Engagement
Connecting
Parents and caregivers at Brooklyn Waldorf School are part of a thriving and resilient network that enriches their lives, and the community as a whole, thanks to ample opportunities for engagement with each other.
Coffee Hour
It’s a simple idea but a powerful one, a standing date every Wednesday morning after drop-off to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea and a simple bite with fellow parents. Come as you are, grab a muffin and go…or stay for a while and hear announcements and updates from the PFA Chairs and others. All are welcome. Classes (the parents, not the children) take turns bringing food and cleaning up. Coffee Hour is a beloved and long-lasting BWS tradition for a reason.
Social Gatherings & Events
Whether at informal parent gatherings at the school or in homes and parks, playful activities such as family picnics or grown-up brewery parties, eating hotdogs and cheering together at basketball games, or coming together for large school-wide events like Winter Fair or May Fair, Brooklyn Waldorf School is alive with numerous meetings and opportunities to connect with others, in ways both large and small. Brooklyn Waldorf parents form a strong and resilient community that enriches their social lives more than they might have have imagined before coming to the school.
Learning
Parent Education
Waldorf curriculum builds life-long learners, so it is natural that opportunities for continued learning and exploration would be extended to other members of BWS families. Each year we present programs designed to appeal to our diverse community, exploring ideas relevant to Waldorf curriculum and the world at large.
Crafting, Singing & More
From doll making to singing, from basketball workouts to morning meditation, Brooklyn Waldorf School offers space and opportunity for parents and families to come together regularly around activities that are meaningful to them.
Parent-Teacher Communication
Creating a comfortable and engaging learning environment requires clear and consistent contact between faculty and families. Maintaining open lines of communication allows teachers and guardians to share in moments of wonder, joy, and triumph and to work collaboratively in the face of more challenging situations.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Conferences are an essential element of your child’s education at BWS. Teachers require these check-ins in order to ensure that they are doing everything they can to meet your child’s needs most fully, so attendance at meetings with your child’s class teacher is mandatory. Families are encouraged to meet with specialty teachers only as needed. Conferences occur twice a year, in late autumn and early spring, with exact dates noted on the live calendar available on our website. School will dismiss at noon on the Thursdays of Parent-Teacher Conference weekends, and because most teachers must hold conferences on Friday in order to meet with all of their students’ guardians, the School will be closed Friday.
Depending on their class schedules and personal preferences, some teachers may also choose to offer additional meetings during or after school in the days surrounding PTC weekends. Links to sign up for conferences and childcare will be sent to families a few weeks in advance and childcare is provided to help parents navigate the logistics of these important meetings.
Formal Class Meetings
Class meetings occur twice a year and provide a special opportunity for teachers to share news about the class, student work, upcoming curriculum, and special activities in a large group forum where families within a class can connect and commune around their class’ shared experiences. Class meeting schedules are provided directly by the class teacher or by the Class Parent and are also listed on the School’s live calendar.
Volunteering
Part of what sets the BWS community apart is the opportunity for parent involvement in all aspects of the school. Volunteering can take the form of helping to sell hotdogs at a basketball game, chaperoning a festival or class trip, crafting “treasures” to delight children at Winter Fair, or all of the above. Volunteers also comprise significant aspects of the school’s organizational structure, in the form of Class Representative, Board Members, committee members, and Parent Association Chairs. Our parent body is deeply involved in all the work we do for our children’s benefit, and the school is a much richer and more vibrant place because of that involvement.