A new charter school with a unique teaching approach set to open in Waldo

A new Waldorf-inspired non-profit school, Constellation Charter School of Gainesville, will open in August in Waldo for students in grades first through sixth.

Just a short drive from Gainesville, it has taken up occupancy in the former Alachua County School building – as most of the necessary updates are cosmetic – and will offer a new type of free public education.

The school aims to collaborate with parents, teachers and staff using Public Waldorf Education Principles through the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education (APWE) to teach children. The APWE provides resources to help merge the Waldorf methods and curriculums with state requirements.

According to the school’s website, grade schools offering Waldorf education opportunities in Alachua County have historically been private schools. The public school option helps make Waldorf education methods accessible to all families and children in the area, even outside of Alachua County.

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The school, which opens Aug. 10, will follow Rudolf Steiner’s Waldorf education methods, which focus on the child’s growth and development as a person and individual, not just academically. Curriculum from Steiner’s methods have been updated to fit modern times, and the school presents an integrated, holistic curriculum. Children in the third grade and above will learn the violin, viola and cello and younger grades will learn the flute.

“The science has an artistic element, you know, the math classes draw on what they’re studying in literature,” said Sarah West, president of the Constellation Charter School board of directors. “It’s a very integrated curriculum and it pulls in everything that they’re studying together.”

The school’s Board of Directors (BOD) consists of parents, educators, community leaders, entrepreneurs and more, many of which have experienced direct and indirect Waldorf education benefits.

Constellation Charter School and its BOD are supported by The Waldorf Initiative of Gainesville (TWIG), which is a non-profit in the area since 2004 that supports Waldorf education. Despite hosting fundraising events and grants from private donors, most of the school’s funding comes from the state of Florida.

In the classrooms

It is common in Waldorf education for teachers to have one class and follow that class as their primary teacher while advancing through grade levels. The Constellation Charter School plans to implement that.

West said the practice will provide students with a teacher that can cater to individual students and their educational needs, instead of having to get reacquainted with a new teacher every year.

“We’ve been really lucky, but we have experienced a great set of people who are excited about working with Constellation, and I think a lot of people are attracted to the idea of being able to stay with their students year after year,” she said. “It’s somewhat a demanding job as a teacher to be learning new curriculum every year, but they’re learning as the students are learning.”

There are currently five primary teachers at the school for each grade. Grades one through four have their own teacher, and there is one teacher for a combined class of grades five and six.

The school plans to branch into middle school grades, adding a new grade each year until they have eight. There is also already a Waldorf kindergarten and elementary school in Gainesville, called Morning Meadow.

Traditionally, Waldorf schools don’t begin formal education until first grade and focus on physical movement and an integrated curriculum. West said it gives children additional time to develop physiological skills that will help them move into academics. Even though academics are introduced later in development, Waldorf schools show students outperforming their peers in later elementary and middle school, West added.

The school currently has a 98-student capacity and added grades will consist of classes of 22 students. There are still spaces available in the school and for most of the grade levels.

Teacher pay

The starting salary for teachers at Constellation Charter School is $47,500, which meets Florida’s new teacher salary requirements and is higher than the starting pay for Alachua County Public Schools. All teaching positions have been filled at the school.

The school, however, is still taking student applications for the 2023-2024 school year. It will follow the Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) calendar.

“The applicants that we’ve had and the teachers that we’ve hired – our staff – are just really excited to be part of a like-minded team that really wants to give space to the development and the creativity of children," West said.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Waldorf education public charter school to open in Waldo