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High School

At Pasadena Waldorf High School students enter a community that embraces intellectual, artistic, and moral curiosity and graduate with the bravery and skills to meet the challenges of the future.

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Why choose Pasadena Waldorf High School?

Every subject has something to offer every student on their educational journey. Our faculty and staff collaborate with students individually to discover their passions and participate mindfully within an interdependent world.

Our graduates year after year speak of how the connections they forged between their teachers and one another were a unique and unforgettable aspect of their education. 

Inclusion and Diversity

At PWHS, we celebrate and honor our students' diverse cultural backgrounds, recognizing the unique experiences and perspectives they bring from their families to enrich our entire community. 

With a deep commitment to Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity, and the support of our LGBTQQIA staff, parents, alumni, and allies, we cultivate a culture of kindness, striving to ensure that every  student feels valued, respected and embraced for who they are.

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Strong Relationships

Intimate size classes allow for students to develop meaningful relationships with both peers and teachers. Our graduates step into the world as balanced, compassionate, and well-rounded individuals with a capacity for flexible, independent thought. Our community is strengthened by the intentional connections we build between diverse students, recognizing that each student has a unique, complex and ever growing spirit.

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Academics

Dive into academics with one on one support from teachers who are passionate about their subjects and are attuned to their students' individual learning styles.Through lectures, discussion, and creative projects students develop the healthy work habits required for higher academic success.

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Main Lesson

Intimate size classes allow for students to develop meaningful relationships with both peers and teachers. Our graduates step into the world as balanced, compassionate, and well-rounded individuals with a capacity for flexible, independent thought. Our community is strengthened by the intentional connections we build between diverse students, recognizing that each student has a unique, complex and ever growing spirit.

Departments

  • Literature grounds students within the many faces of our shared human story. Through direct encounter with classic and contemporary works of fiction, students hone their abilities to articulate themselves in writing and discussion. Classes are designed to help students synthesize thought and feeling and to trust their inner voice when communicating their ideas and interpretations of assigned readings.

    “I strive to bring voices dealing with contemporary issues of gender, politics, and race. I appreciate the mix of old and new that the English dept curriculum currently comprises, as it enables us to give them an introduction to the forms and archetypes of character and story which influences the newer literature that they read.”

    -Josh Peters, Humanities and Visual Art Teacher

  • Self respect, resilience and teamwork are the cornerstones of our Physical Education and Athletics department. All students are invited to fully participate in our sports teams including: Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball, Pickleball, Cross Country, and more.

  • Curiosity, analysis, and creative problem solving are the hallmarks of our science education. Hands-on experimentation, collaboration, and support for multiple learning styles foster curiosity and objective problem solving in biology, chemistry, earth science and physics.

    “While not every student will become a scientist, every student at PWHS learns how to think like one.” -Angela Ribeiro, Science Department Chair

  • The Waldorf math program is designed to meet students according to their individual aptitudes, and accommodates a wide range of student needs. Our four-year core curriculum in mathematics develops aptitude for logical thinking in a creative, challenging, and comprehensive manner.

  • At PWHS we believe that an awareness of history gives students the power to move the world in a humane and socially conscious direction. Our foundation class “Western Consciousness through the Ages”, braids the stories of many cultures whose differing perspectives shape the society we live in today. Student projects are both academic and artistic and are designed to synthesize relevant research and to communicate those findings in compelling ways.

  • High school language programs in Mandarin and Spanish are focussed on conversation and cultural immersion. Our core curriculum prepares students to communicate and represent themselves bilingually through a strong foundation in grammar,  vocabulary and pronunciation. Students will also lead school wide cultural events highlighting the food, festivals, music, art and stories of the culture they are immersed within.

  • Our students, regardless of past experience gain facility and confidence with the language of music – melody, rhythm, harmony, and form. Through experiential, improvisational, and creative work with specialists in winds, strings, percussion, vocal training and guitar, students transition foundational skills into adventures in improvisation, composition, and song writing. The program takes advantage of proximity to Los Angeles’ thriving diverse music scenes linking young musicians to professionals in their fields of interest.

  • In 10th grade and in their senior year, students choose a play to perform for the school community that reflects who they are as a group and who they are becoming. They draw upon acting skills developed in acting, improvisation and movement classes, and exposure to classic and contemporary works of drama. Our students forge deep relationships to their inner selves and learn to rely on each other as they enter a theatrical production: learning lines, creating props, set pieces and costumes and seeing the whole of their efforts reflected in the reactions of the audience.

    “Students want to tell a story that expresses who they are and are becoming. I’m always impressed by how they come together to overcome the many challenges inherent in theatrical productions and by their courage in choosing thematic content that addresses societal pressures and conflicts.”

    -Corby Gallegos, Theater Department Chair

  • Observation, experimentation and personal interpretation are the core values of visual art classes at PWHS. Foundational classes in drawing, painting and sculpture, lead to interdisciplinary explorations in animation, photo and video. Throughout their education students are exposed to a wide array of classical, moderna and contemporary ideas through art that build towards a year long independent project as seniors.

    “Art is principally about self expression. We offer a multidisciplinary education grounded in an expansive, contemporary and multicultural understanding of what art can be. I believe the language of art helps students represent their interior selves and to transform the social, political and psychological realities around them.”

    -Brian Getnick, Art Department Director

Electives

Beginning in the second semester of their freshman year students can choose from a rotation of special classes which often spring from their own expressed desires to participate in shaping their education. A campus care elective arose from their interest to use wood working to build shelving and tables for our kitchen and outdoor art studio. A cooking elective was created to broaden their technical skills in food preparation since so many of our school trips and weekly lunches are organized and prepared by the students. 

Here is a sample of our ever growing elective options:
Anatomy for Artists, Kinesiology, Forensic Science, Permaculture Gardening, Art Portfolio, Audio Engineering and Recording, Film History, Sound Healing, Shamanism,  Introducing Opera, Ornithology 101, and more!

School Clubs

Intercultural Student Union: Movie Screenings, Discussions, Social Gatherings and a safe space to address contemporary issues within our community and the wider world.

Art Club: A student led weekly lunchtime gathering of artists across all grades which includes collaborative projects and inspiring prompts. All mediums and ideas are welcomed! 

D and D: Held by our Animation Teacher Stephanie Trackman, Dungeons Dragons club is an epic adventure with elves, trolls, cyborgs, and mages every Tuesday from 3:30-5:00. All Orcs welcome.

Ceramics: Parent and Student after school Ceramics Classes with ceramicist and PWHS alum, Audrey Schenck.

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Sophomore Semester Abroad Option

This Exchange Program allows sophomores the opportunity to spend a quarter abroad. The purpose of the exchange is to have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the daily life of another culture and experience the Waldorf curriculum in another language. PWS student is matched with a current Waldorf student in a foreign country, and both students attend each other’s school together.

Cell Phones and Technology

While we have a “no cell phone policy” throughout the school day, computers, cameras and video equipment are used intentionally within student course work throughout our curriculum. Since our students bring much of what they are concerned about with the world and themselves through the lens of these devices, we are here to guide them towards greater consciousness about how these powerful technologies affect their sense of self and relationships to others.

Tech Literacy

Freshman are enrolled in a tech literacy class where they learn the organizational skills needed to manage their course loads and extracurricular activities online. This class is also designed to help them develop the emotional self awareness needed to navigate their relationship to social media.

“My door is always open for students to bring personal and academic concerns for one on one listening sessions. What I love about the Waldorf High School approach is that we see the student as a whole human being with a spirit inside them, not just a number.” - Americus Jones, Academic support and Tech Literacy Instructor

  • Waldorf education builds up throughout the years and slowly helps unfold the gifts that the children carry within them, much like how a seed unfolds into the plant it is supposed to become. Seeing the young people starting to blossom at the end of highschool is truly inspirational.

    -Aileen L.

  • My son is a math and science student. He’s going on to major in Mechanical engineering with a minor in music and audio recording. For his senior project at PWHS he’s building a guitar hand hewn from blocks of wood. Think of what kind of attention span and perseverance that requires. As he puts it: PWHS is a school that isn’t limited by STEM. Everything is connected and that’s useful for solving problems.

    -Noreen C.

  • Looking back over the years at Waldorf... I believe it went from holding space to giving space -Giving the space to be, first to himself and from there, radiating outwards and touching the others. Imagine the power of that exponentially. I believe that's what happened here.

    -Eric S.

  • Most schools are like filters. The kids for whom academics come easily find a way through the maze, but these schools leave the rest behind. Waldorf is an amplifier. Whatever your kids have inside them, the Waldorf teachers guide them to find these passions and bring them out in beautiful artistic expression.

    -Kathleen and Russel H.

  • At PWS High School, Theo has been encouraged and given the time and space to explore his creative self, especially in music, writing, and art. At the start of high school, he enjoyed watching animation. Now, at the end of it, he wants to create it - and believes that he can!

    -Meher M.

  • Waldorf High School has given Aubrey the chance to grow as an artist. She has the freedom to imagine, create and dream. The teachers come from a place of creativity and support not fear, so they can give the children the space to experiment and push some boundaries. Aubrey has the confidence to create. A gift that many other schools might not have given her.

    -Wiloe Ann P.

  • PWS gives students opportunities and experiences to discover who they are as artists while receiving support and guidance along the way. Ultimately the spark of creativity resides in all of us. Waldorf education nurtures that spark and gives space for inspiration, practice and growth.

    -Holly B.