Waldorf School of Mendocino County

If I were a child again and I could pick my school, it’d be this one. The teachers are fantastic, loving, and dedicated to their students on a level that I have not seen before. The children come from families who value their development into brilliant and flexible thinkers, and it shows. I couldn’t ask for a more wonderful set of peers for my daughters! Working with the dedicated parents who strive to give the best experience to our children is (to steal a phrase) the hardest job I’ve ever loved.

We were so hopeful when we found this school. It seemed so child-​oriented and friendly. Now it’s hard to describe the degree of disfunction and drama we experienced there. There are some good teachers (although almost all of them left at the end of this school year due to hemorrhaging enrollment and chronic financial instability) and many well-​meaning people. In looking for specific criticisms I could say that they don’t understand that their families are their customers. The school is always in crisis and they look continuously to the families to bail them out with money and time. It wears everyone down. Communication is poor, in part because they are always short staffed but also because in their chronic crisis state they seem to feel that information should only be given on a need-​to-​know basis. There is no principal or key leader and this is a critical problem. The school is led by the teachers and the ones who have been there longest are There is a failure to deal with bullying in any effective way. In fact, when any of the teachers or staff perceive criticism or resistance to their authority, they become a bully pack themselves. Parents admit to being afraid to speak out for fear of becoming targeted. The students are frequently unsupervised which allows student-​to-​student bullying to take place. All of this is of course my personal opinion.