As you can imagine, the final weeks of summer break are always a busy time at the school. New faculty members join, there are full days of meetings, and so many tasks to accomplish before the school year begins. Along with all of the practical logistics, our "work week" always includes time for movement and artistic exploration as well as an in-depth group study. 

Some fun from last week included clowning workshops led by Señor André and lunch from the "New Gourmet Delight" food truck (pictured below). The other food trucks that were scheduled to be at our May gym ground breaking (cancelled due to severe weather) will be there for all to enjoy at our September 10th Welcome Back Picnic and Gym Ground Breaking Celebration. Be sure to save the date!

Health & Safety

Read our current Health Policy - updated Aug 29, 2022.

Our health policy follows Guidance to Support Safe In-Person Operations for PreK-12 Schools and Child Care Programs issued jointly by the MD Dept of Health and the MD State Department of Education (7/2/2022). We continue to work collaboratively with our local health department and follow their instructions.

The bottom line: If you are sick, stay home.

Student Forms

All families should have received email invitations to join Magnus - our new online portal for forms. 

**Forms are required to be submitted before a student can join us on campus.**

Log Into the Magnus Portal.

Class Start Times

Children's Garden

• Seedlings & Nursery - 
• 8:30 Classrooms Open
• 8:45 Class Starts
• Kindergarten Classes
• 7:45 Early Bird Drop Off Starts
• 8:15 Classrooms Open
• 8:30 Class Starts

Grades 1-6

• 7:45 Early Bird Drop Off Starts
• 8:00 Classrooms Open
• 8:30 Classes Start

Grades 7-12

• 7:45 Early Bird Drop Off Starts
• 8:00 Classrooms Open
• 8:15 Classes Start

Pick Up Times

Children's Garden

• Seedlings & 1/2 Day - 12:30
• Full Day - 3:00

Lower & High School

• 3:00

Drop Off & Pick Up Flow

Please reference this map for drop off & pick up flow.

View or download a full-size version.

Aftercare

Aftercare is available for the Children's Garden (Nursery & Kindergarten classes) and Grades 1-6. Read more in this ParentSquare post.

Sign Up in the BigSis Portal, "Extended Care" tab.

Lunch Program

We are excited to have a full lunch program up and running with Brock & Company taking the helm in our kitchen! "Chef D" and his staff are settling in and the final details are falling into place. Read more in ParentSquare about the lunch program.

View upcoming lunch menus.

Other Questions?

First, check ParentSquare for posts from your teachers, your departments (Children's Garden, Lower School, High School), and the administration.

If you cannot find the information you are looking for on ParentSquare, please email your department coordinator/administrator:

• Children's Garden - Cecilia Berg-Benson
• Lower School - Christen Leonard 
• High School - Bonnie McClelland

September

6/ Tuesday

• 1st day of school Grades 1-12 - 12:30 Dismissal - No Aftercare
• Nursery & Kindergarten Orientations

7/ Wednesday

• 1st day of school Children's Garden 
• Welcome Back Tea in Front of the School, 8:15 - 9:45am

9/ Friday

• Rose Ceremony (G1 & G12 Parents/Guardians Only)

10/ Saturday

• New Family Orientation, 4-5pm
• Welcome Back Picnic & Gym Ground Breaking Celebration, 4:30-7pm

13/ Tuesday

• G2 Parent Meeting, 7:30pm

15/ Thursday

• G4 Parent Meeting, 7-8:30pm

17/ Saturday

• BIPOC Families Picnic, 11:30am - 1pm

View the Calendar of School Days for the 2021-2022 School Year

Welcome Back Tea

Wednesday, September 7 from 8:15-9:45am

Join us for the Welcome Back Tea on Wednesday, September 7 under the school's front awning. It will be an opportunity to connect with other WWS families, both new and returning.

Please drop your child off before attending the tea and plan to park off-campus. The neighborhoods just north and just east of the school usually have plentiful, unmetered street parking. In case of rain, we will move to the school's front lobby.

New Family Orientation

Saturday, September 10 from 4-5pm

We look forward to welcoming all new families with an orientation hosted by the Administrative Faculty and the Parent Leadership Group (PLG). Following the orientation, we will join the Welcome Picnic.

Welcome Back Picnic & Gym Ground Breaking Celebration

Saturday, September 10 from 4:30-7pm

The whole community is invited to join us for our Welcome Back Picnic and (rescheduled from May) Gym Ground Breaking Celebration. Join us for food trucks, entertainment, and a time to celebrate the new school year and the gym construction!

Parking will be available in the neighborhood streets and in The Shops at Sumner Place parking lot. Thank you to Avison Young and W.C. and A.N. Miller Development Company for providing additional parking. A shuttle from WWS will run from The Shops at Sumner Place to WWS between 4:30pm - 5:15pm and 6:30pm - 7:00pm. If you need support for mobility, please let us know in advance.

BIPOC Families Picnic 

Saturday, September 17 from 11:30am-1pm

As part of our efforts to build community and support BIPOC students and families, we'd like to welcome families of color for a picnic on the Children's Garden playground on Saturday Sept 17th at 11:30am-1pm. Families with children of color or parents/adults of color are welcome to come and bring the whole family. The school will provide drinks and a treat; feel free to bring a picnic lunch and blanket. 

We are so excited to let you know that we are planning our first in person Fall Bazaar since 2019! It is held the weekend before Thanksgiving - Saturday, November 19th 10am-3pm, with a ticketed preview night for early access Friday, November 18 7-9 pm. 

Many hands make light work for this annual fundraising and community building event. We expect every faculty member, every high school student, and at least one caregiver from each WWS family to work a shift. Please do save the date and plan to lend a hand. Volunteer sign up information coming soon.

We are currently accepting vendor and artist applications; deadline to apply is Friday September 30th. Please contact Miriam Zarin with any questions.

WWS has launched a new version of our website with Design TLC a local, woman-owned, small design firm that specializes in WordPress websites for nonprofits and independent schools. We tried to strike a good balance of keeping a familiar feel and navigation, while improving the overall experience, streamlining where we could and creating a better mobile experience in particular.

Now that we have moved to a new platform, we will continue to work on our content and to make improvements where we are able. Contact Alia Goodyear with any questions.

We are thrilled that Bethesda Magazine chose to highlight WWS's own Taisto Saloma (Alum, Faculty & Current Parent) as one of 6 "extraordinary educators" living and working in MoCo. The profile will be in their Sept/Oct print issue and is available online now. We are especially pleased for our high school program to receive this attention.

Read the Article

We've started a periodic e-newsletter specifically for our alums with opportunities to connect, class notes, and school highlights.

See the recent issue including class notes.

Sign up to receive the Alum Newsletter.

We'd love to hear from Alums with news or contact changes. We need your updates by October 1st to be included in this Fall's WWS Messenger.

A group of parents founded the WWS Gear Shop, to help defray costs of outdoor gear for families, reduce our environmental impact, and contribute to WWS's OneFund. Families donate used children's outerwear items for resale to other WWS families at reduced prices, with proceeds donated to OneFund.

Inventory Available for Online Purchase!

• Please click here to view a list of the items.
• Send an email to wwsgearshop@gmail.com that includes the line number of the item(s) you’re interested in and/or to see a photo of any items.

New donations will be collected after the start of the school year!

Eurythmy Spring Valley - Frontier Eurythmy Part-time Training

From Susan Walsh (WWS Faculty)

First two-week training block begins on October 16, 2022

A strong new Frontier class is forming to begin in October 2022. If you are interested in studying eurythmy as a profession, this part-time program was developed to pursue studies toward a career in eurythmy, while honoring other existing commitments. The Frontier training can also be taken as a stand-alone program, with its unique approach to foundation studies through an immersion into eurythmy, for the deepening of one's life and inner development.

Learn More

In Search of Bikes

From Chiedza Mazonde (WWS Faculty & Current Parent)

I am looking for a front loading electric cargo bike and some lightweight kids bicycles if anyone is selling - similar to those pictured here.

Email Chiedza

Published by the Washington Waldorf School

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