The library is excited to introduce its new online catalog!

The library staff spent much of the summer hard at work on a project that will allow WWS staff and families access to our library catalog online. The work included creating a database and then scanning, cataloging, and barcoding close to 6000 books. Great progress was made with the goal of having the entire library cataloged by the end of next summer.

This “electronic” card catalog is available for viewing online via TinyCat, an OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) and Library Management System chosen for its ease of use. The collection may be searched by author, title, or subject. Full book descriptions, reviews, and read-alike lists are also available.



The OPAC is a work in progress. As more items are cataloged, they will be made available for public viewing.

Try it out here: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/wws_library

Congratulations to the whole high school for putting on an engaging, fun, and funny production of BYE BYE BIRDIE: YOUTH EDITION! Thank you to everyone who came out to support the students and enjoy the entertainment.

Open P/FO Gathering

Your choice to attend:

• Tuesday, Oct 24 8:30-9:30am in the entrance hall,
• Wednesday, Oct 25 8-9pm on Zoom 

Craft & Conversation, Afternoon Sessions in Takoma Park -- We're delighted to offer afternoon sessions of Craft & Conversation on Tuesdays at 4pm through Nov 14 at Songbird/Grade 2 parent Jenia Beer's house in Takoma Park!

• No experience necessary. You may bring your own project or Jenia will supply a simple craft for you to work on.
• Please RSVP to Jenia via email (evgeniya.beer@yahoo.com) or text (202-322-6390) to let her know you are coming. 
• The address is 7511 Jackson Ave. If you need help finding the house, please text Jenia.
• Children are welcome and can play or help craft! Please bring snacks for them as necessary.

October

14/ Saturday

• PSAT (WWS Juniors)

16/ Monday

• Craft & Conversation, 8:45am

17/ Tuesday

• Middle/High School Tour for Prospective Families, 9am
• Adult Education Talk with Dr. Einstein (See below), 7pm

18/ Wednesday

• High School Preview for WWS G8 Students

19/ Thursday

• Adult Education Talk with Laurie Clark (See below), 6:30pm

20/ Friday

• BIPOC Affinity Group Coffee, 8:30am

21/ Saturday

• Middle/High School Open House, 10am - Please join us!

22/ Sunday

• LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group Potluck Picnic, 11am

23/ Monday

• Craft & Conversation, 8:45am

View the Calendar of School Days for the 2023-2024 School Year

Thriving in a Time of Transition: Supporting Our Teens

With Dr. Dan Einstein, MD - Anthroposophic Doctor

Tuesday, Oct 17 from 7-8:30pm

Even under the best of circumstances, the teen years are filled with challenges, and the COVID years have been particularly tough on teens.  Successfully meeting challenges can become a foundation for a thriving adulthood.   How can we, as adults, help our teens work through these challenges?  How do we help without stifling their independence, or their ability to learn from failures?  This discussion will help parents understand how the lens of Anthroposophy can help address some of the common problems confronting teenagers:  loneliness, anxiety, and impulsiveness.   

Dr. Einstein brings a broad experience of medical expertise. After volunteering in free clinics and studying at the Blue Otter School of Herbal Medicine, Dr. Einstein earned his MD from Case Western Reserve Medical School in 2008. His residency focused on family and integrative medicine. At Avena Botanicals in Rockport, ME, Dr. Einstein was introduced to biodynamic agriculture and anthroposophy. His medical practice, called Holistic Einstein, established 2012, is located in Freeport, ME, where he also has a connection to the Maine Coast Waldorf School. He is board certified in family, integrative, and anthroposophic medicine.

How Waldorf Early Childhood Education Prepares the Child for Successful Executive Functioning

With Laurie Clark - Waldorf Educator and Author

Thursday, Oct 19 from 6:30-8pm

Laurie Clark has had the privilege of being a Waldorf early educator since 1978. She incorporates her therapeutic training into all aspects of the classroom. The deep question of how to meet the children of today and explore their needs in practical applications lies at the heart of her work. Laurie mentors teachers, is a teacher trainer, and is a frequent conference presenter. She has co-authored two books with Nancy Blanning on therapeutic movement for young children.

WWS BIPOC Affinity Group Coffee

Friday, Oct 20 after drop off

The BIPOC Affinity Group welcomes parents and faculty of color for coffee/tea, morning snacks, and a story offered by one of our members. If you identify as a person of color, please join us on Friday, Oct 20 after drop off in the library.

RSVP for this event or to join our group email list.

Middle & High School Open House

Saturday, Oct 21 for 10am-12pm

Current and prospective families are welcome.

Join us for a weekend open house focused on our middle school and high school programs. There will be teaching demonstrations from both middle and high school teachers, providing a taste of what it is like to participate in WWS classes. We hope you will spread the word and join us!

Registration is not required, but is available in Ravenna for prospective families.

WWS LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group Potluck Picnic

Sunday, Oct 22 from 11am-1pm

WWS Upper Gym Playground

The WWS LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group welcomes the start of the new school year with our first group event—a potluck picnic! As part of our continued efforts to build community and support for our LGBTQIA+ students, families, and faculty we’d like to welcome families of this identity to a potluck picnic:

Families with LGBTQIA+ children, parents/adults, as well as LGBTQIA+ faculty are welcome. Bring the whole family! The school will provide drinks and dessert for this event. We ask that you bring a dish to share labeled with its ingredients and a serving utensil. We look forward to connecting in community with you.

Please RSVP for this event or to join our group listserv to stay informed of upcoming events for this group.

The Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN)

We are a member of WECAN and our own Seedlings teacher, Lisa Pitillo, is the WECAN representative for the southeast region. In addition to providing resources for our teachers, WECAN is offering virtual events for families. There is a small registration fee.

The next event is a parent evening with Adam Blanning, MD entitled "Nourishing and Encouraging Children to Connect to the World (and what disrupts that process)."

Wednesday, Oct 25 at 8:30pm

Learn more and register.

Parents Council of Washington

This is our first year as a member of the Parents Council of Washington (PCW). PCW brings together representatives from DC area independent schools and provides a speaker series for member school families.

PCW is pleased to welcome award-winning author Jennifer Wallace to discuss her new book, "Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic -- And What We Can Do About It." All PCW member school parents, administrators, faculty, and staff are invited to attend. Registered attendees are welcome to submit advance questions by Oct 18.

Thursday, Oct 26 from 7-8:30 pm via Zoom

Register

Our Annual HS Evergreens Fundraiser is back in full, with beautiful, fresh evergreens from the Pacific Northwest available for pick up at WWS or for delivery right to your door. Brighten your home indoors and out this Winter, while supporting our fundraising for the Lakota Waldorf School. 

There are two ways to order:

• Order with cash / check (payable to Washington Waldorf School). Paper forms are available on campus.
• Order Online with PayPal

From Micah Bump, MSG Head Coach & HSB Assistant Coach

WWS High School Boys Soccer Endures a Series of Unfortunate Events, and Eyes This Afternoon’s Date with Destiny

The off-pitch shenanigans soared to new heights on Wednesday afternoon as non-conference foe The Avalon School Black Knights compelled our boys to travel to three different field sites to play a match. To the dismay of all who had made the trek at rush hour to multiple locations in the DMV hinterland, the pitch was barely a pitch at all- a rough, uneven surface, inadequate line markings, and nets in such poor condition you could drive a small vehicle through them. Indeed, the Daily Star’s Football beat reporter quipped, “If this pitch were a car, it’d be a ’71 Pinto with a broken fan belt.”

Regardless, once play began, both squads had to deal with the same conditions. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our Hawks’ Day. Their first goal was annulled after a 5-minute referee conference that left even the most battle-scarred PVAC pundits perplexed. Their second goal passed so swiftly through the broken net that the closest referee didn’t initially count it, only to be overturned by the opposing goalkeeper! In the end, our lads just weren’t as crisp as in games past, falling 4-2 for the first loss of the season.

Head coach Joey Johnson lamented that some players were still feeling the aftereffects of Conrad Birdie’s hip gyrations. He noted, however, that there’s no rest for the weary- or dizzy- since the boys must lace up their boots again this afternoon in a rematch against fellow PVAC heavyweight Don Bosco Cristo Rey Wolfpack. This match may very well decide who wins the PVAC regular season and gets the top seed in the PVAC tournament. So, check the WWS calendar and join the HSB soccer squad on their date with destiny this afternoon at 4:30pm @ MLK Jr. Rec Park Field #4/Stadium Field (1120 Jackson Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20904).

Go Hawks!

WWS Middle School Girls Soccer Stands Tall Against Perennial PVAC Powerhouse

Before Tuesday’s showdown with the Washington International School (WIS) Red Devils was a soccer match, it was a vocabulary lesson. In the pre-game pep talk, Coach Micah asked the girls if they knew the meaning of the word “perennial.” “A plant!” someone quickly blurted. That’s right, the coach explained, a plant that comes back year-after-year.

And, just like these plants, WIS soccer teams come back, year-after-year, as perennial PVAC powers. In his 8+ years at WWS, coach Micah has never seen any WWS soccer team beat a WIS opponent (although we’ve come close).

Nevertheless, he felt this could be the day to end that ignominious streak. To do so, the girls needed to be “tenacious” defenders and “relentless” in their pursuit of the ball. Two more new words and two challenges as they took the pitch. The overflow crowd of parents, dogwalkers, younger siblings, older siblings, and youth softball players waiting for the field to clear were treated to a group of 5th, 7th, and 8th graders who gave it their all and left everything on the field while the 6th graders enjoyed their overnight field trip.

Our 7th and 8th graders formed a veritable brick wall in the back that was only penetrated by luck and confusion as opposed to lack of effort. And our 5th graders swarmed with energy at every other position, including in goal. In the end, our girls came up short, but were convinced that the tables may have turned if the full squad had been present. Spirits are up as we look to Friday’s matchup on the lovely pitch at the Field School.

Go Hawks!

Come to a game!

Check our website calendar for upcoming games (always double check the calendar before you come since there are often changes due to weather, field conditions, etc.). Come out and cheer on the Red-Tailed Hawks!

If your family listens to the Circle Round podcast of folk tales for young folks, you may have heard an ad for WWS over the past couple of months.

We are exploring ideas for other podcasts we might support in order to connect with more prospective families. It would be helpful to know which podcasts our community finds engaging.

Take a one question survey to support our marketing efforts. Thank you!

Calling all talented handworkers! The Waldorf Store is happy to accept your donations of fine handwork to add to our WWS Handwork section in the Store. Whether you like to knit, crochet, needle-felt or wet felt, sew, work with wood, or create some other type of handwork, we are grateful for your donations!

In addition, the Grades 1 & 3 families are doing an amazing job creating treasures for the Enchantment Shop, where children ages 4-11 shop on their own. We invite other crafty community members to contribute. Sign up today!

We are reopening our Request for Proposal (RFP) for Financial Advisor Services for the school. Qualified providers are invited to submit their proposals by October 20, 2023. For any questions related to the RFP, please email ltrue@washingtonwaldorf.org

View the RFP

If you are a current family - 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

Christen Leonard - LS Coordinator

Laur Garner - Operations Manager 

Cecilia Berg-Benson - CG Coordinator

Bonnie McClelland - HS Administrator

The Friendship Heights Village "Pop Up Artisan Shop"

From Dale Conway, WWS Alum Family

The Friendship Heights Village "Pop Up Artisan Shop" will be held November 3 from 5:30-8pm and November 4, from 10am-4pm. The event is designed to give local artisans an opportunity to offer their works for sale, and to gather with other local artists and speak directly to customers in a fun and festive environment. You are more than welcome to bring holiday items for sale. We are eager to hear from fiber artists and those who sell yarn, and artists who create blown glasswork, metal or felted jewelry, scarves, or textiles.

If interested, please email former WWS parent Dale Conway immediately for an application (dconway@friendshipheightsmd.gov). Because original application deadlines have passed, event inclusion is at the discretion of the Village's Program Manager. We look forward to hearing from you!

Beech Tree Puppets: The Crystal Ball

Follow the young Prince on his journey to save his brothers who have been transformed into animals by an evil sorceress. Bravely and against all expectations, he overcomes great challenges, including two giants and a fierce dragon, to save his brothers and win the princess. Founders Ingrid Cowan Hass and Ole Hass guide the hand-crafted, multi-cultural marionettes as well as narrate, sing and play simple instruments. Adapted from a Grimms’ Fairy Tale. 

Saturday, Oct. 14 at 10am

The Christian Community 

4221 Metzerott Rd. College Park, MD 20740

• For ages 4 to 104
• Suggested donation $5 per person
• Duration 40 minutes

www.BeechTreePuppets.com

Brookmont Farm Market - Wednesdays Near WWS

From Madelaine Johnston, WWS family

Brookmont Farm Market is a great place and shop, eat, and play after school on Wednesdays! It's a 15 minute walk from Washington Waldorf, or a 5 minute drive.

Open year round every Wednesday 4 - 7:30pm. We offer live music, and at least one free kids' activity each week (yoga, face painting, petting zoo, goat yoga, fairy hair, rope swing & playground). We host a variety of food vendors including hot food trucks (easy dinner!), Twin Springs Farm produce, Bryant Meats, Nicole's Bakery (gluten free options!), Great Harvest Breads, Black Horse Kettle Corn, Dimitri Olive Oil from Greece, and many others. Our mission is to create fun and real community, and to promote small women and minority owned businesses. Come on down!

Located on the Brookmont Village Green opposite 4000 Virginia Place, Bethesda 20816

website: https://www.brookmontmarket.com/

email: brookmontmarket@gmail.com

PS We are also looking for volunteers! Contact us by email if you are interested in finding out more.

Organ - Free

From Sherri Felton, WWS Alum Family

A friend is ready to give away her family’s organ to a musical family, place of worship or school. It’s a Technics organ (41” high = 8” music stand x 43” wide x 24”deep). The current owner has the Technics Organ Course book as well as other organ course books. It comes with a bench. It currently lives in Bethesda. 

If interested, please email feltalizzi@juno.com. We have more pictures as needed.

Published by the Washington Waldorf School

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