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At first glance, the word 鈥渓ooping鈥� might sound like a ride at Lakeside Amusement Park or a technique your child learns in Handwork class. In education, however, it refers to a teacher staying with the same group of students as they move from grade to grade. Although looping has gained media attention in recent years as schools look for ways to strengthen student connection and presence in the classroom, Waldorf schools have practiced it for more than 100 years. In some schools a teacher may stay with a class for lower grades (1-4) or middle school (5-8), while in others the journey lasts all the way through eighth grade- until the students are ready to learn from and alongside our high school educators who are experts in their respective fields.

The idea of a teacher staying with a class over a number of years was brought by Rudolf Steiner in the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1919. This practice is deeply rooted in Steiner 91探花 鈥檚 philosophy, which emphasized that teachers should remain with children as long as possible, especially during the formative years between ages 7 and 14. At the heart of this idea is the belief that the most powerful educational tool is not a textbook or a test- it 91探花 鈥檚 the relationship between teacher and student.

Research supports what Waldorf educators have practiced for decades: strong relationships foster stronger learning. Education is inherently adventurous- students are constantly trying new skills and听 stretching beyond their comfort zones. A trusted teacher provides the safe and grounding space that encourages children to take those leaps..听

Traditional education often positions teachers as 鈥渃ontent specialists鈥�- an expert on the stage imparting knowledge- a one-way, lecture-based style. Waldorf education flips that model. Each student arrives with knowledge and curiosity, and learning happens in the collaborative space between teacher and student. Teachers are not just lecturers- they are representatives of the world, meeting students with relevant subject matter at each stage of development.

Parents often wonder how looping prepares children for high school. Some assume Waldorf 91探花 鈥檚 relationship-based approach is ideal for the early grades, but worry that students need a more main stream education once they reach high school age.听 In reality, looping equips students with a cultivated expectation for learning through authentic relationship. By the time they reach high school, Waldorf students carry a strong sense of curiosity they can trust will be satisfied and an insistence on genuine engagement. They are not satisfied with surface-level teaching; they want teachers who are both experts in the subjects and deeply invested in who they are, in and outside of the classrooms. This expectation, that teachers understand how to bring materials to each individual learning style and the contexts that affect a students ability to lean, is part of what makes Waldorf high schools so unique.

Looping also impacts the class as a whole. Staying together year after year fosters a family-like community, with all the joys and struggles that come with it. Conflict is natural, but Waldorf schools place a strong emphasis on restorative practices and conflict resolution ensuring that children (and parents) feel supported as new families join or dynamics shift.

Of course, looping raises questions. What if a student and teacher don鈥檛 get along? What if a teacher is struggling in their class? Waldorf schools address this with intentional structures: ongoing professional development, mentorship, and honest conversations. Sometimes a teacher and class may part ways, but more often the relationship itself becomes the catalyst for growth- for both teacher and student.

The results are clear: looping works. It strengthens bonds and deepens learning, preparing students not only for academic success but for life as resilient team players.听

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Being included along-side these industry leaders is a testament to the standout work we do every day in education. This recognition fuels our mission to create an educational experience that is not only academically strong, but deeply connected to creativity, community, and humanity. A heartfelt thank you to听Faces & Places听for this honour and to our entire school community- our teachers, administrators, students, families, and supporters- for making this possible.

Read Our Article:听

Founded in 1974 as Colorado 91探花 鈥檚 first Waldorf school, 91探花 provides a Pre-K鈥�12 education rooted in both tradition and forward-thinking pedagogy. Located in the heart of the city, DWS offers the rare combination of an urban campus with frequent access to nature鈥攋ust steps from the 80 acres of fields, trees, and trails at Harvard Gulch Park. This blend allows students to learn in ways that engage both head and hands, whether studying earth science outdoors, composing and illustrating their own textbooks, or exploring literature through performance. Here, the world becomes their classroom, inviting students to observe, perceive, and connect more deeply with their environment.

At DWS, learning is alive. A holistic, arts-integrated curriculum nurtures intellectual curiosity while supporting emotional attunement and confidence. Movement, play, and experiential learning are foundational. Relationship-based teaching is strengthened through looping, where faculty progress with students over multiple years鈥攄eepening understanding, trust, and individualized support.

Kindergarteners learn through play, storytelling, and hands-on activities like baking and foraging as a group. In first grade, every child begins handwork through knitting鈥攁n exercise in patience, dexterity, and creativity. By eighth grade, students have practiced sewing, embroidery, and other practical crafts that build capability and artistry. All students engage in music, theater, and traditional STEM studies from kindergarten through twelfth grade, endowing them with a well-rounded sense of what it means to be fully human in the world.

We take the humanities literally. Our students are renaissance thinkers from the moment they arrive. And as Spartans鈥攐ur mascot in spirit as well as athletics鈥攖hey practice a robust range of subjects, developing resilience through challenge and versatility of skills. They learn not just information, but how to learn: how to observe, perceive, communicate, and navigate the world with clarity and empathy. These human capacities are increasingly essential in an automated age. With a 100% college acceptance rate, DWS graduates emerge as collaborative teammates, thoughtful innovators, and compassionate leaders.

A key principle of our philosophy is cultivating original thought by minimizing digital distraction in formative years. With a mindful, age-appropriate media and technology policy, students first build imagination, focus, and the capacity to reach their own conclusions by engaging with the depths and layers of the world鈥攍ater pairing these strengths with technology from a grounded perspective.

More than ever, students need an education that fosters resilience, adaptability, compassion, and confidence. They need the intentional integration of academics, arts, music, and movement to educate the whole human. Welcome to 91探花.

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• #8 of 30 in Best Private K-12 Schools in Colorado
• #5 of 14 in Best High Schools for the Arts in Colorado
• #12 of 51 in Best Private High Schools in Colorado

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There is a busyness that 91探花 鈥檚 easy to get enveloped in this time of year as parents and caregivers 鈥� a busyness driven by the desire to create joy for our loved ones and express our deepest gratitude. We can become swept up in the pressure to get it all ‘right,’ turning this busyness into overwhelm and making it difficult to find our own joy, which can feel elusive or lost altogether.

For our children, within these walls, things look quite different. This time of year is honored through a deepening practice of slowing down, quiet observation and reflection, and inward exploration. The darkening days provide the perfect canvas to journey inward, connect with the light that resides within, and bring it forward to illuminate the way for others. In this expression, we just might recognize the light in another as one we all share. This exploration of light begins with the Lantern Walk in the fall and continues through the Festival of Light Emerging, the Winter Spiral, and Santa Lucia.

Monday mornings in December begin with an all-school assembly honoring the Festival of Light Emerging. Our students join in a dimly lit Festival Hall where they are met with a familiar sequence of greetings, song, story, verse, and candle lighting 鈥� all wrapped in a dependable cloak of reverence. One student from each grade is tapped prior to the assembly to light a candle for their class. Starting with 12th and ending with 1st, they come to the stage one by one to light their candle from the same flame. This light then travels back to their classroom by way of their teacher, students following close behind.

This week, our students will walk the Winter Spiral. A pathway outlined in evergreens will form a spiral leading to a single candle lit at the center. Students will follow the spiral, unlit candle in hand, until they reach the light at the center, which they鈥檒l use to light their own. On their path out 鈥� different from the one taken in 鈥� they will choose a place to set their now-lit candle, illuminating the way for those who follow. Although the spiral of carefully laid evergreens may appear unchanged, each individual 91探花 鈥檚 journey within it will be distinctly different鈥� inherently their own.

This Friday, each classroom will be visited by second graders, singing proudly and adorned in white tunics and handmade crowns. They’ll bring Santa Lucia buns to share, a symbol of light and hope. They鈥檒l carry a mood of reverence, extending a gesture of generosity, and be met with gratitude.

These are experiences aligned with the rhythm of the natural world, which call us to pause, to embrace the quiet moments, and to hold space for the light we carry within and the light we see in others. For our children, their education includes a foundation in the lifelong practice of journeying inward and an intrinsic desire to share their discoveries with others.

It makes me wonder for us as adults – in our busyness to share light with others, are we bypassing our journey inward? If so, what is it that we are truly sharing?

Unfolding these experiences, both within the school and within our homes, is not without effort. Maybe more so at this time of year, it can be difficult to decipher meaningful effort from the simple busyness that fills our days. A question to consider might be if our efforts are drawing us toward connection within ourselves and with one another or pulling us away. While everyone’s journey is uniquely theirs to know, we can be respectful observers and provide one another grace for what cannot be seen. In the end, it’s not doing it ‘right’ that brings us closer, but rather how we feel when we are together.

In this shared space of reflection and grace, we create a community that is deeply rooted in presence and understanding. May we continue to walk this path together, embracing the beauty of the season and the peace that comes when we allow ourselves to be led by its natural rhythm.

Shared with us by Alexandra Wheatlake, Community Liaison听

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Instead of relying on pre-packaged content, Waldorf students create 鈥渕ain lesson books鈥�- handmade records of their learning that combine writing, art, and reflection of the material brought to them throughout each 4 week block. These books are not mere assignments; they are acts of will. Each page requires the student to digest information, internalize it deeply, and then transform it into something meaningful. In this way, students aren鈥檛 just studying historical dates, authors names, or scientific formulas- they are carefully curating knowledge through their own effort.

The role of the teacher is equally transformative. Without a textbook to pull information from, Waldorf teachers fully immerse themselves in their subject. Lessons are not recited from a script, but woven together from diverse and creative sources- books, nature, field trips 鈥� their own lived experience and accounts of those that came before. This keeps content flexible and responsive to the times, allowing teachers to remain deeply relevant in a fast-changing world. To this effect, an artistic rendering of history may often be closer to truth than a standardized account in a textbook. Parents are often surprised at how rich these books become, not just in content but in the artistry and thoughtfulness behind them.

The implications for subjects like science and math are profound. Physics lessons, for example, begin with phenomena- a flame in a darkened room, a lever lifting a car- before moving toward concepts and theories. In math, students work through problems as living puzzles rather than rote drills, building confidence as well as understanding. This experiential, phenomena-first approach ensures that knowledge arises from observation and thought, not mere memorization.

Of course, the absence of textbooks does not mean the absence of rigor or thorough understanding. Waldorf teachers map their work carefully to state standards, ensuring that students are up to appropriate standards fully prepared for college admittance. In many cases, the curriculum goes beyond what is required, offering a richer and more integrated experience than traditional models.

To rely on a textbook is to accept a single lens on the world- one that is often shaped by politics or cultural bias. To teach without one is to embrace freedom, responsibility, and creativity. In doing so, Waldorf educators cultivate not only knowledgeable students but also independent thinkers who can meet the future with clarity and will.听

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In Waldorf education, we honor the turning of the seasons through festivals. These are more than celebrations 鈥� they turn our regard toward the rhythms of the Earth and offer an invitation to recalibrate, to harmonize with it.

At this time of year, within the walls of the school, glances of dismay are often exchanged at the entanglement and unfolding of circumstances. Inevitably, someone speaks 鈥淢ichaelmas鈥� into the space, and expressions soften 鈥� followed by a knowing, collective nod.

Michaelmas marks the beginning of the inward exploration that will continue through the winter months. This journey begins with uncovering the courage that lies within, so that we may face what lies ahead.

Michaelmas often appears as a series of calamities 鈥� false starts, a mirage of finish lines, unusual and unpredictable errors, and a gradual collapse of the confidences we claimed over the summer.

This is the work of 鈥榙ragons鈥� 鈥� in full force 鈥� challenging us with great precision.

There is wisdom in their timing 鈥� rising as daylight shrinks, as darkness gains its foothold, and as the cool air draws us indoors. It is in the darkness 鈥� in our separation from one another and from the Earth 鈥� that they grow.

While no one can fight our dragons for us, or even often alongside us, others can help lift the shadows they cast. It is light that loosens their grip. When we allow others the honor of witnessing our battles, of witnessing our courage, we illuminate what was once murky, overwhelming, and isolating 鈥� not just within ourselves, but within those who witness us.

Are all dragons of this world external forces that we are called upon to vanquish? Or do some dragons serve as mirrors 鈥� revealing what lies within 鈥� asking not to be slain, but understood, worked with, tamed, even harnessed?

Though the days grow shorter, we are not without light. Though we travel inward, we are not retreating. This season primes us to find new sources of light and of strength 鈥� in ourselves, in each other, in our shared stories, and in the quiet resilience that rises when we walk together.听

For our grades students, Michaelmas is songs, stories, verses, and poems of Michael and a filled with games that ignite their forces of will. For our High Schoolers, it is making 鈥楩ire Cider鈥� in cooking class, holding the Field Day games for our grades students, and for one lucky senior 鈥� playing the role of Michael cloaked in red and gold and wielding a sword of meteoric iron (cardboard)!听

To support you in your journey and give you a window into your students鈥� lives at the school:

–听 听 Morning Singing – Michaelmas听

–听 听

–听

“Brave and true I will be.

Each good deed sets me free.听

Each kind word makes me strong.听

I will fight for the right, I will conquer the wrong”

Grateful to have this community to be brave with.

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The Library Committee and class teachers curated the lists below by rising grade level – so…spread out a blanket, relax, sip a lemonade, and read!

2nd Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade

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We live in a fear-filled world. This has always been true for humanity. Whether it has
been threat from wild beasts, natural disasters, famine and starvation, war, plague and illness,
or material poverty, humanity has always had big worries. In our own time, we experience
strongly that fear and anxiety fill the air we breathe every day as well. Since the pandemic
especially, we do not know from where or when a threat may come. This can fill us with vague,
consistent anxiety. We want to provide our children with the capacities and inner courage to
face whatever unknowns will face them in their futures. How can we do that?

The fall festival of Michaelmas is about confronting fear with courage. Michael fights the
monster. This happens year after year. The beast is never fully quashed. The
Michael/Sophia/gallant souls鈥攖he 鈥渉e,鈥� 鈥渟he,鈥� or 鈥渢hey鈥濃�攅ncounter it again and again, never
backing away or giving up. Nothing in the stories says that they are fearless. They confront fear
by looking it squarely in the face and forging ahead, refusing to become paralyzed by it.

Children are guided not only by what the adults around them say and do, but also by how
they think and feel. If we do not want our children to be narrowed by fear, we must break out
of our own fetters. Michaelmas stories of courage are usually directed to children, yet these
stories speak to adults as well. Where does fear, which will be subtly absorbed by the children,
live in me? This season calls to all of us to acknowledge our anxieties about the future yet walk
forward with our children to affirm the goodness of life through the courage that this festival
celebrates.

Typically, we celebrate Michaelmas with either a field day of games requiring us all to bring our strength and courage, or with a school-wide pageant to embrace the underlying meaning of Michaelmas. 2023 is a pageant year, so our students and staff will come together to act out a story of light overcoming darkness and virtue triumphing over vice. May we all move forward together in this season ahead sharing our light, goodness, and courage!

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It isn鈥檛 just about playsilks, beeswax, beautiful wooden toys, a proper supply of woolies, paper stars hanging from the windows, or the absence of an always-on television (although we do love all these). Rather, it is about creating a thoughtful home-life around the values that we most cherish.

In doing so, we create a sense of purpose, familiarity, and joy for our children. By ensuring our home life and school life complement each other, our children have a sense of security in knowing what to expect.

Here are a few ways to bring Waldorf into your day-to-day home life:

1. Rhythm. Rhythm and consistency calm our children 91探花 鈥檚, and our, nervous systems, in turn creating more peace and less stress in our homes. Just ask a kindergartener what day it is and you鈥檒l likely get the answer 鈥渂read day鈥� or 鈥渟oup day.鈥� Establishing a daily, weekly and seasonal rhythm in our home creates a sense of stability for our children, as they know what to expect.

   It isn鈥檛 a strict schedule to follow, where if we don鈥檛 stick to it we鈥檝e failed. Instead, it 91探花 鈥檚 a gentle way to guide us through our days. Just like when we breathe in and out, our days can reflect that same rhythm 鈥� the in-breath in which we embrace the quiet (for example, reading a story), followed by the out-breath in which we embrace the world around us (such as going for a walk around the block). Likewise, we can be intentional about doing the same thing on the same day of the week, such as laundry, going to the library, or other daily tasks which we can include our children.

   Living into the seasons by taking the time to notice what is going on around us in the natural world 鈥攖he first springs of green grass or new birds chirping 鈥� reminds us where we are in the world. We can create a little place where we invite nature into our homes to connect us to the world we share – a few pinecones in winter or treasures collected on a walk.

   If you find you have no rhythm today, start with something very small 鈥� light a candle before dinner, take a walk around the block each morning, or sing the same song at bedtime.

2. Simplicity. In a world that pushes us to fill our lives with more, we can find ourselves overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the day ahead of us. Embracing simplicity, however, reminds us that we do not have to do 鈥渁ll the things, all at once.鈥� 鈥ㄢ�ˋs parents we want the best for our children, and so understandably we feel an impulse to fill our children 91探花 鈥檚 lives with ever-growing 鈥渆nrichment鈥� opportunities (be it music, sports, extra curriculars, and the list goes on and on). However, more is not always better; in fact, oftentimes, the practice of too-much-too-soon overwhelms our families and counteracts healthful growth and intellectual stimulation.

   Allowing ourselves to slow down, simplify our days, and invite our children into everyday life helps center them and gives them a place within the family. Young children are eager to help prepare meals, wash dishes, do laundry, sweep the floor and many other daily tasks. When we include them in the act of caring for our environment, and doing it with intention, we are planting the seeds of compassion and care for the world all around us.

3. Free, unstructured play in nature. Children 91探花 鈥檚 lives, and our lives as parents, are often scheduled from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed. In our busy lives, sometimes we need to remember the power and importance of downtime and how important healthy free play is. 鈥ㄢ�≒lay is the job of children, it is how they make sense of the world around them. All of the impressions our children take in during the day 鈥� whether is it from screens, a simple trip to the grocery store, or a day at school 鈥� must be processed, and the way children make sense of what they have seen and done is through free, unstructured play. Ensuring we incorporate free play in nature every day allows our children to make sense of the world around them and keeps them from becoming overwhelmed. Nature is the easiest, and best, reset when our children, or we as parents, become overwhelmed.

By taking a few conscious steps to bring rhythm, simplicity, and play into our days we can create a home life that reflects our values and which translates into less anxious children and adults 鈥� leaving room for growth and a love for the world all around us.

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