SHARE:  
The Wave | February 2021
Some devices may cut your newsletter short, make sure to click 'View Entire Message' if it appears.
February Upcoming Events
Click here to view WSSD Public Calendar

Fun Fact:
February fluctuates between having 28 and 29 days per year. The 29th day only occurs every 4 years during leap years. At one point, it had as little as 23 days. The length of February was finalized when Julius Caesar remade the Roman calendar and assigned the month 28 days and 29 days. In 713 B.C., February was officially added to the Roman calendar.

2/4- 8th Grade Play
2/5- 8th Grade Play
2/8- Town Hall
2/10 - Parent Association Meeting
2/11- Sanderling 8th Grade Shadow Day at the High School
2/14 - Valentine's Day
2/15-2/19- February Break | No School
"The plant-kingdom breathes out oxygen; man breathes out love.” R. Steiner.
MLK Assembly Look Back
On Friday, January 15th we held a virtual assembly for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Here are some pictures from the assembly and activities the students participated in.

Ribbons of hope, wishes, actions, commitments, and prayers tied to a tree at the High School


Grade 3 + Grade 4 tie ribbons of hope, wishes, actions, commitments, and prayers to a tree on campus.
Each year a theme for Black History Month is set by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, an organization founded in 1915 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the famed African American historian known as the “Father of Black History.”


"The black family has been a topic of study in many disciplines—history, literature, the visual arts and film studies, sociology, anthropology, and social policy. Its representation, identity, and diversity have been reverenced, stereotyped, and vilified from the days of slavery to our own time. The black family knows no single location, since family reunions and genetic-ancestry searches testify to the spread of family members across states, nations, and continents. Not only are individual black families diasporic, but Africa and the diaspora itself have been long portrayed as the black family at large. While the role of the black family has been described by some as a microcosm of the entire race, its complexity as the “foundation” of African American life and history can be seen in numerous debates over how to represent its meaning and typicality from a historical perspective—as slave or free, as patriarchal or matriarchal/matrifocal, as single-headed or dual-headed household, as extended or nuclear, as fictive kin or blood lineage, as legal or common law, and as black or interracial, etc. Variation appears, as well, in discussions on the nature and impact of parenting, childhood, marriage, gender norms, sexuality, and incarceration. The family offers a rich tapestry of images for exploring the African American past and present." -Association for the Study of African American Life and History

The Association will be holding a virtual festival during the month of February, click here to view the schedule of events!
The Lunar New Year | February 12th
The Lunar New Year marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendars traditional to many east Asian countries including China and Vietnam, which are regulated by the cycles of the moon and sun. The months are defined by the moon, but periodically an extra month is added to stay close to the solar year. This is why the new year falls on a different day within a month-long window each year.

The New Year is celebrated for 15 days- only the first 7 days are considered a public holiday- culminating with the Lantern Festival on February 26th.

2021 is the Year of the Ox. "The Ox is the second of all zodiac animals. According to one myth, the Jade Emperor said the order would be decided by the order in which they arrived to his party. The Ox was about to be the first to arrive, but Rat tricked Ox into giving him a ride. Then, just as they arrived, Rat jumped down and landed ahead of Ox. Thus, Ox became the second animal." -Fefe Ho & Chloe Chiao

Activities & Celebrations
  • Decorate with red lanterns, red couplets, paper Cutouts, and New Year's paintings. 
  • Offerings of meat, wine, joss sticks, and joss paper are placed in front of the shrine/grave of ancestors to show respect and piety. In addition, ancestral spirits are believed to protect their descendants and help them become prosperous.
  • Enjoy a reunion dinner. Dishes with lucky meanings must be included in the dinner such as fish, dumplings, niangao (sticky rice cake), and spring rolls.
  • Give Red Envelopes (Lucky Money) to Kids. Parents usually give their children red envelopes after the reunion dinner, wishing them health, growth, and good studies in the coming year. 

Thank you to our favorite "avocado farmers" the Hasketts, for sharing your bounty with our community!
We're so spoiled...



Special thanks to our school photographer, Jackie Imray for once again donating
10 % of her profits to the school!
Please check out her website if you're in need of professional photos.
Did it snow in City Heights??

No it didn't... but it sure felt like it. The amazing Ms.Tarah, filled her truck with snow and delivered it to the Early Childhood yard- what a treat!! Thank you for making our campus a winter wonderland.
Rainy Day Fun in the Early Childhood
“Splish splash sploshes
Put on your golashes
Flit flat float
And your raincoat”.
-excerpt from circle by Patricia Rubano

Children splashed, dug stream beds for water runoff, and moved heavy rocks to create a border, and rescued lots of worms!
Grade 1 Nature Table
The nature table tree in Grade 1 released its autumn leaves made by students and donned six-pointed snowflakes made by the students for the winter season.
Grade 1 Robbins in the Winter. 
Grade 7 Renaissance Art Project
Progress in the South Orchard

Says Madame Womble:
"Our students have weeded, cleared, cleaned, created, sawed, sanded, treated, built, leveled, placed, hauled, filled, mulched, planted, seeded, nurtured, watered, grown, pruned, tended hoped, healed and harvested and all of that in just four months! Such an amazing journey. I am so proud of our students! I have so much to be thankful for with being able to teach in person! I love our school"
8th-Grade Project
Dear Waldorf Community,

Hi, I am Camille-Cleo Kraus, and I wanted to share my 8th-grade project and my efforts in cultivating community while raising awareness in City Heights. I still have a long way to reach my goal of raising funds needed to purchase BIPOC books for refugee children in San Diego.

If you feel inspired to contribute directly, you may do so by sending your donation thru Venmo @Jessica-Kraus-8 or PayPal to mrsjjkraus@yahoo.com. It would be greatly appreciated and mean so much to have my Waldorf family's support.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Love, Camille-Cleo

Grade 9 Descriptive Geometry
Grade 12 History Through Music
Creative Skills Benefit
Arts and STEM
Researchers have found that creativity used in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is very similar to creativity use in the arts, indicating that a holistic approach to teaching creativity in schools and universities would benefit all disciplines.

Congratulations!!
One of our High School Spanish teachers, Anaid Stere Lugo, won a pretigious award from Cuyamaca College. She earned the 2021 Academic Senate "Award for Teaching Excellence".

What an accomplishment! We are extremely proud of Anaid and are so lucky to have her teaching our students.
Board Corrections + New Member
Dan Gardenswartz- Interim President
Joe Felix- Vice President
Suzy Bramzon- Secretary/EID Rep
Heather Corliss- Treasurer
Kate Vance- Trustee
Rachel Davis- Administrator/Trustee
Nancy Bjork- Trustee
Clare Knauss- Pedagogical Director /Trustee
Amelia Vance- PG Representative
Sudha Dorairaj- Faculty Trustee
Deirdre Logue- Faculty Trustee
Leigh Elkholi - Trustee
Erika Larkins- ** New** Trustee
Equity, Inclusion and Diversity
**This is a space/event is for High School students specifically to share their voices
Forever in our Hearts
Gene Gollogly, our Pedagogical Director Clare Knauss' brother, crossed the threshold on January 7, 2021.
Father, brother, mentor, friend, publisher, and anthroposophist.

Why Do Words in My Ears
Why do words in my ears
Ring, as though they were said
Scarcely a moment past?
Why does the echo last
Sudden, after long years,
Of one so alive, though dead?
Surely there is a place
Which, though abandoned, stays,
Letting the landscape made
By chance or circumstance fade
So that feature and face
May stem the current of days.
—Vernon Watkins

"Farmer Bill’ Tall taught San Diegans how to grow for nearly 50 years"...

His passing is a huge loss to not only our school community and City Heights, but to the greater San Diego region.

Although Farmer Bill is gone, City Farmers will carry on under the leadership of the Tall children.


San Diego Museum Month | February 1-28, 2021

Our annual San Diego Museum Month program may look a little different this year, but February remains the perfect month to discover (or re-discover) the story of San Diego as told through our diverse range of museums, historic sites, gardens,...

Read more
sandiegomuseumcouncil.org
Quality raw honey by Home Grown in the City - from local East County beekeepers*. 

This is the same honey that has been in the Snake & Lily for years. It TASTES amazing and is super healthy.

Contact Nancy Bjork with any questions:

*Bees are primarily in citrus fields with no wheat or gluten.
WSSD Admissions

We are available for any questions or inquiries regarding enrollment for the 2020/21 school year, please complete the Inquiry Form on our Tour page (Inquire Here) or email admissions@waldorfsandiego.org to connect with our Admissions team.
Plus, we are now offering bi-weekly virtual Waldorf Q & A sessions with our Pedagogical Director, Clare Knauss.
Check out the new Virtual Tours on our website!
News from the Snake & Lily!
Hello Friends! 
Please check it out if you haven't already! www.waldorfschoolstore.com

We are officially shipping all over the US! Please feel free to share the school store link www.waldorfschoolstore.com on your social media pages. 60% of the sales we had came from Facebook so we know it really works!

Thank you! 

The Snake & Lily Crew (Candy McGrady & Liza Ferraro). 
619-280-8016 x 202
Scrip Doctor is In! 
Are you reaching your full scrip potential?

How it works:
Our families buy virtual and physical gift cards online at www.ShopWithScrip.com or on the RaiseRight App on their smartphones, or through the WSSD school store, The Snake & Lily to use in place of cash, checks, or credit cards for their regular everyday shopping. The Snake & Lily buys the gift cards from Great Lakes Scrip Center at a reduced cost to sell at full face value. The difference is immediate fundraising for our school!

Please visit our website for more info!

Stay the course my friends, scrip can be a lot of fun and provide huge funds for the school, your class trips and even tuition credit! For more details, contact Liza Ferraro 619-318-8460 lferarro@waldorfsandiego.org

In Huge Gratitude,
Liza Ferraro
WSSD Development Events Coordinator
Recycling Fundraiser
Yep we're still recycling! Those of you that would like to help, please feel free to save all your CRV (CA Redemption Value) Glass, Cans and Bottles and drop them off at drop off in the mornings! All proceeds will go to help the future High School Service Trips. You can drop off recycling at both Altadena and Colina Campuses at the Temp Check Points. 
If you're interested in those blue stackable sorting bins for your home, please contact Liza Ferraro 619-318-8460. $50 for a set of 3. Thank you! 
Online or Outdoor Middle School Math Tutor
My name is Donovan Wilcox and I am a 10th grade student at WSSD. I am currently available for hire as a math tutor for 6th-8th grade students. I am available most afternoons of the week and my rate is flexible. I would be able to help your student with homework assignments, classwork, and any questions they have about math or middle school homework in general. Middle school math is my specialty, but I can also work with younger students. Please reach out to me if you are interested. I am available on zoom or in an outdoor setting with distancing and masks. I can be reached at donovanglacierwilcox@gmail.com and through my dad's cell phone at 619.962.8194
How to Talk About Race - RISE Center for Racial Justice

This 6-week course is offered to raise awareness about difference, equity and racial justice. This course was designed to help prepare, support and empower teachers and parents to engage in dialogues with youth and other adults about race and...

Read more
riseforracialjustice.org
Now more than ever we want to support our community!


All businesses listed will have a WSSD family connection. This is an opportunity to expand, increase and grow your business and a great way to support our community. Think of our community any time you shop, use professional services or dine out!


Our Directory is officially up on our website, under the Community Page!

AWSNA is extremely excited to host a new continental Alum business directory. Support Waldorf Alums in a host of fields from finance to graphic design. Please click here and share broadly!
We’d love to hear from you. We value your opinion, and that’s why we want you to share your thoughts about your Waldorf experience! It would mean the world to us if you took a brief moment of your day to leave a review by clicking this link.
Thank you!
The Waldorf School of San Diego earned a Niche grade of A for 2021!

Only 10% of schools across the U.S. receive an A or higher, so this is a huge accomplishment for you and your team! Waldorf School of San Diego also ranked #20 in Best High Schools for the Arts in CA.
Support WSSD
Shop to Support Us

Support WSSD by using Amazon Smile for your shopping.
Select "The Waldorf School of San Diego" as your charity of choice and a percentage of eligible purchases goes to the school.