Dear Washington Waldorf School community members,

As the newly-elected chair of the Trustees Council (TC), I wanted to first extend my warmest welcome to new and returning families for this exciting new school year. Second, I would like to provide a brief introduction and update on the TC. 

By way of introduction, this is my family's fourth year at WWS. My wife, Pamela, and I have two daughters here, Byrdy in 5th grade and Smith in 3rd grade and two teenage sons, Peter and Henry. I have enjoyed serving on the TC for two years as Treasurer and as site committee chair for the recently completed John and Mary Brauer Gym. I come from a finance background, and I work as a consultant to state and local governments, advising them on the development and delivery of infrastructure projects - bridges, transit systems, flood resiliency, electric vehicle charging, etc.

This fall, the TC is pleased to announce the addition of several new members and newly appointed officers. Special thank you to Maria Monteverde-Jackson for stepping in as interim chair over the summer! You will find our bios on the school website. The current TC composition is as follows:

• James Wise, Chair
• Maria Monteverde-Jackson, Vice-Chair
• Kate Mueller, Secretary
• Nick Hampton, Treasurer
• Lelia True, ex-officio
• Margery Bank*
• Tove Elfstrom (retiring from the TC this November)
• Chiedza Mazonde*
• Marilyn Noguera
• Lisa Pitillo
• Taisto Saloma
• Abel Smith*

*Denotes new members of the TC joining this fall

Note: Eva Binamu will be rejoining the TC next fall after a yearlong sabbatical.

The TC has a number of important tasks in front of it for 2023-2024. I'd like to highlight a few that you will hear more about over the coming months:

• New Head of School search - Further communication is coming soon about the search as we prepare to say goodbye to Lelia at the end of the school year and welcome a new Head of School for 2024-2025. 
• Strategic Plan implementation - Please read The Strategic Plan if you have not had a chance yet! Each goal includes a number of objectives that we will seek to achieve over the coming five school years.
• Establishment of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging committee - This new TC committee will hold this important topic for the school with collaboration from members across our community.
• Hiring of a new financial advisor - As we move from the completion of the gym to fulfilling our other financial obligations, we're looking for a new advisor to help the school make investment choices and plan for the future financial needs.

In closing, I wanted to express my gratitude for our strong tradition of giving at this school - from volunteering at the Fall Bazaar, participating on committees, showing up to school events, to donating to the ONE FUND and the Room to Move campaign - thank you! Your participation as community members is what makes us strong and keeps this school thriving. I look forward to meeting more of you over this coming year, and I encourage you to reach out to any of us on the TC to talk about all of the exciting things we're doing.

Best wishes,

James Wise 

Many thanks to the Festivals Committee and all of the faculty who helped to bring a festive and lively celebration to our community on Monday. Thanks to the family members who attended and a big cheer for the courage and strength our students showed throughout the day.

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

October

5/ Thursday

• High School Musical, 7pm

6/ Friday

• High School Musical, 4pm

7/ Saturday

• WiW Parent/Guardian Meeting, 9am

9/ Monday

• NO SCHOOL

10/ Tuesday

• G1 Parent/Guardian Meeting, 7pm

11/ Wednesday

• Morning Tour for Prospective Families, 9am

16/ 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 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

From Micah Bump, MSG Head Coach & HSB Assistant Coach

WWS High School Boys Soccer Remain Undefeated, and Dream of Elusive PVAC Title 

Over the course of a few short weeks, the fortunes of the WWS High School Boys soccer team have transformed them from curious novelty to nascent juggernaut in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference (PVAC). After running a cruel gauntlet of 8 games in 14 days, including Mon-Tues-Wed of this week, the Red-Tailed Hawks remain undefeated and perched atop the table on the intermittently updated PVAC athletics website. 

The Hawks’ dominating play on the pitch has their opponents resorting to dubious tactics to level the playing field. Most recently, the perennially powerful Panthers of St. Anselm’s Abbey unilaterally pushed up the start time of yesterday’s game. The resulting fiasco had half of our beloved Hawks in street clothes as the merciless head referee blew the starting whistle. But, 90 minutes later, as he blew the final whistle, the scoreboard read Hawks 5 - Panthers 1. Time may wait for no one, but our Hawks had a grand time showing the near capacity crowd they couldn’t be bothered. 

Speaking of crowds, the raucous standing-room only contingent of red & white clad WWS supporters gave our Hawks de facto home field advantage at the beautiful Tuesday evening affair hosted by The Field School. Amidst the non-stop drumming, fever-pitched screams, and graceful eurythmic movements in pastel-tinted flare smoke, our boys did not disappoint, winning 5-2 in scintillating fashion. 

And while only the most diehard members of the Hawks hooligans made the trek up to Laytonia Park in Gaithersburg for the Monday matchup with McLean, our lads rewarded their efforts with a convincing 4-0 victory; the first clean sheet of the season.

Head coach Joey Johnson knows that despite the favorable tallies, his team has yet to win any hardware to help fill our newly-built trophy cases. “We want to go out there and win the division and then bring home our first ever PVAC high school soccer championship.” Whether or not that dream comes true will be played out on the pitch over the next weeks. So check the WWS calendar, then double-check it with AD, Taisto Saloma, and come out and support your WWS Red-Tailed Hawks!!! 

Grades 5 & 6 Girls Soccer Victorious Over Norwood 

With numerous big brother - little sister relationships between the high school boys and middle school girls, there’s been a bit of friendly familiar banter over dinner tables as to which soccer team is enjoying the most success this season. 

The 5/6 grade girls made a convincing argument in their favor this past Tuesday on the lush playing surface offered by the Norwood School. While our hosts fielded a talented squad with a deep bench, they ultimately could not match the pluck, energy, and scrappiness of our 5th graders and the sheer talent honed by hours, days, and years of practice of our 6th graders. 

That said, we had limited substitutes on the bench so the girls exhibited exhilarated exhaustion when they marched off the field with a 5-3 victory.

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!

Save the Date!

October 24 or 25

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 

details to follow

Current Family Participation Survey -- Thank you to everyone who answered the Participation Survey. And congratulations to Aimee Duncan, who won the drawing for $50 in Bazaar tickets!

Parent/Family Engagement Team -- The Parent Leadership Group (PLG) is seeking people interested in helping plan and organize upcoming events for the Parent/Family Organization that are focused on connecting and engaging with each other. Please email plg@washingtonwaldorf.org if you are interested in participating or learning more.

Craft & Conversation, Afternoon Sessions in Takoma Park -- We're delighted to offer afternoon sessions of Craft & Conversation on Tuesdays at 4pm (to whenever) 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.
• Starting Tuesday, October 10, up until the Bazaar. 
• 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.

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

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!

Fall Bazaar

Saturday, Nov 18 from 10am-3pm

Preview Night: Friday, Nov 17 from 7-9pm

We are currently accepting vendor and artist applications.

View the Vendor Application.

The deadline to apply was extended to TOMORROW, Oct 6.

Please contact Meg Kneisl with any questions.

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

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.

Parenting with Non-Violent Communication Course

From Jeannie Anderson, WWS Community Friend

This course is for parents, educators, and caregivers of children of any age. It offers a holistic approach to understanding children's behavior and the tools to build relationships based on compassion, connection, and trust.  

What participants are saying: "I LOVED this course. It has been my foundation for effective, compassionate communication. Not only has it helped me connect better with my teenage daughter, but the concepts have also supported communication with my partner. Both my relationships are stronger and deeper thanks to Parenting with Non-Violent Communication. Jeannie is a compassionate and wise teacher!" -- class participant

Two groups with 9 sessions starting October 10 & October 13, via Zoom:

(Classes are recorded.)

• Tuesdays, October 10-December 12, 7:00 - 8:45 pm EST
• Fridays, October 13-December 15, 12:00 - 1:45 pm EST

Learn more and register.

Email Jeannie Anderson for more information:  janderson@heart2heartinc.org

Instructor: Jeannie Anderson - a Nonviolent Communication facilitator, Parent Educator, and Life Coach. She is currently studying Interpersonal Neurobiology with child psychiatrist Dr. Dan Siegel through the Mindsight Institute. She is passionate about the connection between neuroscience, trauma, and the healing power of human connection. She is the parent of 2 elementary school-aged children and resides in Baltimore, MD with her family.

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