Looking Forward to the Grades
Welcome to our first program introduction event (P.I.E.!) of the season, Looking Forward to the Grades, Tuesday, November 26, from 10:00-11:00a.
- During this conversation in the Berkshire Waldorf School Library, you’ll meet Elementary and Middle School teachers, administrators and current Grades families.
- Learn more about BWS Grades School curricula, programs and how Waldorf Education evolves to meet the your child’s developmental needs as they grow.
- Kindergarten and Pre-K parents and caregivers are invited to join this conversation, even if the transition is a few years down the road for your child/ren. Feel free to bring interested friends or family.
- Applications for Fall 2025 are open now! For more information and to get started, visit our Admissions page.
Looking Forward to the Grades is a brief introduction for families with young children and those considering joining our Waldorf school from other educational backgrounds. To compliment this conversation, plan to join us for Coffee, Tea & Tour and upcoming Program Introduction Events. For more information, registration and directions, create an account in our family portal, Ravenna. We look forward to seeing you there!
Any questions? Please be in touch via email at admissions@berkshirewaldorfschool.org or call (413) 528-4015 x. 106.
BWS Holiday Handcraft Fair is Coming Nov 16!
Fair News Flash: The Auction is OPEN! Bring your gift list and bid on your favorite Berkshire fun and treats through November 17.
Sharing the Delights of a Creative Family Holiday
Our 52nd annual gift to the community, Berkshire Waldorf School families, teachers and students come together to create a festive Holiday atmosphere, making tiny gifts for the Little Peoples’ Shop and the Pocket Fairy, transforming each class in the Grades School building into a magical realm to explore. Meanwhile, many elves are busily knitting squares to form this year’s unique Community Afghan.
For more information, contact 413-528-4015 or fair@berkshirewaldorfschool.org
For the Child in Us All
Early Childhood teachers perform a puppet story, featuring their own handcrafted puppets, with two performances during the day.
Other Fair highlights include the Children’s Craft Room where youngsters can make their own presents, “Sweet Spot,” an interactive game with live musicians (and desserts for prizes!) and the Pocket Fairy, whose many pockets are filled with small surprises.
Treats for All Ages
The Berkshire Country Store stocks artisanal and gourmet treats, and our lunchroom, Rudy’s Diner, serves lunch, warm drinks and homemade desserts.
Shop for one-of-a-kind handmade items in the Handcraft Room, and bid for gifts and prizes in the Raffle Room.
Holiday Handcraft Fair magic continues in our online auction of gifts, experiences, memberships and services. Click the button below to view and bid, and have fun planning your next adventures! Handcraft Fair Auction proceeds benefit Berkshire Waldorf School Tuition Assistance programs.
Online auction bidding opens the week before Fair day, November 10 at 10:00 am, and closes Sunday, November 17 at 9:00 pm, so don’t wait to bid on your treasures.
Thanks for bringing your whole family over to play at the BWS Holiday Handcraft Fair! Free entry and parking; rain or shine.
Happy Holidays!
Berkshire Waldorf School’s curriculum of academic excellence–activated with movement, music, outdoor learning and the arts–has been preparing students to achieve their full potential for 53 years. The school welcomes Fall 2025 applications for students 18 months through Eighth Grade starting November 1, and offers generous tuition support for qualified families.
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Join us for “Looking Forward to the Grades” TUE 11/26 10am + more – see School Visits for the full lineup.
Back to School
Berkshire Waldorf School came back to school on an early Fall day just the way we like it, crisp in the morning and sunny for the Rose Ceremony.
First through Eighth Grade students start school the Wednesday after Labor Day. Right on cue, temps in the Berkshires dropped to low 40s in the morning. Students, teachers and administrators wear “assembly dress” for this important day. In the late morning after the first day’s Main Lesson, the whole Grades school, as well as BWHS Seniors, gather. First and Eighth Grade families join the Opening Day assembly, a touching tradition in Waldorf schools all over the world called the Rose Ceremony.
A Threshold Moment
Just as summer turns (overnight!) to Fall, BWS Community Lead Renee Far (shown above on the right), one of the three members of the school’s Leadership Team, introduced the special turning point we celebrate with the Rose Ceremony.
“We are about to partake in a special welcoming tradition held by Waldorf Schools around the world. The Rose Ceremony honors the beginning of our school year and it is a threshold ceremony, marking the first year of Grade School for our First Grade students. It also marks the beginning of the last year of Elementary School for our Eighth Graders and the beginning of the last year of High School for our Berkshire Waldorf High School Seniors.”
For First Graders, everything they are learning is new. Time seems to pause as Twelfth and Eighth Graders welcome each First Grader with a rose: the whole community helps to hold space and create the beauty of this ceremony as a gift we give to our students, setting the stage for many days and years of discovery, courage and growth to come. At the end of the school year, in June, First Graders (soon to be Second Graders) will give a rose to each graduating Eighth and Twelfth Grader, as they prepare to journey across their own next big threshold.
After the Rose Ceremony, Grades school students and families celebrate with a picnic in the Big Backyard. Happy New Year!
Slow Parenting with Teacher Helle Heckmann
May 2, 2024
Thursday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m., pioneering Early Childhood teacher and author Helle Heckmann presents “Slow Parenting,” a talk based on her book of the same name and her experience as the founder of Nokken, a Waldorf program in Copenhagen, Denmark which she developed for children from ages one to seven. Helle has spoken to teachers and caregivers in 50 countries, who share an interest in providing a healthy, nourishing environment for their children.
In the school auditorium.
Adults only.
$10 suggested donation at the door.
Spring Events for Families
In the merry month of May, Berkshire Waldorf School invites the greater Berkshire community to two Spring events for families, May Day and “Slow Parenting” with Helle Heckmann.
May Day
On May Day, Wednesday, May 1 at 11:00 a.m., spectators are invited to join the colorful festival of May Day with all the trimmings, including singing, dancing, music, flower crowns and an authentic Maypole, to shake off the last vestiges of winter and welcome summer in the Berkshires. Free. On the Maypole Green at the school; parking adjacent. Rain or shine. Blankets and picnics encouraged.
Slow Parenting with Helle Heckmann
Thursday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m., pioneering Early Childhood teacher and author Helle Heckmann presents “Slow Parenting,” a talk based on her book of the same name and her experience as the founder of Nokken, a Waldorf program in Copenhagen, Denmark which she developed for children from ages one to seven. Helle has spoken to teachers and caregivers in 50 countries, who share an interest in providing a healthy, nourishing environment for their children. In the school auditorium. Adults only. $10 suggested donation at the door.
We look forward to celebrating Spring together!
Sharing the Solar Eclipse with Young Children
Sharing the solar eclipse with young children offers a rare opportunity to help your child learn that they can stay safe and grounded, even when something extraordinary happens.
Learning Through the Senses
For the young child, every day is a celebration.
Young children experience the world through their senses. They feel the light and warmth of the sun through their bodies. They marvel at the sun’s power to wake up plants and birds, chase the clouds away and peel off our winter coats.
Celebrate the Good
In Early Childhood classes at Berkshire Waldorf School, we celebrate all that’s good in the world: the beautiful light of the sunrise, food prepared with so much care, the children’s community of loving family, the safe embrace of Mother Nature, and so much more.
Instead of Explaining…
In our modern world, we focus on the scientific, material aspect of things. We tend to understand phenomena like a solar eclipse through intellectualized explanations. However, giving children rational explanations prematurely can contribute to confusion, anxiety and hypervigilance. It pulls little ones out of the developmental space where the world makes sense to them because they can experience it with their senses. The sages of old knew to meet events like this with the same wonder and reverence as other cosmic events.
Waldorf Education founder Rudolf Steiner writes about how children’s feelings during such moments are the same as what we could call “religious feelings” in an adult.
Focus on Experience
So instead of looking up during the time of the eclipse, how about we look down?
I invite you to tap into your inner quiet during the time of the eclipse, and observe your children and nature. How does the light and the mood change? Look for shadows and light. How are your pets behaving? And what about the other animals that might live in your backyard? The crows, the geese? Are the birds singing? Are the bees buzzing? How do the flowers and trees change? Is your child getting a bit clingy, or are they oblivious to what is happening in nature? Let the experience resonate without a verbal explanation.
Highlight with Gratitude
We can take this opportunity to give gratitude to the Sun and the Moon for sharing their light with us. How about planting some flowers for the bees, who are sometimes called “light workers”? Sunshine soup for dinner? Moon cakes (aka pizza or tortillas)? How about a candle for the moon and a candle for the sun, to give thanks for their life-giving light? These are just a few thoughts to fuel your imagination.
A solar eclipse is so much more than one celestial body passing in front of the other and blocking the light, it’s an opportunity to share the wonder of the world with our children.
Woman’s History Month: The Three Mothers
Behind every great man, is a great…mother.
Much has been written about Berdis Baldwin’s son James, about Alberta King’s son Martin Luther, and Louise Little’s son Malcolm. But virtually nothing has been said about the extraordinary women who raised them.
In her groundbreaking and essential debut The Three Mothers, scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the three women who raised and shaped some of America’s most pivotal heroes.
One of Fortune Magazine‘s 21 Books to Look Foward to in 2021
Badass Women’s Bookclub pick for “Badass Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2021!”
“Berdis Baldwin, Alberta King, and Louise Little were all born at the beginning of the 20th century and forced to contend with the prejudices of Jim Crow as Black women. These three extraordinary women passed their knowledge to their children with the hope of helping them to survive in a society that would deny their humanity from the very beginning—from Louise teaching her children about their activist roots, to Berdis encouraging James to express himself through writing, to Alberta basing all of her lessons in faith and social justice. These women used their strength and motherhood to push their children toward greatness, all with a conviction that every human being deserves dignity and respect despite the rampant discrimination they faced.
“These three mothers taught resistance and a fundamental belief in the worth of Black people to their sons, even when these beliefs flew in the face of America’s racist practices and led to ramifications for all three families’ safety. The fight for equal justice and dignity came above all else for the three mothers.
“These women, their similarities and differences, as individuals and as mothers, represent a piece of history left untold and a celebration of Black motherhood long overdue.” – Macmillan Books
https://www.insider.com/the-mothers-behind-martin-luther-king-malcolm-x-james-baldwin-2021-2
Meet Our First Grade Teacher
Wonderful news! Mabel Albert will be the First Grade teacher for our 2024-25 First Grade.
Join us WED, February 14 @ 8:30am for a special Valentines Day coffee to meet Ms. Albert, Class Teacher for the Class of 2032, and learn more about learning your child will LOVE!
We’ll discuss the First Grade curriculum, and you’ll also meet First Grade Subject Teachers in Music, Games, Handwork, Gardening and World Languages.
About First Grade Teacher Ms. Albert
A current Class Teacher at Berkshire Waldorf School, Ms. Albert is a Waldorf graduate who attended White Mountain Waldorf School (Albany, New Hampshire) from Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. She earned both her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Masters of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University, Boston. After graduation, she taught art for students in Kindergarten through Eighth Grade at the Coolidge Corner School in Brookline, MA. During that time, she also worked at the Brookline Arts Center, teaching children of all ages. Prior to relocating to the Berkshires, Ms. Albert worked as a substitute teacher in New Hampshire private and public elementary schools.
At Berkshire Waldorf School, as in most Waldorf schools worldwide, Grades School Class Teachers start with their class cohort in First Grade, and move through the Elementary School curriculum together, to build strong, long-term relationships for up to eight years. Ms. Albert joined BWS with the “Covid class” in 2020, when her current students were in Fifth Grade, and immediately committed to teaching outside throughout the school year, so students could attend school in person. This Spring, Ms. Albert is finishing Eighth Grade with the Class of 2024.
Next Steps Toward First Grade
At “Meet the First Grade Teachers,” you’ll learn more about what to look forward to in First Grade, and the admissions process for applicant families.
Both the event registration and First Grade applications for students who will be turning 6 by September 1, 2024 are open now in our admissions portal, Ravenna.
Friends and family members (*grownups only) are welcome to join in this Valentines Day coffee event. Any questions, please contact Admissions Director Robyn Coe, admissions@berkshirewaldorfschool.org.
We look forward to seeing you at this exciting event!
#GoBobcats!
Dr. King and the BWS Star Code
Do you know we learn from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ‘s legacy throughout the year at Berkshire Waldorf School?
Not just this month but every day, our unique teaching tool, the BWS Star Code, is a visual reminder posted throughout the school of our community values based on Dr. King’s work, and a practical teaching tool for social and character education.
The BWS Star Code: Our Agreement
The BWS Diversity and Inclusion Statement refers to our BWS Star Code as a focal point. It’s our “North star,” to help guide faculty, administrators, trustees, caregivers and students in the active practice of inclusion.
Developed in 2009 by students, teachers, and school psychologist Dr. Steve Hoff, the BWS Star Code visualizes the values our school community agrees to uphold. Since Waldorf Education is not just grounded in child development, but also a social education, the BWS Star Code is posted throughout the school, to remind us all how to work together with respect and appreciation, not only in classrooms, but on the playground, on school buses, at after school activities and sporting events, and with each other outside of school.
The BWS Star Code was presented to the school community in 2009, to honor Dr. King’s Day and commemorate President Barack Obama’s inauguration. Faculty member Ann Sagarin weaved the values represented by these two individuals into the presentation of the BWS Star Code, acknowledging that the values we practice in our classrooms every day have been passed down to us through the generations.
Grade School teachers use the BWS Star Code in developmentally appropriate ways, including role playing, mixed age group projects (especially revisited each year in honor of Dr. King’s Day) and lively class discussions, to address such topics as teasing and criticizing, peer pressure, Internet safety and healthy human sexuality and identity development. One prescient Middle School teacher reminded her students, working together through the Star Code in class, to remember to be kind to themselves.
Growth Mindset
BWS teachers and administrators are working on two group reading projects this year, to re-enliven our commitment to anti-racism and social justice, as we learn and practice Dr. King’s principles throughout the year.
Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success uses research to help teach that “with the right mindset, you can motivate those you lead, teach, and love—to transform their lives and your own.”
At the heart of what makes the “growth mindset” so winsome, Dweck found, is that it creates a passion for learning rather than a hunger for approval. Its hallmark is the conviction that human qualities like intelligence and creativity, and even relational capacities like love and friendship, can be cultivated through effort and deliberate practice.
from “Fixed Vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Live,” by Maria Popova, Marginalian
In My Grandmother’s Hands, Resmaa Menakem posits that biases are not just in the mind, but are stored in the physical body and need to be deeply felt to be healed, so we can grow beyond racism. The book offers a step-by-step healing process that readers can take into their own hands, based on the latest neuroscience and somatic healing methods.
It’s encouraging to understand that we can use the Waldorf way of learning with head, hands and heart to learn and grow at any age, and that by practicing the growth mindset, change becomes about lifelong learning and growth, not fear or failure.
Further Resources:
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Michael Harriot’s Black AF History.
Read more of Dr. King’s words from parent Lev Natan’s recent post at Alliance for a Viable Future.
