Bright Water Waldorf School

Bright Water is a magical and very special place. We are grateful every day that we send our daughter to this school. She is in the early childhood program and we couldn`t be more happy.Her teacher is lovely. She cares so much about each student and is so invested in their well-being and growth. The parent community is cohesive and friendly and so invested in the school.During the school day, the children bake and paint and dance and draw; they hear stories and sing songs. They play outside for hours every day. They form such close relationships and treat each other like a family. In Early Childhood, there are not formal "academic" lessons, but the teachers integrate the building blocks of early education so seamlessly: children learn fine motor skills through sweet hand movement games, painting, drawing and working in other artistic medium such as beeswax. They learn phonetics through story-telling and in the way that Waldorf teachers articulate their words in regular speech to the children. My four-year-old daughter has had no academic lessons in reading, but she has naturally started to phonetically sound out words and spell them when she speaks. I attribute this to the slow, deliberate speaking of the teachers and the way they instruct through story-telling peaking her interest in how letters and words sound.The classrooms are homelike, calming and beautiful. The kids transition mainly through song and familiarity with the rhythm of the day. The children have confidence in and take ownership of the flow of the day and you notice very little struggle between students and teachers.The Early Childhood program has no media in the classrooms and asks that children not come to school in branded clothing (Frozen, Star Wars, etc.). This has been a wonderful thing for my daughter and seems to be for the other children as well. They develop the most intricate games that come entirely from their own imagination. We highly recommend this school to anyone looking for a loving, nurturing place for their children that will foster curiosity, imagination and intellect and do it all with so much love and care.

My two children spent 8 years here. They have emerged (one from the elementary school, one from the middle school) as thoughtful, skilled humans. I feel being at Bright Water extended and enriched their childhoods in ways that couldn't have been replicated elsewhere (and that I couldn't have done on my own as a parent). A big part of that was the focus on real-life, tactile experiences and downplaying the world of media influence. Also focusing on a developmentally-appropriate curriculum was important. There's no rush to "get ahead." There is moving through the right stages at the right times.Having spent countless hours outside every day, and on hikes and camping trips, they have no fear of inclement weather. ("Mom, I'm a Waldorf kid. I think I can handle a little rain," says my son.) Art-making, music, movement, and math are folded into so much of the days of Bright Water students. They jump rope while reciting the times tables, for example. They recite verses with their class and move their bodies to tell the story. This is all in addition to their academics, which get more rigorous as they move up the grades, particularly in the middle school. The school day is full of rhythm, ritual, and predictability. It is quite structured, which I must point out to dispel any notion that Waldorf education is not. As a family, we've benefited so much from the leadership, guidance and modeling of the staff and the other parents. Parents of young children need a community, and Bright Water provides it.

As a parent observing my children, I`ve had the moment that a lot of Waldorf parents have had where we`ve seen the magic. The interactions between the teacher and the students, and student to student, that are informed with respect, affection and tolerance. One senses a harmonious family-living, learning, and working together, and much enjoying itself in the process. Nimble minds and joyful hearts! That`s what comes to mind when I describe the children at BWWS. If they don`t know the answer, they are very comfortable in a personal belief that they will eventually figure it out. They feel their bodies can climb any tree, and that their hands can create whatever they put their minds to. When the weight of the wrong pressure at the wrong time is lifted, the real child is able to emerge and flourish. I`ve over heard one of the teachers say-"they aren`t afraid of a blank piece of paper!" You can see it when you look at their faces.The children are happy and fulfilled and inspired as they learn to read and act to music, learn to speak Japanese and Spanish, learn to play a string instrument and brass, learn to enjoy modern history and the renaissance, and learn artful woodworking and embroidery. Waldorf education rigor is gradual as they master cursive writing and creation of their own textbooks. My daughter's stellar K teacher understood what a 4,5 & 6 year old world should be-listening to magical stories with puppet shows, building forts, chopping vegetables for the soup pot, setting tables and pouring tea, dancing and singing with joy. She was learning to work with her hands by sculpting with clay, threading with yarn, painting with water colors, and building structures with wood. Guided by an extremely skilled Waldorf teacher, my daughter was not only washing linens and manipulating beeswax but stopping to smell the roses and witnessing a bird building its nest as her K family got to know every nook of Volunteer park. Total bliss! The invaluable teachers know that what they are doing transcends conventional educational processes, as they beautifully model the Steiner philosophy of schooling the head, hands and heart. This holistic and developmentally appropriate approach provides an exceptional educational experience that not only means so much to all of the families on a daily basis, but becomes a part of who our children are for the rest of their lives. --Grateful Parent