Mission & Vision
“One of the principles in the Waldorf school is to educate young people so that they can bring to the fore in the right way the whole of their human potential, as well as developing the skills they need to take their proper place in the world.”
—Rudolf Steiner, Founder Waldorf Education

Mission

Inspired to awaken the highest potential of the human being, Waldorf School of the Peninsula High School develops each student’s capacity to think freely and imaginatively, produce creatively, and serve humanity with a true sense of social, ethical and ecological responsibility.

Vision

As a diverse and mature high school, WSPHS is a strong pillar that enriches the greater Silicon Valley and is a vehicle for educational renewal.
  • Benefiting from Rudolf Steiner’s curriculum and a culture that values Silicon Valley’s spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship , WSPHS graduates are:
  • Creative thinkers and problem solvers
  • Striving and fearless artists
  • Ethical leaders
  • Agents of social change
  • Conscious and innovative users of technology.
  • Seekers of truth, beauty and goodness in their lifelong pursuit of knowledge
  • Responsible and interested world citizens
  • Stewards of the planet
  • Students are known for their contribution to Silicon Valley culture through service, and by bringing their performing, visual, movement and practical arts to the community.
  • All faculty members are experienced in their fields, passionate about their subjects, and trained and accredited in Waldorf curriculum and methods. They guide a living institution that is rich and vibrant in its academic, humanistic, artistic and physically challenging activities.
  • The school serves as a cultural magnet, reflecting the visionary richness of Silicon Valley through partnerships with philosophically aligned organizations, comprehensive adult education lectures, an established high school teacher training program, and sponsorship of cultural events that welcome the greater community’s participation and engagement.
  • The school’s physical site supports the full array of programs, connects to the geography and energy of the SV, and engages green technology, materials and culture.

Values/Guiding Principles

1. Cultivate a community of learning
  • Honor and adapt Rudolf Steiner’s educational and social philosophy, considering the needs of today’s adolescent
  • Engage in a lifelong love of learning by:
  • Integrating humanities, sciences, fine and practical arts, mathematics and movement
  • Balancing broad intellectual exploration with subject depth
  • Engaging in creative, open-ended and independent thinking through an environment of inquiry
  • Awakening holistic thinking through studies that first explore the unity of the whole, move to the parts, then return to the whole
  • Honor the developmental stages of adolescents
  • Glean value from both successes and failures
  • Encourage students to work towards social justice
  • Awaken reverence, wonder and awe toward the world through an exuberant and joyful learning environment
  • Value human relationships, acknowledging individuality within the group and group awareness within the individual
2. Support development toward freedom and ethical responsibility
  • Encourage development of each student’s inner compass to navigate social and cultural complexities
  • Recognize and exercise multiple intelligences, including cognitive, emotional and moral
  • Inspire personal responsibility and accountability
  • Form a community of adults who individually and collectively hold the students in an environment of hope, positive change and belief in the highest good
  • Strive to engage the intellect with the heart before taking action
3. Encourage healthy individual, family, and social life
  • Honor individual and family needs by supporting healthy and balanced living and study habits
  • Mitigate academic and cultural stress through meaningful engagement in learning and ongoing community-wide conversation
  • Learn and practice cooperative communication models
  • Strive for a balance between collaboration and competition; inspire personal motivation that is broader than comparative success/failure
  • Celebrate the unique capacities of each individual
  • Turn no student away based on his or her family’s ability to pay tuition.
4. Lead through service
  • Seek to identify where social, technological and environmental change is needed; participate in and help shape this change
  • Engage pioneer students in the school’s development