Equity at BWS

The Brooklyn Waldorf School is a welcoming institution to all who enter its doors. We strive to build a community where every individual feels acceptance regardless of gender identity or gender expression, age, family structure, sexual orientation, physical ability, neurological ability, race, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, or belief system. With that, the school aims to achieve equity in all that it does from building curriculum, the admissions process, tuition assistance, hiring, and developing an authentic relationship within our neighborhood, Bedford - Stuyvesant.

In Bedford - Stuyvesant, the building where The Brooklyn Waldorf School resides once stood as a bastion of safety and empowerment for Black people during the early and mid 1900’s. For generations, it served as a neighborhood hub offering educational programs, spiritual guidance, and social services, creating a space where Black people could find support, solidarity, and a sense of belonging. The Brooklyn Waldorf School is committed to embodying the spirit of inclusion and uplifting community that is not only integral to the Waldorf philosophy, but that is also deeply connected to our building’s history. We are continually growing towards equity by engaging our faculty and staff in diversity training provided by the consultant group Alma Partners and conducting a school-wide equity audit to identify further ways to make our institution a more inclusive place for all people.

Anti-Racism Work

At The Brooklyn Waldorf School, we are also deepening our antiracist work, recognizing the pervasive impact of racism in every institution. Emphasizing anti-racism is central to our mission, as racial oppression uniquely impacts individuals. While other types of oppression are damaging, racism has been foundational to global systems of power, making it one of the most enduring, systemic, and deeply impactful forms of injustice. To address this, we are evolving our curriculum to engage students in discussions about racial oppression while amplifying the voices of those most affected. We are also developing our community's shared language to analyze race and racism, building authentic relationships across power and identity. Since 2017, we’ve collaborated with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, hosting Undoing Racism Workshops. Over 100 participants have joined, forming a growing group of organizers who hold ongoing monthly conversations to connect, understand, and challenge racism. Addressing racial oppression benefits not only racialized people but society as a whole because racism is deeply intertwined with other systems of inequality. When we dismantle racial oppression, we challenge the structures that uphold all forms of discrimination, creating a pathway for broader justice. We invite all to join these monthly discussions.

Disavowal of Oppressive Ideology

While The Brooklyn Waldorf School is rooted in a deeply transformative pedagogy founded by Rudolf Steiner in the early 1900s, we are also committed to fostering critical thinking and evolving the Waldorf philosophy to meet the diverse needs of today’s community. For that reason, we reject the racist views in Steiner’s tangential texts such as The Mission of Folk Souls and The Occult Significance of Blood, which contradict our values of inclusivity, empathy, and human dignity. These views oppose Waldorf’s core principles of building relationships and celebrating diversity. To distance our pedagogy from oppressive ideologies, we are incorporating critical discussions and analyses of Steiner’s work into our community education, aiming to deepen our collective understanding and commitment to equity.

The Brooklyn Waldorf School’s equity statement is living and dynamic. We invite questions and conversations with ourselves and each other as we continue to foster a community where we struggle and strive together.