Our rigorous academic curriculum is a comprehensive whole so that after a four year journey each student walks away with the ability to critically examine any topic set before them, with the skills to engage and participate in an individual or group project, to confidently understand his or her relationship to the Humanities, Math, Sciences, and Arts.
Students are asked to take on age-appropriate tasks within the classroom, on campus, in the community, and in their lives, allowing them to move into more freedom of responsibility as they are ready, with appropriate support and encouragement. Through these opportunities, they hone important social skills, learning and continually practicing how to work in teams, to prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, and to recognize what it takes to achieve their goals and accomplish the desired results.
Curriculum
There are many elements in the Waldorf education curriculum — all designed with a multi-sensory approach in mind and a goal to meet the child where they are developmentally in every stage.
MAIN LESSON: The Main Lesson is a block learning format where students focus on one academic subject for around two hours in the beginning of their day. Teachers engage students in these two hours using lecture, movement, art, music, recitation, lab work and more to make learning academic subjects relevant and engaging.
Special Subjects and Topics
Foreign Language (Spanish, German) • Farming/Gardening • Eurythmy (movement) • Physical Education • Painting • Sculpting • Metalwork • Music (instrument & vocal) • Drama/Musicals
Grade 9 (Age 14-15) – The Year of Polarities
Encountering a New and Interesting World
As a group of apprentices 9th grade students look at the world with new eyes, gathering insights from their observations. As journeymen, they practice finding the balance between opposites. The are eager to learn and will work hard to make new ideas their own. Their skills and experiences from previous years provide a foundation as they test the world to find their own truth. In black and white drawing they create a picture in which light and dark exist in relationship to one another, while finding all of the shades in-between. In blacksmithing they give form to the heated iron and in the process must find inner form. Their question, “What am I and the world made of?” moves them towards a journey of interest in the world. With each year, their capacity for self-reliance increases, as does their interest and empathy for each other.
FOCUS: Exploring contrasts and opposites (e.g., light/dark, comedy/tragedy, revolution/stability).
MAIN LESSONS: History: Revolutions (French, American, Industrial)
SCIENCE: Thermodynamics, anatomy, geology
MATH: Algebra, geometry (conic sections)
LITERATURE: Tragedy and comedy
ARTS: Black-and-white drawing, drama, metalwork
ONGOING COURSES:
Mathematics: Algebra I
Humanities: Freshman Composition, Les Miserables
Foreign Language: Spanish I – II and German I – II
Art: Black and White Drawing, Clay Modeling, Blacksmithing, Black and White Block Printing, Shoemaking
Drama: Improvisation and Speech
Eurythmy: Major/Minor, Expansion/Contraction, Pitch
Music: Vocal or Instrumental
Gardening/Farming: Grafting/Pruning, Health/Nutrition, Herbal Studies, Farm Construction
Physical Education
Unique to Summerfield Waldorf High School
Small Class Size
Our teacher-to-student ratio is high (6:1 ratio with typical class sizes of 15 students per grade). We know our students: what their passions, interests questions, and challenges are, and can therefore bring content that is rich and exciting to them. In this environment students discover that they are not just passively taking in information but are engaging with the content, dynamically working alongside their peers and teachers to deepen their understanding of who they are, how they learn, what they love, and how to overcome their own challenges. The students are well prepared for their post-high school path – our academically rigorous coursework primes them for selective colleges, a vocation of their choice, or an alternate learning path.
Open Week
“In my freshman year, I was new and, admittedly, intimidated by the prospect of a change. What undoubtedly helped make the change smoother was an annual high school event called, “Open Week”. – SWSF Graduate
Open Week was established to help the four high school classes mingle and build bonds between the students and their new teachers. Open Week opportunities in past school years range from kayaking in Tomales Bay among the seals, otters and sharks; backpacking for 60 miles culminating in a summit of Mt. Whitney; a Zen Meditation retreat in the Trinity Alps; sailing in San Francisco Bay; a drama/poetry week-long intensive in Sonoma County; working on Jughandle farm in Mendocino County; and horse camping in Pt. Reyes. Not only do students gain new perspective and friends on these Open Week trips, but they are also given the great opportunity to explore the wonders of the world around them.
Mentors
Every Summerfield High School Student has a faculty mentor to help guide the them through the high school years. The mentor checks in with their students at the end of each school day and is available for questions regarding courses, schedules, extracurricular activities, school agreements, and social, mental health, and personal issues. When the nature of the question exceeds the faculty member’s scope, the student is referred to the school’s guidance counselor.
Every month there is a mentor meeting in which each mentor meets with all the students that he or she currently mentors, in a group setting. Discussions of issues such as studentship, plagiarism, and progress through the grades arise in this forum. Mentor groups are also responsible for working together to care for the classrooms and campus at the end of the day, including recycling. A mentor is intended to be an ‘elder’ for the student, a person to be there for him/her when needed.
Connection to Lower Grades
Having a campus where children attending preschool through Grade 12 allows for the interaction and mentoring of the younger children by the older students. Summerfield has a 1st and 12th grade "buddy system" where on the first day of school 12th graders welcome 1st graders into the “grades”. Throughout the year high school students and lower school students (and sometimes early childhood students) do projects or activities together. The 1st-12th grade buddies maintain their relationship throughout the year, when on the last day of school the 1st graders send their 12th grade buddies off into the world as they graduate from their beloved school. Some buddy relationships are still maintained many years after students graduate.
The presence of younger children reminds high school students of their past, of their role in the culture of the school and their responsibility to be a role model. The presence of the older students for the younger children gives them young adults to look up to, and recognize capacities they can look forward to developing.
Robust Music Program
High School music at Summerfield takes on a slightly different character beginning in the 9th grade in that, although students are encouraged to continue their lower school instruments, they are not required to do so. In addition to the high school Orchestra we offer a High Level Recorder Ensemble, Acoustic Guitar, International Music, Musicals, and Advanced Choir.
Our hope is that music in the high school has a formal life as well as a spontaneous life, as students frequently break out their instruments during morning break and lunch and enjoy playing together. We want to keep inspiring the students to play, to attain proficiency, and to continue to expand their taste in music as they mature as we to support, challenge and encourage our talented and music-career-bound students, as well as provide an environment that helps every student foster a life-long love for the art of singing or playing an instrument.
Performing Arts (Drama)
A required series of courses at Summerfield Waldorf High School, all students in Grade 9-12 prepare and perform plays, either for their classes alone (e.g. the ninth grade Tragedy and Comedy main lesson), or for the entire school community, as exemplified by the 12th grade play that is traditionally performed for the public at the end of school year. In Summerfield’s High School, dramatic productions are considered an important component of the academic program because their success requires both focus and intense personal commitment.
Students are called upon to put forward their best efforts as they collaborate with their fellows in many ways: rehearsing, creating costumes, designing and building sets, acquiring props, and managing the myriad aspects of staging.
Inevitably, the work the students undertake in the performing arts area of the curriculum helps to build the feeling of community within a class through the highly interactive tasks of theater production.
Visual and Practical Arts
The arts curriculum at Summerfield encompasses both practical and fine arts. There is always an eye towards stimulating the Will of the student to produce a beautiful, well-made piece of work, presenting goals that the student must strongly reach for to achieve. Some might assume from this that Waldorf schools graduates would largely become “artists” or “musicians”, which is not the case.
The arts curriculum actually serves to illuminate the academic subjects in a way that enhances and brings more relevance to their truth and lawfulness. The artistic capabilities developed in the students build their confidence, aid them in all their life endeavors, and provide them with a connection to beauty and craftsmanship.
Printing • Drawing: Black-and-White, Color, Life, Self-Portrait • Blacksmithing • Pottery • Painting: Watercolor & Acrylic • Weaving • Bookbinding •Jewelry-making
Field Trips
The “WHY” behind field trips and what the significance of the location and learning is for each grade.
Waldorf Education emphasizes experiential learning, and field trips are an essential part of their curriculum. Each grade level takes specific field trips that align with the developmental stage of the students and the subjects they are studying. In Waldorf high schools, field trips serve an even deeper purpose than just supplementing classroom learning—they are integral to the holistic, experiential approach of Waldorf education. Field trips are carefully curated to support students’ academic, emotional, spiritual, and personal growth as they prepare for adulthood. Each trip enhances experiential learning, strengthens class bonds, and fosters personal development.
9th Grade: Outdoor adventure trips (e.g., rock climbing, backpacking) to build resilience and teamwork, often tied to earth sciences and geography.
10th Grade: Field studies in geology, literature, or history, often including visits to natural formations, cultural sites, or service-learning experiences.
11th Grade: Immersive trips focusing on social responsibility, such as community service projects, historical studies, or farm stays.
12th Grade: A culminating trip, often international or service-oriented, fostering independence, global awareness, and a transition into adulthood.