagarin - 21 Oct 2006

We had the smoothest start to the school year in five years with our three day orientation at Camp Hi-Rock,hiking, kayaking and swimming, playing beach volleyball and kickball, sitting around the campfire,and, finally, challenging ourselves on the low and high ropes courses.

The students were cheerful,well-behaved, and full of good will and enthusiasm. In the evening they played cards or talked until lights out. At first scattered through the large dining hall,by the second day, our students sat in friendly rows at one set of tables.

Hermit Island
by Mr. Sagarin - 21 Oct 2006

The seniors spent a week on Hermit Island, Maine,studying tide pool zoology with 120 seniors from 8 other Waldorf schools, including those from Atlanta,Ann Arbor, Chicago, and Toronto.

We cooked and cleaned as a group, sat around a warm campfire, awoke early and cold to creep around on slippery wet seaweed looking for sea stars, urchins, lobsters, crabs,snails and other sea life.

We heard Gary Lawless read poetry. We talked about big issues around a big campfireóhow to make the world a better place. We lay on our bellies late at night on a pitch-black dock totrail our hands in water full of bioluminescent plankton.

This trip, an annual event for seniors, was one of the highlights of high school for these students.

Seminars
by Mr. Sagarin - 21 Oct 2006

9th and 10th grades began the year with a study of American Literature with Mrs. Robbins, reading Hemingway, Richard Wright, and Sandra Cisneros, and learning what characterizes the literature of our continent. The 12th grade began the year studying
zoology (see above) with Mr. Sagarin. Currently, the 9th grade is studying History Through Art with Mr.
Sagarin, describing great works of art and learning how human consciousness has developed over the ages as seen in the art works that we have produced. The 10th and 12th grades are studying the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible as literature with Mrs. Robbins, learning to view these foundational texts through a sophisticated interpretive lens.

Arts
by Mr. Sagarin - 21 Oct 2006

The students are raving about chorus with Vikki True and her accompanist, Peter Schneider. They love her and therefore they sing for her, and are amazed by Mr.Schneiderís ability to improvise and play by ear. You can hear them singing on the lawn on nice days. For those of us who have valued music but watched a series of chorus teachers come and go over the past few years, Ms. Trueís presence is a true gift.

9th and 10th grades are completing wood block prints with Elizabeth Lombardi, an experienced Waldorf teacher and artist. She quietly and competently has guided them in making some outstanding works.Resolving an image into black and white is a profoundly healthy process for students in mid-adolescence, who have a tendency to see the world in black and white anyway.

The 12th grade is currently working at Lukas Zayís studio in Hillsdale, carving marble and alabaster. For students intent on hammering out their adult identities, stone sculpture is also therapeutic.

Visiting Students Program
by Mr. Sagarin - 21 Oct 2006

Six 10th and 11th grade visitors arrive from Munich this weekend (October 22) and will stay through the Fall Fair on November 12. They will live with familiesin the school and attend classes with our students. We have planned trips to Boston (U.S. history) and New York (a Knicks game). This will be the 3rd time in four years that we have hosted Munichers. We are working on possibilities for hosting visitors from Peru, also, but visa restrictions, our small size, and financial restrictions make this difficult.

College Applications
by Mr. Sagarin - 21 Oct 2006

Seniors are thick in the process of applying tocollege. They are visiting schools, completing applications, producing portfolios, taking SATs andfocusing on their futures. As usual with this group ofstrong individuals, they have taken up the challenges of this process eagerly and with good will.

PSATs
by Mr. Sagarin - 21 Oct 2006

Sophomores take the PSAT for practice October 21, a first step toward college applications.(You should know that we offer some preparation forthe SATsóreviews in 11th and 12th grades in math and English for a few weeksóbut will not derail studentsíeducation for test preparation. Students or families who are concerned about these tests sign up for independent test prep courses.)

8th Grade Visitors
by Mr. Sagarin - 21 Oct 2006

We have welcomed 4 visitors from the 8th grade forvisiting days in the high school, and 2 more studentswill visit next week. These visitors have been warmlywelcomed and enjoyed their time with us. We are doing everything we can to ensure a large, healthy 9th gradefor next year.

Soccer
by Mr Sagarin - 21 Oct 2006

We have yet to win a gameówe are 0-4óbut our students play with joy and intensity, and our small cheeringsection supports them heartily. Our team has improvedsignificantly. Eliot Stier, new to the goal, looksbetter every game.

Parent Volunteer Opportunities
by High School Board - 21 Oct 2006

Fall Fair: We will run the popcorn and hot chocolate concessionat the Steiner School Fall Fair on November 12. SarahBingham is organizing before the event and Mr. Sagarinis organizing students for that day. We will also have 2 large displays of High Schoolstudent work at the Fair.

Mrs. Gallagher is spearheading the effort to make these as comprehensiveand as beautiful as possible.Please call Mr. Sagarin or Mrs. Gallagher if you canhelp with either of these projects.

Bake Sales: You should know that we hold a bake salethe first Saturday of each month on Main Streetoutside Matrushka. We can ALWAYS use more baked goods.Last month we made $120; we have made more than twice this much when we have goods to sell. Every family that can should bake and bake often. All proceeds fromthese sales are banked to help pay for next yearístrips to Munich and Peru. Please bake! For moreinformation or to volunteer to help, please call Ursula Wirth at the High School.

Fundraising Committee: Please call Mr. Sagarin at the High School is you are willing to help the schoolfundraise for operating costs or fundraise for studenttravel.

Public Relations: Please call Mr. Sagarin at the HighSchool if you are interested in helping the HighSchool to become more widely known in our community.We have lots to do, from publications and Open Houseson up.

Office Work: We also have period need of officevolunteers to help wth such tasks as mailing andfiling.

Our Commitment to Our School and to the Education It Provides
by Stephen Keith Sagarin, for the Faculty, July 2006 - 20 Oct 2006

At our end-of-year faculty meetings, we discussed our commitment to our school and to the education it provides. Each teacher, in turn, spoke about his or her view of the question: Why are we doing this? We believe these notes are worth recording and passing along to our community.

Education is a humanizing process. Too much in our culture is distancing, alienating, and dehumanizing. We aim to overcome these forces as well as we can through teaching adolescents directly, honestly, and authentically.

The logic of overburdening students with workólife is hard so school should be hardóis flawed. Quality is at least as important as quantity. Pushing students to specialize too soon, to pretend to learning that is not really their own, is a kind of soul-torture against which we strive.

Among the chief alienating influences that threaten teens, too, are the temptation of drug and alcohol experimentation; this explains, in part, the seriousness with which we take our drug and alcohol policies.

Another powerful but unhealthy influence on teens is the wish to be anonymous. We provide school as familyóoccasional strife, but love, concern, and support. No one falls between the cracks; there are none.
∑ To be human is fundamentally and inherently to be creative. Creativity is not an enhancement to a curriculum, it is the core of any subject, science, math, art, or any other.

Cognition, affect, and action or behavior all unite in creative endeavor. This is why we aim to teach creatively and why we balance academics with practical, fine and performing arts.

Creativity involves choice and decision-making, and in the end derives from free endeavor. Freedomófreedom of thinking, of action, and of feelingóis our goal.

To attain this, our goals for our students include that they learn to be trustworthy, enthusiastic and responsible. We aim to develop these qualities in ourselves in order that our students may grow into them as healthy individuals.

To wish to approach the world creatively, students must find it meaningful. We, as teachers, must strive to show its meaning, to demonstrate the inter-connectedness of the parts of the world, to show paths to meaning and interpretation, to develop, as Owen Barfield put it, a ìscience of meaning.î We aim to show matter and spirit united, as one, as an inner and an outer manifestation of one world.

Presentations from Senior Projects Monday May 22
by webmaster - 20 May 2006

You are invited to attend Presentations from Senior Projects of the Class of 2006:

ìAngels in Americaî by Tony Kushner
Performed by Nadia Bedard and Zach Goldman

and

Concerto in C major by Joseph Haydn
Performed by Tavish Gallagher, Cello, and Arthur Cook, Piano

Monday May 22, 2006
7:00 p.m.


Kellogg Music Center, Simonís Rock College 84 Alford Road, Great Barrington

Commencement Exercises June 4 Kellogg Music Center
by webmaster - 20 May 2006

With great pride, the Faculty, Staff, Trustees, and Graduating Class of 2006 of the Great Barrington Waldorf High School announce their Commencement Exercises on Sunday, the fourth of June, two thousand and six, at ten thirty oíclock in the morning in the Kellogg Music Center at Simonís Rock College.

Our Town - A Play in Three Acts by Thornton Wilder - May 13 & 14
by webmaster - 09 May 2006

Saturday, May 13 at 7 p.m.
Sunday, May 14 at 3 p.m.

Dewey Hall, Sheffield

$10 Adults ï $5 Students

Call (413) 528-8833 for reservations.

Presented by the Great Barrington Waldorf High School

NO SCHOOL Parent-Teacher Conferences Jan. 27
by High School Board - 12 Jan 2006

Friday, Jan. 27: NO SCHOOL--Parent-Teacher Conferences

High School discussion at Rudolf Steiner School Feb. 1
by High School Board - 12 Jan 2006

Wednesday, Feb. 1: "All School Class Night" at the Steiner School, INCLUDING the High School--discussion groups followed by brief Parents' Evening.

OPEN HOUSE Thursday, Feb. 9, 7-9 p.m.
by High School Board - 12 Jan 2006

Thursday, Feb. 9: OPEN HOUSE at the HS, 7-9 p.m. Refreshments and entertainment.

Congratulations, Waldorf Seniors!
by Stephen K. Sagarin, PhD - 01 Dec 2005

We are pleased to announce that our senior class contains a student ìCommendedî for outstanding performance on the PSAT and SAT tests: Caitlin Blau. She is the daughter of Ann Sagarin, Third Grade teacher. Caitlin, we note, also scored a perfect 800 on the verbal section of her SAT.

Overall, the class performed outstandingly on standardized tests. Virtually every score for every student is above national averages. Overall averages are:

Verbal 646
Math 544
Writing 606

Those who recall taking the SAT in their youth remember two sections of the test, Verbal and Math. The Educational Testing Service last year added a third component test in writing.

The Great Barrington Waldorf High School is a rigorous, college preparatory school but it does not coach or prepare for the SAT other than a six week period of review and test familiarization classes three times a week in eleventh grade.

Another student of note is Tavish Gallagher. Despite our lack of a baseball team, Tavish has worked hard on local American Legion and "Fall Ball" teams to be scouted and pursued as a pitcher by NCAA Division II and III baseball coaches.

We are proud of our seniorsí test scores and athletic prowess, but we are even prouder of the creative, thoughtful, mature young men and women the seniors have become. We expect them to do well in college admissions and, more importantly, in life.

A ballroom, swing, and Latin dance is coming up on Saturday, November 5!
by Rose Tannenbaum - 12 Oct 2005

A ballroom, swing, and Latin dance is coming up on Saturday, November 5.

It is again a fund-raiser for the Great Barrington Waldorf High School.
Cost is $10
Location: the Sheffield Grange
Time: 7-11 pm.
The first hour will be instruction in all styles of ballroom and swing, with continued demos and help throughout the evening. The music is a great eclectic mix of recorded music -- something for everyone's taste. There will be refreshments available. No need to bring a partner, we switch around all the time, and everyone is friendly.

This is the third in what we hope is an ongoing series of 1st Saturday dances. We're very excited to be creating a ballroom/swing/latin dance venue in South County!

Looking forward to seeing you there!