We are excited to share news of a new summer position, the HVWS Alumni Summer Internship - Social Media Specialist. One of our talented alumni will greatly help leverage the work of the enrollment office by building out our social media content for the upcoming school year across multiple platforms. An equally important goal is to provide an HVWS alum with real work experience. This is a part-time, paid internship that can be done remotely.

An HVWS alum is a perfect fit for this important role. The Social Media Specialist should be in harmony with, and exhibit knowledge of, Waldorf school philosophy and its educational principles, techniques, and methods and possess a strong Waldorf aesthetic. The candidate is preferably a college student, but will consider high school junior or senior, with graphic art and marketing experience or course work.

Waldorf100: The fifth and long-awaited international film #KidsOnTech is here! The new 57-minute documentary #KidsOnTech aims to help parents to better understand and accept their options - without shame or blame.

A free viewing is available for Waldorf community members between May 20 and May 30: https://kidsontech.film.

After opening the trailer, you can choose the language of the subtitles by clicking on the “CC” button at the bottom right of the window.

Offering two groups—Explorers for 3- to 8-year-olds and Artists for 9- to 14-year-olds — HVWS Summer Camp is the perfect place for natural and exciting summer fun! Register before June 1 to secure special pricing.

Thank you to Ashley Ortelli, Dale Tucker, and Ollie and August Exley-Seidel for helping Dave Demment, Alex Exley, Christina Dixcy, and Marcela Perez put the large circus tent back up! (Ashley also recently ran 35 miles to celebrate her 35th birthday!!!)

Deepest thanks to Federico DiMattia (Téa’s dad) for helping David Demment fix and adjust the grade school basketball hoops!

Thank you from the Early Childhood teachers and students to the 7th and 8th graders for providing such beautiful music for the EC May Fair celebration. It helped make the simple celebration very special.

The Fourth Grade wishes to thank Laetitia Berrier-Saarbach and Patricia Campbell for their wonderful presentations at the 4th grade Parent Evenings this year. We are focusing on Waldorf movement activities and are grateful to you for sharing your enlightening work with us.

The Dandelion class has had a wonderful and busy May. We began the month of May with our May Day Festival. First the Dandelion children crafted their May crowns with lovely viburnum flowers and white dogwood blooms from trees and shrubs in our little Community House play yard. After our crowns were finished we dressed all the children in their May crowns and lovely silks. They all looked like little wood sprites and every child was so happy to participate! The Dandelion children began their May Festival with a little dance to the Bedford Carol. After our dance, as the middle school children played their flutes, the Dandelion class walked reverently around the Maypole and then we reversed direction, each child holding a strand of ribbon. Then Ms. Liz and Ms. Marcella held the Maypole ribbons high as pairs of children held high the snowy branch of May and skipped around the Maypole, singing "Here's a branch of snowy May."

The sun children worked hard these weeks of May on the finishing touches of their sailboats and their woolen dolls. Each sun child completed their boat just in time to set their craft asail on the Deep Brook in Dickinson Park. This was a proud moment for all of the rising first graders in the Dandelion class.

In these remaining days of spring the children are enjoying their garden and planting sunflower and zinnia seeds so that we may have flowers in the fall!

The Rose class is loving the spring weather! We can get outside now quick as crickets without all of the snow gear! We have helped Farmer Bill let all the animals out of the barn and into the meadow, skipping, galloping and ambling along. Our walks through the meadow brought us to a branch of May and all the beautiful colors of the rainbow while dancing and singing. We listened to a story that told us how the beautiful pussy willow branches received their soft, furry kitten-like buds. Now we are listening to a folk tale from Japan that takes place in mouse country. If you ever have a clean handkerchief and some extra rice, roll it into a ball and maybe you'll hear, "Roly poly rice ball, roll right in, roly poly rice ball, roll right in!" Otherwise, you will find the Rose children out in the play yard looking at all the dandelions as yellow as gold and wondering what do they do all day?

Earlier this month the sun children from the Sunflower class finished making their dolls and boats. The children were so proud of finishing their projects and all played happily with their dolls and boats, and even shared them with the younger children! These projects serve as great examples of how Waldorf education motivates the growth of all sides of human nature in children by encouraging everyone to participate in stereotypically male or female crafts. This truly develops the inner growth of students as they learn to live with and inhabit different perspectives and feelings.

The Sunflower children also created beautiful gifts and cards for their moms for Mother's Day. These gifts were made with love and care.

Class of 2028

The 1st graders have been very busy with our play and classroom life. The children have learned their long and short vowel sounds. We are working on helpful blends like fl, br, cl, dr, gr and "the four H brothers": SH, TH, WH and PH. The 1st graders have made some amazing form drawings and lovely beeswax creations. They have also completed their book Jerome the Gnome and are now binding it stitch by stitch.

Class of 2027

At the beginning of the month, the 2nd grade enjoyed dancing for the May Fair and making flower crowns. We are practicing our cursive writing, doing daily practice with our times tables while jumping rope, and hearing stories from The King of Ireland's Son, by Padraic Colum.

Lately we have been working on our class play, Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock, and working with Ms. O'Neil on our songs and dances with djembe accompaniment.

Class of 2026

The 3rd grade has been working hard on their class play, Many Hands. We have been building sets, designing backdrops, and of course memorizing lines! Our play is a version of the well-known Hebrew story of baby Moses, but it centers the voices of the many women in the Torah, who helped raise and guide Moses into becoming a great liberator of the people.

Class of 2025

4th grade shared their Animal Projects with the grades and parents under the Big Top Circus Tent on May 7th! Izzy Jane, Eloise, Omisha and Audrey presented four majestic members of the feline family: the Siberian tiger, the ocelot, the leopard and the black panther in that order. Two canines were the Arctic wolf by Eirwen and Fennec fox by August. Two animals from Australia were the budgie by Ella and koala by Eva. Piera focused on the sea otter of the world's coastlines and kelp forests. Did you know that most of the world's grizzly bears are in Alaska? Ask Noah about these enormous, salmon-eating bears. Finally, two forest creatures, one prickly and one silky soft, were the hedgehog presented by Olivia and the flying squirrel by Leah. Each project included an ecosystem diorama, a hand-written research report and illustrations. The 4th graders loved the encouraging comments and great questions from the enthusiastic and supportive audience. Now the 4th graders are enjoying the exciting stories of Connecticut history, such as the Charter Oak, the Old Leatherman and the Phantom Ship of New Haven, as we near the finish line of a memorable year. Glad to have shared it and survived it with all of you!

Class of 2024

The 5th graders wrapped up their Ancient Greece block with a wonderful performance of their class play, Perseus the Brave. The play, based on a Greek myth, tells the story of how Perseus became determined to slay the gorgon Medusa in order to free his dear mother, Danae, from the evil king Polydectes. Along the way, he meets the goddess Athena and the god Hermes who assist him to achieve this challenging task.

As the school year winds down, our 5th grade student teacher, Ms. Lenox, is bringing the second and last Botany block of the school year. Students are learning about different native trees, higher and lower plants, cotyledons, and others. Additionally, they will spend time journaling in nature and writing their first biography about world-famous botanist George Washington Carver.

Class of 2023

Grade 6 spent the last few weeks studying European geography. The students drew a map of Europe, quite a challenge. Through choosing daily calendar cards they heard stories that brought them to the Highlands of Scotland, the Castle of Neuschwanstein in Germany, the Blue Lagoon and the Ring Road in Iceland, Stromboli and many other islands in Italy, the magnificent fjords in Norway, an ice hotel in Finland, Santorini in Greece, the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, Chartres in France, Ephesus in Turkey, Red Square in Moscow and so many other fascinating places all around. With 47 countries (including several mini-states) there was a lot to explore. We heard about the 27 member countries of the European Union, listened to the European anthem (Ode to Joy by Beethoven) and An der schönen blauen Donau, an Austrian classic by J. Strauss. Currently the students are completing work on a travel brochure they are creating about a country of their choice.

6th Grade haikus:

A green emerald

Rain comes pouring down today

Potatoes are near

Beautiful chapels

Walking the great Camino

Fabulous beaches

Rome’s Colosseum

Clear Mediterranean

Seafoam rocky cliffs

Ocean whitewashed walls

Six thousand islands to probe

Appetizing food

Red tulips shine bright

The richness of paprika

Deep tremendous caves

Pictured below are 6th grade paintings illustrating The Lake Isle of Innisfree by W.B. Yeats.

Class of 2021 and 2022

Congratulations to Chloe Amdhauer who recently presented her 8th Grade Graduation Project to the school! Over a number of months Chloe worked with Ms. De Grande as well as two mentors, Tina Bolling Evoniuk and Christina Dixcy, to produce a report on the history of photography and photographer Dorothea Lange, as well as her own body of work focused on Nature Photography.

You can view Chloe's slideshow here and a recording of her presentation here. The password is 2020GRAD.

During our Creative Writing block, the 7th and 8th grade wrote a mystery novel for tweens and teens. We started the project with a mystery role-play where the students had to solve the mystery and find the culprit amongst them. We then took this construct and came up with our own plot and set of characters.

With just a few parameters, a story outline, and an initial character profile, the students wrote their individual chapters. They peer-edited, discussed relationships between characters, and checked for inconsistencies in their storytelling. They had to rewrite, edit, add, change, and expand their chapters as the story unfolded in our collective mind.

We are now in the last throes of designing the cover, which proves to be much harder than writing a complex story! Nevertheless, the students are eager to present you soon with their very own, self-published book. Proceeds will help fund the class trip next year as well as buy more books for the school's library.

Thank you to Patricia Campbell, Fran Hendrickson, Danielle O'Neil, and our middle school students for leading our dances and providing the music!

On March 25, as part of the school’s professional development program, grades faculty members participated in a two-hour literacy workshop with master teacher Anna Rainville. The final project was to write a haiku summing up the experience. Here are some results:

The following are a few of the exciting features, opportunities, and offerings on Waldorf Alum Connect:

Waldorf school teachers and staff are also welcomed to register, share alum news and school events!

AWSNA warmly invites alums, alum parents, teachers, and staff to join a bimonthly Waldorf Alum Social Hour! During the first alum social hour, over 70 Waldorf alums from across the country joined the call. Stories were shared, new connections made, and old ones rekindled. We left feeling inspired and grateful for one another and for our shared histories. We warmly welcome you to mark your calendar for these upcoming gatherings, all of which will begin at 7:30 PM ET:

HVWS alumni are amazing people doing amazing things!

Please consider a submission.

The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) launched its Waldorf Alum Connect Spotlight campaign last January and is seeking published news about alums. The aim of this campaign is to spread the word about the amazing work that our Waldorf alums are undertaking as scientists, artists, teachers, engineers, musicians, advisors, entrepreneurs and more.

We are seeking published news articles, personal websites and published research about what our alums are doing out in the wide world.

Please consider nominating yourself or someone you know here!

The New York Times, May 19, 2021 (by Zoë Schlanger, HVWS Class of 2005)

Edutopia, May 11, 2021

The Hechinger Report, May 13, 2021

Edutopia, April 23, 2021

The Guardian, April 23, 2021

The New York Times, April 16, 2021

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