Welcome to a new school year!

A wonderful year of learning, fun, and community has been planned, and we are eager to welcome your children to school. Before you enjoy the Labor Day holiday weekend, we ask that you take a moment to read through the information below.

Reminders:

First day of school is Sept. 5th. Grades doors open at 8:20 AM with classes starting at 8:30 AM. Early Childhood begins at 9:15 AM and ends at 12:15 PM on this day only. There is no Extended Day on 9/5. This half day will be followed by our annual Back-to-School Potluck Picnic starting at 12:30 PM. Details about the picnic can be found below. We look forward to seeing you at the picnic and introducing the new families to our community. Please note: we ask that no nut containing foods be brought to this school-wide event.

Back-to-School Night:

Please mark your calendar for our Back-to-School Night, Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m. The evening will begin with an all-school meeting, followed by Grades classes’ and Sunflower Garden's curriculum meetings. (Apple Blossom Garden and Wonder Garden will meet on separate nights for curriculum meetings—September 25 and 26, respectively.) We are not a community without you, so please attend, as we have important and exciting information to share and explore with you.

Celebration:

Please join our community for the Rose Ceremony celebration - an annual Waldorf tradition welcoming first graders into our grade school. We will convene outside on the playground at 8:45 AM for this short but special beginning of the school year celebration. During this ceremony students new to the grades will be acknowledged.

Also on the first day of school, please feel welcome to stay and greet our new families at 9:30 AM. We have designed an orientation specific to our newest community members in hopes of answering questions and allowing them to get acquainted with our school and community.

Starting Prepared:

We trust you have received information about requisite school supplies. If you have not, please contact our Administration at: in**@da************.org.

Much helpful information can be found in our Parent Handbook. This handbook will be shared with you on Back to School Night.

Faculty and Staff Changes:

Please join us in welcoming Jasmine Hasanbegovic to the grades teaching faculty. Ms. Hasanbegovic enjoyed her student teaching weeks last school year at DVWS and completed her Waldorf certification this June. She will be teaching 4th grade.

Dina Fasman will be stepping into the role of lead teacher in the Wonder Garden.

Elizabeth Kelly has moved from lead teacher in the Wonder Garden preschool to lead teacher in the Sunflower Garden mixed-age kindergarten.

We warmly welcome two new Early Childhood assistants: Jennifer Champion joins Ms. Ieva Scoggin in the Apple Blossom Garden and Sweta Jaganath joins Ms. Elizabeth Kelly in the Sunflower Garden.

Missy Byrne is bringing her years of Waldorf teaching experience to our Wonder Garden preschool class. We are grateful to her for five years of dedicated teaching service in our grades program.

We are excited to introduce Reegan Melcher to the administrative team as our new Enrollment Coordinator and Administrative Assistant. Her two young children will be students in the Apple Blossom and Wonder Garden classrooms. Reegan comes to us with experience in administering childcare and preschool programs. She lives with her family in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.

Brett Haller, our long-time buildings and grounds manager, is retiring from this role. His handiwork and can-do attitude are present around every corner of our building. We are thankful for his years of service, both on the board and as staff member. We are excited to announce that Tony VerPlancke, father of Quinn, Cullen, and Coraline, will be taking up Brett’s hammer effective immediately.

A very fond farewell to Edith DeCastro, who served our school for several years, both in the early childhood and the grades. We are grateful for her many contributions to the DVWS community and wish her our very best.

Hot Lunch:

Our very popular Hot Lunch Program is back! Extended Day and Grades students are encouraged to sign up for these delectable dishes provided by Elizabeth English. Lunches will be offered Monday-Friday beginning the second week of school.

Other Information:

Stay tuned for information about an exciting evening planned for Sept. 21 at 7:00 p.m. John Bloom, Chief Executive of RSF Social Finance based in San Francisco, will engage our community in a prescient conversation about the intrinsic connection between community and money. This rare opportunity comes to us via grant funds from the Mid-States Shared Gifting group. We look forward to seeing you there. Please note: This is an adult educational experience and is not a fundraiser.

Staying The Course:

As some of you may be aware, the school has recently navigated through some challenging enrollment and financial waters. Now that we are back on land, we would like to determine our course forward with full community participation during our Back-to-School Night meeting. In advance of this meeting, we would like you to know that all programming, class teachers, and class configurations will remain as expected. Each parent is an important and valued member of our community and we want to encourage each one to know and be involved in developing the school's future.

If you have any questions or comments regarding recent faculty, board, or staff changes, classroom experience, or any other areas, our DVWS faculty and board members will be available after our Back-to-School night to listen and answer any questions you may have.

Welcome to a new school year!