• Intellect and the Soul 
• New School Emergency Announcement System
• Annual Giving
• Handbook Highlight for the Winter
• Early Childhood Open House and Marionette Shows
• News from Homespun

You can also access the Bulletin, including past editions, on the Waldorf School of Lexington's website in the Community Section.

In social life intellectualism separates humans from one another. They can only work rightly within the community when they are able to impart to their deeds—which always involve the weal or woe of their fellow beings—something of their soul. One person should experience not only another's activity but something of their soul. In a deed, however, which springs from intellectualism, people withhold their soul nature. They do not let it flow over to their neighbour. It has long been said that in the teaching and training of children intellectualism operates in a crippling way. In saying this one has in mind, in the first place, only the child's intelligence, not the teacher's. One would like to fashion one's methods of training and instruction so that not only the child's cold understanding may be aroused and developed, but warmth of heart may be engendered too.

-Rudolf Steiner, A Lecture on Pedagogy, September 1922

We are implementing a new school announcement system to be used in emergencies and school closings (such as snow days). This will allow for one phone call from the school to be transmitted to all parents, faculty and staff at the same time. This will mean that we will not need to activate a school-wide phone tree when we use this system. However, it is critical to know that we will continue to maintain our class phone trees and faculty phone trees as always. There will be times when classes need to communicate some regular messages to a class (class meeting announcements, class activities, etc.) or when the school announcement system is not working or is unavailable for any reason.

In an emergency or school closing:
If you receive a broadcast call from the school you will know that everyone is being informed directly by the school. If you receive the regular call from the phone tree you will know that a phone tree is in operation.

The school plans to test the system in the coming week. Parents will receive a test phone message from the school on Monday, January 11 at 6:15 p.m. There is no need to reply, as we will monitor the results from the school.  If you have any questions, please contact Joe O'Regan .

Please pledge here now.  The Development Committee welcomes everyone to 2010. Your participation in Annual Giving is urgently important if we are to close out the campaign by the end of this month. We are still a long way from reaching our goal of 100% participation from current families, with 17% of families pledging or giving to-date. Just two years ago, our community achieved a participation rate of 91% overall, so we know we can do it. Remember that Annual Giving dollars support the school’s operating budget. The school counts on your support in order to keep programming intact. Thank you so much!

Now that the winter is truly upon us, it’s important to dress warmly and appropriately both while indoors and out. When it snows, the students love to spend recess sledding down the hill and playing in the snow, but in order to do so they need the proper outerwear. All students need a warm winter coat, a hat, and gloves or mittens. Any student who wishes to leave the blacktop at recess must have warm, waterproof boots and all students in fourth grade and below must have snowpants. Any older students who wish to go sledding must also have snowpants to do so. This is for the children’s health and comfort. For more information on snow policies, please see the Community Handbook in the Parent Pages.

Please spread the word to your friends and neighbors about our upcoming Early Childhood Admissions Open House on Saturday, January 23, from 10 a.m. to noon. The Early Childhood Puppetry Troupe will offer two performances of the Ojibwey tale “Shingebiss,” with performances at 9:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. If you would like to help support the day by posting flyers or sending postcards to friends or neighbors, please contact Holly Kania . For a flyer you can email, click here.

Admissions Information Sessions aren’t just for prospective parents from outside the school. Visiting an information session is a wonderful way for parents of children in our Early Childhood or Parent-Child classes to gain understanding about Waldorf education. There are four information sessions in the coming months: Wednesday, January 13; Tuesday, January 26; Wednesday, February 10; and Tuesday, March 16. To register to attend, please click here.

Happy New Year! Winter is most definitely here. Come stock up on hand cream to keep your hands soft or lip balm to drive off the north wind. We have wonderful knit children's hats made of the softest alpaca wool and felted wool hats for adults. Perhaps you wish to stock up on painting supplies for those indoor days. Come support your school store!

Drop-In Crafts/Workshops
Come join other parents on Tuesday, January 12, 8:30-11 a.m. in the Chorus Room for Drop-in Crafting, where we will be making knitted chickens (please bring a set of knitting needles size 8 to 10 1/2 if you have them). Children are most welcome.

Have you always wanted to make a Waldorf Doll? Come register for the six week workshop. The class will be held on Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-11 a.m. March 2 through April 6. Registration is available via email , or you can stop by Homespun to sign up. Younger children welcome.