gardening

School Choice Impacts the Whole Family

When families begin the school search, the focus is naturally on the child: Will my child be happy here? Will they learn and grow? Will they feel known?

But over time, something else becomes clear—the school you choose shapes not just your child’s experience, but your family’s life as well.

It influences your rhythms, your values, your weekends, your conversations at the dinner table. It shapes who you spend time with, how you think about parenting, and the kind of community you are part of, often for many years.

At Richmond Waldorf School, we think about education in this broader, more human way. Waldorf education is intentionally designed to support not only the child, but the whole family and ultimately, broader society. With teacher looping, our teachers work with students and their families over multiple years, building relationships and a deep understanding of each child. This continuity allows for meaningful partnership—one where parents feel supported, seen, and connected.

One of the ways this comes to life is through the rhythm of the year.

As the seasons change, so too does the life of the school. In the fall, we gather for festivals that celebrate light and harvest. In the winter, we slow down and bring warmth and reflection into our classrooms and community. Spring invites movement, growth, and joyful celebration culminating in traditions like our May Faire, where families come together to welcome the season with music, flowers, and time outdoors.

These are not just events, they are shared experiences that mark time, create memory, and connect families to one another in meaningful ways.

Furthermore, nature is not something we visit occasionally, it is something we move with. You see it in our outdoor play, our field trips, and the way curriculum unfolds in age-appropriate ways. Third graders spend time at farms, deepening their understanding of the land and where food comes from. Fifth graders study botany and visit a working bee sanctuary. Middle school students push themselves on longer trips that build resilience, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment, such as biking the Capital Trail or taking on the mighty James River!

Belonging and Connection

Families are part of these experiences as well.

Parents join us for festivals, help prepare classrooms, chaperone field trips, and lend their time and talents in ways both big and small. Over time, these shared moments create something deeper than involvement and create belonging.

We also offer opportunities for parent education and connection, recognizing that raising children is a journey best supported in community. Whether through conversations with teachers, gatherings with other parents, or simply time spent together at school events, families grow alongside their children.

Research continues to show that when parents feel supported and engaged, it has a lasting impact on children’s development. But beyond research, we see it every day: when families feel at home in a school community, children thrive.

Choosing a school is an important decision. It is also an invitation into a community, a rhythm, and a way of being that shapes the years ahead for your whole family.

At Richmond Waldorf School, we are grateful to walk that path together.

Learn More!

If you are ready to learn more about the Waldorf approach, we welcome you to visit us, chat with our Admissions Office, and learn more. The best way to understand our approach is to experience it — to visit, observe, and see how children learn here with their heads, their hearts, and their hands.

Schedule a tour or connect with our Enrollment Director, Alexandra Mazeres, to learn more about Richmond Waldorf School. Click on our “Visit Us” page to sign up for a tour or call us at 804-377-8024 ext 3.

The Academics Benefits of…Gardening!

When we think about academic success, we often picture desks, books, and time spent inside the classroom. But what if some of the most meaningful academic learning happens outside—hands in the soil, observing the seasons, tending something over time?

More research is pointing to the powerful impact of gardening and nature-based learning on students—not just for their well-being, but for their academic growth as well. Studies show that school gardening programs can deepen understanding in subjects like math and science, while also improving engagement, behavior, and overall attitude toward school.

At Richmond Waldorf School, this is something we have long known to be true.

Gardening is an integral part of our Waldorf education and experiential curriculum– especially in the 3rd and 5th grades– and a key component of our hands-on learning approach.

When a child plants a seed, they are not only learning about botany—they are experiencing it. Students are able to observe patterns, measure growth, notice changes in weather, and begin to understand cause and effect in tangible ways. Math and science come alive through real-world application. Even ethics begin to take root, as children experience responsibility, patience, and the interconnectedness of living things.

Just as importantly, gardening invites children into a relationship with the natural world. As a school that values nature-based learning, we believe that connection to the environment is essential to a child’s development. Students begin to notice the subtle shifts of the seasons, to care for something beyond themselves, and to take pride in the work of their hands.

Outdoor Foundational Experiences

You can see this connection to nature woven throughout the Richmond Waldorf School experience.

In the early years, our Early Childhood students spend at least 90 minutes outdoors each day, immersed in outdoor play-based learning. As they grow, that relationship deepens—through gardening, seasonal studies, and foundational field trips.

Our campus garden beds– including a greenhouse installed in 2025 through a grant from the Whole Kids Foundation- are a part of our curriculum and tended to by Early Childhood through the Grades. In third grade, students study farming and have a weekly Gardening class. They take trips to Shalom Farms, our Northside Richmond neighbors, where they plant seedlings and care for the garden. And in the spring, the class takes a four night/five day field trip to Hawthorne Valley Farm in Ghent, NY for a truly immersive experiential learning opportunity at a working farm, connecting directly to the rhythms of the land. In fifth grade, students study botany in a hands-on way, observing plants in their natural environments. Their trip to Spikenard Bee Sanctuary in Floyd, Virginia is another milestone experience for the students, where they can see botany and the ecosystem in action.

Across the grades, students engage with nature not as a subject, but as a teacher. And families can see in their students how this approach to holistic education shapes not just what children know, but who they are becoming.

In a world that often moves quickly and values immediate results, gardening teaches something different. It teaches patience and care, and that meaningful growth takes time.

And perhaps most importantly, it reminds us that when children are given the opportunity to engage deeply—with their environment, their work, and their community they don’t just learn more, they love learning more.

Learn More

If you are curious about how this approach looks in real classrooms, we would love to welcome you to Richmond Waldorf School. The best way to understand our approach is to experience it — to visit, observe, and see how children learn here with their heads, their hearts, and their hands.

Plant Sale at May Faire: May 2!

Join us at May Faire on Saturday, May 2 from 11 am to 2 pm for the 3rd and 5th grade led Plant Sale! For more information, visit www.richmondwaldorf.com/may-faire

Preparing the Gardens of Richmond Waldorf School

The faculty and staff at Richmond Waldorf School recently spread a biodynamic preparation on our school’s grounds and fields. Biodynamic Farming was inspired by Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education. It seeks to “awaken and enliven co-creative relationships between humans and the earth, transforming the practice and culture of agriculture to renew the vitality of the earth, the integrity of our food, and the health and wholeness of our communities” (https://www.biodynamics.com/about-the-bda).

We were delighted to have Jenny Dilworth, Visual Arts Teacher at RWS, give us some background and lead our staff in spreading a field preparation that will awaken our grounds and lay the framework for our future gardens.

This is the first step in a longer process to prepare the ground for gardening. Through this preparation, the ground begins to awaken. The preparation should improve the soil by bringing livestock material and crops together in the ecosystem, thereby balancing each other and increasing the biodiversity of the ground. It also brings awareness and intention to the ground which brings a cosmic force to the land.