Tuesday Note: August 23, 2022

The Rose Ceremony

On the first day of school, Spring Garden celebrates The Rose Ceremony with our first and eighth grade students and their families. During this ceremony, the new grade one students cross over a bridge connecting their family to their teacher, classmates and eighth grade buddy who presents them with a rose. Pairing young incoming students with a responsible eighth grader, is a milestone for both young people in the pairing. 

The young children are entering a new phase in life — where schooling and community, away from parents, will support their budding sense of self, learning and individuality. The older children are entering into young adulthood and are ready to be leaders and guides in their own life and in their community.

Our eighth graders offer a caregiving presence to their young friends -- teaching them how to knit, supporting them on the playground, guiding them during festivals and celebrations, and much more. At graduation, our first graders will then present a flower to their graduating buddies as this tradition comes full circle.

August 27th Work Day!

We need help on August 27th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to add the final touches to the school building before our students arrive next Wednesday!

Please sign up here!

SGWS Health and Safety Guidelines

The COVID-19 virus, its impacts, and our response has evolved over the last 2 years and changes in mitigations may continue as new information becomes available.



These guidelines are in place to minimize the risks of direct infection and transmission of COVID-19.  They have been developed based on guidance from the CDC and Summit County Public Health. The mitigation strategies vary based on the level of spread in the local community and school administration will monitor levels of COVID-19 in Summit County.  

In February of 2022, the CDC revised the method of tracking community spread and updated recommendations for COVID 19 risk mitigation based on three community levels of transmission:  low (green), moderate (yellow), and high (red). To learn more about the metrics used by the CDC to define these levels, visit the CDC website page found here. 

The CDC has continued to recommend a layered approach to risk mitigations based on community levels.  Depending on the level of community spread, mitigations at SGWS include indoor ventilation, frequent hand washing, masking (indoors when levels are high), physical distancing, testing and quarantine.   To be responsive to local levels, we have developed the following chart for risk mitigations. If the community level moves to a higher level that requires changes in the risk mitigation, parents will be notified via email.

Staffing Announcements - Welcome Erin and Catherine!

Erin May

Please join us in welcoming Erin May as our new Grades Support Person.  Erin will spend most of her day with first grade and will carry some additional duties with other classes. Erin is an experienced educator with a Masters of Arts in Teaching and has been a teacher for over 10 years with experience designing and implementing curricula in creative and engaging ways for preschool, elementary, and middle school children. Erin has worked for Akron Montessori School, Tallmadge Public Schools and Ravenna Public Schools and her experiences have led her to discover and deeply appreciate Waldorf education. Welcome, Erin!

Catherine Lacza

We are pleased to share that Catherine Lacza will be an Early Childhood Assistant in Dahlia Garden and will also oversee students in our early childhood aftercare program. Catherine has been a teaching assistant at St. Hilary's Parish School for over 10 years and has also worked as a teacher of English as a second language overseas in Hungary. She received her BA in Art Education from Kent State University. Please join us in welcoming Catherine! 

School Supply Lists for Monday!

Welcome Back Dinner - MONDAY!

We hope all new and current families will join us for the Welcome Back Dinner at 7PM on August 29th hosted by Parent Council. This is an adults only event. Sangria, water and lemonade will be provided. Feel free to BYOB if you'd like a different option.

Will you be coming? Let Parent Council know so they can plan their food and drink offerings! RSVP HERE.

Please Note:  Additional openings have been added to early childhood aftercare.

Before and Aftercare will be available for children from the age of 3 through 8th grade as a pre-registered and prepaid service for the 2022-23 school year. Space will be limited to 6 students in early childhood and 20 students in the grades. Beforecare will begin at 7:30 a.m. and students will remain in beforecare until they transition to morning recess at the start of the school day. Aftercare will begin at 3:30 p.m. and be available until 6 p.m.

The minimum amount of use will be 50 hours ($300) for beforecare and 100 hours ($600) for aftercare.

Below are sign up links:

Early Childhood Beforecare FULL

Early Childhood Aftercare - Additional spaces have been added!

Grades Beforecare

Grades Aftercare

Contact the office if you have any questions!

Compensation Task Force Update

As reported previously, the Board of Trustees has formed a Task Force to develop a plan for improving wages and benefits to reflect the value of our faculty and staff. We want to share a highlight from the results of our analysis of average base salaries earned by full time teachers in Waldorf schools, private schools and public schools. We believe these results speak to the importance of our work on the Compensation Task Force. 

Here are the average base salaries of full-time teachers as seen in our study:

In summary, the average base salary offered to teachers here at Spring Garden Waldorf School is the lowest of all other base salaries seen in our regional study and is also significantly lower than average base salaries offered to Waldorf teachers nationally. It is important to note that nationally, 84.6% of Waldorf schools offer health insurance to full-time faculty, but we are part of the 15.4% of AWSNA schools that do not offer this benefit.

While we believe Spring Garden Waldorf School is a vibrant and empowering workplace filled with amazing students and supportive families, we cannot move forward as a school believing this is enough of a benefit to attract new teachers or retain our dedicated faculty.

Our Board of Trustees, Finance Committee and Compensation Task Force understand that tuition increases in phases, over time, will support this work and we will look to implement strategies to support our families and faculty simultaneously. 

Please look for updates in the coming weeks, which will include an invitation to give your input as part of our parent community. If you have any questions about this work, please contact Amy Hecky at ahecky@sgws.org.

Outdoor Gear Exchange

Parent Council will be hosting an outdoor gear exchange during the Welcome Back Dinner on August 29th. During the event, all families are welcome to search through gear and take items free of charge. It is not necessary to bring items in order to participate.

We will be collecting used outdoor gear on Monday 8/29 in the school entryway during open house hours (9am-12pm). Accepted items include boots, rain/snow pants, coats, hats, gloves, etc. This is a great way to clear out old sizes and share with the community!

Supporting the Grimes Family

The Grimes Family -- Natalie, Liam, Annabelle and Clara -- recently added a baby girl named Meredith to the family. Meredith was born at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital because of her diagnosis of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). She is being cared for by the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit there that specializes in taking care of babies with CDH. 

The family has created a CaringBridge website where our community can learn more and offer support:  https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/meredithgrimes  

The family says: “We feel very fortunate between the level of

care Meredith is receiving at Cincinnati Children's, the hospitality of the

Ronald McDonald House of Cincinnati, the prayers from family, friends, and our home church Mercy Anglican in Akron, the time off from work that Liam could take, Pete & Elaine & Kara helping so much with Annabelle and Clara,

and family and friends assisting with chores back at our house in Akron. We

appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers during this time. We may get behind on responding to texts and phone calls with everything going on, but will use this (CaringBridge) space to share updates as often as possible. Thank you for all the love and support.”

Order Now! Spring Garden Athletics Spirit Wear!

There are many choices, colors, and sport specific logos for supporting our cross country, basketball, and track & field teams.

This online store will be open through August 25th.

All orders will be delivered to SGWS. Please allow 2-3 weeks delivery from closing date of the store.

A small portion of these sales will raise money for our athletic department.

Thank you for your support!

Spring Garden Waldorf School Spirit Wear 2022 | Ackmera | powered by OrderMyGear (itemorder.com)

Get your Jaguar swag NOW and show your SGWS pride!

Math Teacher: We are seeking a part-time middle school Math Teacher for three mornings a week to join our faculty beginning in the 2022-23 school year to teach math to grades 6 & 8. We value excellent teaching, expert classroom management techniques, an understanding of child development, and a joy for teaching. Requirements: Bachelor’s degree and experience teaching middle school grades math.

Spring Garden Waldorf School is an equal opportunity employer. To apply: Please email a cover letter, resume, and three references to learn@sgws.org, attn: Hiring Committee.

Director of Development: Duties include planning and developing strategies, goal setting, coordination and evaluation of all key development efforts including philanthropic revenue generation, annual giving, fundraising events, alumni relations, communications materials, and grants. This individual will work as chief fundraiser of the school and personally identify, cultivate and develop meaningful relationships with potential funding sources and community partnerships.

The successful candidate will demonstrate: proven success in setting and meeting fundraising goals; knowledge and experience identifying and cultivating prospects, and managing all aspects of donor stewardship including tracking, reporting and database development and management; excellent communication skills; and the ability to work and interact effectively with many different types of people. Bachelor's Degree required with experience in Waldorf Education preferred. This is a full-time salaried position. Some evening and weekend work will be required. 

Interested candidates should submit resume, cover letter, and three references to learn@sgws.org. 

Athletic Department Opportunities

Spring Garden is hiring the following positions within our athletic department:

Assistant coaches for cross country and basketball (CYO designates these as girls and boys basketball): Duties include supporting head coach, leading and assisting with practice sessions, attending practices and competitions within the season, and maintaining team statistics.

Head coaches for basketball (CYO designates these as girls and boys basketball.): Duties include planning and executing practice sessions, setting practice schedule, communicating with parents, attending practices and competitions within the season, distribution of uniforms and equipment.

These are seasonal, part-time positions of Spring Garden Waldorf School, paid by stipend. All positions report to the athletic director. Qualifications include a high school diploma and previous experience as an athlete and working with students. Previous experience coaching middle-school age students is preferred.

Cross country season runs approximately from the end of July through mid-October. Basketball season runs approximately from November through early February.

Please send resume and letter of intent to koberhaus@sgws.org if you are interested.

Volunteer Hour Tracking

For this school year, we will be using a binder in the school office to log volunteer hours. Each family will have a sheet to log the date, description of activity and total hours. If you are unable to come in to the office, please email Jess (learn@sgws.org) with name, date, description, and total hours and she will update your family sheet. Thank you for all you do for our school community!

Work Day - August 27th

We are having a work day on August 27th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to add the final touches to the school building before our students arrive next Wednesday!

Sign up here!