About PRWS
Far from the interstate highways and the hustle of the city, in a beautiful landscape of dramatic cliffs, winding rivers, and fertile valleys, there’s a lively community of people who share a dream of a simpler, more connected life.
A life lived in harmony with nature’s rhythms.
A life in which friends live and learn together, sharing their struggles and triumphs.
A life with children, family, and community at its very heart.
Forty years ago, a few of these families came together to found a school. Their vision was to build a child-centered educational community that reflected the values they held dear: reverence for life, for learning, and for the children themselves.
They began by searching for an educational approach that aligned with their vision. When they discovered Waldorf education, Pleasant Ridge Waldorf School was born.
From its humble beginnings as a one-room schoolhouse with three students and one teacher, PRWS has grown to serve nearly 160 children in kindergarten through eighth grade.
But while our school has grown, we remain true to our founders’ vision of providing a balanced educational experience that instills in children a love of learning, a respect for nature, a strong sense of community, and an abiding appreciation for the value of service.
The founders also wanted to make Waldorf education available to families from a wider socio-economic background than at a typical private school. This means PRWS has consistently had one of the lowest tuition rates in the country for a Waldorf school, and we have a higher percentage of families who pay an adjusted tuition. To this day, we will work with any family who wants to be part of our community.
OUR MISSION
The mission of Pleasant Ridge Waldorf School is to provide a vibrant and fulfilling education to children in Early Childhood through Grade 8, and to be a vital and active part of the Driftless region through the cultural and spiritual opportunities we bring to the greater community.
We do this through:
A life lived in harmony with nature’s rhythms.
A life in which friends live and learn together, sharing their struggles and triumphs.
A life with children, family, and community at its very heart.
Forty years ago, a few of these families came together to found a school. Their vision was to build a child-centered educational community that reflected the values they held dear: reverence for life, for learning, and for the children themselves.
They began by searching for an educational approach that aligned with their vision. When they discovered Waldorf education, Pleasant Ridge Waldorf School was born.
From its humble beginnings as a one-room schoolhouse with three students and one teacher, PRWS has grown to serve nearly 160 children in kindergarten through eighth grade.
But while our school has grown, we remain true to our founders’ vision of providing a balanced educational experience that instills in children a love of learning, a respect for nature, a strong sense of community, and an abiding appreciation for the value of service.
The founders also wanted to make Waldorf education available to families from a wider socio-economic background than at a typical private school. This means PRWS has consistently had one of the lowest tuition rates in the country for a Waldorf school, and we have a higher percentage of families who pay an adjusted tuition. To this day, we will work with any family who wants to be part of our community.
OUR MISSION
The mission of Pleasant Ridge Waldorf School is to provide a vibrant and fulfilling education to children in Early Childhood through Grade 8, and to be a vital and active part of the Driftless region through the cultural and spiritual opportunities we bring to the greater community.
We do this through:
- A comprehensive Waldorf curriculum, carried by dedicated and compassionate teachers, staff and parents who tend to the dignity and well-being of the children, helping them develop physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.
- A safe and beautiful physical environment, overseen mindfully and carefully by all of the adults in the school community.
- A harmonious and diverse school community that is ecologically sustainable, financially responsible, morally diligent, socially renewing, and spiritually striving.
- A strong, vital, and self-renewing pedagogy, living within a community of loving human beings who hold deep reverence for each other, for themselves, for nature and for the spiritual world.