Marin Waldorf School

There s a lot of buzz lately about the film Race to Nowhere in which schools today are making kids depressed and stressed out, with so much emphasis on testing and cramming academics at an early age. The Waldorf approach is an antidote. Instead of being burned out, by eighth grade these kids love to learn and know how to think. They are intelligent, creative, poised, confident, and mature. You will see this if you attend a tour and see the alumni panel, or just talk to the kids. If you are worried about a two-year, non-academic kindergarten, I heard in a tour of a Waldorf-methods charter school that the two countries with the highest literacy rates don t teach their kids to read until age 7 (one country is Sweden, I can t recall the other.) By about the fourth grade, the academics catch up and then surpass the public schools.
--Submitted by a parent

We love this school! My daughter attended two years of kindergarten at Marin Waldorf School and is currently in 1st grade. She absolutely LOVED kindergarten and is very happy at the school. I toured several schools and ultimately chose this one because it best aligns with my values: environmental sustainability, what is best for the whole child (mental, physical, social/emotional), making learning interesting instead of boring and rote, and the importance of healthy living - good nutrition, adequate sleep, limiting media, physical activity, helping with household chores, etc. This is a wholesome place. The students are really happy here.
--Submitted by a parent

So much of what is practiced at Waldorf schools is now being supported by research in neuroscience about what helps kids learn. It breaks my heart to think of kids in other schools who have to sit still in desks for long periods of time listening to lectures. The teachers here use multi-modal teaching techniques to more fully engage the child for example, in first grade they go outside and jump rope to answer math problems, they learn Spanish through puppets and songs, etc. If you take a tour, you ll see the kids don t open textbooks and memorize things instead they CREATE their own textbooks, rich in illustrations and helping them to more fully digest the material in their own words. They are taught to knit the teacher said there are many studies showing that learning to knit (following the thread, through the needles) helps students with reading comprehension following the thread of the storyline. Before learning an abstract concept, they first experience a concrete example. I could go on.
--Submitted by a parent

The Steiner-based curriculum allows children to be children and is nature-based. The toys are all natural and open-ended. The teachers are amazing and loving and the campus is in the most beautiful setting with so much nature to serve as their playground!
--Submitted by a parent

Marin Waldorf School serves families from pregnancy to 8th grade. Their parenting program is a wonderful place to find support in your parenting path and a like minded community. The feeling of community grows and deepens as you go from pre-school and kindergarten to the grades. There is great parent involvement in the life of the school. The curriculum is very rich and meets the children where they are at developmentally. It is a delight to bring my three children to school everyday.
--Submitted by a parent

We love how Waldorf education allows children to unfold naturally within a school setting. Developmental stages of childhood are respected, allowing for each child's capacity to emerge without putting pressure on to master skills at younger & younger ages. We are so grateful for this. Marin Waldorf's application/interview process was profoundly satisfying and respectful. This school and teachers really want to know our family and especially our child. Gone are the "check the box" kind of q&a. Instead, we were able to talk about what we felt were our child's unique challenges and strengths. I questioned the rationale for the some of the questions and it was clear that the goal is to truly understand and know our child's life experience. No judgment felt. (Ironically our child s early life story was by no means picture perfect...but our application was still approved. So we didn t see any correlation.)
--Submitted by a parent

In the interview process the teachers ask about your child's birthing experience and whether and how long they were breastfed. In the Waldorf philosophy, this information helps better understand the child and how they move throughout the world. Here, the information is part of their screening process. Obtrusive and judgmental. When we interviewed toward the end of the year we were told we'd find out in March. We were accepted within days. Meanwhile, other friends waited for months, knowing we'd been accepted. Awkward and unprofessional. We also witnessed parent recruiters embrace our friends-- who were ultimately not accepted--and say things to them like 'We can't wait for you to be part of our school...' Inappropriate and insensitive. Finally, each parent who applied here expressed interest in knowing who their child's teacher would be. No one ever mentioned that the lead teacher is taking a sabbatical. Misleading and unstable.
--Submitted by a parent

Beautiful campus and amazing teachers. My little girl is really blossoming here.
--Submitted by a parent

mws gives parents and students the opportunity to discover together the wonder of being alive in learning, creating and spiriting our minds and souls.
--Submitted by a parent

Warm and friendly environment, excellent teachers and staff, beautiful facilities, lots of nature and open space! A truly magical place.
--Submitted by a parent