The Birth & Growth of a School 1971 - 1991: Glimpses Into The Future Long Range Planning
by Bob Norris (1991)

Rudolf Steiner initiated a major educational reform in 1919 with the opening of the first Waldorf school. There are now over 500 schools worldwide. Waldorf schools educate through a unified curriculum based on Steiner's deep insights both into human development and how this development can be stimulated and directed by good schooling.

Our school has, for the last 20 years, been serving its community out of Steiner's educational impulses. To improve these services and make the school more secure financially, the Board and faculty have undertaken a process of long range planning which focuses on the next five years and is designed to build a strong social and financial foundation for meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

We have begun this process by documenting the school's biography to date. Poet Robinson Jeffers captured the principle behind historical survey when he wrote: "Lend me the stone strength of the past and I will lend you the wings of the future, for I have them."

To put air under the wings of our future the school's leadership is building on a history sense of the school's history and asking every member of our community, including members of the faculty and Board, to record his or her thoughts about the school, its programs, facilities, faculty, needs, qualities and challenges. With this information, ideas and thoughts will be categorized and prioritized, given back to the community for further reflection and comment, then further refined, considering the school's human and financial resources today and into the future.

With renewed dedication to the impulses that have made this school an example of high quality Waldorf education, we look forward to implementing the final plan and building the school for the future of our children.

Next: Chronology - Appendix