Davis Waldorf School Reviews by Parents

Waldorf Student charged in Double Homicide
Cara Sheeran, who attended Davis Waldorf School with Marsh, described him as
sweet and calm. "He's never aggressive," said Sheeran, 16, who attends high
school in San Francisco. "I've never seen him be aggressive with anyone."

Yolo County prosecutors Tuesday filed two felony first-degree murder allegations
against 16-year-old Daniel William Marsh, according to a district attorney's
complaint. Marsh, who was 15 at the time of the April homicides, is the only
suspect in the case.

Prosecutors are charging him as an adult because he was older than 14 and is
alleged to have killed people older than 65, according to the complaint.

Read more here:
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/19/5507392/teen-once-lauded-as-hero-is-charged.htm\
l#storylink=cpy


http://www.greatschools.org/school/parentReviews.page?id=9658&state=CA#from..Hea\
derLink

8/9/2011
After leaving this school and having my kids tested, I would never go back
again. You think your paying to give your kids a head start while passing on the
love of learning, come to find out 6 years latter your really crippling them in
"this" program. (Test scores showed, child three years behind due to lack of
instruction. When child was instructed the scores jumped two grade levels in a 6
month period.)
Davis has incredible public schools, that help children excel academically and
have a lot of the same feel as this place, once did.
Check out one great school, Patwin.

Posted August 2, 2011
Our child spent four years at this school. After a few positive experiences in
the beginning, we had a miserable time at this school. Our child was bullied,
subjected to hate speech, beaten by a bully while being held by the bully's
sidekick. The teacher had zero previous teaching experience, pigeon-holed
children and treated all according to what she thought she "knew" about them as
though she had some special psychological insight into their karma. The teacher
was a disaster on the level of personal interaction and in terms of academics.
The principal is in a position of doling out financial favors to members of the
school board and therefore, rules supreme without any meaningful supervision,
and acts arbitrarily. Extremely hurtful environment and academically a disaster.
—Submitted by a parent

Posted February 5, 2011
Horrible experience. My son came from a very bad experience in the Davis School
system and transferred to Davis Waldorf in November. He said goodbye to his
teacher in June and in July we received a termination letter about his
enrollment. We did not receive any contact prior to this letter. I contacted the
office but they did not respond at all. My son has now been diagnosed with high
functioning autism and could have used the support of this school but they
dropped him as fast as they could after taking our tuition money.
—Submitted by a parent


Wow! It looks like the sudden attention to the Waldorf school reviews is
prompting parents to make their voices heard. This review appeared on the Davis
Waldorf School board within the last few minutes:

http://www.greatschools.org/school/parentReviews.page?id=9658&state=CA#from..Hea\
derLink

Posted today
Davis Waldorf has been a true disappointment. After a few years it has become
clear that it is not simply a school with an emphasis on the Arts. Though almost
never mentioned the school is founded on the philosophy of one Rudolf Steiner
(labelled an educator but had no credentials), called Anthroposophy. This theory
is almost never mentioned but forms the basis for everything which goes on at
the school. Anthroposophy is an esoteric philosophy which incorporates karma,
racial hierarchies, categorizing children into the four temperaments, and plenty
of other Anthro nonsense. Children are encouraged to look back into antiquity
rather than modern knowledge for answers. They are taught the ancient 4 element
theory is fact, that myths and stories are fact. They are not taught to read
until at least 7 years old. Parents are told this is to avoid rushing education.
The reality is that Anthroposophy teaches that a child does not incarnate into
their Astral body until adult teeth form, this happens around the age of 7, that
only once the Astral body has fully incarnated can any intellectual faculty be
exercised. This education is not right for my children. Do you feel it's right
for yours? —Submitted by a parent

WE'RE LISTENING! Is WALDORF?

http://www.yelp.com/biz/davis-waldorf-school-davis

8/9/2011
After leaving this school and having my kids tested, I would never go back again. You think your paying to give your kids a head start while passing on the love of learning, come to find out 6 years latter your really crippling them in "this" program. (Test scores showed, child three years behind due to lack of instruction. When child was instructed the scores jumped two grade levels in a 6 month period.)
Davis has incredible public schools, that help children excel academically and have a lot of the same feel as this place, once did.
Check out one great school, Patwin.

5/7/2013

Our child was in this school from Kindergarten to Second Grade. Kindergarten was a pleasant experience but the first and second grade were so problematic that we finally pulled our child out of the school. It is a VERY expensive private school that is poorly managed. Our child experienced bullying. We brought that to the attention of the teachers and of the principal. Nobody acted upon our concerns other than to tell us that the children's behaviors are driven by Karma. Apparently, our child must have bad Karma and 'deserved' to be bullied. Appalling! - The principal and the first & second grade instructor (who has since quit), were friends and the nepotism was unbelievable. The instructor was inexperienced and completely unable to cope with the classroom which contained only 16 students.
Our child was beaten and scratched and called names. The bully performed an 'execution' on her and used a racially motivated reason for it: "All XXX are evil and therefore you must die." Our child was six years old at the time.
That is not what you expect from Waldorf, where peace and tolerance and an easy-going atmosphere are being espoused.
The leadership of the school was completely unresponsive, and we were 'forbidden' to discuss our concerns with the public/other parents. Can you believe it?
Our child is doing much better in another school. I am glad that we pulled the breaks on this Waldorf school. I feel that its academics are not all they are cracked up to be.

In general, I find the Waldorf approach very appealing and interesting. But this particular school is incredibly badly run.

11/10/2011

This school does not, in my opinion, reflect well on the overall Waldorf method because it is very poorly run and supervised. The principal reigns supreme and makes arbitrary decisions, hiring unprepared and incapable teacher to save money (one assumes) or due to nepotism. The members of the board are in a conflict of interest with the very principal they are supposed to supervise, because their children get tuition breaks from said principal. The school is appallingly badly run. -- That said, some teachers are outstanding and do a wonderful job (especially in Kindergarten) but the overall environment is one of cronyism, hubris, and utter lack of academic rigor. My child attended the DWS for three years, two too many, and suffered injustices galore, from a few other kids who were bullies without any restraint placed on them by the so-called educators, and by one spectacularly unqualified teacher. The latter person evaluated my child as a moderate reader. After three months in a new school, my child placed in the top 1% nation-wide on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in reading. The DWS has enormous deficits and I recommend strongly against it. Your child will suffer academically, and socially. Unless your child is a bully. In that case, by all means, send him/her and he/she will thrive.