Our History

In the early spring of 1987, a group of parents interested in Waldorf education met at Friends Meetinghouse in Lancaster, PA. After several planning meetings, mounting enthusiasm and a growing understanding of Waldorf pedagogy, the group decided to open a preschool that fall.

One of the parents, Linda Heywood, supported by the mentoring of experienced Waldorf teacher Dorothea Williams, taught the first class. Dorothea and her husband Dr. Hal Williams gave the initiative loving support and guidance. Dr. Williams, an anthroposophical and Waldorf school doctor, helped to choose the school’s current name and served on SWS’s first Board of Directors.

Year Two

Enrollment doubled in the second year with an additional kindergarten, taught by Boel Neville, an experienced Waldorf teacher and participant in Waldorf initiatives. With Board President Thomas Getz, VP Ron Gieg, and treasurer Larry Newcomer the school was re-incorporated, established as a non-profit organization, and became a member of the Association of Waldorf Schools. The Lancaster Friends Meetinghouse had provided a warm and congenial atmosphere within which the school had begun to flourish.

A New Location

In the late summer of 1989, with enrollments exceeding available space, the school relocated to its present home in Marietta, not far from Lancaster and closer to the home of students from York County. The new home, a turn-of-the-century (1899) school building that had served the town of Marietta for generations as a public school, once again had children entering its arched doorway and enlivening the classrooms. SWS leased the space in the building, sharing occupancy with various other organizations until December 2002 when the school purchased the building and began to occupy all the available space.

Throughout the school’s first seven years in the new location, more grades were added, and the faculty grew and developed into a decision-making body. The parents organized into an energetic and active Parents Association, and the Board worked with both faculty and the parents to help develop and stabilize the school’s three pillars of leadership : faculty, parents and board.