Public Waldorf-based high school set to open

Credo is Latin for “I believe.” With that as their model, a group of individuals is ready to open the first Waldorf-based public high school in Sonoma County in the fall of 2011, aptly named Credo High School. An open house for prospective students is scheduled for November 20 at 1 p.m. at 1455 Golf Course Drive, Rohnert Park.

The new high school will be a feeder school for the six North Bay Waldorf public schools including Sonoma Valley, Novato, Napa, Petaluma and the two schools in Sebastopol. That is not to say that they won’t welcome students from more mainstream public schools. But according to Lead Developed Chip Romer, the goal is to complete the education that these students started when they entered the Waldorf arena in kindergarten.

“The six Waldorf schools in the county all give students an incredible foundation for high school. But without a public Waldorf high school, many students haven’t been able to finish their education the Waldorf way,” said Romer.

For those unfamiliar, a Waldorf education is a humanistic approach to teaching based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, a noted Austrian philosopher. With Waldorf, learning is interdisciplinary, integrating practical, artistic and conceptual elements all while emphasizing the role of the imagination in learning. A recent example from our own Woodland Star Waldorf school is a trip taken by the seventh grade class. Rather than simply learn about the path taken by Sir Francis Drake, students lived it first hand, sailing a tall-masted ship from Sacramento to San Francisco over the course of five days. Principal Sheila Reilly extolled the virtues of this type of learning saying that students are certainly more apt to remember what they’ve learned if they’ve experienced it themselves.

Credo high school will reside in an interim location for approximately five years while its permanent home is being built at Sonoma Mountain Village on Petaluma Hill Road in Rohnert Park. A model of sustainability, Sonoma Mountain Village is a 200-acre, mixed use, solar-powered, zero-waste community under development by members of the Codding family. Described as one of the greenest neighborhoods in the world, SOMO is the first of its kind in North America and only the fourth in the world.

“We put a lot of stake in sustainability and the curriculum at Credo will follow suit. We will have an agricultural component with a garden and a farm, environmental and economic segments as well as courses that address personal and social issues to make sure our students know how to get along in the world,” said Romer.
Woodland Star’s Reilly is thrilled. “I think this is another wonderful educational option for our students. Where a student goes to high school is such a personal family decision and we want to give our students exposure to everything that’s out there so they can find what fits best for them. With Credo, it’s nice to have a continuation of what we’ve done here in a public format so that it is accessible to everyone.

For more information, call 664.0600 or visit credohigh.org or sonomamountainvillage.com.

Our Credo

We believe in:
The wisdom of youth
The pursuit of truth, peace and love
The value of creative expression and academic preparedness
The interdependency of all life
The practice of sustainability as a means to respect all life
Leadership inspired by the highest good
Practicing authenticity
Welcoming responsibility
Translating intentions into action
Aligning individual capacities in service to others
Engaging with and supporting our local community
Developing ourselves as global citizens
Taking risks that can yield learning and expansion
Sharing our successes
Celebrating our achievements