New Family Orientation
Watch the recording of The Denver Waldorf School’s virtual New Family Orientation held on August 18, 2021.
6th Grade Marketplace
Thank you for shopping our 6th Grade Marketplace. For the Business Mathematics and the Economy block this year, we formed groups to create a business plan to design, manufacture, market, and sell their products.
Goods for a Good Cause
We created our nonprofit enterprises to raise money for three organizations that we chose as a class:
- 4ocean to care for our planet
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to care for our fellow creatures
- Angelica Village to care for our fellow human beings
Products
Please enjoy these commercials for our handmade products, and use the web form below to place your order. Curbside pickup will be available on Wednesday, 6/2 and Thursday, 6/3 after school at the 6th Grade corral (near the corner of Pennsylvania Street and Warren Avenue).
Need to contact us? Please email Ben Reynolds, our Director of Questions, Complaints, and Various Other Musings.
Onward and Upward: May 2021 Town Hall
Date: Monday, May 17, 2021
Time: 6 pm
Location: Zoom
During the end-of-school-year Town Hall, we heard from School Director Kelly Church, Board Co-Chair Ryan Gregory, Health and Safety Manager Christa Gustafson, and faculty members Dawn Archer and Vernon Dewey.
Watch the Recording
The Ancient Egyptian Spring Festival of Sham Al Naseem
Today, as Denver gets soaked in spring rain, some of our kindergarten students are learning about the ancient Egyptian festival Sham Al Naseem — thanks to DWS parent Bassant Mahran and DWS Kindergarten Teacher Kristina van’t Veer. With gratitude for a community rich in cultural diversity, we hope you enjoy the following description of this celebration written by Bassant.
Sham Al Naseem, which literally means “smelling the breeze,” is an ancient Egyptian spring festival celebrating the renewal of life and hope. The original festival name Shamo means “renewal of life” in ancient Egyptian language, and it is believed to be the first city festival ever celebrated. It dates back roughly 5,000 years, and came to be during the 3rd dynasty of the old kingdom in Heliopolis (“City of the Sun”).
Ancient Egyptians considered spring an essential time and the beginning of creation; the weather warms, the flowers bloom, and all the trees turn green again. Although the day of Sham Al Naseem was not fixed each year, it was announced at the Great Pyramids the night before the festival was to take place.
Later, when Christianity entered Egypt, the dates coincided with Easter celebrations, and Sham Al Naseem began taking place the Monday after the Orthodox Easter. This is still so today, and marks when painting eggs became part of Easter celebrations.
As a child, I remember waking up early on this morning to perfect spring weather. Fresh flowers surrounded our house, and we would start the day painting eggs and writing our names on them. As the morning turned to day, outdoor concerts and shows were held, families picnicked in the parks or took boat rides on the river Nile, and beachgoers who lived in the northern parts of Egypt dotted the coastline.
Another big part of the celebration is food: colored hard-boiled eggs, salted and smoked fish, green onions, and lettuce — each with a symbolic meaning:
Eggs — Symbolize the beginning of creation. Ancient Egyptians painted eggs and wrote their wishes and prayers on them and hung them on trees and temples the night before the festival. The next day, they would break the eggs so all their wishes would come true and their lives would be renewed.
Fish — Symbolize life development, goodness, and welfare.
Green Onions — To drive out evil spirits.
Lettuce — Symbolize hope and the beginning of spring.
To this day, Egyptians celebrate Sham Al Naseem in nearly the same way their ancestors used to celebrate it.
Parent Council Meeting: April 2021
For our last meeting of the school year, the DWS Parent Council was joined by Student Support Coordinator Dr. Sarah Boyer, Health and Safety Manager Christa Gustafson, and Advancement Coordinator Hannah Ronan-Daniell. Please enjoy the recording, minutes, and student support resources below.
We also came across this article you might find valuable from The Atlantic titled There’s a Better Way to Parent: Less Yelling, Less Praise.
Meeting Minutes
Click the button below to download the minutes from the April, 2021 Parent Council meeting.
Recorded PC Meeting and Student Support Presentation
Student Support Resources from Dr. Sarah Boyer
Spartan Senior Night
Celebrating Margaret Hecox and Alexie Pearson
It is with gratitude, excitement, and joy that we honor our beloved 12th graders on Senior Night — a DWS tradition taking place during the varsity girls basketball game on April 21st. About these incredible students, Coach Quinn reflected the following.
Margaret Hecox
Alexie Pearson
Step Inside The Denver Waldorf High School
Step Inside The Denver Waldorf High School
Our high school was founded more than 26 years ago, and our robust and dynamic curriculum has been taught throughout the world for more than 100 years. But today, students find that it’s our hands-on approach to education paired with a diverse and inclusive environment that best prepares them for the world beyond our doors. In fact, when students graduate from DWS, they possess the motivation and the confidence to do the work the world so desperately needs.
Watch the video below to get a feel for our high school curriculum, culture, and community.
Hear from High School Faculty
All high school classes are honors-level courses that integrate high academics, arts, and movement to educate the whole student. Our seminars are organized into nine four-week blocks. During each block, the curriculum focuses on a single subject (such as chemistry, calculus, or history). These focused blocks allow our students the time to immerse themselves in a subject. In this way, we’re able to hone our students’ true abilities by exposing them to rigorous academics while exciting their critical thinking and developing their academic confidence.
During our virtual open house, many of our high school faculty members briefly discussed their classes and our curriculum. Watch the videos below to learn how each contributes to the larger tapestry of our high school experience.
Hear from DWS Alumni
How does a Waldorf school prepare today’s students for college? Of course, 100% of Denver Waldorf students are accepted into college, the vast majority finishing in four years. And our graduating classes, although intentionally small, average more than $4 million in scholarships per year. The investment feels worth it. But what are the experiences of our recent alumni once they go beyond our doors? During this podcast, we sit down with two recent graduates, Ellery Lewark and Vander Georgeff, and they candidly reflect and share about their experience.
About The Denver Waldorf High School
The Denver Waldorf High School offers a liberal arts education, consciously aimed to nurture and encourage adolescent ideals. The high school experience aims to balance the students’ academic needs with their longing to find meaning in the world.
Engaging Body, Intellect, and Emotion
At the start of each day, movement helps spark students’ circulation and bring them together. They then engage in a long, uninterrupted seminar (referred to as main lesson in elementary and middle school) to activate their minds, followed by music and elective classes to spark emotional expression. Music classes and elective courses promote the development of healthy emotional expression through creation.
High School Music
Regarding music, all high school students participate in chorus, with the option to participate in either music ensemble or orchestra until their senior year. Students new to DWS and who have not played their instrument before are strongly encouraged to take private lessons.
Hands-On Learning of Real-World Skills
Students apply what they’ve learned theoretically to scenarios in the real world. For example, a study of soil composition could be applied to a chemistry lesson on acids and bases, as well as a close reading of The Grapes of Wrath, and a course in black-and-white photography in which they learn to develop their own film.
Rhythm of Thinking, Feeling, and Willing
Our goal is to expose our high school students to academic wealth, and demonstrate to them that all knowledge is valuable to encourage their pursuit of wisdom throughout life.
The high school curriculum revisits themes and subjects periodically to strengthen functional knowledge. Students cultivate their ability to think critically, organize ideas and information, and clearly present thoughts through an academically challenging mix of math, English, humanities, physics, life sciences, chemistry, world language, practical, industrial and fine arts, chorus, orchestra, drama, and physical education.
About The Denver Waldorf School
The Denver Waldorf School is an urban pre-K through 12 independent school in Colorado. Founded in 1974 on Rudolf Steiner’s humanitarian curriculum, DWS believes education should foster what it is to be human, cultivate lifelong curiosity, and inspire a love for the world. We are currently enrolling for in-person learning:
Want to learn more about us? Schedule an in-person tour of our Denver campus or join us online during our virtual events.
In Response to the Boulder Tragedy
With the recent atrocities in our nation, I want to provide resources for assistance in talking with your loved ones about how to process and handle tragedy. I encourage all of you to be gentle with yourselves and allow space for different styles of processing when tragedy occurs. Also, make extra effort to check in with the children and teens in your life. Much love to you all!
For more on the many facets of mental health, please visit my blog Jenny’s Corner. or catch our webinar led by Charlie Orphanides on the benefits of movement in educating the whole child.
Talking To Kids About The Paris Attacks—By What’s Your Grief
Starting with the awareness of our own response, this listicle gives us 12 ways in which we can actively offer children and adolescents support.
Resource List—By the National Child Traumatic Stress Network
A list of links to specific articles within the NCTSN website that help adults understand the effects different kinds of events can have on children and adolescents of various ages, and what to do to reduce trauma and promote resilience. Some articles are available in Spanish.
Explaining the News to Our Kids—By Common Sense Media
A 30 second video accompanies this article talking about the potential trauma of constant media exposure, especially when tragedy occurs. Addressed are appropriate responses according to age group, roughly matching the first three planes of development.
How to Talk to Kids and Teens About World Trauma—By Karen Young of Hey Sigmund
10 general tips for having conversations that will help children manage and accept catastrophic events and find hope again followed by specific advice for each age group, roughly following the planes of development.
Talking About Tragedy—By Jack M. Jose for Angels and Superheroes
Jack M. Jose, principal of Gamble Montessori, gives teachers 4 questions to guide student discussion, and quite a lot of insight. Although aimed primarily at Secondary teachers, this article is also useful for parents and teachers of younger students.
Kids and Disasters: How to help them recover—By Betty Lai for The Conversation
A look at the short and long term effects of trauma caused by the experience of a disaster and ongoing trauma, such as war, on children, and how to support the development of resilience.
Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers—By the National Association of School Psychologists
7 tips to support children, and a list of talking points to keep in mind and emphasize in conversation that will reassure while maintaining a realistic outlook.
Basketball Season Highlights
Reflecting on a Stellar Spartan Basketball Season
About the 2021 Spartan Basketball season, our coaches had plenty of positive things to say:
We saw a resurgence of the girls program, led by a group of Juniors (Eliza Blanning, Stazi Salazar, Daisy Neyman, and Liv Kuijper) and some talented newcomers (transfer Hannah Witkoff and Freshmen Maisa Volk and Megan Blanning). The Spartans will return a strong core of players that grew throughout this season. They look to add some talented 8th graders to the mix next year to make a strong push at a league title next year!
The boys team continued to accept tough challenges again this year, and for the third consecutive season, they made State contention post-season play. The Spartan boys are losing a couple of valuable seniors (Kobi McMillen, Jack Carr, and Alex Reynolds-Scheel), but are returning a strong core of players that are hungry for bigger things. Led by the Junior class (Will McHenry, Dylan Quinn, Lucas Lewis, Izzak Hayes-Rogoff, Jonah Carr, and Jasper Pastor), this Spartan team is battle-tested and will be ready to make its mark next year in our league and in the state!
In the Coaches' Words
Overall, this year's basketball season was such a huge success, considering up until mid-December there was no guarantee of a season due to Covid restrictions. We are so very proud of all of our student athletes for their hard work and commitment to our school and sports program!
"We had a great season—something to build upon—not just for our team but for our school. The future is bright for DWS Girls Basketball."
—Brian Davis, Denver Waldorf Girls Basketball Head Coach
"Our boys team fought through a tough season of uncertainty and made it to the State Tournament playing and giving their all. We look forward to growing in the off-season and coming back stronger than ever."
—Michael Quinn, Denver Waldorf Boys Basketball Head Coach
All League Awards
We would also like to acknowledge a few players who were recognized for their achievements on the court by other coaches with the league. All League Awards are a breakdown of the top players in the league (1st team the the top 5 players in the league, 2nd team represents at top 10 player in the league and Honorable Mention represents players in the top 10-18 players).
1st Team All-League
Will McHenry
2nd Team All-League
Eliza Blanning
Honorable Mention
Dylan Quinn
Hannah Witkoff
Maisa Volk
Congratulations on a great year! GO SPARTANS!