Shining Mountain Waldorf School

Shining Mountain Waldorf School offers Pre-K through 12th grade Waldorf education in the heart of an innovative city and beautiful landscape. We are a community dedicated to educating children to lead and serve the world in truth, beauty and goodness.

Testimonials

After graduating from Shining Mountain in 2005, I was excited to leave the small comfort of community and family, and also scared to death. I decided to pursue a bachelors degree in sociology and women's studies at Manhattanville College, in New York! After a few weeks of crying on the phone to my parents, I jumped into college life head first. I became a president of a dance club, volunteerd with at-risk teens, and put on the biggest event in the schools history. When I graduated from college in 2009, I felt that same mixture of accomplishment, excitement, panic and fear. I was now shedding the comfort of my "student" identity. I moved into my first apartment in Queens, New York, and worked in a special education high school as a teacher's assistant. I then decided to pursue my Masters degree in Social Work at New York University, where I gained valuable experince in the field. When I completed the program, I felt like life had just become very real! After 7 months of the job search roller coaster, I landed an amazing position working as a Supervising Social Worker in a Domestic Violence Shelter. I am extremely passionate about supporting survivors of violence, and feel I am exactly where I am meant to be! Being a Waldorf student shaped me ino the person I am today, and instilled in me the confidence to meet the world head on, create opportunities and accomplish my goals. - Tirzah Stein, class of 2005

After thirteen years at Shining Mountain, I entered college with some nervousness. I got in to my top school - Barnard College, but wondered how I would fare. I knew that my education had been very different, and I was not sure how this would 'translate' into the 'real world'. Well, it translated just fine! My first college semester was one of integration; learning the university system and how everything worked. My grades were good, and only went up after that: I made the Dean's List every semester after the first.

My initial nervousness about 'fitting in to the real world' soon vanished as I realized that the world I had within me was much more real and valuable than the materialistic, urban chaos of New York City that buzzed around me. And it still is. In retrospect, I look at the friends I made during my college career, and see that they are people of depth, breadth and heart. Although they did not attend a Waldorf School, they all share qualities of a Waldorf graduate. They are seekers of truth, high achievers in their respective fields, committed to helping others and the world, humanitarians of mind, heart and spirit.

I feel richer having gone to a Waldorf school; richer in life experience and soul, with a keener ability than many around me to penetrate into the truth and heart of the matter. I do not write this with ego, rather an awareness of self and an awareness of the similar beings whom I choose to surround myself with.

I have lived in many a metropolis since my time at SMWS, and have tried on a few careers, resting now in the career of Waldorf Teacher at Highland Hall in their high school as English and Drama teacher. I love the Waldorf world so much that I have returned.

The words, in essence, that I feel sum up a Waldorf graduate are: clear sighted, full hearted, well rounded, awakened students and adventurers of Life. - Nita Mickley Davanzo, Alumna, Class of 1999

After graduating from Shining Mountain in 2009, I briefly attended Loyola Marymount University in L.A. Though I valued my experience there, it wasn't long before I realized that LMU wasn't the best fit for me and made the decision to transfer to DU. After the initial transition of transferring schools, everything began to fall into place. Because I had always known that I would pursue a career in counseling and human services, I became interested in a 3/2 program that would allow me to "fast-track" towards that goal. I finished my undergraduate degree in three years with a double major in Psychology and Sociology, and am now in my 4th year at DU (Denver University) working towards my master's degree at the Graduate School of Social Work. In addition to completing my MSW in the following year, I have been accepted as a student and intern to an intensive Marriage and Family Training program at the Denver Family Institute where I hope to gain the skills and experience to become the best therapist possible.

I truly believe that my experience as a Waldorf student at SMWS was a main driving force that has shaped the individual I am today, and who I continue to become...