History
Sadly, the Machris Mariposa campus burned in the 2025 Eaton Fire. PWS is committed to rebuilding into a beautiful space to educate the next generation of Waldorf students.
The story of PWS
Pasadena Waldorf School was founded in 1979 by visionary Paul Livadary, with seven children and their teacher, operating out of a rented church basement in La Cañada Flintridge. As enrollment increased, the need for a larger, permanent campus became vital. Miraculously, a gift from Los Angeles philanthropist Paquita Lick Machris allowed the school to make the purchase of its beautiful five-acre property on Mariposa St. in Altadena, today known as the Paquita Lick Machris Campus.
The school quickly grew to become a Kindergarten through Grade 8 program. In 2003, the school’s Parent-Child program started, with the Preschool following in 2007. In August of 2012, Pasadena Waldorf High School welcomed its first high school class. Concurrently, thanks to an extraordinary gift from the Marshall and Margherite McComb Foundation, the school was able to purchase and renovate a four-acre property, that became the permanent home for Pasadena Waldorf High School. In 2016, the school graduated its first High School class in the courtyard on the new McComb Campus.
Today, PWS offers Waldorf Education from Early Childhood (Parent-Child, Preschool, and Kindergarten) through Grade 12 based upon a powerful and inspired curriculum that has the potential to change the world, one child at a time. Teachers nurture and support the fullest unfolding of a student’s potential, through an extraordinary learning environment. The integration of the arts and academics foster imagination and independent thinking in our students.
PWS is part of the international Waldorf school community that has continually evolved over its 100-year history. Over 1,100 schools and 2000 Kindergartens worldwide embrace a common philosophy and inspired approach.
Pasadena Waldorf School is a fully accredited member of Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) https://www.acswasc.org/, Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) https://www.waldorfeducation.org/ and Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN) https://waldorfearlychildhood.org/.
