Attend AARE Events
Be sure to read The Current to learn about upcoming lectures, workshops, screenings and book discussions throughout the year.
Attend AARE Events
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Our Commitment
River Valley Waldorf School is an intentional learning community where children from all backgrounds, cultures, and experiences including race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, and ability are welcomed, celebrated, and encouraged to learn and grow together.
River Valley strives to foster reverence, compassion, and curiosity in our students, while holding a deep commitment to anti-bias, anti-racist, and equitable practices. We honor the inherent dignity of each individual and actively denounce discrimination and social injustice in all its forms.
At River Valley, we seek to create a learning environment where every child feels seen, respected, and valued. We are committed to nurturing the capacities of empathy, self-awareness, social understanding, and responsibility. Through meaningful relationships, joyful exploration, and artistic, academic, and practical experiences, our students develop the skills to meet a diverse and changing world with confidence, creativity, and care.
We believe our community is made stronger through its diversity, and we recognize that this work is ongoing. As such, we engage in continuous reflection and growth to ensure that every member of our school community feels a sense of belonging and purpose.
Land Acknowledgement
The 7- acres of land on which River Valley Waldorf School calls home, sits upon the forested hills that overlook the Delaware River. This land is unceded Lenni-Lenape land and many of its people were displaced across Pennsylvania and North America.
The idea of land ownership, in the way many tend to think of it, is deeply rooted in colonialism. When the European settlers arrived on this land, they thought about the natural resources the land could provide for them, how they could sell and trade the land for profit, and how the land could be worked and shaped to suit them.
River Valley Waldorf school has ownership of this land via documentation, but we recognize we can never truly own the land. It was here before us and it will be here long after us. We must look to the ways of the Indigenous people, and treat the natural world as if we belong to it and live in relationship with the land. We must, as a school community, rebuild our relationship with the land and work to instill this relationship with the earth within the children.
As a school, we must work to stop the erasure of the Native people by making sure their stories are told within our curriculum. The stories of old and the stories of now. We must continue to build community with our neighbors, the Lenni-Lenape, and make sure their rich history and present day lives continue to be shared with our students.
We cannot forget our history with this land and our history with the Walking Purchase, we must recognize the injustices that were done, and we must move forward to do better. After all, being better isn’t something you are, it’s something you do. Together, in relationship, we can care for this space and be grateful for the First Nations people’s reverent caretaking of the land we now call Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania for we understand that being grateful for those who came before us is not a feeling that is felt, but an action that is taken.
Advocates for Anti-Racism and Equity (AARE) Committee
The Advocates for Anti-Racism and Equity (AARE) Committee is a collaborative group made up of faculty, parents, and board members dedicated to fostering a more just, inclusive, and equitable school community at River Valley Waldorf School.
Grounded in our school’s commitment to anti-racism and anti-bias education, AARE engages in ongoing group study and reflection to deepen understanding of systemic inequities and to support personal and institutional growth. From this foundation of shared learning, the committee works to identify and implement meaningful actions that advance equity and belonging throughout the school.
AARE serves as both a reflective and action-oriented body, helping to support a school culture where every individual feels seen, valued, and empowered.
GET INVOLVED
AARE
Learn more about the work of the Advocates for Anti-Racism and Equity (AARE) Committee.
Attend a Meeting
This committee is volunteer-based and is open to everyone. Meetings are the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month. 5:30pm-6:30pm. Contact AARE for details.
Email
Make a Donation
Programming, training and consulting are funded through the generous support of our community donors. Consider making a donation to the AARE Fund today.
DonateBoard of Trustees’ Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Commitments
River Valley Waldorf School is committed to creating an inclusive culture that values and celebrates the diversity of our school community, The Waldorf movement emphasizes the importance of recognizing the virtue in each human; River Valley strives to maintain an environment that values and supports its members across all intersections of their identities. It is our goal to be accountable and to meet challenges with courage and grace.
Along with the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, we recognize that the Waldorf movement’s promise of honoring the inherent beauty and integrity of each individual has sometimes fallen short for historically marginalized students and community members. River Valley Waldorf School recognizes that Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education (1919), provided many profound insights that uphold the value and dignity of each human being and form the foundation of our organization’s history and worldview. However, he also made statements containing harmful assertions about race and ethnicity. Racism, whether explicit or implicit, is fundamentally opposed to the core principles of Waldorf education.
River Valley Waldorf School’s Board of Trustees is dedicated to improving equity and strengthening anti-bias and anti-racist (ABAR) practices and makes the following commitments:
- To hire Heads of School who prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion work and practices;
- To verify that the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are applied to programming, practices, and policies;
- To ask questions about school culture and climate and hold the school accountable to its goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion;
- To develop policies that promote diversity, minimize inequities, and increase inclusion;
- To allocate resources to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion can be moved forward at River Valley Waldorf School; and
- To ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion centered goals are a key part of the school’s long term strategic planning.
- To deepen learning, development, and self-study in the realm of diversity, equity, inclusion, and to strive to identify bias in policy or interpersonal dynamics.
Board Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) Committee
The DEIJ Committee at River Valley Waldorf School is a dedicated group of board members, faculty, staff, parents, and community members working to advance equity and inclusion across all aspects of school life from the governance level. Meeting at least quarterly, the committee focuses on policy review and development, professional development recommendations, and ongoing evaluation of the school’s climate and strategic goals related to anti-racism and equity.
The DEIJ Committee advises the Board of Trustees and Head of School on matters of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, and works to ensure that River Valley remains a welcoming and affirming environment for all. Through collaborative reflection and action, the committee helps guide the school community toward greater accountability, belonging, and social responsibility.
