Our Programs
Berkshire Waldorf School offers families a Waldorf curriculum from Early Childhood through the Elementary and Middle School Grades. Waldorf Education is a twelve-year program, which deepens and flowers in the four years of high school at Berkshire Waldorf High School. Together, our schools support your child from toddling to college, as they learn to become their best selves.
Waldorf Education corresponds to three developmental phases of childhood, as indicated by founder Rudolf Steiner:
- Birth to approximately 6 or 7 years – served in BWS Early Childhood programs
- 7 to 14 years – served in BWS Grades programs
- 14 to 18 years – served in BWHS programs
Teachers present subjects to children as stories that appropriately meet their stage of development. Rudolf Steiner stressed to teachers that this meaningful support for the child nourishes healthy growth.
When we bring to the child, first at the right moment, matter appropriate to his facilities, to his disposition, then it will become a source of refreshment for the child throughout his whole life.
– Rudolf Steiner
Parent-Child Garden
Our warm welcome to learning, BWS partners with Early Childhood Master Teacher Somer Serpe. Ms. Somer offers weekly seasonal, outdoor Parent-Child Garden classes for babies, toddlers and young children with their parent or caregiver on the beautiful Berkshire Waldorf School grounds.
Early Childhood (Toddler, Nursery and Kindergarten)
At Berkshire Waldorf School, young children learn through imitation, imaginative play, explorations in nature, real work, singing, storytelling and puppetry. Their later academic success is fueled by rich sensory experiences, providing a holistic education that honors each child’s developmental readiness and innate potential, as they learn first hand how the world works.
Early childhood classes take place in nurturing classrooms filled with the fragrance of handmade bread or soup made with vegetables the children harvest from our own organic garden. Children engage their imaginations indoors with simple natural playthings and outdoors with the best playthings of all: the Hairy Beary Woods, Tree Island, and surrounding gardens, fields and stream, as they change through the seasons of the year.
Grades School
Each school day begins with a handshake and an individual greeting from the class teacher. The school feels warm and supportive. Our standards and expectations are high. We encourage students to look for the best in themselves and others, leading to lives of purpose, collaboration and joy.
Summer Program
The Berkshire Waldorf School also offers a popular Waldorf-inspired summer day program for young children, starting at age four.
High School
Our sister school, Berkshire Waldorf High School, continues the tradition of excellence in Waldorf education, welcoming students in Grades 9 through 12, offering students excellent college prep and a complete twelve-year Waldorf education in the Berkshires.
