Alumni Testimonials

Learn how attending Brooklyn Waldorf makes a lasting impact on our students' lives.

On Resilience

“When I was in middle school at Brooklyn Waldorf, I wasn’t stressed by all the work I was doing because it was taught with enthusiasm. I think if I hadn’t gone there, I would be so burned-out now. Brooklyn Waldorf gave me a resilience to be ‘fresh-out-of-the-gate’. I think by giving me the freedom to really explore my own interests, I learned at Brooklyn Waldorf that there’s more to life than simply doing the absolute best for every single class assignment. That’s not say I don’t try to do my best. But there is a difference between my personal best versus trying to be the #1 best. I think that difference determines one’s mental health.” – Harper Class of 2014

On Favorite Memories

“In eighth grade, we went on a trip to the Redwood Forests in California. That was fun. We camped there for a whole week. That was my first time camping. It was fun experience bonding with my classmates but also connecting with nature. We made our own food. It was a new experience and afterwards, I felt like I could go camping again and I could teach other people how to pitch a tent or how to make food or how to start a fire out in the wilderness. I think for a lot of kids growing up in the city, you just don’t get to experience nature that much. I doubt that many kids at other schools get to camp in the woods or learn outdoor survival skills.” –Emanuel Class of 2014

On Main Lesson Books

“Making Main Lesson books was a really good way for me to learn. As part of each Main Lesson, our teacher led a lecture where we had to take notes, and based on those notes, we drafted essays which were then corrected. We then had to incorporate those corrections into a final version. The entire process helped me become comfortable with organizing my thoughts onto paper. Now that I’m in high school, I can easily make my own study guides ­and flush out rough drafts of papers.” –Tesia Class of 2015

On Having A Good Foundation

“Being a student at Brooklyn Waldorf gave me a good foundation of life skills that I don’t think I otherwise would have received. The natural world was woven into all our experiences which I appreciated since the city can be a bit isolating sometimes. I love how things inside the school are made from nature. Today, my friends in high school are surprised when I tell them I’ve worked with wool or that I went to a farm, sheared sheep and made it into yarn, or that I learned how to make wooden tools, or fires out in the woods. Experiences like these that I received from Brooklyn Waldorf have been empowering!” –Tesia Class of 2015

On Independent Student Projects

“I remember our 8th grade project presentations. We were asked to independently study an important topic, put together a presentation and convince the audience why this topic deserves our attention. I chose to research and present on the food industry in United States. I looked into industrial farming and the way animals were being treated in industrial farms. The experience helped me become a better public speaker. I talked about the ways cows are treated on industrial farms. The presentation was an opportunity to come out of my shell and it came at a key moment in my life as an academic. It’s a time that I remember feeling really confident in myself.” – Asa Class of 2014