Greetings!
Being a part of a Waldorf school means not only are you part of a beautiful local community, you are connected to a community that spans the globe with a shared a vision of how to best support the healthy unfolding of growing human beings. This network provides amazing opportunities for learning. For example, later this spring a group of our Early Childhood teachers will be travelling to Dornach, Switzerland (Perhaps returning to the school office with some spelt Leckerli from the Goetheanum
cafeteria? Please?) to attend the Waldorf 100 Early Childhood Conference; while back at home, we are honored to welcome two visiting teachers to our grade school: Benedicta Bertau and Kim Murriera.
Benedicta has been coming to our school for over a decade to marshal and shepherd our lead class in the production of their class play. This year she is directing a combined class of 7th and 8th graders in a production of William Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream. There will be two evening performances at 7 pm on April 11 and 12. If you come to one evening event this year, it should be one of these performances!
Kim will visit for two weeks in April during which time she will offer form drawing classes and lead our grade school students in producing a much-anticipated mosaic mural which will decorate the exterior walls of the below-the-stairs entrance to the lower level of Compass Hall. If you are interested in taking either of the form drawing classes open to parents (and grandparents and friends) on the mornings of April 2 and 9, please note that space is very limited so you should sign up soon!
You can read more about Benedicta and Kim below. Happy Spring!
Warmly,
Christina Dixcy
Communications Director and Office Manager
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Benedicta Bertau – who hails from Germany and France – has an eclectic background: Trained Waldorf teacher, eurythmist, life coach, and actor/director. She has been the visiting drama teacher for HVWS since 2005, when she was the Producing Artistic Director for Walking the dog Theater. In 2011, Benedicta left the US and has since lived in Italy, where she also teaches German and English at the Palermo Waldorf School (Sicily). She has directed many HVWS 8th grade productions, all of them Shakespeare plays.
Kim Murriera completed a degree in child development in California and earned a Teaching Certificate in Waldorf/Steiner Education from Emerson College in the UK. She completed her post-graduate degree in Experiential and Creative Arts Therapy in Melbourne, Australia in 2002. She ran her own Waldorf Home-School for 9 years. Kim currently lives on the beautiful island of Kauai, Hawaii and runs a six-month course on creativity called Create Yourself Awake. Alongside this she teaches form drawing for adults and children, sees private Art Therapy clients, teaches an Embryology in Clay workshop and is an avid mosaic artist.
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Annual Fund Giving Levels
Red Leaf ($5,000 or More)
Red Leaf ($1,989 - $4,999)
Red Leaf ($1,000 - $1,989)
Red Leaf ($500 - $999)
Yellow Leaf ($250 - $499)
Green Leaf ($100 - $249)
Green Leaf ($1 - $99)
Thank you for your support! Housatonic Valley Waldorf School is a non-profit 501c3.
Your contribution is potentially tax- deductible.
Tax ID # 061310057
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It Takes A Village Community Painting
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You may now
make a donation online to be included in the BEAUTIFUL art piece being created by Emily Remensperger!
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As part of the worldwide Waldorf 100 celebrations we are recording our voices and sharing our stories through The Waldorf Chronicles, an archive project. Waldorf schools and teacher training institutes in North America are adding interviews to the StoryCorps Archive, the largest collection of human voices ever gathered.
If you would like to be interviewed for the Waldorf Chronicles please e-mail Christina Dixcy at cdixcy@waldorfct.org. You can read sample questions on
The Waldorf Chronicles' page.
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School will be closed for Spring Break the week of April 15-19.
Visit our
calendar for a full listing of events.
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Biodynamic Gardening Club
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Friday, March 29, 3-5 PM
Grade School Campus
1 Jacklin Rd. Newtown, CT
The Biodynamic Gardening Club is designed for parents, but children are welcome to attend meetings along with their parent(s). Alumni welcome! With questions, e-mail
Marcella Kapsaroff.
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Saturday, March 30, 10 AM
Lower Level, Compass Hall
1 Jacklin Rd., Newtown
The Puppetry Committee is pleased to present
The Girl Who Spun Gold, a West Indian version of the well-known tale of an imperiled young woman who must figure out the name of a magical creature who can spin yarn into gold.
The puppet show in the Waldorf tradition features hand-sewn puppets, sumptuous plant-dyed silks, and a simple, age-appropriate performance style suited to young children’s attention spans and level of awareness. A peaceful and enchanted mood prevails. Our puppet shows are appropriate for 3-8 year-olds.
Puppet shows are free, however the Puppetry Committee will happily accept a goodwill offering to support
Women for Women International, an organization helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives.
Families interested in touring our Early Childhood campus immediately following the performance should call Therese Lederer at 203-364-1113 or register online.
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Form Drawing Classes for Adults
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“Form Drawing is the imprint of line born from movement of the human hand.”
Who: parents, grandparents, friends
When:
April 2 and/or 9, 8:45-10:30am
Where: meet at the Administration Cottage
Cost: free (registration required; limit 10 students per class)
Join visiting Waldorf teacher Kim Murriera and explore
the art of the moving line. Share in an ‘adult’ experience of form drawing that will inspire and fuel a relationship to balance, spatial orientation and a discovery of resting within movement.
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Thursday and Friday April 11 & 12; 7 PM
Lower Level, Compass Hall
1 Jacklin Rd., Newtown
The 7th and 8th Grades invite you to their performance of William Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by visiting faculty member, Benedicta Bertau.
The class play mirrors in a nutshell what Waldorf education strives to bring into the world – encouraging the child and young person to develop in the most fully rounded way possible, so that each may step into the rest of their lives filled with a sense of responsibility, possibility, and self-assurance.
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It's time to Wake up the Garlic...
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Monday, April 15; 9:30 AM-12 PM
Riverbank Farm
33 River Rd, Roxbury
Are you looking to spend a morning working outside? Many of our HVWS students have worked at Riverbank Farm as 3rd graders. HVWS parents and owners of the farm, Laura McKinney and Dave Blyn (parents of Lily, Class of 2017, Alice, Class of 2019, and Stella, Class of 2023), have done so much to introduce our students to life on the farm and the work it entails. The children get so much out of their time at Riverbank Farm and leave the farm with a true sense of accomplishment and respect for our environment.
Join Laura and Dave on Monday, April 15, from 9:30-12 at Riverbank Farm as they wake up the garlic. They could use the help of hardworking adults and children alike. (If bringing children, it is expected that the adults will remain with them!) This is a nice opportunity to give back to a family that gives so much to so many.
We hope to see you there. Happy Spring!
Please let Natasha de Castro know if you will participate.
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Save the Date!
Visiting Author: Zetta Elliott, PhD
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Friday, April 26; 9:30 6:30 PM
Atrium, Compass Hall
1 Jacklin Rd. Newtown
The HVWS Diversity Committee has spent much of this year compiling a list of diverse children's books to purchase for our classrooms and libraries with funds provided by the NoVo Foundation grant. In conjunction with this effort, we are pleased to welcome award-winning writer and educator Zetta Elliott, PhD to HVWS. Dr. Elliott will visit the school to read to our lower grades classes during the day and offer a lecture for parents in the evening. Her talk will focus on her own work as well as the importance of diversity in children's literature.
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Dinner and Live Auction: Saturday, May 4
Online Auction: April 29-May 8
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If you would like to purchase a raffle ticket, or bring tickets home to sell, please stop by the office or contact Carrie Donat at
cdonat@waldorfct.org or 203-364-1113 x106.
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If you would be interested in joining a revived Handwork Group and working on a project for the Spring Benefit, please contact Natasha deCastro at
tashebe79@yahoo.com or (203)263-5308.
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Karate After-School Classes
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With Sensei June
Session 2 Begins April 2
Who: For students in grades 1-8
When: 8 Tuesdays; 3:15-4:15 PM, April 2 to May 28
Where: Eurythmy Room, Compass Hall
Cost: $175 per student, payable through TADS
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Circus Arts After-School Classes
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With Laura Geilen
Begins April 24
Who: For students in grades 3-8 (minimum 8, maximum 10 students)
When: 6 Wednesdays, 3-5 PM, April 24, May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Where: Eurythmy Room, Compass Hall
Cost: $175, payable through TADS
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Place Your Yearbook Orders by April 30
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It is now time to place your yearbook ads and order your HVWS 2018-2019 Community Yearbook!
The HVWS yearbook is a wonderful memento of the school year for the entire HVWS community, featuring:
- Photographs of all HVWS classes and staff members
- Highlights of the 2018/2019 school year
- Individual pages for the graduates of 2019
- Ads from well wishers
- Photos from the 8th grade class trip to Costa Rica
DEADLINE FOR ALL ADS, YEARBOOK ORDERS and PAYMENTS IS TUESDAY, APRIL 30th.
RESERVE YOUR YEARBOOK(S) @ $25 each. AFTER APRIL 30, AVAILABILITY IS NOT GUARANTEED.
Yearbooks will be available for pickup at the end-of-school picnic on the last day of school. If there are extra copies, they will be sold for $30 each.
Ad sizes and prices are listed below. Submit your message(s) with your order or send your message via email to Nathalie Bennett at
nathalie@ninedesignct.com and it will be formatted for you. Or, finished ads may be sent as a “Press-Ready” PDF document to Nathalie.
Pricing
Yearbook: $25
Quarter Page Ad: $15
Half Page Ad: $25
Full Page Ad: $30
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Dates and themes are now up on our
Summer Camp page and registration is open!
If you have questions about the upcoming Summer Camp season, please e-mail
camp@waldorfct.org.
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Summer Intensive with Janet Langley and Patti Connolly
August 5-7, 2019; 8:30 am-5:00 pm
Housatonic Valley Waldorf School
Creating an Artistic and Effective Language Arts Curriculum in Grades 1-3
One of the most important tasks lower grades teachers face in the early grades is teaching students the fundamental language skills that underlie all future learning. Over the three days of this intensive, Janet and Patti will offer teachers a comprehensive, well-organized roadmap through the five key phases their students must master to become literate. Specifically it will delve into the reasons why teaching students how to read and spell in English is such a challenge and will provide clear guidance on how teachers can meet this challenge with knowledge and creativity. Janet and Patti will share with participants how to:
- Teach the basic concepts and skills students need to learn in each phase, including the essential phonics rules that serve as the foundation for learning to read, write, and spell and learn English grammar
- Prepare comprehensive lesson plans based on the developmental needs of each grade, introducing new concepts in an imaginative and lively way
- Lead fun and effective practice activities and create classroom learning materials to help students solidify skills
- Easily assess the efficacy of your literacy program and meet common remedial issues
This intensive is based on the research that comes out of the
recently published book of the same title by Janet and Jennifer Militzer-Kopperl. It represents over five years of research and writing.
Fee: $350 if you register by June 15, 2019; $375 after June 15. Fee includes workshop sessions, materials for making classroom learning resources, daily snacks, and lunch. In addition, all participants should purchase the book and read sections 1 and 2 before the workshop begins.
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Marleen De Grande sends her gratitude to everyone in the community who has offered such support upon Nigel's passing.
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Thank you to
Benedicta Bertau for coming to the Early Childhood parent evening to talk about the importance of the drama curriculum for the grade school students and for all the fun exercises that she shared with the parents.
Thank you to
Chris Johnson for providing a St. Patrick's Day feast for our recent Staff Development Day.
Thank you to
Rebecca Lee for continued work cataloging library book donations.
Thank you to former HVWS teacher
Rachel Ross for donating a huge box of handmade dolls for the School Store!
Thank you to former HVWS parent
Jeff Parker for his donation of paper goods.
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HVWS Fleece Jackets are Here!
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Click for a
PDF Order Form. Orders may be shipped to your home or picked up from Tiger Sports in Ridgefield.
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The Rainbow Garden School Store is Open!
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Star Meadow Cottage, Rear Door
40 Dodgingtown Rd.
The store is open Tuesday-Friday 8:20-9 AM on regular school days.
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8th Grade Graduation Project Presentations
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4th Grade Class Play: The Fate of Baldur
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After-school Art Classes: Drawing to See
and Karate
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The New York Times (3/23/19)
NPR (3/18/19)
The New York Times (3/16/19)
Psychology Today (3/5/19)
The Waldorf School of Garden City (2/26/19)
Medium (2/26/19)
The New York Times (2/23/19)
AWSNA (2/21/19)
Craftmanship Quarterly (Winter 2019)
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To provide a lasting education that cultivates resilient and creative human beings who are capable of free thinking, confident action, and deep connections with others and the world.
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Housatonic Valley Waldorf School | 203-364-1113 | office@waldorfct.org|
waldorfct.org
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