About
Governance and Accreditation
We are a private and independent Waldorf school with full, dual accreditation from AWSNA and WASC, and our farm is Demeter Certified Biodynamic®. Our governance structure includes an All-School Director, College of Teachers, four school sections (Early Childhood, Lower School, High School, Administration/Staff), and our Board of Directors.
“Therefore we will structure the school not governmentally, but administratively, and manage it in a republican manner. In a true teachers’ republic, we will not be able to lean back and rest on the directives of a headmaster; we will have to bring to bear what gives each of us the possibility to take full responsibility for what we have to do. Each must be fully responsible.
The role of the headmaster will be replaced by this preparatory seminar in which we will work to acquire the spirit that will unite the school. If we work hard, this seminar will engender in us our spirit of unity.”
— Rudolf Steiner
Leadership
All-School Director
Joshua Wilson
College of Teachers
College Co-Chairs:
- Stacy Ito
- Kibby MacKinnon
Members:
- Annalyse Jorgensen
- Saskia Pothof
Section Core Groups
Early Childhood:
- Catherine Schlager (Coordinator)
- Stacy Ito
Lower School:
- Tricia Walker
- Kibby MacKinnon
- Arelly Sanchez-Shackett
- Saskia Pothof
- Isabel Vallejo
High School:
- Beth Weisburn (Coordinator)
- Lorian Shick
Board of Directors
- President: Gavin Carothers (parent)
- Vice-President: Lisa Hensley (Operations Staff)
- Secretary: Ed Fletcher (faculty)
Board Members:
- Elena Bass (parent)
- Jason Edwards (parent)
- Elizabeth Kaiser (parent)
- Jenny Kenyon (parent)
- Casey McCarroll (parent)
- Stacy Ito (faculty)
- Catherine Schlager (faculty)
- Tricia Walker (faculty)
- Isabel Wundsam (faculty)
How the school is governed
The All-School Director
The All-School Director role is one in which an experienced teacher with both the insight into the educational life of a Waldorf school, and proven skills in business management and organizational development. The All-School Director is responsible for overseeing, coordinating, and finalizing decisions in all matters concerning the day-to-day administrative and and educational life of the school. In addition, the All-School Director has been requested to take a proactive stance on all matters concerning the long-term fiscal health of the school.
This position of a single administrator was created in 2023 and differs from a historical model of a Governance Council (GC), a group of teachers and administrators. The Board and the College of Teachers are dedicated to the ideal of being a faculty-led school, and together with the faculty and staff have developed a cohesive vision for a governance of renewed vitality and community-building that will best support our school going into the future.
The College of Teachers
The College of Teachers is a body of faculty and staff who study the philosophical underpinnings of Waldorf pedagogy based on the work of Rudolf Steiner. The College is charged with the oversight and teacher development of the pedagogy of the whole school. Collegial support and development is also the purview of the College. The College serves as a consultative body to the All-School Director and Board of Trustees. New College members are invited by standing College members and consensus agreement. The College meets weekly throughout the school year.
The Four Sections
Each section of the school (Early Childhood Education, Lower School, High School) is overseen by experienced faculty members who manage the day-to-day operational activities, social gatherings, field trips, and fundraising of that section along with communications with parents for each grade. The fourth section, Operational Staff, is directly overseen by the All-School Director and works closely with the College, three Sections, and Board of Directors.
Supporting the three academic sections are:
- Class Advisors — typically two faculty members who are responsible for the overall well-being of a particular grade; lead parent meetings.
- Section Core Groups — typically three faculty members who are responsible for the organizational structure of their Section.
- Mentors — teachers who are chosen by the students as a direct contact person for guidance with any school, life, or social issues.
The Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is responsible for the legal and financial aspects of Summerfield Waldorf. Specifically, the Board focuses on long-range planning, strategic development, and fundraising. Day-to-day management of the school is mandated to the All-School Director and Section Core Groups. The Board meets the third Monday of each month, and meetings are public. There is an annual Corporation meeting in May.
Accreditation and pedagogical foundation
“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 human soul is living.”
— Rudolf Steiner
Summerfield Waldorf School & Farm holds full, dual accreditation from the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Our Farm is certified Biodynamic® through Demeter USA.
Our faculty at Summerfield are highly trained and experts in their field. Many are alumni of Summerfield, as well as family members of our founding families. A majority of them hold master’s degrees in the subject(s) they teach.
AWSNA — accredited since June 1978
Association of Waldorf Schools of North America is a nonprofit organization that supports Waldorf schools and teacher training institutes in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Founded in 1968, AWSNA’s mission is to strengthen and promote Waldorf education and principles worldwide. Members are independent and/or private schools and institutes that are free to make their own school policy decisions, as long as they meet AWSNA’s membership and accreditation criteria. AWSNA’s accreditation criteria require schools to comply with national, state, provincial, and local laws.
WASC — accredited since 1999
Western Association of Schools & Colleges — the Accrediting Commission for Schools, WASC, extends its services to over 5,500 public, independent, church-related, and proprietary pre-K–12 and adult schools, works with 20 associations in joint accreditation processes, and collaborates with other organizations such as the California Department of Education (CDE).
WASC advances and validates quality ongoing school improvement by supporting its private and public elementary, secondary, and postsecondary member institutions to engage in a rigorous and relevant self-evaluation and peer review process that focuses on equity, inclusion, and access to high-level, rigorous learning opportunities for all students. Self-Study completed in 2003.
Demeter Certified Biodynamic® — since 2005
Demeter USA is the only certifier for Biodynamic® farms and products in America. It is part of a world-wide organization, Demeter International, that was first formed in 1928 and named for the Greek goddess of agriculture, to advocate Biodynamic® agriculture and to certify Biodynamic® farms. Demeter remains the oldest ecological certification organization in the world, active in fifty countries around the globe.
Our commitment to sustainable agriculture goes a step further by choosing to uphold standards more rigorous than “Certified Organic” or even “biodynamically farmed” with our Demeter Certification. Summerfield proudly adheres to stricter requirements around imported fertility, greater emphasis on on-farm solutions for disease, pest, and weed control, and in depth specifications around water conservation and biodiversity.
Our pedagogical foundation: the College of Teachers
The College of Teachers is an important section within Waldorf Education leadership. It is comprised of a group of experienced faculty and staff at a Waldorf school who study the philosophical underpinnings of Waldorf pedagogy based on the work of Rudolf Steiner.
Summerfield Waldorf’s College of Teachers is responsible for oversight and teacher development of the pedagogy of the whole school, collegial support and development, and acting as a consultative body to the All-School Director and Board of Trustees. The College meets weekly throughout the school year, and new college members are invited by standing College members by consensus agreement.
Summerfield Waldorf School & Farm’s College of Teachers was founded in December 1985.