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!
