Ottawa Waldorf School

” Love the school, philosophy, teachers! So lucky to have Emily Hinse for my daughter. None of the negative reviews are rooted in any kind of truth/reality! They should actually be removed for inaccuracy. My daughter LOVES this school and my son will join her next year. She actually looks forward to going to school every day :) I can’t wait for my youngest to join the year after next too:). Honestly the best thing I ever did for my 8 year old! “

” Some of the reviews posted are very difficult to comprehend. I have taught at the high school level for the past 20 years and chose the Calgary Waldorf School for my own child because of students who had previously attended Waldorf. These students were/are confident, mature, creative and extremely well-prepared for academic courses at the high school level (particularly math, which is a struggle for so many). There are incidents of personality conflicts and bullying as well as disagreements about pedagogy and procedure at EVERY school. There is no one perfect fit for all individuals. What I can say due to my interactions with former Waldorf students as well as from my son’s experience at the school (he is still attending Waldorf), is the level of care, attention and education received has been spectacular and I would not even consider having my child in another setting. To post scathing reviews on the internet based on disagreements over pedagogy or procedure appears to be particularly petty as well as nefarious in nature. “

” Lots of parents looking for alternatives are going to consider the Calgary Waldorf School. I thought it would be a great opportunity for my child, who is creative and marches to the beat of their own drum. Unfortunately, it ended up being a terrible experience. It was very difficult to arrange any kind of academic accommodations at Calgary Waldorf. Instead of the flexibility we were looking for, we found that there is only one way to do things at Calgary Waldorf – the Waldorf way. This rigid adherence to the pedagogy got in the way of meeting my child’s individual needs. We were strongly dissatisfied with the way Calgary Waldorf managed discipline. My child’s unmet needs resulted in disruptive behaviour. They ended up spending lengthy periods of time in the hallway, and their desk was sometimes moved to the cloak room. We finally removed our child from the school when we discovered that the teacher was placing her hands over our child’s mouth. Since leaving the school, we have sought out a full psychoeducational assessment of our child’s needs – something Calgary Waldorf discouraged. They now attend the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) with an Individualized Program Plan (IPP). We have found significantly more understanding, knowledge, and resources at CBE, where our child is thankfully now thriving. I would strongly discourage anyone from sending their neurodivergent child to the Calgary Waldorf School. “

” PLEASE READ: Future Parents looking to put your child in the best school possible. THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT SCHOOL!! You are much better putting them into a public school or some other good private school. Money can buy you a lot of things, but the safeness of your children should be your number one priority!! “

” When I was a student at the CWS my experience was not good. I was going into the middle of grade 3, at that time I was not bullied, but a friend of mine was who was in the same grade and school as me. At the time I did not know what bullying was or how much it hurts for the who is the bully and for who is being bullied. When I went into grade 4, the same kid who bullied my friend started bullying me, that was a big impact in my life. After a year of bullying,me and my family decided to leave and find a better school for me. I have to say my teacher knew of what was happening and nothing seemed to change; but not only was I bullied from a student but from my teacher as well!! my teacher did not encourage me in a way that was beneficial to me, instead she made me feel bad about myself because I was not able to understand math as well as others. Still nowadays I still feel like I’m bad at math no matter what. Last week I talked to a friend about the CWS and she told me there is still bullying going on there, more then 4 kids have already left school because of bullying, from the same person and nothing still hasn’t been done. I feel sad for other kids who have been bullied just like me. It’s not a kid’s thing to do and it’s not ok. Waldorf school is a great place to learn in but just because it’s Waldorf doesn’t mean it will be always good. THINK TWICE BEFORE PUTTING YOUR KIDS AT THIS SCHOOL. “