Mission Statement
The Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School cultivates students’
academic, emotional, and spiritual development through our unique curriculum.
We provide students with the foundation to live up to their full human potential,
creating lives of meaning and purpose that positively contribute to our world.
We accomplish our mission:
By instilling in students a love of learning, a sense of wonder, an appreciation of beauty, and a connection to the natural world.
By following a curriculum based on the developmental stages of human beings as described by Rudolf Steiner.
By attracting excellent teachers who are committed to their own professional and personal development, and giving each teacher the freedom to work creatively within the Waldorf curriculum.
By working cooperatively with parents to facilitate continuity between school and home.
By being a part of the time-tested, world-wide tradition of Waldorf Education that integrates the humanities, sciences, and practical and fine arts.
History
On January 13, 1971, The Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School (then called The Pumpkin Hollow School) opened its doors to twelve kindergarten children. We now enroll approximately 220 students from Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Columbia County, New York, and northwest Connecticut.
The school is one of over 1,000 Waldorf schools, a world-wide movement of independent schools founded in 1919 by Rudolf Steiner. At the heart of the school’s philosophy is the belief that education is an art. Whether the subject is arithmetic, history, or physics, the presentation must resonate in the child’s imagination and experience. To educate the whole child, the heart and will must be engaged as well as the mind.
At A Glance
- Independent Coeducational Day School
- Nursery through Grade 8
- Founded in 1971
- Governed by College of Teachers, Faculty Council, Board of Trustees
- Accredited by Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE)
- Member of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN)
- Additional Programs: Parent Child, After School Music, After Care, Summer @ Steiner
- Two Buildings on 32 acres
- Current enrollment: 170
