Richmond Waldorf School

Congratulations to our 8th grade graduates! We could not be more proud to have them as RWS alums. ❤️ We wish them all the best in high school, and know that this is not a goodbye but a see you again soon.

Our Final Assembly of 2024 included beautiful performances across the grades and particularly special moments from our 8th graders with the Gumboot Dance and our Middle School Choir’s touching “Fly Away Home.” After the Reverse Rose Ceremony concluded, we joined together as a community and sang this version of the Irish Blessing.

🎶 May troubles be less and blessings be more And nothing but happiness come to your door And may you have luck wherever you go Your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow May winds be at your back And sun be overhead May friends be at your side where ever you are led And may the sun shine all the day long And everything go right and nothing go wrong And may those you love bring love back to you And may all the wishes that you wish come true. May joy and peace surround you contentment latch your door May happiness be with you now and bless you evermore. 🎶 🌹

The 2nd grade and their Gnome Party! Such an awesome accomplishment. 🎉

The 5th grade explored “Ancients in the Neighborhood” with the Valentine Museum last week. As an extension of their study of Ancient Greece, the Valentine staff took them on a walking tour of the Court End neighborhood in Richmond, which features many beautiful examples of neoclassical design and architecture. After their walking tour, the class saw inside The Wickham House that showcases the neoclassical elements that were so popular in the 19th century. Thanks to for a great visit!

Our amazing Acorn students out on RWS’s Bike Track with Mr. Glenn this week! 🚲💪

RWS has a unique Biking Program that begins with six week blocks in our Early Childhood classes and progresses to weekly biking classes for our Grades students. Read more about our decade of Biking at RWS which was recently featured in AWSNA’s Renewal magazine https://richmondwaldorf.com/pedals-of-progress-how-richmond-waldorf-school-built-its-bike-program/ .

May Faire 2024 was a little wet, but a whole lot of fun. We are grateful for everyone who joined us, umbrellas and all, for a day of celebration and community! 🌈💗🌸

A big thanks to our sponsors who helped make it possible, , , , , , Jeremy Davis , and ! And thank you to and for these amazing photos! 📸

Reminder for RWS families: have your student(s) bring a flower next week for our beautiful Teacher Appreciation tradition! 💐 Our amazing parent volunteers will assemble arrangements for our talented and caring faculty & staff on Wednesday morning. Flowers can be straight from you garden or store bought, and students can bring just one or a few. 💗

Thank you in advance for showering our faculty with love! ❤️ Be sure to peek our signup from the PA for more Teacher Appreciation slots. https://m.signupgenius.com/? #!/showSignUp/10C0D4AA4AE2BAAF4C25-49162913-teacher

Our raffle is over and our winners are… Deborah Boes and Rachel Davis!!! Congratulations and thank you, , for these beautiful contributions in support of our school!!! 🖼️ 🖌️ 🎉

We have some pretty fun auction items that are both kid-friendly and grown-up only! Peek our silent auction at rws.schoolauction.net/pof/catalog for the full list of goods! Auction closes after May Faire, on Saturday 5/4!

Join us for our annual May Faire celebration, Saturday May 4 at Richmond Waldorf School! At 10 am, 1st through 5th grades will dance around the maypole. At 11 am, the Faire will open with two marionette puppet shows, jump rope making, tie dye, flower crowns, the Pocket Fairy, a baby animal petting zoo, live music, local vendors, and food & drink! Entry is free, and some activities are ticketed. https://richmondwaldorf.com/mayfaire/

We’ll also have our Silent Auction, Buy-a-Spot Opportunities, and raffle tickets available for ‘s live paintings, which will close that evening. Hope to see you then! https://rws.schoolauction.net/pof/catalog

Thank you to our generous sponsors: Flower Crown Level: , , , Pocket Fairy Level: , Jeremy Davis, and Puppet Show Level: 💗🌼🌈

Last week, our 3rd graders returned from their wonderful adventure at Hawthorne Valley Farm in New York. Just as their train was pulling into the station, a huge rainbow appeared, sending them off on their way back home! 🌈

May Faire is Saturday, May 4!

Coming up soon--May Faire at Richmond Waldorf School.
https://northofthejames.com/april-events-3

Ms Amey’s 3rd graders are on their Farm Trip this week to Hawthorne Valley, a biodynamic farm near Hudson, NY. Their year-long study of agriculture, farming, and animal husbandry culminates with this very special 5-day adventure. The Farm Trip is an important component of the Waldorf curriculum, and is often the first trip away from family. Nine year olds are in a time where they are becoming more independent and capable, and are learning by doing— mucking stalls, milling flour and making cheese. We are so proud of our students! ❤️🧑‍🌾👩‍🌾🐷🐣🐮🧀 🥖

RWS’ Parent Toddler program, Sprouts, is set to resume next Friday! We are looking for a few more families to join us. Sessions are Fridays from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

This is a great program to join if you are interested in Waldorf education and looking to connect with other young families around parenting topics, all while getting a front row seat to the children’s play! Registration still open at https://richmondwaldorf.com/parent-toddler-program/. Questions? Give Valerie Hogan a call at 804-377-8024.

Visit www.richmondwaldorf.com/employment and apply today!

Richmond Waldorf School was founded in 1996 with a passion for providing children a holistic education that falls in alignment with their natural human development through hands-on, nature-rich, and play-based experiences. We are dedicated to providing a learning environment that cultivates creative thinking, genuine inquiry, and a love of learning.

RWS has grown from a single Kindergarten classroom to a campus that serves over 190 students from Pre-K through 8th grade. Our specialty program includes Movement Arts, Russian, Spanish, Biking, Handwork, Woodwork, Music & Strings, Visual Arts, and Latin.

Richmond Waldorf School is a Candidate School of AWSNA (Association of Waldorf Schools of North America), SAIS (Southern Association of Independent Schools) and is a member of WECAN (Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America). We have a College of Teachers, Board of Trustees, and Parents Association that help ensure support for the health of the school.

Our school is located on a beautiful, urban campus in the Northside of Richmond, Virginia in close proximity to Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Richmond, and only a few hours from the Blue Ridge Mountains, Washington, DC, and the coastal beaches of Virginia and North Carolina. Richmond is a rapidly growing city with amazing restaurants, a thriving art and music scene, and a plethora of outdoor parks and walking trails. The James River winds its way through the heart of the city, offering four seasons of adventure and beauty. 🌈

Join us on Saturday, May 4 for our annual May Faire Festival! For more information, visit www.richmondwaldorf.com/mayfaire .

Some beautiful creatures adorning our chalk boards! A bright-eyed calf for our 3rd graders who will embark on their farm trip next week, cherry blossoms blooming beside Saint Francis and the blessing of the animals in 2nd grade, and a vibrant African Elephant from the 7th grade Geography block. 😍

Check out this New York Times piece on how working with your hands is good for your 🧠 head. For more of a deep dive, read our blogs on the importance of multi-sensory learning in Waldorf education https://richmondwaldorf.com/learning-is-multi-sensory-teaching-should-be-too/ and how hands-on interdisciplinary education helps our students thrive https://richmondwaldorf.com/beyond-textbooks-unleashing-the-power-of-hands-on-interdisciplinary-learning/. ❤️

Working With Your Hands Is Good for Your Brain (Gift Article) Activities like writing, gardening and knitting can improve your cognition and mood. Tapping, typing and scrolling? Less so.

Ms Hayward’s 7th graders took the train up to DC to visit The National Gallery of Art in support of their recent Renaissance History block. They saw magnificent paintings, including Raphael’s “Madonna & Child” and Leonardo’s “Ginevra deBenci.” Included here are also their Albrecht Durer study, a German Renaissance Artist.

Join us for a night in support of Richmond Waldorf School as we come together and look to the future of the school we love. ❤️

We’ll be debuting our Strategic Planning Themes, with a presentation by Director of Administration, Andrew Ross. You’ll get the first dibs on Silent Auction and Buy-a-Spot Opportunities. And you’ll even get a chance to win a live painting by The Night Owl, Mickael Broth. Silent Auction & Buy-a-Spot Opportunities will continue online through after May Faire (5/4) or until they sell out.

Space is limited— purchase your tickets by April 6 at rws.schoolauction.net/pof .

Our 8th graders gave a splendid performance of “Aladdin” last week in their final class play at RWS. We are so proud of them! 📸

Congratulations to our 8th graders,
who had a big week finding out their high school acceptances and preparing their class play, Aladdin, which they knocked out of the park! 🎉

Our students have been accepted at the following high schools:

Maggie Walker Governor’s School
Richmond Community High School
Collegiate School
The Steward School
St. Catherine’s School
St. Christopher’s School
Trinity Episcopal School
St. Gertrude High School
Franklin Military Academy
Center for Engineering at Highland Springs High School
Center for Information Technology at Deep Run High School
Center for Communications at Varina High School

Students have been waitlisted at the following schools: Appomattox Regional Governor’s School, Open High School, Maggie Walker Governor’s School, Community High School, and Collegiate School.

We’re so proud and excited to see what’s next for these awesome Waldorf kids! 🎉

We’re swinging into summer! Come play with us— register your child(ren) for Summergarden (3 1/2 - 6 year olds) and Grades Camps online at https://richmondwaldorf.com/summerprograms/ . ☀️🎻

Parent/Teacher conferences made for more chalk art photography! 📸
Ms Bullington’s 5th graders are studying Egyptian Mythology and the 6th grade is working on South American geography with Ms Davis. 7th graders continue their Renaissance studies, pictured is Joan of Arc, by Ms Hayward. A spring scene brightens Russian, and a little mouse stopped by Ms Meyer’s 1st grade classroom . 🖼️

Our 5th graders rounded out their block of studying orchestral instrument families with a field trip to see The Richmond Symphony School of Music perform Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. 🎶🐺🥰 Thank you to our Music & Strings Teacher, Margaret Ayre, for organizing this wonderful opportunity!

At RWS, our students begin playing violin or cello in the winter of 3rd grade, and continue through ensemble and middle school orchestra. Learn more about the depth of a Waldorf education or inquire about a space for your student on our website https://richmondwaldorf.com/apply

Coincidence or cosmic alignment? The universe has gifted us ONE extra day this year, and guess what? We’re just 1% away from reaching our Annual Fund goal! Let’s seize this cosmic opportunity together.

With the help of generous donors like you, we can turn this bonus day into an opportunity to make an impact for Richmond Waldorf School today. And not only that, once we surpass this year’s goals, we are poised to look to our future with a true legacy focus.

Please help us leap over our final 1% finish line and make this extra day really count! 🎉
Visit www.richmondwaldorf.com/annual-fund or email [email protected] to make a donation today!

Chalk art depicting all that our students have been busy studying: Black History, Fiber and Clothing, Form Drawing Celtic Knots, Russian vocabulary, and Physics!

We love play season! ❤️
Our next class play will be the 8th Grade’s “Aladdin,” debuting March 7 & 8 at RWS.

Hooray for Class Play Season! Ms Davis’s 6th Grade performed “Hi, Ho, Robin Hood!” to rapturous applause at the end of January. We are so proud of their hard work and beautiful performance! Our halls are still filled with little voices singing 🎶 along to the chorus, and some big imaginations playing pretend with bows made of twigs and yarn and games with brave heroes!

Our next class play will be by the 8th Grade who will perform “Aladdin” on March 7th and 8th. Class plays are an integral part of Waldorf curriculum, and begin in 1st Grade in chorus with expectations gradually growing alongside the students. Learn more about how the Waldorf approach to theater develops creativity, empathy, and confidence on our blog https://richmondwaldorf.com/theater-develops-creativity-empathy-and-confidence/ . Somer Stamps Mojica 📸

Ms Bullington’s 5th graders tried their hand at cuneiform as part of their study of ancient Mesopotamia, using clay and phonetically maping out their names.

In 5th grade, Waldorf students focus on Ancient Civilizations, and the students have begun working on their play, which they will perform in March: The Light of Isis and Osiris.

To learn more about how Waldorf education unleashes the power of hands-on, interdisciplinary learning across the grades, check out our blog post. https://richmondwaldorf.com/beyond-textbooks-unleashing-the-power-of-hands-on-interdisciplinary-learning/