December 2010

Dear Friends,

We have expanded into the first floor of the Church from which we rent, and now the warm sounds of students and teachers engaged in teaching and learning float up and down the stairs each morning. Since our last appeal, our school has grown in other ways, too, thanks to the support of our generous community. Between last spring and this fall we increased our enrollment from 26 to 32, we hired a new Spanish teacher, and we added part-time teachers in life science, math, literature, art, and music. We also bought a new (used) van and tables and chairs for our classrooms.

We recently hosted 9 visitors from the Munich-Schwabing Waldorf School, and, while they were here, we had more than 45 persons present for our morning meeting each day—we had to move the meeting from the “Big Room” to the church sanctuary downstairs. Those of you who know our building will appreciate this change. The school is fuller than it has ever been, and it feels more alive and more vibrant than it has since we started with our thirteen pioneers nine years ago. For us, quantitative growth and qualitative growth go hand-in-hand, and, for now, bigger is better. More students mean more social interaction and more course offerings, and the increase in tuition revenue does its part to support growth and change at our school.

We grow closer each year to our aim—to create an excellent, small, sustainable, community-oriented and community-integrated Waldorf school in the Berkshires, one that students value and want to attend. But more and better teachers and programs and facilities mean larger expenses, too. We cover 80% of our costs through tuition, but, like almost all independent schools, rely on the generosity of those, like you, who value what we do. We accept gifts gratefully and put them to work efficiently to support education for adolescents and Waldorf high school education in the Berkshires. Please contribute as generously as you can. Thank you!

To donate online, quickly and safely, use the Google “Donate button” just to the right of this letter.

Sincerely,

Stephen Sagarin, PhD
Faculty Chair

Mary Louise Bedard
Board Chair

KayLee Bellamy. Self-portrait in charcoal.

We are pleased to announce that Senior KayLee Bellamy has already been accepted to 3 colleges: Antonelli Institute of Art & Photography in Erdenheim, PA; Delaware College of Art & Design in Wilmington, DE with a Merit Award on the basis of her portfolio and academic record; and Oakbridge Academy of Arts in Lower Burrell, PA. Clearly, she plans to study art and design.

In an Artist’s Statement, KayLee writes, “My current work reflects on my past, but also speaks of my future. Attending Waldorf schools since kindergarten, I’ve been taught through art as the bases of learning. In elementary, middle, and high school, I was required to turn in a main lesson book at the end of any block or seminar containing hand written essays, pictures, maps, and portraits, to show what was taught in class. Because of this, my drawing techniques have progressed from an early age into tools I now use to express myself.”

Congratulations to KayLee and best wishes to her and the rest of her class for more acceptances as the academic year continues.

German visitors at Bash Bish Falls.

From October 24 to November 14, the Great Barrington Waldorf High School welcomes 9 tenth and eleventh grade students from the Munich-Schwabing Waldorf School. Flora, Nick, Stefan, Dan, Carina, Carolina, Frederika, Luisa, and Andreas are staying with families in the school, working on their English (already pretty good!) and attending school. With this visit, their chaperone, Sylvia Hochleitner, English teacher at the Munich school, has returned to our school for the fifth time; she is a friend, a colleague, and practically part of the family here.

During the first week of their visit, we arranged a trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum, a hike up Monument Mountain, a trip to Bash Bish Falls, and a trip to New York City. After that first week, visitors joined classes already in progress, including seminars in physics and History through Language. Having nine more students adds to our busy lives, and our small school feels like it’s bursting happily at the seams.

Next April, German students from our school will visit Munich for three weeks and reunite with their new friends. They are already discussing what they will do and see in Munich. (Spanish students will visit the Waldorf school in Cali, Colombia, for three weeks during this time.)

Students at Rockefeller Center

On Wednesday, October 27, the Waldorf High School and 9 visitors from Munich traveled to New York for the Day. After a ride on the subway, we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ninth graders completed assignments to do with their History Through Art seminar; 11th and 12th graders visited the art of India in conjunction with their seminar on the History and Culture of India. And 10th graders and German visitors visited a variety of exhibits, from the retrospective show of conceptual artist John Baldessari to the American Wing. We then walked south through Central Park, down 5th Avenue to Rockefeller Center, and back to Grand Central. For our German visitors it was an exciting first visit to New York, and they enjoyed everything from the subway through the museum and the seals in the Central Park Zoo to the rappers hawking their CDs (with impromptu performances) on 5th Avenue.

Order your heavyweight 80/20 cotton blend Waldorf High School sweatshirt today! Only $30. Call the school at (413) 528-8833 or email us at info@waldorfhigh.org. Alumni, parents, friends… A great gift!

From left: Alee Danyluk, Naomi Pitman, and Milena Stanton, with their painting

Led by Naomi Pitman, a team of 9th graders from the Great Barrington Waldorf High School that also included Alee Danyluk and Milena Stanton created a painting of an X-ray cat for the window of the toy store Matrushka on Main Street in Great Barrington to help celebrate Halloween. Students from Waldorf, Steiner, and Monument Mountain swarmed Main Street and Railroad Street on Friday, October 22, to decorate dozens of windows. Their work will remain on display through October 31. Happy Halloween!

Alexander Souri, founder of Relief Riders International, visited the Junior and Senior Seminar on the History and Culture of India, taught by Peter Elliston, on Friday, October 22. He spoke about his inspiration in creating the adventure tour-international relief organization, combining his desire to honor his Indian heritage, his desire to help an area of the world that needs it, and his love of riding horses. Relief Riders traverse 250 miles of Indian desert on expeditions to bring goats to villages and families that need them and, in the past, to offer free eye surgery to those who could not afford it.

Class of 2010 with Peter Elliston, left, and Alexander Souri, right.

OPEN HOUSE, Thursday, 10/12, 7:30 p.m. Student work, refreshments. Brief presentation of program, questions and answers. See our great little school up close. Next Open House: Tuesday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.