Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan 2024-2030

  • Summer 2023

    • Sent out a focused survey to Grade 8 families, and other families leaving the school, followed by a school-wide survey and individual conversations

  • Fall 2023

    • Strategic Planning Weekend facilitated by Denese Giordano identified three main initial strategic priorities: Community Retention, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Curriculum and School Culture, and Mission and Governance. Stakeholders from all parts of the community were represented in this inclusive process

  • Winter 2024

    Board made the decision to close the high school program at the end of the 2023 – 24 School Year

    Strategic Planning Task Groups for Community Retention, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Curriculum and School Culture, and Mission and Governance met to explore priorities more deeply and provide thought leadership for next steps

  • Spring 2024

    The Board working out of strategic preparation for the school’s upcoming reaccreditation created an additional priority of Sustainability

    Board approved the final strategic plan

    Community Meeting was held to review plan

Navigating Change

Seattle Waldorf School envisions an educational journey that prepares students to navigate through an ever-changing world. Guiding the decisions and actions of Seattle Waldorf School, our Strategic Plan is designed as a living compass that will be evaluated and updated annually.

Community

Cultivate community engagement and strengthen retention efforts as we reimagine ourselves as a comprehensive Early Childhood through Grade 8 Waldorf School.

Read More about our Goals and Accomplishments

Goals:

  • Ensure that our school branches, Early Childhood, Lower Grades, and Middle School, are interconnected, strong programs that provide an educational journey adhering to a modern, intentional Waldorf pedagogy.
  • Prioritize and celebrate wellness initiatives, community connections and parent/caregiver education opportunities.
  • Increase SWS alumni presence in our community, uniting our past with our future.

What we have accomplished:

  • Collaborated with Kim John Payne to co-develop and document shared practices and core principles for an Integrated Student Support model tailored to our school community.
  • Promoted all-school community meetings and curriculum nights and encouraged all community members to attend.
  • Hosted an alumni night for grade 8 graduates to talk about their next steps after SWS.
Cultural Competency

Foster a respectful school community that is committed to acceptance, inclusion, and increasing diversity.

Read More about our Goals and Accomplishments

Goals:

  • Be creative and courageous in our efforts to retain, recruit, and support a diverse community of families, educators, staff, and board members. 
  • Support teachers to incorporate representations of diverse cultures and tell stories of underrepresented groups in classrooms across school branches.
  • Develop specialized support systems and resources to meet the needs of neurologically diverse learners, ensuring that every student thrives academically and socially.

What we have accomplished:

  • Invited guest storytellers to share diverse stories with faculty and students.
  • Hosted the Spring BIPOC Voices Summit
  • Increased promotion of People of Color in Independent School (POCIS) speaker series.

Conservation

Achieve financial and operational health and sustainability.

Read More about our Goals and Accomplishments

Goals:

  • Achieve a balanced budget through financial management and growth initiatives.
  • Strengthen campus green initiatives to reduce our footprint and manage our resources in a responsible manner.
  • Maintain a culture of giving and engagement as an expectation of the entire community.

What we have accomplished:

  • Identified areas where costs can be reduced without sacrificing quality, such as renegotiating vendor contracts, reducing energy consumption, or optimizing staffing levels.
  • Surpassed our annual fundraising goal by 25% for the school year and increased the number of participants over all in the Community Fund.
  • Educated students, staff, and faculty on what materials can be recycled and composted, and monitor compliance in order to reduce additional charges by waste management.

Collaboration

Refine our work as a maturing organization to strengthen board and school leadership maximizing healthy collaboration.

Read more about our Goals and Accomplishments

Goals:

  • Ensure that all community members have a clear view and understanding of the leadership and governance structure.
  • Amplify the mission, values, and vision of the school to reflect our community’s current priorities.
  • Provide communication channels and feedback mechanisms to the wider community about the Board and Leadership’s work.

What we have accomplished:

  • Created a comprehensive board handbook that provides detailed information on the school’s leadership structure, governance principles, and how decisions are made.
  • Engaged in a school-wide exploration of AWSNA principles as part of our accreditation self-study process.
  • Increased Board visibility and approachability by encouraging Board member participation at community events and creating informal opportunities for dialogue with families and staff.

Community Gratitude

The strategic planning process was made possible by the engagement of trustees, families, faculty, staff, and alumni, to better understand the needs of our community and our shared goals. This included survey responses, individual conversations, strategic planning weekend workshop participation, and task forces that worked intensely to explore specific priorities. We are truly grateful for all of your feedback, which played an integral role in charting our path for the future. We also want to thank education consultant, Denese Giordano, who provided invaluable guidance throughout this process.

Seattle Waldorf School Mission

Daily we strive to inspire learning, courage, and joy in the developing human being.

Seattle Waldorf School Statement of Intention

We welcome, value, and support everyone at the Seattle Waldorf School.

Racism, prejudice and inequity exist throughout society and institutions, including the Seattle Waldorf School. We commit to understanding and challenging systems of oppression because we believe students with a deep sense of belonging can contribute positively to humanity and the earth.

Our commitment lives in action: reflecting on our biases, designing thoughtful curricula, developing inclusive teaching practices, and holding each other accountable.

Seattle Waldorf School Values

  • We are an educational community working out of cooperation and mutual respect. 
  • We are guided by the educational philosophy and understanding of the developing human being articulated by Rudolf Steiner. 
  • We believe artistic activity is essential to the education of the human being. 
  • We cultivate wonder and curiosity through engagement with the natural world. 
  • We celebrate the innate reverence and joy of an unhurried and naturally developing childhood. 
  • We actively engage the striving adolescent in order to promote the unfolding of the free and confident adult.

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Seattle, WA 98125
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Seattle, WA 98103

MISSION  Daily we strive to inspire learning, courage, and joy in the developing human being.

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