A Letter from the Trustees Council Chair – October 2025
Dear WWS Community,
Allow me to introduce myself as the new Chair of the Trustees Council (TC) of the Washington Waldorf School. I’d like to start by thanking James Wise, who held the Chair the past 2 school years, and the other 9 volunteers from the faculty and WWS community who make up the TC this school year: Anne Wotring (Vice-Chair and alum parent), Jesse Travis (Secretary and current parent), Margery Bank (Head of School/Faculty Chair), Nick Hampton (current parent), Eben Kaplan (current parent), Kate Knuth (Faculty and College Chair), Clay Lowery (current parent), Haneef Omar (current parent), and Taisto Saloma (Faculty). Profiles of all current members are available on the School Governance page of the website. I am deeply grateful for their willingness to serve and commitment to the best interests of the school.
The TC has the long-term goals of the school at heart, holding the children at the center of its work. It exercises oversight of the internal structure and management of the school, and delegates day-to-day management to the Head of School/Faculty Chair. The TC holds monthly meetings (posted on the school calendar), with a public session at the start of each meeting that includes a brief study of Waldorf principles and reports from the committees and administrative departments of the school. The TC also meets twice a year with the College of Teachers; the College ensures that WWS remains an authentic Waldorf school in terms of philosophy, pedagogy, and practices.
The TC has set the following priorities for the 2025-26 school year. These priorities align with the overall goals of the school and are consistent with our 5-year Strategic Plan 2023-28.
- Enrollment and Retention: Maintaining the full arc of Waldorf education through Grade 12 at WWS is our first priority. The TC asks all of its members, and indeed all members of the faculty and community, to support and participate in efforts to increase enrollment and retention at all levels of the school, with a goal of 25 students per class. We will build on the new initiatives to restructure and reimagine the experience of our older students: the Upper School (US; grades 7-12) was formed at the start of the school year by moving grades 7 and 8 from the Lower School to the now Upper School, along with a new approach to the US curriculum.
- Financial Stability: The TC, which also takes on part of the fiduciary responsibility for the school, is working diligently to monitor the financial health of the school and make decisions to ensure continued financial stability. This includes working with a financial advisor to ensure that reserves are invested in a conservative manner consistent with the overall values of the broad Waldorf community. Tuition revenue and donations to the One Fund are the school’s main sources of revenue, so increased enrollment and retention are critical to maintaining strong finances.
- Community Outreach: I plan to update the community on the work and vision of the TC with quarterly letters in the Bulletin. The TC looks forward to hosting a “state of the school” community meeting on January 14, 2026. Any community member may attend the open public sessions of our monthly meetings, as described above.
Lastly, I encourage all community members to be involved in the school, whether through work on a TC Committee (Development, Finance, DEIB), volunteering with the Parent/Family Organization, or helping in the kitchen. Please give as generously as you can to the One Fund to support every student, every teacher, in every program and every grade, every day. WWS relies on community engagement at all levels; I express appreciation on behalf of all members of the Trustees Council for the many donations of time, talent, and treasure the school receives each year.
Sincerely,
Kate Mueller
Chair, Washington Waldorf School Trustees Council