Description

Founded in 1995 in Bellevue, Washington, the Three Cedars Waldorf School offers the highest standards of Waldorf education to students in preschool through grade 8 on the east side and its surrounding region.

Mission

We educate our students to fulfill their highest potential - think clearly, feel deeply, impart meaningful purpose to their lives, and actively contribute to the positive development of society.

Educational Philosophy

Waldorf education is based on the pedagogical insights of Rudolf Steiner, his corresponding views of the stages of human development, and the ongoing research of the international Waldorf Movement. Working from the ideals of Waldorf Education, TCWS highly values the uniqueness of each individual and their contribution to the positive development of society. Through a broad, rich, and unique curriculum, we develop our students to their fullest potential - spiritually, ethically, intellectually, socially, and physically – while inspiring a life-long love for learning.    

Core Values

In the context of its Strategic Plan, the Board of Trustees is currently working with the school community to refine the school's Core Values.

We achieve our mission through our commitment to these fundamental values:  

• Inspiring a Love of Learning - We are committed to delivering a Waldorf curriculum based on Rudolf Steiners’ pedagogical insights, to guiding students towards mastery of fundamental academic and artistic subjects, and to inspiring creativity, and a genuine life-long love of learning.

• Integrated Arts and Academic - We value each student’s artistic development as a fundamental element of a healthy physical, emotional, and spiritual life. Our artistic education, including performance arts, music, movement, fine arts, and practical arts are all woven into the TCWS educational experience in order to enhance the students’ physical and emotional well-being, intellectual capacities and performance, and healthy moral and spiritual development.

• Understanding our Connection to the Natural and Social Environment - We are committed to cultivating beauty, harmony, and sustainability in all aspects of our environment – physical, relational, local, and global. We cultivate reverence for nature through our practice of environmental awareness and stewardship.

• Healthy Social Life - Three Cedars Waldorf School is committed to creating a safe and affirming environment and cultivating a vibrant community for its students, their parents, faculty, and staff members. Inherent in the school's mission is the belief that, as articulated by Rudolf Steiner:” The healthy social life is found when in the mirror of each human soul, the whole community finds its reflection and when in the community, the strength of each one is living.” The school community recognizes and nurtures its diversity in all its forms, and fosters a welcoming environment through open and considerate dialogue, creating a culture of mutual trust, understanding, and embracing of differences.

Our Students and their Families

Families who choose the Three Cedars Waldorf School value a close cooperation between parents and teachers in the education of students and an age-appropriate learning methodology.  They are open to the philosophical foundation of Waldorf education and interested in developing a supportive relationship with their child’s teachers and with the school. They understand and support the beneficial nature of rhythms and habits, and the natural alignment of the Waldorf curriculum in relation to child development.

These families view independent education as a choice and a priority, and are willing to work collaboratively with the school’s teachers regarding their child’s development and needs. They are open to and respect the value that the school places on the cultivation of physical, social, and emotional development in balance with intellectual capacities. In particular, families understand and respect the school's purposeful avoidance of electronic entertainment media in the lives of our younger students, appreciate the school's qualitative approach to assessment, and understand and value the school's manner of supporting each child in working to high standards of achievement within the curriculum while deliberately avoiding an approach of academic acceleration.

Families are committed to fully understand TCWS’ unique educational approach, and are open to active participation in a school community based on mutual respect, inquiry, and contribution.

Affiliations

Three Cedars Waldorf School is an Approved Private School with the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, a Candidate member of the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS), a Candidate member of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and a member of the Washington Federation of Independent Schools (WFIS).

Non-Discrimination

The Waldorf education movement was established to promote the peaceful evolution of humankind by leading children away from narrow interests toward a broad worldview. Three Cedars Waldorf School continues the active development of this tradition. Consequently, it is not merely an act of compliance with federal law, but of free, willful and deliberate policy to offer Waldorf education to families who desire it for their children regardless of race, color, national or ethnic origin, class, gender, sexual orientation, family structure, or, to the extent our resources permit, their ability to pay.