Advocates propose new Waldorf education option -- in charter school form

Jul. 8—Santa Fe may play host to another charter school by the 2025-26 school year.

After the abrupt closure of Santa Fe Waldorf School in August 2023, a group of teachers, administrators and community members connected to the shuttered school are attempting to resurrect Waldorf-inspired education in Santa Fe — this time in the form of a public charter school called Sun Mountain Community School.

On Wednesday, the state's Public Education Commission, which oversees state-chartered schools, will hold a hearing to gather public feedback on the proposed charter school. The commission is slated to make its final decision on whether to approve the charter school application in mid-August.

However, Sun Mountain Charter School may face obstacles in the path to approval: A peer review — conducted, per Public Education Commission policy, by a team of "New Mexico Charter School experts" — determined most components of the school's application did not meet or did not entirely meet state expectations for new charter schools.

In addition to identifying significant issues with the school's proposed academic calendar, student assessment plan and budgetary processes, the peer review found the school's would-be curriculum inadequate and inconsistent with state education requirements, particularly when it comes to early literacy.

"The applicant team has chosen not to align with New Mexico Standards," the peer reviewers report stated.

Sun Mountain Community School's organizers declined to be interviewed for this story, citing scheduling issues and limited bandwidth ahead of the public comment hearing.

"We just have a lot on our plate right now, and we want to focus on our application," said Jayita Sahni, one of the school's intended founders.

In June, school organizers submitted a 265-page core application — plus hundreds of pages of additional materials — outlining the school's plans for its curriculum, facilities and budget. It proposes a school of about 200 students from kindergarten through eighth grade, to be housed at the former site of the Santa Fe Waldorf School off Old Pecos Trail.

According to Public Education Commission policy, the application goes through both a peer review by charter school experts and a technical review by the Public Education Department's Charter Schools Division, which provide analysis on whether to approve the application ahead of the commission's final decision.

Like traditional public schools, charter schools earn per-pupil funding from the state. Sun Mountain Community School's application anticipates the school will receive between $910,000 and $2.3 million per year in state funding during its first five years in operation. The peer review of the application, however, states the school's proposed budget documents are rife with errors and do not include adequate budget control strategies.

In contrast to traditional public schools, New Mexico law states charter schools should offer "new, innovative and more flexible ways of educating children within the public school system." Charter schools aren't meant to replicate offerings available at traditional public schools; rather, they provide alternatives to families and students while meeting the state's educational standards.

Sun Mountain Community School is proposing something different: A Waldorf education option — particularly one without the hefty tuition cost of private school — would be new to New Mexico. Member records for the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America and the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education do not include any other Waldorf schools in the state.

In its application, Sun Mountain Community School organizers argue the proposed school's "uniquenesses" would stem from core tenets of Waldorf philosophy, such as a whole-child and developmental approach to learning, limited media usage, emphasis on outdoor education and use of rhythm in the classroom.

However, as the peer review points out, the Waldorf philosophy isn't necessarily consistent with state standards — which, as a public charter school, Sun Mountain would have to attain.

The major inconsistency between Waldorf and traditional public schools' methods of teaching comes in early literacy.

Based on Waldorf's developmental teaching model, teachers prepare kindergarteners, first graders and second graders for literacy by building vocabulary, listening comprehension and recognition of the sounds that make up words, Sun Mountain's application states.

Typically, though, Waldorf schools don't introduce printed, early-reader books until the second half of second grade, according to the the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. Sun Mountain Waldorf School's application acknowledges written language is excluded from kindergarten consistent with Waldorf philosophy.

That's not compatible with New Mexico's English language arts standards for kindergarten, first and second grade, all of which state students should be able to read grade-level texts with increasing independence, accuracy and fluency.

The peer review team determined Sun Mountain's plans for teaching literacy "does not clearly align" with state standards, though it may align with the Waldorf philosophy.

If the Public Education Commission were to approve Sun Mountain Community School, the peer reviewers wrote, "the school would have to modify its entire curriculum."