Washington Waldorf School

The Washington Waldorf School is a private K-12 school in Bethesda, Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C., on a 6-acre campus the school rents from Montgomery County. The school also has exclusive use of another 6 acres of adjoining parkland during the school day. As a Waldorf school, the curriculum is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Washington Waldorf School is one of over 1000 Waldorf schools worldwide and 150 Waldorf schools in North America. The school has one of the few outdoor kindergarten programs in the Washington, D.C., area. History The Washington Waldorf School was founded initially as a grade school in 1969 in Washington, D.C., and in 1982 moved to its current campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The high school was added in 1984 and graduated its first 12th grade in 1988. The school is accredited by Association of Independent Maryland and DC Schools and the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. Academics Washington Waldorf School is a college preparatory school whose curriculum follows a block rotation schedule, in which a single subject is studied intensively for around four weeks. Lessons are interdisciplinary, drawing connections across subjects to deepen student engagement with the material. High school instruction is conducted in a seminar format that emphasizes student participation and discussion. In 2026 rankings from Niche, Washington Waldorf School was ranked the #2 Private K-12 School and the #5 Private High School in Montgomery County, MD and was ranked in the top 5% nation wide. Athletics The school's sports teams (baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, and track) compete in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference. The school mascot is the Red-Tailed Hawks. Alums Likolani Brown Arthurs, Former NYC Ballet Dancer now a surgical resident at NYU Langone Health Laila Bunker, Director of Nursing Washington County, MD Health Department Anabella Aspiras, Former Assistant Director, Cancer Moonshot Engagement at The White House Josie Bicknell, National Science Foundation graduate Research Fellow, Dichtel Group Northwestern University Department of Chemistry Mikaela Bufano, Producer at CBS Sunday Morning Celia Braun, Professional soccer player, FC Basel Frauen Rachel Chamberlin, PhD Senior Anthropologist, The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Megin Charner-Laird, Research Affiliate Harvard Graduate School of Education Alexis Covey-Brandt, Senior Advisor to Governor Wes Moore Elena Day, Former Cirque du Soleil performer, ProTrack Director and Head of Physical Theater at New England Center for Circus Arts Daniel Foster, Principal Viola, National Symphony Orchestra Sam Girdzis, PhD Researcher Institute for Defense Analyses Caitlin Gorman, Manager Environmental Remediation, Pacific Gas and Electric Company Jeff Johns, Media Producer, Author of Jet Lag Junkie: Unfiltered Tales of a Compulsive Wanderer Nick Kendall, Grammy award winning violinist of the genre bending trio Time for Three Zoe Kulik, National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Vertebrate Paleontology Alex Laing, Principal Clarinet, Phoenix Symphony Nicholas LeBlanc, PhD Research Plant Pathologist, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Ayella Maile-Moskowitz, Postdoctoral Researcher, Southern Nevada Water Authority Allie Miraglia, YouTube creator at Trent & Allie Julia Roche, Legislative Affairs Director, Baltimore City Health Department Max Silver, Supervising Producer, Netflix Brian Spitulnik, 11 years as a Broadway dancer in Chicago, now a Psychotherapist Brandon Tapia, 2023 Astronaut Scholar, pursuing PhD in Chemical Engineering at MIT Noah Verleun, Co-Founder, Global Clean Energy Holdings Guinevere Van Seenus, Top American model, photographer, and jewelry designer See also Curriculum of the Waldorf schools References External links Official web site Niche Profile The Waldorf Method, The Washington Times, June 1, 2003. Accessed 2009-04-19.