Our lineup of online events are open to all, as we aim to highlight the benefits of Waldorf education. For more on all happenings at The Denver Waldorf School, please refer to our school calendar.

Loading Events

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

College Nights: Supporting Your Student through the Process

January 6, 2022 @ 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm

Supporting Your Student Through the College Application Process

Parents and students are invited to attend the third evening of our 6-part College Nights series with DWS College and Post-Secondary Guidance Counselor Laura Shope.

Topic: Supporting Your Student through the College Application Process—Ideal for Grades 10 and 11

Date: January 6, 2021

Time: 6:30pm MT

Location: Online via Zoom

Please register once to reserve a seat for all remaining dates.

What You’ll Learn

During this discussion-oriented evening, we will identify and explore common concerns about the college application and after-high-school planning processes. We will be working together to give you insight, tools, and resources to feel supported and equipped to navigate the process with your student. We will touch on clarifying expectations, how to work together most effectively, supporting feelings of stress (yours and theirs!), and finding a good fit for your student.

Key takeaways include:

  • Perspective and real tools to help you navigate this process with your student
  • Awareness around the right balance of push, pull, and wait for you and your student
  • The ability to recognize that you are not alone in this process

About College Nights

Our monthly College Nights series focuses on different aspects of the college and post-secondary application process. Laura Shope designed each evening to answer questions and support parents and students in the college application process.  These meetings are open to all, although probably most useful to the grade listed with each topic.

  • October 7thApplication Process 101 (Grades 10 and 11)
  • November 4—SAT and ACT (Grades 10 and 11)
  • December—No meeting
  • January 6—Supporting Your Student through the Process (Grades 10 and 11)
  • February 3—Paying for College (Grades 10 , 11, and 12)
  • March 3—Making Choices (Grades 10 and 11)
  • April 21—College Engagement and Success (Grade 12)
  • May 4—Preparing to Apply & Making the Most of Summer (Grade 11)

About Laura Shope

Laura Shope came to DWS in 2021 via the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor, where she served as the High School Student Support Coordinator and High School Administrator for the past three years, and a parent in the Waldorf community for more than 17 years. She has extensive training in career development and personal coaching, along with having recently completed her Waldorf High School Teacher Training through the Center for Anthroposophy. Her plans for working with our students and faculty include creating a rich program of self-reflection, support, and clarity around the decisions the students make for their plans after high school.

Laura is a passionate artist and works with stone, clay, wood, weaving, and plaster to create abstract forms. She and her husband, Dale Jensen, are outdoor enthusiasts and look forward to exploring all that Colorado has to offer. They have two sons, Wilder and Corbin, who attended Waldorf schools from preschool through grade 12 (Corbin will graduate from RSSAA in 2022).

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. Scroll down to hear from a few of our faculty members.

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.

Details

  • Date: January 6, 2022
  • Time:
    6:30 pm - 7:45 pm
  • Event Category:
Each day in our Waldorf kindergarten classrooms you will find the children engaging in purposeful work. Whether working alongside our teachers in preparing snack, washing dishes, caring for our toys, digging in the garden, or helping with laundry - our kindergartners participate fully in practical, meaningful work. 

Developing their sense of pride and purpose, the students come to learn that small acts done with great love grow a community, build their foundation for growth, and show reverence for the world we share.

Schedule a tour today to see what our Early Childhood Program is all about. And new this fall - we look forward to introducing our Nursery Program (serving 2.5 - 4.5 year olds) at a satellite location in University Park.
More and more schools across the country are implementing screen time limits in the classroom to meet the backlash against reliance on digital devices. But - keeping iPads, Chromebooks, and personal devices out of our elementary classrooms has always been a mainstay of our Waldorf education. Before technology becomes a tool for learning, we focus on fostering the human capacities that make learning possible - imagination, curiosity, and wonder. Schedule a tour and come see what Waldorf education is all about.
The creation of a main lesson book is a unique element of Waldorf education. Rather than using traditional textbooks, our students create their own main lesson book as a compilation of all of their findings during the block course. They combine art, writing, diagramming, and more to collectively demonstrate their understanding of the subject. It not only serves as documentation, but also as an active learning tool to synthesize the material from the lesson. Learning is not passive in our classrooms, but rather is alive, engaging, relevant, and deeply meaningful. // shown here are pages from our 7th grade students’ main lesson books
In our Waldorf education, participating in the arts are not elective. Rather, they are an essential and integral part of our curriculum. While some may think that this means that Waldorf schools are “art schools” or are only for students interested in pursuing the arts, the way that the arts are integrated into our learning is for all! 

It’s to foster creativity and imagination, it’s for the beauty and joy they bring to learning, it’s for the vitality they bring to our development. We love the arts for the richness they bring to our academics and the range they give to our students - encouraging them to try new things and building all the capacities along the way. So, they create fine art, they hammer away in the artisan courtyard, they find their voice on stage in the class play, they listen to one another as they make music -  they develop their whole selves.
Each day, our kindergartners share a family-style meal with the children helping to prepare the food, set the table, and wash up afterwards. They come to learn the days of the week by the comforting rhythm of the snack schedule - whether it’s “soup day,” “bread day,” or in this case, “noodle day!”

With our youngest and oldest students all gathered together, they learn to develop valuable lifelong social skills, a sense of responsibility, and belonging around our table. The children help chop vegetables, make bread, and set the table - cultivating a shared understanding of all that goes into bringing food before us. Nourishment goes far beyond the meal itself - cultivating gratitude, cooperation, and care!

Schedule a tour today to see what our Early Childhood Program is all about. And new this fall - we look forward to introducing our Nursery Program (serving 2.5 - 4.5 year olds) at a satellite location in University Park.
More than ever, students need an education that fosters resilience, adaptability, compassion, and confidence. They need an education where childhood is honored through creative play, a connection to nature, and purposeful work. They need a learning environment that prioritizes creativity and critical thinking to make a meaningful lesson. They need a human-centered approach that values being well-rounded and develops head, heart, and hands. This is the gift of our K-12 Waldorf education - preparing students not just for college but for life beyond - with readiness to contribute to the world all around them and the capacities to cherish truth, beauty, and goodness. 

Schedule a tour today and come see what we’re all about.
Exploring, playing, gardening, climbing, making up games, drawing, reading, journaling, helping around the home, hiking, swimming, camping, and enjoying the beauty of the natural world- just a few of our suggestions for summer homework for our young students 😊! Soaking in these days of childhood are what build a strong foundation for all the years ahead.
Our Class of 2026 spent their last full week of high school exploring the world beyond, making their final days with DWS an adventure that is not too soon forgotten! After many explorations over the years around our beautiful state of Colorado, their senior trip took them to a landscape far from the mountains - the Florida Keys 🌴!

From snorkeling in North America’s sole living coral reef system to kayaking through mangroves, volunteering with wildlife, and exploring the Everglades, our seniors spent their last days together immersed in the wonder of the natural world.

In Waldorf education, class trips are an integral part of our curriculum. By exploring outside of our classroom walls, students cultivate curiosity, community, and a lifelong connection to the world around them. This journey deepened students’ understanding of marine biology, ecology, and stewardship - all the while creating lasting memories to carry forward into their next chapter!

Class of 2026 - we’re so grateful to have shared the many adventures with you.
This is a peek into 6th grade medieval history, where as part of their studies of monastic life, they each patiently created their own illuminated manuscripts. This coincided with their work that also encompassed learning about the Islamic Golden Age, and practicing Arabic calligraphy as well. 

Art finds its way into all that we do - it is not an extra. Through the arts, subject matter comes to life through experience, creativity, and meaningful connection. As they study history, for example, students are invited not only to study facts about a period in time, but to enter into it through their own hands and imagination.

Moreover, each project supports our curriculum in meeting our students where they are developmentally. In 6th grade, at a time when their developmental stage seeks structure and clarity, this work in calligraphy requires patience, deep focus, and adherence to form. While the completed piece of art is always wonderful to marvel at, moreover, it is about the journey along the way as we nurture our capacities as whole human beings. 
Every day, our first graders would arrive to discover a small change in Ms. Nelly’s chalk drawing that welcomes them into the classroom. A tiny detail. A moment of wonder. A symbol of growth. A cherishment of the season. An awakening before a morning of imagination, stories, and connection. 

And on the last day of school, just as they had on so many school days before, they enthusiastically pointed out the new detail. May we carry forward their delight to take notice of beauty, be curious, and find joy in all the little things. 

Watch until the end to see how the tree evolved over our school year. What a gift! ❤️

Join Us

Connect with us

The Denver Waldorf School

2100 S. Pennsylvania St.
Denver, CO 80210
p) 303-777-0531
f) 303-744-1216
[email protected]

Privacy Preference Center