Yesterday, the Waldorf in the Woods class gathered for a dance around the maypole. The class helped to prepare the space by raking and marking a path with flowers. Each child was given a "branch of May" that they could carry with them as they skipped delightedly around the maypole.

This past Friday afternoon, our high school students joined with the Little Falls Watershed Alliance (LFWA) to clear invasive plants from the Sangamore Local Park (along the southern edge of our campus). 

They removed 31 bags of garlic mustard, which the LFWA tells us is a lot for about 90 minutes of work!  

Well done, high school students, and thank you to the LFWA.

It was so wonderful to celebrate on Saturday night at Wolf Trap. We were inspired by Michael Kramer's (WWS '07) remarks, and energized by singing and gathering as a community. Thank you to everyone's generosity; your contributions allowed us to raise critical support for our OneFund. We are still tabulating final figures but expect the total gross amount raised to be over $150,000.

Thank you to Foxhall Catering for the fabulous food, to Lucas Ashby for the amazing music, to Taisto Saloma for being our MC and auctioneer (and for having dessert smeared on his face for the cause), and to Miriam Teitel Zarin for organizing a lovely evening.

A special appreciation is due for all the planning work done by our Gala and Development Committees. Thank you to our Gala Committee: Maysoun Freij, Danielle Gresham, Alexandra Porr Mazeres, Jennifer Robinson, Lindsey Simpson, Dawn Tanner, Jesse Travis, and Sarah Vakkur; and our Development Committee: Vanessa Beckman, Bronwen Brown, Laura Cox, Michael Danzansky, Susannah Goodman, Maria Monteverde-Jackson, and Pamela Wise; staffed by Stephanie Hanson, Lelia True, and Miriam Teitel Zarin.

There are just a few slots remaining at selected Buy-In Parties - final chance to purchase before next Friday, 5/13.

View Available Buy-In Parties

One housekeeping note: If you took home event flowers to enjoy and no longer need the vase, please return to the front desk so we can reuse them for future events. 

May

4/ Wednesday

• Grade 6 CPE, 6:30pm
• Grade 8 CPE, 7pm

5/ Thursday

• Craft & Conversation, 9am (see below)

6/ Friday

• The Spring Festival has been moved to Friday, May 13! 

9/ Monday

• G4 Parent Evening, 7pm
• Curricular Conversation with the Community, 7pm

13/ Friday

• Spring Festival, 1:15pm **Moved Due to Weather** (see below)
• High School Prom

Craft & Conversation:

Thursday, May 5, 9am-12pm

Location: Anja’s house, 7711 Glenmore Spring Way.

This week we'll make adorable small dolls from wooden beads, with crocheted caps and a choice of other materials--pinecones, feathers, yarn, etc.

• Drop by as works for your schedule.
• Full vaccination required, masks optional.
• No experience required, all are welcome! 

Subscribe to the C&C email list

Spring Festival with Families Invited

**New Date Due to Weather**

Friday, May 13 from 1:15-2:30

We are excited to be able to plan for an outdoor Spring Festival together with our families. The program will include grades 2-8 and our high school ensembles as well as a special time for grades 1 & 12. 

We welcome current parents/guardians and any grandparents and special friends who are able to attend. We look forward to continuing to open up the campus in the fall as health conditions permit.

Please share grandparents'/special friends' contact information so that we can send an invitation and communicate logistical details.

Monday, May 23 from 8-9pm

The Community Book Club has chosen: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson as its next book for a May meeting. Wilkerson's first book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, won the Pulitzer prize.

"Beautifully written, original, and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today".

Please contact Susan Walsh to sign up: swalsh@washingtonwaldorf.org

Congratulations to the Class of 2022 for acceptances to the following list of colleges and universities! Keep an eye out for more information as our seniors make decisions about what they will do after graduating from WWS.

Arizona State University ● Arts Center College of Design ● Bard College ● Clark University ● Cleveland Institute of Music ● Connecticut College ● Denison University ● Dickinson College ● Elizabethtown College ● Franklin and Marshall College ● George Mason University Honors College ● Goucher College ● Hood College ● Humboldt University ● Indiana University Jacobs School of Music ● Kenyon College ● Lake Forest College ● Lafayette College ● Lewis and Clark University ● Loyola University of Maryland ● Macalester College ● Marist College ● Massachusetts College of Art and Design ● McDaniel College ● University of Maryland College Park ● Muhlenberg College ● Oberlin Conservatory ● Occidental College ● Salisbury University ● Sarah Lawrence College ● Savannah College of Art and Design ● Skidmore College ● St. Mary's College of Maryland ● St. Olaf College ● Susquehanna University ● The College of Wooster ● Towson University ● Union College ● Sweet Briar College ● Trinity ● University of Denver ● University of Edinburgh ● University of Glasgow ● University of Oregon (Clarks Honors College) ● University of Pittsburgh ● University of Puget Sound ● University of Rochester ● University of St Andrews ● University of Vermont ● Ursinus College ● Western Washington University ● Whitman College ● Widener University ● Willamette University

The high school Social Activism Club is hosting an art sale, with student donated art, to raise money for two D.C. nonprofit organizations, D.C. Greens, and Many Languages One Voice. There will be an art show during school on Monday, May 9th, from 2:10-2:30, when high school students will be able to view and purchase artwork.

Pictures of the artwork will be also be shared in an email next week and they will be available for purchase via email! We encourage parents and other family members to view our art selection and purchase art pieces to support the students who donated art as well the non-profits who benefit from our sale. 

Information about the non-profits:

• D.C. Greens supports food and nutrition in schools and works to end hunger in D.C. 
• Many Languages One Voice helps provide education, youth leadership programs, and immigrant and economic justice to immigrants who do not speak English as their primary language.

The Social Activism Club also hosted a bake sale on May 3, which benefited these organizations.

In an effort to support the experiences and needs of marginalized and underrepresented voices, the Parent Leadership Group (PLG) supports two affinity groups at WWS. 

LGBTQ+ Group to include family members

The LGBTQ+ affinity group will now expand to include families of LGBTQ+ individuals in our community. Like the BIPOC group, it will be facilitated by a group email list on the groups.io platform. We invite those who self-identify as LGBTQ+ and those who are allied with a family member in our community who self-identifies as LGBTQ+ to follow this link to indicate your interest in joining the group: https://groups.io/g/WWSLGBTQ

BIPOC Group

Our BIPOC affinity group continues to use the following email list to gather, connect and exchange ideas. If you identify as a BIPOC adult yourself and would like to join, please visit: https://groups.io/g/WWSBIPOC

Please contact contact Dini Rao with any questions.

We are so pleased to share the news of our selected 1st and 6th grade class teachers for the fall! 

We are delighted to share that Russell Sage (Russ) will join the WWS Faculty as the 1st Grade Class Teacher next year!

Although originally from Godstone, Surrey in England, Russ is truly a citizen of the world.  He spent a majority of his childhood living in international ports, including Rabat, Dakar, Lisbon and Banjul.  These early influential experiences sparked his interest in people’s cultures and lifestyles, leading him to pursue his undergraduate degree in Anthropology at the University of Maryland, College Park.  Russ soon realized he could best use his skills and passions as a teacher of young children.  

Russ’s first teaching job was instructing students with special needs in martial arts and physical education, both of which are lifelong passions. He has worked in both private and public schools, including as a Physical Education teacher and an assistant Middle School teacher in a private day school, and a substitute and a paraprofessional aide for DC Public Schools. After having his first child and discovering Waldorf Education, Russ found his teaching calling.  He completed his Waldorf Teacher Training at the Nova Institute and most recently has taught at the Potomac Crescent Waldorf School.  Not only has he taken a class through grades 1-4 at PCWS, this year he taught their mixed aged kindergarten.    

We are thrilled that Stephanie Dorius will take on the position of 6th Grade Class Teacher next year.

As you may know, Stephanie joined us this year as the Lower School Substitute. She is providing outstanding support to the students and teachers in the lower school. What you probably don’t know is that Stephanie has taught in many different capacities before coming to WWS. Upon graduating with her BA in Theatre Arts Administration, Stephanie began her career as an acting coach for children ages 4-18. Her love of working with children led her to pursue her Master’s in Elementary Education. After obtaining her Master’s Degree, she held the positions of math specialist for grades K-6, 4th grade class teacher in Salt Lake City, English as a Second Language Teacher in the DC Public Schools, homeschool educator to her three children and most recently, a 2nd grade teacher at Silver Oaks Cooperative School in a fully outdoor program. Stephanie is in her final year of the three-year Waldorf Elementary Teacher Training at Sunbridge Institute.

Originally from Utah, Stephanie has a passion for the outdoors, including camping, climbing, hiking, and foraging. She is also a devout animal lover. Stephanie continues to be active in the Theatre Community in the DMV, most recently performing as Regan in a local production of King Lear with The Theatre Lab. Her three children, Mazie, Julian, and Jasper are currently in our Third grade, First grade, and Nursery classes.

Friday, May 27 from 11:30am - 2:30pm

The secret is out! Thanks to the generous support of lead donors, countless volunteer and staff hours, and the leadership of our Room to Move campaign committee, Washington Waldorf School is thrilled to announce that we have raised $5.8 million out of a $7 million goal to build a gym on our school’s campus. We celebrate those who have helped us get this far, and invite YOU to be a part of the excitement! 

Join us on Friday, May 27 from 11:30am - 2:30pm on the blacktop for a community-wide celebration, including food trucks, music, and entertainment. Hear more about the plans to build the gym, and learn how you can play a part. Current parents and students, grandparents, alums and family members are joyfully invited to join us.

At the conclusion of the gym’s construction, we will have more “Room to Move”. The gym will not only serve as an athletic facility, it will be a central gathering place for our community and a source of pride.  

Room to Move Campaign Committee: Vanessa and John Beckman, Maria Monteverde-Jackson and Jon Jackson, Lelia True, Taisto Saloma, Stephanie Hanson, Miriam Zarin, Pat Jackson (Campaign Counsel)

Undoing Racism: An Open Community Forum

from WWS Parents, Dini Rao and Jesse Travis

Thursday, May 12 from 7-8:30pm (Zoom)

Register here to join the Zoom

You may be aware of the ongoing efforts at Waldorf schools across the country to renew Waldorf pedagogy and institutions to become more inclusive and anti-racist. One tool several Waldorf schools are using is the Undoing Racism Community Organizing Workshop, the signature offering of the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond.

In the summer of 2021, two parents with children at the Washington Waldorf School felt a need to support and galvanize efforts to create a more inclusive and anti-racist community within and surrounding WWS. More than 20 people who have taken the workshop since then have formed the Undoing Racism Working Group.

• The URWG provides a space to continue building on the workshop's insights and to organize ourselves and others around anti-racist principles.
• Through personal exploration, conversation and study, we aim to engage more people at WWS and in our surrounding community in creating a shared analysis of systemic racism and how it operates in our community, and develop our understanding of how to function as anti-racists.

We, the core organizers of the URWG, have been inspired by anti-racist organizing in other Waldorf communities, and want to share that inspiration with you. At this open community forum, you will hear:

• about the history of PISAB as an organization and about the Undoing Racism workshop, which over 2 million people have taken since 1980;
• testimonials from people who have taken the workshop and who participate in the URWG;
• from core organizers at other Waldorf schools about how their institutions have been affected by their community's participation in the workshop and ongoing organizing efforts. 

If inclusivity and anti-racism are important to you, as we hope they are to all, we ask that you activate your own agency and attend this open forum to learn more about how your personal development of racial consciousness can meaningfully connect you with others and create a network for positive change. See you there!

–URWG Core Organizers Dini Rao (dinirao@gmail.com) and Jesse Travis (jessetravis@gmail.com)

Partners in Parenting - Support Group for Parents of Adolescents Who Struggle With Mental Health (VA residents - DC and MD to come in the fall)

From Jessica Gottlieb, WWS Faculty

This 6-session virtual group provides a safe, nonjudgmental space for parents to come together for education, support, and peer connection.

The group facilitators will provide information, tools, and resources that will assist participants in finding the most effective ways to support their adolescents and care for themselves. Group members are encouraged to bring their concerns as well as to offer and receive input from each other.

To register or for more information, please email Cate Riihimaki, LPC at cateriihimaki@gmail.com

View the Flyer

Free Film Screening: A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle For a Living Planet 

From Theodora Scarato, WWS Parent

You are invited to watch the film "A Fierce Green Fire" anytime May 1-5. Register also to join a Q & A at 7pm MST on May 5 with Director Mark Kitchell and Theodora Scarato, Executive Director, Environmental Health Trust as part of our Jackson Hole Environmental Health Film Festival.

View the Trailer

Register for the film

Outdoor weights and Basketball Hoop For Sale

from Clare André, WWS Faculty & Parent

We are selling a couple of items for pick up in Kensington:

• Outdoor weights bench and concrete weights $50 SOLD!



• Basketball hoop $50

Email Clare

Summer Job Opportunity

From Caitlin MacKenzie, WWS Alum, Parent, and Former Faculty

Calleva is hiring its summer camp counselor staff which could be a great opportunity for WWS students, recent alumni, etc. See the attached flyer and visit the Calleva website to learn more.

Wooden Play Stands, Cradle, Trucks, Toys and Stokke Chair for Sale 

From Theodora Scarato, WWS Parent

Beautiful wooden toys gently used for sale. Playstands, cradles, American door wheelchair, red Stokke high chair and more! Our family will donate all funds from raised to WWS Annual Fund and the Jane Goodall Institute/Roots and Shoots.

View the list of items and photos.

If you are interested please contact Theodora Scarato at theodorams@aol.com. 

In Search of a Used Car

WWS alum and college student, Emanuele Cocuzza (Class of 2020), is looking for a used car to purchase. If anybody is interested in selling, please reach out to him via email: emanuelecoc@icloud.com or phone: 704-499-7273