Starting a School?

[alicewyf]

Does anyone know of any resources for starting a school? What do people usually do, have just one teacher who has done the teacher training and start from there? How do people network?

We live in a city that has no Waldorf school (though plenty of Montessori) and I'm just wondering how these schools typically get their start. Any help would be great, just trying to decide how feasible it would be, and I realize it all has to start somewhere.

I'm not interested in homeschooling. Our daughter will spend most of her education in private school regardless so I would rather get the education I want for her, even if it means a bit of work and planning. Unfortunately moving is not an option at this point.

[mammom]

Have you checked with AWSNA?  It's the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America.  www.whywaldorfworks.org.  They might be able to point you in the right direction.

Also, you might be able to find a home-based preschool to start.  That is how I discovered Waldorf.  One of the moms in my chapter of the Holistic Moms Network was involved in a "school." They had an opening, so we joined up and it was great.  It met three days a week and was comprised of children 3.5 to 6 yo and went from 9:00 to 12:30.  Our teacher was Waldorf trained and they are trying to grow the school into a real school now - it takes time though.  You might ask around some of the holistically-minded groups in your area to see if anyone knows of one.

We have since moved away, but we have stayed with Waldorf and are in an established school now.  It's the only education for us! 

Good luck!

[alicewyf]

Thanks for the reply! The closest thing we have in town to a Waldorf school is an "alternative" school that just kind of combines stuff from all different disciplines (Waldorf, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, etc.) From what I've seen it is ok but I'd rather have pure Waldorf for my children. Second choice would be Catholic education.

Supposedly we used to have a playgroup here in our city but it isn't currently running. I have contacted the local Anthroposophy group and hope to meet up with them too. I do have the opportunity to take a "First Four Years" class and the "Foundation Studies" program at a Waldorf school about 1.5 hrs away. I think I will start with the "First Four Years" class when it next comes up (only 3 weekend commitment). And then I will probably have to wait for the Foundation Studies class...it seems intensive (3 years, meeting 20 days a year) and I will likely have small children for quite a while yet.

We do not live ANYWHERE near a Waldorf teacher training school so that is just not going to happen for me for a while. I am hoping that once I take the First Four Years class I might feel confident about starting a playschool/group.