Tuition Support
Berkshire Waldorf School is known as a thought leader in creating an intentionally diverse school community. To that end, we offer several forms of tuition assistance, to keep the school accessible to as many families as possible.
Tuition support requests are a separate, parallel process to your application for admission. Awards are offered once your student has been accepted to a program. While we offer two forms of assistance, as a nonprofit, we are only able to offer one form per family. In addition, we ask that families give their children’s education high priority in their financial planning, including contributions from both parents/guardians, and considering help from extended family or outside grants and scholarships, such as the Jack Cooke Kent scholarship for 7th graders.
Tuition support applications are due each year on February 1 for the following school year.
- If you anticipate needing tuition assistance of any kind, you must indicate so on your child/ren’s school application. Applications without this indication may not be eligible for tuition support after the fact.
- If you are applying to school for more than one child, you only need to submit one tuition support application per school year, which will include all prospective students in your family.
- Follow the links below to complete a sliding scale or financial aid application online in TADS by February 1.
Once our tuition support funds are allocated, we may not be able to provide additional support beyond these deadlines.
Option A: Sliding Scale Tuition
Available for Early Childhood*-Grade 8. BWS offers a sliding scale discount, available by application for families whose adjusted gross income falls under $110,000. To qualify, families must reapply annually.
*Tuition support is not available for the youngest Toddler Nursery. There is limited support for children under 4 years old.
How to Apply
To apply for sliding scale tuition, please email this sliding scale application and the first two pages of your most recent federal tax form 1040 (current year or previous year’s returns are accepted) with your tax ID number blacked out to enrollment@berkshirewaldorfschool.org.
Option B: Financial Aid
Available for Early Childhood*-Grade 8. In Early Childhood, if your family has multiple children attending BWS, then you can apply for Financial Aid instead if you wish. (Single children may only apply for Sliding Scale in EC.) In Grades 1-8, all families may apply for aid whether they have multiple children or not. Berkshire Waldorf School uses a national service, TADS, to process financial aid applications. TADS applies standard criteria, including family income, assets, expenses and other individual circumstances such as family size, to assess need. The Berkshire Waldorf School Tuition Assistance Committee uses this information to allocate resources annually. To qualify, families must reapply each year.
*Tuition support is not available for the youngest Toddler Nursery. There is limited support for children under 4 years old.
How to Apply
To apply for financial aid for the upcoming school year, please complete your required TADS form online and pay the $45 fee. Next, submit any additional documents directly to TADS, and select Berkshire Waldorf School to receive TADS results. The submission deadline is February 1 for returning students and for new applicants.
Berkshire Waldorf School’s Tuition Support Committee considers each application with care. Their goal is to award annual aid with an equitable balance of school resources.
Our enrollment office notifies families of their award via email after February 15 for returning families, and after March 15 for new applicants.
For general questions about the admissions or tuition support process, contact our Admissions & Enrollment Office:
Director of Enrollment, Renée Far: enrollment@berkshirewaldorfschool.org or (413) 528-4015
Director of Admissions, Robyn Coe: admissions@berkshirewaldorfschool.org or (413) 528-4015
Registrar, Philip Ormanovich: registrar@berkshirewaldorfschool.org (413) 528-4015
Berkshire Waldorf School is an independent coeducational school accredited by the Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE), and is a full member of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN). We welcome students of every race, creed, religion, culture, gender identity, and national origin.
All tuition information is kept completely confidential by Berkshire Waldorf School and we expect families to keep the same confidence in regards to their financial relationship with the school.
