Sanderling Waldorf School

It is an honor and a privilege to recommend Sanderling Waldorf with Five Stars. Our child was drowning in the public school. She was experiencing high levels of anxiety, depression, and her grades were tanking. The administration and teachers could not or would not provide the slightest bit of flexibility for our 4th grade child. We were lost and didn't know how to bring our darling girl back to her bright and creative nature. Then we discovered Sanderling. When I spoke with the teacher before enrolling he painted a sympathetic and patient pedagogy with a classical education environment. Within weeks our daughter uncoiled, embraced, and excelled. I cannot speak highly enough about this loving environment where children's educational journey is met with such joy and acceptance.

What a wonderful school! This is the future of education and definitely deserves a strong consideration. We love the staff at Sanderling and have already made wonderful friends there in meeting the other families that attend.

Our kids go to Sanderling and our overall experience has been fantastic! The teachers are great, the parent community is very close-knit and the overall experience for our kids is very, very enriching. The Waldorf philosophy is alive, well and thriving at Sanderling Waldorf School.

After enduring four years of public school education and "the system" with our oldest son, we wanted something that fit our values and desire for our children to learn in an active way without the pressures of shrinking budgets, overcrowding, and test after test. Our youngest son went to a Lifeways "school" from 6 months, at first with me in Parent -Child, and then at 18 months on his own. Lifeways is based on Waldorf Early Childhood. This lovely school was a great launchpad for Sanderling. As of January 2013, we are a new family to Sanderling Waldorf School, but we are not new to the Waldorf pedagogy. The Waldorf approach is different in the way that the children learn in a three-fold manner, heart, head, and hands. They work on skills that help them function in the real world and take on challenges that are both practical and fanciful; they participate in plays, learn foreign languages, paint, knit, garden and create wonderful stories. Despite the appearance of being very art centered, the academics are rigorous. The children enjoy going to school, they are loving their teachers and friends as well as the way they are learning. The school is very hands on, helps the children grow as people and allows them to be themselves. The welcoming nature of the community helps us feel like we've been there for years.

I have three daughters who attend the Sanderling Waldorf School. We started with my oldest daughter last year and she entered the first grade. Her experience went so well that we moved our two younger daughters into the nursery/kindergarten program this year (and our oldest moved to second grade). I like to think of Waldorf education as an "old-fashioned education for modern life". People are sometimes taken aback when I describe the Waldorf curriculum, and its emphasis on movement, art, storytelling, crafts, and music, because it's so different from the mainstream curriculum taught in the public school system. But then I point out that our grandparents' and parents' elementary education probably wasn't all that different from how a Waldorf school is run, and it clicks. (The same is true even for our generation! Public school today isn't the same as it was when we were in elementary school.) So maybe saying a "classic education for modern life" would be better. (Or even a "liberal arts elementary education". That's another favorite phrase of mine.) Don't be swayed by some of the biased things you can read on the Internet about Waldorf. Sanderling is a wonderful example of a Waldorf school. The teachers are tremendous, taking a deep, genuine interest in each student in their care (classrooms range from 15-25 students with one teacher at the grades level, and 10-15 students with two teachers at the nursery/kindergarten level). The administrators are warm and helpful. And the parent community is engaged and welcoming. It was the strong community at Sanderling that was a key reason for us in choosing the school. If you or your child is dissatisfied with the status quo in education these days, come take a look at Sanderling. P.S. The reason I gave four stars in what might seem like a glowing review is 1) I'm one of those crazy people that rarely gives out five star review, and 2) Sanderling is still a "developing" school, and despite its many commendable traits, there are some places where it is working to get better.