Join us for our next Open House on April 11th, schedule a school tour, or simply reach out with questions. We believe that visiting Mountain Laurel is the best way to understand what makes this community special.
Call us: 845-255-0033
Email us: administration@mountainlaurel.org
When Mountain Laurel students took the stage two years ago to perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream – fairies, lovers, and bumbling craftsmen brought to life by thirteen-year-olds – something remarkable happened. They were inhabiting a story, feeling it from the inside, and sharing it with an audience of classmates, parents, and teachers who watched with genuine wonder. This is theater in a Waldorf school: not a one-time event, but a core thread woven through every year of learning. The result is an education that is not only academically rich but alive with creativity, empathy, and confidence.
Theater Grows With the Child
In Waldorf education, students perform plays that are rooted in their curriculum, mirroring what the class is studying and where the children are developmentally. Teachers take care not to repeat productions from prior years, keeping each play genuinely fresh for the students performing it and for the whole school watching. Often, teachers write the scripts themselves, crafting stories that fit their particular class and curriculum. For example, at Mountain Laurel, this year’s fifth graders inhabited The Glorious Life of Ganesh as part of their exploration of ancient civilizations during their India history block. Last year’s fifth grade brought Persephone & Demeter to life during their Greek history studies. This year’s sixth graders, engaging with themes of moral courage, took on Joan of Arc. And a few years ago, our seventh graders, navigating the humor and complexity of early adolescence, found themselves in the enchanted woods of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
By the time students reach eighth grade, they’re ready for ambitious, demanding material. Last year’s eighth grade performed The Crucible at a local theater – not just for their older classmates, but before a broader community audience. It was a moment that declared: look at what these young people have learned, and how far they’ve come.
This progression is visible to every child in the school. When younger students watch the older students perform, they see a vision of their own future. They understand, without being told, that this is where their own journey through plays and performances is headed. It becomes something to aspire to.
Building Empathy, One Character at a Time
Educators and child development researchers have long recognized that theater builds empathy in ways other school activities simply don’t. When children study performing arts, they show stronger ability to understand the feelings of others, and to carry that understanding with them well beyond the stage. The reason is straightforward: theater doesn’t just ask a child to read about another person’s experience, it asks them to feel it.
To play Persephone, a fifth grader has to feel what it means to be caught between two worlds. To play Thor, a fourth grader has to understand what it feels like to be stripped of your power and have to earn it back. To portray Joan of Arc, a sixth grader must sit with the weight of a conviction that the world around her doubts. Theater asks children to enter someone else’s experience fully – and that practice, repeated year after year, leaves a lasting mark.
Confidence Built in Plain Sight
There is a particular kind of confidence that only comes from standing in front of an audience and delivering. Not the quiet confidence of answering a question correctly in class – but the visible, embodied confidence of having prepared, been nervous, and done it anyway. Children who might struggle to raise their hands in a classroom discussion find themselves holding a stage. That experience changes how they see themselves.
Our annual Michaelmas tradition makes this especially vivid. Every year, the second grade performs St. George & the Dragon in honor of Michaelmas – a celebration centered on courage. The eighth graders play the dragon, partnering with our youngest performers in a moment that is both touching and instructive. The second graders must summon genuine bravery to face the “dragon” — and they do, every time.
As Amy Hannes, Mountain Laurel’s Advancement Director, puts it: “What strikes me year after year is that the plays ask children to be brave – not just in performance, but in the rehearsal process. They have to trust each other, try things that feel unfamiliar, make mistakes and keep going. That’s not a small thing. That’s the foundation of a resilient, confident person.”
Collaboration as a Living Skill
A play cannot succeed without every person doing their part. There is no hiding, no opting out, no leaving it to someone else. When a fourth grader forgets to move to her mark, the whole scene is affected – and she learns this in the most immediate, nonpunitive way possible. Her classmates need her. She rises to it.
This is the kind of learning that stays with a child. Quick thinking when something goes wrong. Listening carefully to the people around you. Adapting when the moment calls for it. These are skills that theater develops naturally – not through instruction, but through experience. And they matter far beyond any stage.
This is why the Waldorf approach to theater isn’t optional enrichment. It’s education itself.
An Invitation to Come See for Yourself
Scholastic sums it up well: children who participate in the performing arts are more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, and they develop stronger cognitive, social, and emotional skills than their peers. At Mountain Laurel, we’ve seen this play out – literally! – for decades. The performing arts aren’t an add-on to our curriculum. They are a living expression of it.
Each class play is a window into the full life of a Waldorf education: the curriculum, the community, the growth of the child. When you watch our eighth graders perform before a public audience, you’re not just watching a school play. You’re watching years of learning come alive.
We’d love for you to experience it in person. This year’s eighth grade will be performing Sleeping Beauty, Briar Rose at the end of April – a perfect opportunity to see our students shine. Join us for our next Open House on April 11th, schedule a school tour, or simply reach out with questions. We believe that visiting Mountain Laurel is the best way to understand what makes this community special.
Call us: 845-255-0033
Email us: administration@mountainlaurel.org