News & Announcements

All Community Meeting Has Packed House

By Mike Sekel, Board President

Despite a parent morning at the same time and middle school girls traveling to Texas Lutheran University for a choral festival, over 65 people attended the All Community Meeting on Saturday, January 27.

Board President Mike Seke opened the meeting and shared the three major areas on which the Board has been focusing this year:

1. Moving forward with the expansion project;
2. Exploring student retention challenges and developing a plan to retain families; and
3. Improving the dialogue and communications between the Board, its committees, and the community.

Mike reminded parents of the importance of the Board committees and encouraged parents to explore where they could have an impact. The committees include: Site, Committee on Trustees, Communications (new this year), General School Leader Support and Evaluation; Development, Finance, Expansion, and Executive.

Kathy McElveen talked about time and the ebb and flow of time. It is inevitable that with time comes change. In 1986, AWS moved from its downtown location out to the fringe of Austin where we are now located. The school expanded too quickly and had to contract before we could expand to our current size. Around the turn of the century, we added the PAC and gym to support our newly born high school. These were all stressful times as the school prepared to meet the future.

Today, we again find ourselves in an uncertain time as we explore the options for the best way to expand the school again. Change is like the ebb and flow of the ocean; peaceful followed by turbulence returning to peaceful again. Continuing the theme of ebb and flow, announcements were made about staff and faculty members who will retire this year.

Pedagogical Leader Niko Hilgerdt spoke about his experiences working with the High School, particularly in the absence of a full-time High School Director. The High School Director plays a very important role at the school and as such we are taking our time to find the right person to fill that position. In the meantime, trained teachers are filling the leadership role in each department. We are fortunate that we are able to engage in extensive professional development with some of the most experienced people in America, if not the world. He went on to list some highlights of current events in the high school. On the broader front, there is a task force examining our math curriculum from start to finish and top to bottom. Finally, Waldorf schools all over the world will be celebrating the 100th birthday of Waldorf education next year. The first Waldorf school opened its doors in Stuttgart, Germany on September 19, 1919, right after World War I.

Catherine Ashton, with baby Rosalind, joined us and talked briefly about how hard it had been for her to not return full-time to the school. Babies will do those things. She also reminded us that our Spring Gala is scheduled for Friday, April 6. While last year’s silent auction was fantastic, this year’s will have even more irresistible offerings! Tickets to the 2018 Benefit can be purchased online at waldorf18.gesture.com.

The Finance section provided a graphic look at our income and expenses for the 2016-17 school year. A financial audit was performed this fall and as usual, there were no findings of significance. Our financial systems are in good order. The much anticipated wastewater connection project will happen this summer. Upper grades playground improvements will also happen this summer.

Lastly, it was recommended that each of us consider taking advantage of the tuition insurance program that is offered. Every year, there are families who sign the contract fully expecting to be here all year and then something unexpected occurs and they cannot remain. Tuition insurance can be rolled into FACTS payments.

Shir Shoham, the president of the Parent Society, talked about how Parent Society is focusing on communication this year. The challenge is to improve communications between all segments of the school. Communications that may seem too little for one person are too much for another family! It is an ongoing challenge to find the balance.

The remaining time was spent discussing school expansion. Mell Lawrence Architects presented preliminary findings on their study of the campus and the board spent time to answer community questions. You can read more about these findings in Study of Our Campus: Findings and Deliberations.

Thank you to everyone who attended the All Community Meeting, your continued participation and input are invaluable to the school.