All School Meeting

Thursday, September 18, 2025
6:30 – 8:30 pm
Jaeckel Hall

For parents and caregivers of currently enrolled students

“The healthy social life is found,
When in the mirror of each human soul
The whole community finds its reflection.
And, when, in the community,
The virtue of each one is living.”
– Rudolf Steiner

The All School Meeting is a special opportunity for our whole school community – parents, caregivers, teachers, administrators, board members – to come together for an informal, interactive and informative evening. These meetings, usually held 1-2 times per school year, are noted for the active participation, thoughtful sharing, and honest curiosity that engages our newest families as well as our most seasoned and experienced.

• Meet and mingle with the pillars of our school: Board, Faculty, Administration & Parent Body
• Get an update from the Board of Trustees about how the school is doing financially
• Take a look inside our 3-year strategic planning process
• Learn from our faculty about what a Waldorf education encompasses and means
• Build community by getting to know other families
• Let us know what’s on your mind by sharing questions and suggestions

Highlights from past All School Meetings

• “Community, connection, belonging, informative…” these are some of the one-word reflections shared at the end of a meeting.
• Through an energetic world-premier game of Waldorf Bingo, we learned from each other about terms such as the Out Breath, the Music Share, Pentathlon, Eurythmy and “Will, Feel, Think.”
• Our teachers explained the background and celebration of 5 Waldorf Festivals: Michaelmas, Lantern Walk, Winter Spiral, Santa Lucia and May Day.
• Rudolf Steiner Study
• Head Administrator Patricia Dewitte-Kuyl spoke about the partnership between parents, teachers, and the administration as an essential part in nurturing the whole child, with parent engagement playing a vital role in this process.
• Through a lightning round of Community Bingo, we found out who among us is fluent in more than one language, can sing their child’s lunch blessing, and can count backwards from 100 in 5’s.
• Members of the College of Teachers provided information about the effects of media on our children (as well as on ourselves), shared curriculum updates in CyberCivics to teach our children how to use technology respectfully and responsibly, introduced a 1-Week Media Challenge for our whole school, and shared a list of 100 media-free activities.
• Parents and caregivers gathered in small groups to discuss the positive altruistic feelings that come from performing acts of service, and how we can parlay these experiences into meaningful parent engagement at Mountain Laurel. Based on what we heard, our Family Handbook will include information and expectations for parent engagement and we are working on a Grades Playbook so that families can learn in advance what’s to come in each grade.