Susquehanna Waldorf School

The Susquehanna Waldorf School provided a foundation that has supported me through high school, college, and professionally since my graduation from the school in 1998. I realize more each year the positive impact that the school s curriculum and teachers have had on my life developing me physically, intellectually, and emotionally in a way that wouldn t have been possible at any other school.

ANYONE, if truthful, would be hard pressed to find the ideal "perfect' scenario in ALL aspects of edcuation ANYWHERE, PERIOD! Parents have challenges to navigate in BOTH public & private options. Regardless, we all want to make choices we feel to be in the best interest of our children's education & healthy development. We should all should strive for such anywhere, everywhere & always. As a parent member of this dedicated community for 5 of my daughter's 6 years of life, we are happy to have made such a choice and be involved in this beautiful community. We wish every child could experience the beauty of Waldorf. I have never met a more dedicated, committed and supportive group of educators. Furthermore, the focus is on appropriate and healthy child development. This far outweighs any room for improvments; which exist anywhere. That is what growth is all about; and it is not just for the children to experience in the way of school. As adults, we should be learning & growing in the ways of healthy social realms. At SWS both parent & child can and will do this; while expericencing heart, soul and dedication. Many happy and lucky children recieve these gifts here daily!
—Submitted by a parent

I felt I should write to address the last post made by "parent" who is actually a former parent. I will begin by saying that every Waldorf school goes through a re-acreditation process every seven years. I have never heard any of the other parents speak of the "circumstances" listed below with the exception of the person who wrote the review. The same person who accused the school of causing her sons asthma with an old leaking gas range in the classroom. Even though it was pointed out to her that the stove in the room is electric. Is the school perfect? No. Neither was any public school I ever attended in my life. The teachers at the Susauehanna Waldorf School are wonderful and I believe my son is getting an excellent education. How much does he love going there? The few times he has been sick and I've had to keep him home he has complained LOUDLY that he wants to go to school. I assure you thus is not a trait he got from me. If you have any interest or curiousity about the Susquehanna Waldorf School I strongly suggest you attend an open house and see first hand how the children are learning. You will be surprised to see how all of the kids respond to their teachers.
—Submitted by a parent

Sadly, the Susquehanna Waldorf School (SWS) is the worst run institution that I have come across in both the public and private sectors in the United States. Most of the teachers at SWS are wonderful educators, but the school itself is in such disarray due to their incompetent, uneducated administration powers that be. Furthermore, I seriously question the safety of the building that the school is physically housed in at present in Marietta on many levels (e.g., mold, radon, roof stability, lead paint...). SWS has had a numerous and significant change overs in staff and board members in the past few years and for very just reasons. It is seriously questioned whether or not the school will be reaccredited as a true "Waldorf" school once again given all of these circumstances. Again, it is a most unfortunate situation because there are many wonderful educators working at SWS... but one cannot take a blind eye to the real problems at SWS. The bottom line is that SWS a poor example of how a "Waldorf" school should operate, may even be the worst.
—Submitted by a parent

i went there and there's this really awesome teacher called : mrs. mcintyre THIS SCHOOL IS THE BEST!
—Submitted by a student

I only atended this school for one year, but in that time i learned so much and my already huge passion for music and arts only grew bigger the school environment is so friendly i would definatley send my children to this school and highly recomend it to anyone else for once in my many years of school i felt like the teachers cared and they gave me a huge opertunities to excel in everything.
—Submitted by a former student

My daughter has just finished the nursery program here and will start kindergarten in the fall. She absolutely loves the school and has really thrived. She gets a wonderful balance of personalized attention from the teacher and 'on her own' time with her friends. This school is focused on the whole child and not the child's ability to pass a state-mandated test. PA's public schools should take some lessons from the Waldorf methodology. The kid's, based on my inquiries, at all age levels love this school. The children also do wonderfully in their subsequent 9th grade transitions to either public or private schools.
—Submitted by a parent

My young boy didn't do well in Public Schools, after sending him the Waldorf School, he will definately grow up to be a fine liberal man. Thank you Waldorf Schools.
—Submitted by a parent

My son originally began in the public system and after much frustration for the entire family with the methodologies in that system, we switched to the waldorf school in grade two. There is a focus on him realizing his full potential as a person on his quest for knowledge not just on test scores. The change in my son has been amazing.
—Submitted by a parent