An initiative since 2003 and a Developing School member of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North American and also the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America, Glacier Waldorf School is dedicated to bringing Waldorf education to the Flathead Valley in northwest Montana. After three years of ground work by committed parents, Glacier Waldorf School’s kindergarten class opened in fall 2006 with eight students. The families of these students worked together to raise the yurt schoolhouse.

Our location in the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by abundant wildlife, jewel toned lakes, clear streams, and four resplendent seasons lends itself well to our nature-based program. The school is part of a three-acre organic farm. Located between two rivers and along a major bird migration corridor, it provides daily experience of all the gifts Mother Nature has to offer.
(To continue, click "read more" below)

In addition to the beautiful, natural setting with the activities it affords, our program also includes an experience reminiscent of simpler times that being off-grid with solar and wood power can provide, such as baking bread in a 100-year-old wood-fired cook stove.

Glacier Waldorf School provides all the familiar Waldorf kindergarten activities of watercolor painting, beeswax modeling, sewing, felting, finger knitting, storytelling, circle time, chopping fruits and vegetables, baking and lots of free play time. What is truly special, however, is the unique setting, both indoors and out, in which the children experience their day.

The organic garden and forested creek provide a quintessential outdoor classroom in which the children can experience gardening, hiking, tree climbing, log balancing, sliding on the frozen creek, and wildlife and bird watching. This lush setting encourages endless ways of creative play.

The domed yurt classroom is filled with natural light, beautifully decorated, and operated with a conservation consciousness that includes solar power, a wood cook stove and composting toilet.

The Flathead Valley is tucked into the mountains of northwest Montana. Farmland and small communities are surrounded by millions of acres of rugged wilderness, inviting experiences of hiking, cross-country skiing and camping. For fishing and boating enthusiasts, there are many pristine rivers and lakes, including the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi, beautiful Flathead Lake. In addition, two downhill ski mountains flank the Valley. The Flathead Valley is also the western gateway to Glacier National Park, renowned as the “Crown of the Continent”- a continental apex along the Rocky Mountains bordering Canada. Glacier National Park, located less than an hour from Kalispell, is one of the few places left in the Lower 48 with grey wolves, grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and other wildlife present at the time of the European settlement. Nearly 750 miles of hiking trails provide access to and spectacular views of high peaks, waterfalls, 50 glaciers, and over 600 sparkling lakes.