Calgary Waldorf School Combined AERR and 3-Year …€¦ · 200 people attended the ... We consider this as work with the spiritual nature of life and phenomena ... The Calgary Waldorf

Calgary Waldorf SchoolNovember 2013 Combined

“Annual Education Results Report”for 2012/2013

and“Three-Year Education Plan”

for 2013/2014 -- 2015/2016

The Calgary Waldorf School is an Accredited, Full Member School of both AWSNA and WECAN

Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America

Calgary Waldorf School

Message from the President of our Board of Directors The 2012/2013 school year was another very successful one for the Calgary Waldorf School. During the year, the school began to implement various directives from its new Five-Year Strategic Plan (which had been approved by the Board in June 2012). Some of these major tasks included:

reviewing a number of our specific programs and curriculum pieces (for example, our Early Childhood programs, our Learning Support program, and all our Subject Specialties in the Grade School);

increasing our fundraising and our marketing/enrollment efforts; augmenting our already-strong parent education and parent involvement; forming several new committees for Board and all-school community work (for example, a new

Marketing, Enrollment, and Retention Committee, under the auspices of the Board). The Calgary Waldorf School hosted its fourth annual Gateways Conference (“A Conference on Childhood for Parents, Educators, and Caregivers”) in April 2013, with Dr. Adam Blanning as the keynote speaker. More than 200 people attended the Conference, from both inside and outside our CWS community, to learn more about this year’s topic: “Sustainable Parenting: Health and Well-Being for Children and Families”. Our fifth annual Gateways Conference will take place on April 11 and 12, 2014, with Waldorf Master Teacher Jack Petrash as the keynote speaker. Again in the past school year (2012/2013), we were fortunate to have a number of Waldorf Master Teachers visit our school from throughout North America, to provide professional development, mentoring and evaluations for our faculty and staff and to provide evening lectures and workshops for our parent community. During the school year and in Summer 2013, more than half of our teachers travelled in North America and in Britain to attend a wide variety of Waldorf and non-Waldorf teacher training courses and professional development offerings. The school also hosted our annual rhythm of community-building events, including the Cross-Country Run & Walk and our Michaelmas Festival in September, a Fall Forum in October for parent orientation and education, Martinmas Lantern Walks and the winter “Waldorf Faire” in November, Advent Festivals in December, School Concerts in December, January and May, our outdoor MayFest to celebrate the coming of Spring, and Family Barn Dances in Fall, Winter and Spring. We held many Parent Evenings for parent education about our programs, about how our graduates and alumni thrive in High School, Post-Secondary Education, and the work world, and about our philosophy, curriculum, pedagogy, and teaching methodology. Each Class in Grades One through Nine performed a Class Play, and many Assemblies with student performances took place on Friday mornings throughout the year. All our Preschool, Kindergarten, and Grade School classes enjoyed a wide variety of field trips both near and far, from simple nature walks to more challenging outdoor activities. All told, 2012/2013 was another year full with academic, physical, cultural, social, and community riches. And now we happily look forward to our Calgary Waldorf School’s 30th Birthday, next school year, in 2014/2015. Carri Clarke President Board of Directors Calgary Waldorf School Society November 21, 2013

Accountability Statement The combined Annual Education Results Report for the 2012/2013 school year and the Education Plan for the three years commencing September 1, 2013 for the Calgary Waldorf School Society was prepared under the direction of the Board of Directors in accordance with its responsibilities under the Private Schools Regulation and the Education Grants Regulation. This document was developed in the context of the provincial government’s business and fiscal plans. The Board of Directors has used the results reported in the document, to the best of its abilities, to develop the Education Plan and is committed to implementing the strategies contained within the Education Plan to improve student learning and results. The Board of Directors approved this combined Annual Education Results Report for the 2012/2013 school year and the Three-Year Education Plan for 2013/2014 – 2015/2016 on November 28, 2013.

Foundation Statements

Calgary Waldorf School Vision Our vision is to foster the development of our students through care and respect; we strive to nurture reverence, imagination, creativity, independent thinking, academic excellence, enthusiasm for life, and capacity for life-long learning. As teachers and parents, we are committed to realizing these qualities in our consciousness and in our daily actions.

Calgary Waldorf School Mission

Recognizing and honouring the stages of child development as elaborated by Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy to ensure that these stages inform our pedagogy and curriculum so teachers will bring appropriate educational content through appropriate educational methods to their students at the right time.

Providing a full, interdisciplinary educational program that balances and integrates the humanities, sciences, mathematics and languages along with visual, dramatic and musical arts, applied practical arts, movement and athletics which fulfils both the Waldorf and Alberta Education curricula.

Creating a safe, healthy, caring and respectful school environment that is conducive to the development of self-esteem for students, teachers and staff.

Fostering the development of students’ self-confidence and self-responsibility to create and take opportunities to fulfil their potential.

Preparing students for their further education beyond our school by helping them become adaptable to different teaching and learning styles and expectations.

Demonstrating observable and measurable levels of progress and excellence in student achievements and teacher performance.

Providing opportunities for the on-going professional development of our teachers and staff. Raising awareness in members of our school community of the importance of moral, spiritual and

ethical values and the reverence for life in the education and upbringing of children. Encouraging and facilitating the active and meaningful involvement of the parent body and providing

parents with opportunities to learn more about Waldorf education in depth. Maintaining financial stability, administrative responsibility and responsiveness to the school

community’s needs.

Calgary Waldorf School Guiding Principles Education of the whole child. We strive to nurture the healthy, timely development of the whole being of the child: the willing or doing (hands), the feeling (heart) and the thinking (head). We impart an engaging, enlivened and balanced curriculum that challenges our students artistically, physically and academically. It is not just what the child learns in facts and concepts that measure success, but the care, effort and thoughtfulness embedded in the learning processes and products that bring value and meaning to the child’s experiences. The uniqueness of each child. We aim to assist children to make the full use of their innate qualities, their skills, talents, ranges of abilities and unique potential while empowering them to be proactive in their environment and adaptive to change. We

seek to develop identifiable skills while nurturing each child’s capacity for living fully in whatever future unfolds for him/her. The teacher as mentor, role model, and guardian. Our teachers strive to teach with moral imagination, make use of their emergent creative skills and talents and be active learners in the subject areas they teach. In teaching the same class of children for longer cycles of time, teachers have greater opportunities to become aware of and foster each child's deepest and essential being. Community. The school serves as a community in which children benefit from teachers, staff and parents striving together to support education and learning. We strive toward sound, socially conscious practices for stewardship of our environment and for serving the wider world outside our school. Integrating the philosophical and the practical. Decision-making is guided by practical and philosophical principles: we respond to our social, cultural, physical and economic environment and emphasize teamwork and consensus-building. Social, cultural, and economic inclusion. We strive to provide an educational program that values the inclusion of families, teachers and staff from diverse social, cultural, religious, ethnic, racial and economic backgrounds. Reverence for the spiritual nature in ourselves and in all things. We seek ways to highlight and bring value to learning in deliberate measures that support children’s openness to awe, wonder and inquiry, through the unique qualities of goodness, beauty and truth, as well as maintain a reverence for life in all its forms. We consider this as work with the spiritual nature of life and phenomena and recognise this education is entirely non-denominational without connection to any specific religious doctrine. Recognition of the spiritual nature of the human being. We believe all children have a spiritual nature which is nurtured and drawn to consciousness by meaningful content in the curriculum and by teachers and other community members who uphold universal values such as acceptance, care, compassion, kindness, generosity, diligence, respect and honesty. We strive to honour, nurture and protect the childhood of our students, to guide them into healthy adolescence and to help them become fully human in ways that go beyond the simply material aspects of our nature and our world. [Note: These Statements of the Calgary Waldorf School’s “Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principles” were approved by the Faculty Council on June 8, 2010 and by the Board of Directors on June 10, 2010.]

A Window into Waldorf Education Waldorf Education is the largest and fastest-growing independent educational movement in the world, with more than 1,200 schools all around the globe in 60 countries. The first Waldorf School was founded in 1919 by Rudolf Steiner in Stuttgart, Germany. Steiner’s educational goals were: to nurture the imagination while educating the mind; develop flexible intellects capable of problem-solving in diverse activities; enhance the child’s artistic as well as cognitive talents; honour the unique temperaments of each child; provide an enlivened and loving atmosphere that embraces the spiritual core of all life and activity. Over the ensuing 95 years, these goals have proven to serve children well in preparing them to meet the challenges of our modern life. The Waldorf approach recognizes that children have distinct, age-related educational and emotional needs that unfold through the stages of their development. To meet these needs, the Calgary Waldorf School’s rich, lively, holistic, and hands-on curriculum carefully blends and balances academic, artistic, physical, and practical activities to stimulate intelligence and encourage creativity. This integrated curriculum is delivered through innovative teaching methods designed to engage the whole growing child: in Preschool and Kindergarten, via imitation and guided creative play; in the Elementary grades, via imaginative and artistic presentations by the teachers; in Junior High, via challenging the students’ awakening capacity for independent and critical thought. Thus over the years, the child learns through his or her hands, heart, and head . . . through doing, feeling, and thinking. . . leading to conscience in action, balance in feeling, and clarity in thought. A Profile of the Calgary Waldorf School The Calgary Waldorf School began in our city 29 years ago. It is a small, community, private school that attracts a broad cross-section of families from throughout Calgary and area. Twelve years ago, we built and moved into our new home in the Cougar Ridge neighbourhood on the central-western edge of Calgary, after many years in our old home in the city-centre neighbourhood called Marda Loop. In the current 2013/2014 school year, 285 children attend our Preschool, Kindergarten, and Grades 1 through 9 programs; another 60 children in all are in our Joyful Beginnings program and our Parent & Tot program. We have about 220 families in our school, and they come from many social, cultural, religious, occupational, and economic backgrounds. We work with acceptance of one another’s beliefs and values, yet we strive to meet on a deeper level of understanding in our commitment to the ideals and principles of Waldorf Education. We believe that each family is here at our school because they are drawn to and support our school’s philosophy:

Education for the whole child Waldorf pedagogy recognizes that children have distinct, age-related educational and emotional needs that unfold through the stages of their development.

A balanced and integrated approach To meet these needs, the school’s rich and challenging curriculum carefully balances academic, artistic, physical, and practical activities to stimulate intelligence and to encourage imagination and creativity. Our faculty weave together academic achievement with hands-on experience in an

artistic environment, thereby integrating: the humanities, mathematics, science, foreign languages, visual arts, music, drama and speech, movement and athletics, handwork and woodwork, and community service.

A nurturing environment Our social-emotional environment helps children develop exceptional interpersonal skills, self-confidence, and self-reliance, fostering their own personal integrity and sense of social and environmental responsibility. Because our students are encouraged to work imaginatively and our teachers are expected to work creatively, the students are inspired to strive towards and realize their individual potential.

Part of an international educational community that has a rich, 95-year history Founded in 1985, our school is affiliated with more than 1,200 Waldorf schools around the globe as part of the largest independent school movement in the world. We are specifically affiliated with the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and with the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN). In June 2011, we were very proud to achieve the status of becoming an Accredited, Full Member School of both AWSNA and WECAN.

Parents and teachers working together to govern and support the school The school is governed by a Board of Directors that includes parents, teachers, and staff. Daily management of the school and decisions about the education program are guided by Faculty Council and administrative staff. In addition to serving the school via the Board or Board Committees, parents have a wide variety of meaningful opportunities for making a real difference in their children’s education - from class involvement to school-wide activities and events - and are highly involved in all aspects of our school.

Current Trends and Issues Noted

We have continued to review and strengthen a number of our policies, procedures, and practices, on topics such as:

1. Expectations for student and teacher/staff dress. 2. Supervision outdoors in the schoolyard before school, after school, and during the morning

and lunch recesses. 3. Use of our assigned public health nurse as an important resource for us on many topics. 4. All-teacher and all-staff review of all our students who have medical concerns or medical

conditions. 5. Providing on-site first aid training for all teachers and staff. 6. Use of social media and of on-line posting of photos and videos. 7. Student Awards for the Grade Nine graduating class. 8. The purposes, roles, and functions for the Junior High Student Council. 9. Welcoming and integrating the incoming Grade Seven class into the Junior High. 10. Student assessment and student reports. 11. Lesson-planning and curriculum development. 12. Long-service and significant-service reviews for all teachers and staff leaving our school. 13. Marketing, enrollment of new families, retention of current families, and families who leave.

We are reviewing and strengthening a number of aspects of our education program and curriculum,

including: 1. Learning Support and all forms of Student and Whole-Class Support 2. Early Childhood 3. Outdoor Education and Field Trips 4. Mathematics 5. Science and Nature 6. Subject Specialties: Early Literacy; Foreign Languages (French and German); Movement,

including Eurythmy; the Visual Arts; the Performing Arts; the Practical Arts & Crafts (Handwork, Woodwork, Metalwork, etc.); Junior High Friday Afternoon Electives

As a member of AISCA, we have been pleased to take part in a number of learning opportunities and

discussions/visits with the Association of Independent Schools and Colleges of Alberta, on topics like: 1. Inclusive Education, as being developed by Alberta Education. 2. The new Education Act and its upcoming Regulations. 3. A new framework for School Leadership in the province. 4. Alberta Education’s AISI program (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement).

In March 2013, when the provincial government announced significant cuts to its funding for

accredited independent schools (via decreased grants from Alberta Education), all our teachers, staff, and Board of Directors worked together in Spring 2013 to find the best ways to absorb these cuts (a total decrease in grants of nearly 13% – or approximately $155,000 – for our school) which would have the least negative impact on our students and our education program and curriculum. We managed to do this and to cover the funding shortfall for 2013/2014 primarily by (1) all the teachers and staff offering to freeze their pay and (2) all the teachers and staff devising and recommending a number of small-to-medium changes to specific teaching assignments and teacher/staff supports. The Board, teachers, and staff continue to work together – collaboratively, consensually, and amicably – to address the near-future and the longer-term implications of decreases in provincial government funding for accredited independent schools like the Calgary Waldorf School.

Summary of Accomplishments in the 2012/2013 School Year We are pleased to note the following highlights of the last (2012/2013) school year:

We began implementing our new five-year Strategic Plan, which has objectives, strategies, and tasks within six major topic areas:

1. Development and Outreach 2. Education Program and Curriculum 3. Early Childhood Programs 4. Learning Support Program 5. Services and Activities for Students and Families 6. Human Resources and Administration

We continued to increase our Parent and Public Education Program offerings, as well as our Faculty Professional Development Program offerings, including;

1. Lectures and workshops given by visiting Waldorf Master Teachers and other experts (on topics such as nature and art education; outdoor education and adolescent development; social media; mathematics curriculum and teaching methods; eurythmy as a movement form; simplicity parenting; the wonders of raising and teaching boys; science education and adolescent development; physics curriculum and teaching methods; using a phenomena-based approach to teaching science and math).

2. Lectures and workshops given by local experts, by our CWS Alumni, and by our own Faculty members (on topics such as International Screen-Free Week; the unique gifts of our Junior High Program; Eurythmy as part of our Movement program; the experiences and successes of our CWS Graduates in High School, Post-Secondary studies, and the work world; a Waldorf Teacher Training one-week summer course focused on Grades One to Three and on Junior High Science; the Festivals celebrated in our school).

3. Our Fourth Annual Gateways Conference (which grows every year – up to 200 registrants in April 2013), with keynote speaker Dr. Adam Blanning from Denver, Colorado. He worked with us on the topics of sustainable parenting and health and well-being for children, parents, families, caregivers, and educators.

After a very well-received pilot project in Spring 2012, we adopted as an on-going program for our

school an Early Childhood class called “Joyful Beginnings” (offered to parents who are expecting a child or who have a child one year of age or younger). This class functions as a prelude to our long-standing program of “Parent and Tot” classes for parents and their toddlers, which in turn precede our Preschool classes and then our Kindergarten classes.

We continued our all-school to all-school global community service project to help the Dassenberg

Waldorf School in South Africa. We also continued with our various local community service projects (e.g. with the foodbank, with families in a high-needs school, and with teachers and students in a special needs school). As well, each Grade One through Nine class has at least one specific on-site school service assignment for the year. And for the annual Grade Three building project, those students built a set of raised, adobe-like garden beds in the schoolyard for the annual Grade Two vegetable garden project.

After an extensive and lengthy search, we were successful in hiring a new Pedagogical Administrator,

following the retirement of our P.A. who had served our school so well for five years. This hiring maintained our Senior Administrative Team, which is made up of three lead Administrators – Pedagogical, School, and Financial – as well as our Principal.

We began work on developing more thorough procedures for succession planning, given that many of

our Early Childhood teachers and many of our Administrative staff, as well as some of our Grade School teachers and staff, are especially long-serving and key members of our school community.

Our enrollment increased a little once again, so that our trend is gradually but steadily upward. We also maintained our Tuition Assistance budget, so that we were supporting about 45 students from 30 families. In order to build on our upward enrollment trend, we continued with our project to improve all aspects of our school website, since the website is the second-most common way through which families find out and learn about our school (the most common and most effective way being word-of-mouth and personal contact with current or alumni students or parents).

Since achieving Accredited, Full Member status with AWSNA and WECAN in Spring 2011, we have been significantly increasing our participation in and contributions to the Waldorf Education movement in North America. This increased activity includes:

1. More of our teachers enrolling in Waldorf training programs such as Foundation Studies, Early Childhood Teacher Certification, and Spatial Dynamics/Movement Teacher Certification.

2. More of our teachers and staff attending conferences, workshops, and courses throughout North America, as well as visiting other Waldorf schools to observe teachers in action, and carrying out teacher evaluations and mentoring in other schools.

3. Bringing in more external Master Teachers from all over North America to carry out mentoring and evaluations with our teachers, here on-site.

4. Hosting and supervising a number of Waldorf teachers-in-training for their practicums. 5. Consulting with and mentoring new Waldorf initiatives and schools in Alberta (e.g., in Canmore,

Edmonton, and Red Deer). 6. Serving on several committees (i.e., the Service Mark for Canada, the Service Mark for North

America, the Canada Working Group, and the Colloquium for Teacher Mentoring). 7. Presenting workshops at several North American conferences and at several Waldorf schools

around the continent. 8. Publishing an article (on play as a vehicle for social and emotional development in young

children) in a journal on Waldorf Education in North America.

Authority: 9224 Calgary Waldorf School Society

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Combined 2013 Accountability Pillar Overall Summary

Measure Category Measure Category Evaluation Measure Calgary Waldorf School Soc Alberta Measure Evaluation

Current Result

Prev Year

Result Prev

3 Year Average

Current Result

Prev Year

Result Prev

3 Year Average

Achievement Improvement Overall

Safe and Caring Schools Excellent Safe and Caring 97.0 93.0 93.6 89.0 88.6 88.1 Very High Improved Excellent

Student Learning Opportunities n/a

Program of Studies 92.5 86.6 86.3 81.5 80.7 80.7 Very High Improved Excellent Education Quality 97.1 92.5 93.5 89.8 89.4 89.3 Very High Improved Excellent Drop Out Rate 0.0 0.0 3.6 3.5 3.2 3.9 Very High Maintained Excellent High School Completion Rate (3 year) n/a n/a n/a 74.8 74.1 72.7 n/a n/a n/a

Student Learning Achievement (Grades K-9) n/a PAT: Acceptable 88.3 96.0 90.1 79.0 79.1 79.2 n/a n/a n/a

PAT: Excellence 22.1 45.0 32.4 18.9 20.8 19.9 n/a n/a n/a

Student Learning Achievement (Grades 10-12) n/a

Diploma: Acceptable n/a n/a n/a 84.6 83.1 82.5 n/a n/a n/a Diploma: Excellence n/a n/a n/a 21.7 20.7 20.1 n/a n/a n/a Diploma Exam Participation Rate (4+ Exams) n/a n/a n/a 56.6 56.2 54.9 n/a n/a n/a Rutherford Scholarship Eligibility Rate (Revised) n/a n/a n/a 61.3 61.5 59.4 n/a n/a n/a

Preparation for Lifelong Learning, World of Work, Citizenship

n/a Transition Rate (6 year) n/a n/a n/a 59.5 58.4 59.2 n/a n/a n/a Work Preparation 94.8 91.8 93.5 80.3 79.7 79.9 Very High Maintained Excellent Citizenship 90.9 88.6 89.4 83.4 82.5 82.0 Very High Maintained Excellent

Parental Involvement Excellent Parental Involvement 92.8 89.3 91.1 80.3 79.7 79.8 Very High Maintained Excellent Continuous Improvement Excellent School Improvement 88.5 84.1 81.5 80.6 80.0 80.0 Very High Improved

Significantly Excellent Notes: 1. PAT results are a weighted average of the percent meeting standards (Acceptable, Excellence) on Provincial Achievement Tests. The weights are the number of students enrolled in each course. Courses

included: English Language Arts (Grades 3, 6, 9), Science (Grades 6, 9), French Language Arts (Grades 3, 6, 9), Français (Grades 3, 6, 9). 2. Diploma results are a weighted average of percent meeting standards (Acceptable, Excellence) on Diploma Examinations. The weights are the number of students writing the Diploma Examination for each

course. Courses included: English Language Arts 30-1, English Language Arts 30-2, French Language Arts 30-1, Français 30-1, Chemistry 30, Physics 30, Biology 30, Science 30. 3. Overall evaluations can only be calculated if both improvement and achievement evaluations are available. 4. The subsequent pages include evaluations for each performance measure. If jurisdictions desire not to present this information for each performance measure in the subsequent pages, please include a

reference to this overall summary page for each performance measure. 5. Data values have been suppressed where the number of students or respondents is less than 6. Suppression is marked with an asterisk (*). 6. Please note that participation in Diploma Examinations and Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Tests was impacted by the flooding in June 2013. Caution should be used when interpreting trends over time for

the province and those school authorities affected by the floods.


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Goal One: An excellent start to learning Outcome: Children are reaching emotional, social, intellectual and physical development

milestones and are ready for school.

Comments on our Process for the Transition from Kindergarten to Grade School:

• In January and February each school year, our Kindergarten Teachers, along with our Learning Support Teacher, carry out a full assessment of each child’s readiness for Grade One. These findings are then discussed with the parents during our March Parent-Teacher Conversations. Our goal for these assessments and discussions is to ensure that by the end of Kindergarten, all our students who are entering Grade One in the next September are developmentally ready for full-day, multi-subject, multi-teacher learning, with reference to their intellectual, physical, social, and emotional growth.

• In the late Spring, when we know who will be forming the next Grade One class, the Kindergarten Teachers lead an all-teacher and all-staff meeting, during which they describe in detail to everyone each of the upcoming Grade One students, so that all of us in the Grade School and on staff will already be familiar with our new students coming from our “Kinderhouse” into “the Big School” in September.

• Because we have a tradition of our Grade Nine students being the helpful buddies of our Grade One students, in the late Spring, we also have a number of activities through which the upcoming Grade Nine and Grade One buddies get to know one another and the Grade Ones get introduced to what will be their new classroom and other rooms they will use in the Big School (Assembly Room, Atrium, Library, Gym, Kitchen, Music Room, Eurythmy Room, Learning Support Room, schoolyard and playground, etc.).

• In the late Spring and the Summer, the Grade One Class Teacher has a home visit with each of the incoming families, and then before school begins in September, the Grade One students and parents come into the classroom for time of orientation, desk-size fitting, class-community-building, bringing in some supplies, etc.

• At the end of the first week of school in September, we hold our traditional Rose Ceremony Assembly for the whole Grade School, during which the Grade Nines introduce the Grade Ones to all of us and welcome them to the Big School and to their Grade One year.

Strategies: An example of a key strategy we use for each of the seven Learning Areas in the Kindergarten program:

• Early Literacy: Listening to oral storytelling and reciting as a group many verses, poems, stories, and songs.

• Early Numeracy: Doing many practical activities of daily, domestic life, such as planting, gardening, harvesting, cooking, baking, setting the table for meals, washing dishes, cleaning up, fixing things, making things to be used in the classroom, etc. – all of which involve numbers, counting, measuring, sorting, etc.

• Citizenship and Identity: Creating a family-like environment in the classroom, where we celebrate a wide variety of festivals and seasonal special events, we work with diverse stories, songs and verses, and we apply consistent, age-appropriate practices for conflict resolution.

• Environmental and Community Awareness: Spending a lot of time outdoors and in nature every day, both on-site in the Kinderyard and off-site in our neighbourhood, for playing, walks, gardening, digging and constructing, running and climbing, etc. and using all-natural materials, including wood, plants, shrubs, trees, stone, rocks, sand, dirt and water.

• Personal and Social Responsibility: Small-group and large-group play, games, and work (domestic tasks, including caring for the classroom and the Kinderyard).

• Physical Skills and Well-Being: Emphasizing indoor and outdoor play and movement, with challenging, interpretive, natural materials; also emphasizing preparing from scratch and eating healthy food together every day in the classroom.

• Creative Expression: The core of Waldorf Early Childhood Education is imaginative, creative free play with interpretive, high quality, natural materials, augmented by visual arts, crafts, music, and stories.


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Goal Two: Success for every student Outcome: Students achieve student learning outcomes.

Performance Measure Results (in percentages) Target Evaluation Targets 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Achievement Improvement Overall 2014 2015 2016

High School Completion Rate - Percentage of students who completed high school within three years of entering Grade 10.

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Drop Out Rate - annual dropout rate of students aged 14 to 18 10.5 10.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 Very High Maintained Excellent

High school to post-secondary transition rate of students within six years of entering Grade 10.


Percentage of Grade 12 students eligible for a Rutherford Scholarship.


Percentage of students writing four or more diploma exams within three years of entering Grade 10.


Explanation and Comments to Contextualize the Above Data (particularly the results for 2008 and 2009):

• The 2012 column in the above Table refers to the students who were enrolled in our Grade 9 class during the 2010-2011 school year. Our graduating class that year had 15 students in it.

• This Performance Measure calculates the number of our 2010-2011 Grade 9 students whom Alberta Education could then track in the next school year (2011-2012) as being enrolled in a high school in Alberta. The provincial government is not able to track any student who leaves the province for any reason.

• For the purposes of this Performance Measure, if a student were to leave Alberta to go to high school outside our province, Alberta Education would then count such a student (whom they could no longer track as being enrolled in an Alberta school) as a “drop-out”.

• In the 2011-2012 school year, none of the 15 students who had been in our 2010-2011 Grade 9 graduating class left Alberta to go to high school elsewhere; they all stayed in Alberta for high school. Therefore, our “Drop-Out Rate” is 0.0% for 2012 in the Table above.

• Note that a raw drop-out rate greater than 0.0% is always somewhat reduced by Alberta Education. The conversion (lowering) happens because the provincial government recognizes that some students do in fact leave the province for various reasons each year, but since the government cannot track these actual students, they take Statistics Canada data on out-of-province (away-from-Alberta) migration for that year and factor it into the raw drop-out rate. This has the effect of reducing the raw drop-out rate somewhat, and it is these somewhat reduced rates that appear in the Table.

• Please note that the calculation process we have described here has been used by Alberta Education for all the years reported in the five-year Table above. For example, for our 2006-2007 class, 18.2% went out of Alberta for high school; this raw drop-out rate has been converted to 10.5% for 2008 in the Table above – but in fact all of our 2006-2007 graduating class went on to high school (inside or outside Alberta) and thus our real drop-out rate is 0.0% in 2008. For our 2007-2008 class, 18.8% of our students went to high schools in other provinces; this raw drop-out rate was converted to 10.8% for 2009 in the Table above – but in fact all of our 2007-2008 class went on to high school somewhere in Canada, and thus our real drop-out rate was once again 0.0%.


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Outcome: Students demonstrate proficiency in literacy and numeracy.


Overall percentage of students in Grades 3, 6 and 9 who achieved the acceptable standard on Provincial Achievement Tests (overall cohort results).

98.0 94.8 79.6 96.0 88.3 n/a n/a n/a

Overall percentage of students in Grades 3, 6 and 9 who achieved the standard of excellence on Provincial Achievement Tests (overall cohort results).

56.1 27.0 25.2 45.0 22.1 n/a n/a n/a

Notes: 1. Aggregated PAT results are based upon a weighted average of percent meeting standards (Acceptable, Excellence). The weights are the number of

students enrolled in each course. Courses included: English Language Arts (Grades 3, 6, 9), Science (Grades 6, 9), French Language Arts (Grades 3, 6, 9), Français (Grades 3, 6, 9). The percentages achieving the acceptable standard include the percentages achieving the standard of excellence.

2. Please note that participation in Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Tests was substantially impacted by the flooding in June 2013. Caution should be used when interpreting trends over time for the province and those school authorities affected by the floods.

Comments on Results:

Calgary Waldorf School Summary of Spring 2013 Provincial Achievement Test Results

Prepared by Laureen Loree, Principal and Cathie Foote, School Administrator

Grade Three

Calgary Waldorf School Province

Grade 3

Total # Students Writing the Test

Total # Students

Achieving Acceptable Standard Percent

Total # Students

Achieving Standard

of Excellence Percent


Total # Students


Total # Students

Achieving Standard


Lang.Arts 24 21 87.5 6 25 42128 37594 89.2 8192 19.4 Reading 24 19 79.2 10 41.7 42128 36711 87.1 15856 37.6 Writing 24 24 100 4 16.7 42128 38748 92.0 6064 14.4

Math 24 22 91.7 5 20.8 38518 31886 82.8 10632 27.6 The overall performance of our Third Grade class in Language Arts was comparable to that of the province, with 87.5% of our students meeting the Acceptable Standard, compared to 89.2% of all students in the province (a difference represented by less than one CWS student). The class did especially well on the written component of the L.A. test, with all students meeting the Acceptable Standard. However the class fared less well on the reading component (79.2% for CWS vs 87.1% for the province). Percentages of our CWS students meeting the Standard of Excellence for overall Language Arts, and for both Reading and Writing components, were higher than those of the province. In Math, our Third Grade students performed quite well, with 91.7% of our children meeting the Acceptable Standard, compared to 82.8% of all children in the province. 20.8% of our class scored within the Standard of Excellence, while the provincial percentage was 27.6%.


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Grade Six


Grade 6


Total # Students


Total # Students

Achieving Standard



Total # Students


Total # Students

Achieving Standard


Lang.Arts 17 16 94.1 2 11.8 40095 36447 90.9 7207 18.0 Reading 17 16 94.1 7 41.2 40095 35765 89.2 15795 39.4 Writing 17 13 76.5 0 0.0 40095 35784 89.2 4685 11.7

Math 17 13 76.5 4 23.5 37063 29590 79.8 6678 18.0 Science 17 14 82.4 5 29.4 37099 31670 85.4 10772 29.0 Soc. St. 17 15 88.2 1 5.9 36662 29583 80.7 7913 21.6

On the Grade 6 Provincial Achievement Tests, the percentages of our students meeting the Acceptable Standard in overall Language Arts, in Reading, and in Social Studies were higher than the provincial percentages. The percentages of students meeting the Acceptable Standard in Math and Science were comparable to those of the province (Math: 76.5% vs 79.8%; Science 82.4% vs 85.4%), in both cases with a difference equivalent to less than one CWS student. For Writing, the class score was below the provincial score for Acceptable Standard. The class made a strong showing in the Standard of Excellence range for Reading, Math, and Science, where they met or exceeding provincial percentages. However, the class performed below the provincial percentages for Standard of Excellence in overall L.A., Writing, and Social Studies. Grade Nine


Grade 9


Total # Students


Total # Students

Achieving Standard



Total # Students


Total # Students

Achieving Standard


Lang.Arts 17 17 100 4 23.5 24633 21490 87.2 4138 16.8 Reading 17 17 100 5 29.4 24633 19611 79.6 4879 19.8 Writing 17 17 100 4 23.5 24633 22892 92.9 5376 21.8

Math - - - - - - - - - - Science - - - - - - - - - - Soc. St. 17 17 100 5 29.4 24028 17693 73.6 5205 21.7

In the Ninth Grade, students (including our CWS class) only wrote Provincial Achievement Tests for Language Arts and Social Studies. The Grade 9 Math and Science Provincial Achievement Tests were cancelled in late June due to flooding and the resulting school closures in Southern Alberta. All our students did very well on the tests they had written earlier in the Spring, with 100% of the class meeting the Acceptable Standard on each test (overall Language Arts, Reading component, Writing component, and Social Studies). As well, the percentages of CWS students who performed at the Standard of Excellence on these tests were higher than the provincial percentages in overall L.A., in Reading, in Writing, and in Social Studies.


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Strategies: • As we do each year, we will review and improve (where warranted) our pedagogical approaches and practices

– though they are in general clearly preparing our students well for success on these PAT’s year after year, when we review our multi-year (five-year) reports on PAT results for all Grade levels and all Subjects.

• We will also continue to analyze, refine, and implement our strategies within Topic Area #2 of our new

Strategic Plan, on “Education Program and Curriculum”, within Topic Area #3 on our “Early Childhood Programs”, and within Topic Area #4 on our “Learning Support Program”.

• In particular, we will look at the higher-than-usual proportion of Grade Three and Grade Six students in

these two particular classes of ours, whom we have identified as having extra learning needs and requiring learning support, to ensure that we are meeting these students’ extra needs as well as we possibly can. In addition, we are in the process of reviewing and re-structuring the delivery of our entire Learning Support and Student Support programs in the school.

• We are also increasing the amount of on-site and off-site professional development, mentoring, and

evaluations with our teachers that focus on the core academic subject areas of mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies.

• And we are in the process of reviewing and improving our practices regarding student assessment and student reporting.


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Outcome: Students demonstrate citizenship and entrepreneurship.


Percentage of teachers, parents and students who are satisfied that students model the characteristics of active citizenship.

92.2 90.1 89.4 88.6 90.9 Very High Maintained Excellent

Percentage of teachers and parents who agree that students are taught attitudes and behaviours that will make them successful at work when they finish school.


Strategies:

• Continue to emphasize community-building activities within each Class. • Further develop our classroom-based and our all-school community service projects (within the school,

our local area, and globally). • Continue to increase the diversity of our school community. • Continue to refine our Social Inclusion program, so that our students continue to learn conflict

resolution strategies, including practices for addressing bullying and teasing. • Expand cross-pollination and care between Classes of different Grade levels (especially “buddying”

upper and lower Grades). • Continue with Classes caring for our school grounds and physical facility, as well as learning

environmental stewardship. • Continue our program of students contributing to the festival and social-cultural life of our school. • Increased sharing of our school space with external community members, groups, and programs. • Emphasize the knowledge and skills that come from the fine arts and practical arts, from our

extensive field trip offerings, from our Social Inclusion program, from our community service projects, from our Junior High Coming of Age program, from our Grade Eight year-long Independent Projects, from our Junior High Electives program, and from our Junior High Forums (with guest speakers from various occupations and professions).

• Continue to develop work, leadership, and community service opportunities in our Junior High and Student Council, and to smooth the transition to High School.

• Continue to refine our student policies, particularly in the Junior High regarding homework, punctuality, attendance, dress, behaviour, appropriate use of electronic/digital technology and social media, etc. – since these specific topics are clearly relevant to success in the workplace.

• Build our Alumni Program so that our alumni are in our school more often, modelling for our current students the further studies, training, work, and activities that have engaged them since graduating from our school.


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Outcome: Students demonstrate citizenship and entrepreneurship [Continued].


Percentage of teacher and parent satisfaction that students demonstrate the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for lifelong learning.

68.5 64.5 67.8 69.2 69.5 n/a n/a n/a

Explanation and Comments to Contextualize the Above Data:

• In the three years prior to 2012, this Performance Measure referred to “high school graduates” only. Starting with the 2012 Alberta Education Surveys, this Performance Measure appears to represent a combination of Survey questions referring both to high school students in general and to students in our school in particular.

• Note that we do not have a high school in our Calgary Waldorf School. Our school ends with Grade 9, and then our students go on to High School in a wide variety of different schools, mostly within the Calgary area, but sometimes in other parts of Alberta, in other provinces within Canada, and in other countries.

• Because the Calgary Waldorf School does not have a High School program, when parents and teachers are asked in their Alberta Education Surveys to report on their satisfaction with high school graduates’ or high school students’ ability to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for lifelong learning, we cannot be sure precisely who it is that the parents and teachers are thus rating. Clearly our Survey data indicate that parents and teachers have noticeable dissatisfaction with this aspect of high school graduates or high school students, but we cannot know exactly which high school graduates or high school students they are dissatisfied with in this way.

• However, despite these various difficulties interpreting the data as the Survey questions change over time, it is very interesting to note that when we look at the more detailed results on these 2013 Survey questions, it is clear that 92% of our parents are very satisfied or satisfied with their Calgary Waldorf School students’ lifelong learning capacities, compared to 26% being very satisfied or satisfied with high school students’ (in general) lifelong learning capacities. 2% of our parents answered “Don’t Know” with respect to their CWS students, but 62% answered “Don’t Know” with respect to high school students in general. The 2013 results from our teachers show that 100% are very satisfied or satisfied with their CWS students on this lifelong learning topic, and only 54% are very satisfied or satisfied with high school students in general on this topic. None of our teachers answered “Don’t Know” about their CWS students’ lifelong learning capacities, but 46% said they “Don’t Know” about high school students in this regard. Overall, these 2013 data show that our CWS parents and teachers are very confident in our CWS students’ capacities for lifelong learning, but they are either discouraged or unsure about lifelong learning capacities in high school students in general – although as mentioned above, since CWS does not have a high school, we cannot know exactly which high school students the parents’ and teachers’ answers refer to.

Strategies:

• Maintain our School’s “Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principles” to nurture enthusiasm for life and for learning, throughout life.

• Maintain an educational program that has breadth and depth, meets all learning styles, and teaches knowledge and skills which can be carried along and developed throughout life (for example, foreign languages, practical arts, fine arts, movement and games, outdoors work, and community service projects).

• Continue to develop Upper Grades activities such as the Junior High Electives, the Grade 8 year-long, outside-mentored Independent Project, Student Council, school/local/global community service projects, and a wide variety of highly challenging field trips – all of which develop lifelong capacities and encourage lifelong vocational and avocational interests.


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Outcome: Responses to First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) students and perspectives. [Contextual Note for what follows in “Strategies” below: Schools with no or very few self-identified FNMI students should refer to strategies related to infusing Aboriginal perspectives, meeting the diverse needs of students or involving their parents.] Strategies:

~ Although we do not have any self-identified FNMI students in our school at this time, we do a significant amount of work throughout our curriculum to raise awareness and understanding of indigenous and aboriginal cultures, both historically and in current times, in the Calgary area, in Alberta, and in Canada (as well as in many other parts of the world). For example, every year we teach the following topics within our Waldorf Main Lesson Blocks and/or our blocks and lessons directly from Alberta Education’s Programs of Study. Each of these topics always includes in-depth study and understanding of indigenous and aboriginal peoples.

• Grade 2: Fables, myths, and legends • Grade 3: Creation stories • Grade 3: Human beings’ capacity to live on the land (e.g., human capacities to create habitats,

dwellings, shelter, clothing, food, etc.) • Grade 4: Local history and geography • Grade 5: Canadian history and geography • Grade 6: Canadian history specifically about the Métis and the Iroquois Confederacy • Grade 7: Voyages of exploration into the “New World” • Grade 8: Colonialization and colonization • Grade 9: Modern issues of diversity and of the rights of indigenous peoples around the world

~ Many of our classroom special activities and festivities – as well as many of our all-school festivals, assemblies, and performances – reflect our interest in, study of, and respect for many, many different cultures that have represented human strivings from ancient through to modern times. Wherever possible, we involve the parents and families and the friends of our school who can bring their own diverse backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and traditions into these studies and celebrations with our students and teachers. ~ We would also like to note that respect for diversity is enshrined in all facets of our school (e.g., in our Statements of our Vision/Mission/Guiding Principles, in our Social Inclusion and Learning Support programs, in our Codes of Compassion and Conduct, in our Admissions policies, in our Tuition Assistance program, in our focus on community service projects, in our Student Council’s service work, etc.).


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Goal Three: Quality teaching and school leadership Outcome: Teacher preparation and professional growth focus on the competencies needed

to help students learn. Effective learning and teaching is achieved through collaborative leadership.


Percentage of teachers, parents and students satisfied with the opportunity for students to receive a broad program of studies including fine arts, career, technology, and health and physical education.

88.1 88.0 84.1 86.6 92.5 Very High Improved Excellent

Strategies:

• Please also refer to three earlier sections of this Report – the Message from the President of the Board, Current Trends and Issues, and the Summary of Accomplishments – for more specific details about our commitment to and activities for teachers’ professional development.

• Note that like all Waldorf Schools, our school is structured to be governed, led, and operated at every decision-making level via collaboration among teachers, staff, parents, and students (when age-appropriate and developmentally-appropriate), with some involvement as well from alumni students, alumni parents, and other friends of the school who are committed to ensuring that Waldorf Education thrives in Calgary.

• Continue to establish and to expand the place of specialty teaching/specialty subjects in our program: that is, two Foreign Languages (French and German); Visual Arts; Performing Arts, including Music (both choral and instrumental) and Drama; Movement (indoors and outdoors, including games, phys. ed., sports, Eurythmy, outdoor education, field trips, etc.); Practical Arts & Craft (including Handwork, Woodwork, Metalwork, etc.); Computers and IT; and the Electives and other special programs in our Junior High.

• Continue to develop our Learning Support Program, so that it is being applied not only by our Learning Support Teacher, but by all our Class Teachers and Subject Specialty Teachers, both with individual students who have learning difficulties and with patterns that may live within each Class as a whole. This includes ongoing improvements in how we prepare and implement IPP’s for students.

• Raise the profile of our Early Childhood programs as the foundation of our school and raise the profile of our Junior High program as the culminating gem of our school.

• Further improvements to the physical plant and school grounds to enhance learning (refer to the summary of upcoming facility improvements at the end of this report for further details).

• Continue to find ways to balance the needs of the Alberta Education Programs of Study and the Waldorf Education curriculum, while moving towards fuller Waldorf offerings and increased Waldorf enrichment in our education program (e.g., more Waldorf Main Lesson Blocks, more Eurythmy and Spatial Dynamics, and more Practical Arts).

• Continue to integrate with the specific curriculum at each Grade level (1) all the Fine Arts, (2) a broadly-defined indoor and outdoor Movement program, and (3) many different types of field trips.

• Continue to review the alignment between our education program and our Vision/Mission/Guiding Principles Statements.


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Goal Four: Engaged and effective governance Outcome: The education system demonstrates collaboration and engagement.


Percentage of teachers and parents satisfied with parental involvement in decisions about their child's education.


Percentage of teachers, parents and students satisfied with the overall quality of basic education.


Strategies:

• Please also refer to the section below on Parental Involvement for more details on parent participation in leadership roles throughout our school.

• Note that like all Waldorf Schools, our school is structured to be governed, led, and operated at every decision-making level via collaboration among teachers, staff, parents, and students (when age-appropriate and developmentally-appropriate), with some involvement as well from alumni students, alumni parents, and other friends of the school who are committed to ensuring that Waldorf Education thrives in Calgary.

• Continue to analyze, refine, and implement the strategies within Topic Area #1 of our new Strategic Plan, on “Development and Outreach”, within Topic Area #5 on “Services and Activities for Students and Families”, and within Topic Area #6 on “Human Resources and Administration”.

• Continue to refine our work with “best practices” and “effective practices” for Parent Meetings. • Continue to refine our understanding and practices around the teacher-parent boundary. • Continue to refine our processes, procedures, and practices for addressing conflicts that may arise

between adults in the school. • Continue to improve our website, printed literature, advertisements, marketing, tours, parent

education events, community/special/public events, and application/enrollment/orientation processes so that parents know what our Waldorf school is and is not.

• Focus on retention of students and families. • Continue to implement an exit interview process for families who leave the school for whatever reason. • Continue to improve our Parent Education and Parent Enrichment offerings (e.g., curriculum, literature,

resources, workshops, handbook, website, Gateways Conference, etc.) for increased congruence between home and school and for commitment to Waldorf education.

• Improved awareness in the parent body about Board, Administration, and Faculty processes and activities.

• Review expectations for parents and parent involvement in all aspects of the school and review how we (Board, Administration, and Faculty) communicate with the parents.

• Maintain our emphasis on all-school (not classroom-based) fundraising and on a streamlined, routine/rhythmical classroom-activity, festival, and social-cultural life of the school.


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Outcome: Students and communities have access to safe and healthy learning environments.


Percentage of teacher, parent and student agreement that: students are safe at school, are learning the importance of caring for others, are learning respect for others and are treated fairly in school.


Percentage of teachers, parents and students indicating that their school and schools in their jurisdiction have improved or stayed the same the last three years.

83.1 86.3 74.0 84.1 88.5 Very High Improved Significantly Excellent

Strategies: With respect to the topic of having a safe and healthy school environment:

• Continue to develop our Social Inclusion program, so that our students continue to learn conflict resolution strategies, including practices for addressing bullying and teasing.

• Continue to build practices for “buddying” older with younger Classes. • Continue to refine our health and safety policies, and to provide on-site information and training to

teachers, staff, and students as appropriate. • Continue to build our Food Program (including growing and preparing healthy food) and our Movement

Program throughout all our Early Childhood and Grade School classes. • Continue to refine our policies on such topics as discipline and codes of conduct, expectations for

dress, supervision and care of students, visits from former/alumni students, and use and misuse of electronic technology and social media.

• Continue to develop our special practices for helping our students make their transitions between programs in a successful and healthy way (i.e., moving from Kindergarten to Grade One, Elementary to Junior High, and Grade 9 to High School).

• Continue to refine our “Coming of Age” program in Junior High (in which “Initiation” is the theme for Grade Seven, “Challenge” is the theme for Grade Eight, and “Threshold” is the theme for Grade Nine) – and in which a sexuality education curriculum is included.

• Continue to build the involvement of our Junior High Student Council in the work and service of our school.

• Continue to review of the balance of demographics, characteristics, and special needs in each Class and increased review of the size of each Class.

• Continue to increase students’ community service (both internal and external to our school), including work on the school’s physical environment and grounds and involvement in both local and global service projects.

With respect to continuous improvement in our school:

• Involve our whole school community in implementing our new (third) long-range Strategic Plan during the course of the next three to five years.

• Continue our routine review, updating, and enhancing of all the elements in our curriculum and pedagogy.


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• Increase our consultations and involvement with other Waldorf schools, with AWSNA and WECAN,

and with our own CWS Alumni, in order to learn as much as possible about “best practices” and “effective practices” that are most relevant and useful for the further development of our school.

• Continue to refine our administrative and governance structures and processes, including our usual routine review, updating, and revising of policies and procedures.

• Develop our next multi-year plan for balanced budget, financial stability, tuition fee structure, fundraising, tuition assistance, and teacher/staff salaries and benefits.

• Continue to focus on teacher/staff retention, workload/stress, balance, and working environment. • Implementing the outcomes from each teacher’s annual “Teacher’s Professional Growth Plan” (TPGP) as

it is developed under the mentorship of our Pedagogical Administrator. • Maintain our high level of Professional Development funding and activity for teachers/staff, especially

for Waldorf-related training – both to bring Waldorf Master Teachers and other experts into our school, and to send our teachers/staff off-site for professional development opportunities.

• Continue to increase mentoring, external evaluators, and group study for our teachers/staff. • Continue to develop leadership capacities and actions within our faculty. • Continue to develop our successes with student enrollment, student retention, and marketing.


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Summary of Financial Results for 2012/2013 School Year The following Summary Financial Statement for the 2012/2013 school year was approved by the Calgary Waldorf School Society’s Board of Directors on November 21, 2013. More complete financial information for the Calgary Waldorf School Society (that is, the complete 2012/2013 Audited Financial Statements) is available to parents and other members of the Calgary Waldorf School community by contacting the Financial Administrator (Dinah Clark) via the School office, or by attending the CWSS Annual General Meeting in February 2014. After November 30, 2013, our complete 2012/2013 Audited Financial Statements will also be available to our school community and to the general public on our school’s website (www.calgarywaldorf.org): within the secure “CWS Parents Important Documents” zone and within the open-to-the-public “Resources Public Documents” zone, respectively. Note: At http://education.alberta.ca/admin/funding/audited.aspx you will find Audited Financial Statements for the fiscal years ending August 31st of 2010, 2011, and 2012 for the province of Alberta as a whole (i.e., totals for all of Alberta Education), for all school jurisdictions, and for all charter schools. Statement of Revenue and Expenditures: Summary for the Year Ended August 31, 2013 Revenue Tuition and other fees $ 2,150,327 Alberta Education grants 1,367,203 Donations and gifts 106,615 Interest and other income 285,163 Total Revenue $ 3,909,308 Expenses Salaries and employee benefits $ 2,740,589 Services, contracts, and supplies 1,052,493 Amortization of capital assets 25,624 Total Expenses $ 3,818,706 Excess of Revenue over Expenditures $ 90,602 Key Financial Information for the 2012/2013 School Year:

• Financial Summary combines revenues and expenditures from the Calgary Waldorf School’s Operating, Supplementary, and Restricted Funds.

• Enrollment continued to be stable. • Tuition Assistance Fund assists parents who are unable to afford tuition fees. • Continued spending on building and grounds maintenance and enhancements, such as re-grading

and sodding of playground areas. • Excess of annual revenues over expenditures in the General Operating Fund was partially

designated by our Board of Directors to the Future Operations Fund, to act as a contingency fund reserved for potential fluctuations in future enrollment that could affect future operating revenues.


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Summary of Budget for 2013/2014 Fiscal Year The following summary of our Budget for the 2013/2014 school year was approved by the Calgary Waldorf School Society’s Board of Directors on April 18, 2013. More complete financial information for the Calgary Waldorf School Society (that is, the complete 2013/2014 Budget and the Budget Report Form filed with Alberta Education) is available to parents and other members of the Calgary Waldorf School community, by contacting the Financial Administrator (Dinah Clark) via the School office. Revenue Tuition and other fees $ 2,232,558 Alberta Education grants 1,195,909 Other income 116,031 Total Revenue $ 3,544,498 Expenses Salaries and employee benefits $ 2,745,086 Services, contracts, and supplies 793,355 Amortization of capital assets 20,000 Total Expenses $ 3,558,441 Deficit of Revenue over Expenses $ (13,943) Key Financial Information for the 2013/2014 School Year:

• Any deficit at year-end is funded by a transfer from the School’s Reserve Fund for Future Operations, which is currently at more than $800,000.

• Significant cuts in government funding announced in March 2013 resulted in the entire staff of the Calgary Waldorf School and the Board of Directors examining and identifying areas to reduce our 2013/2014 projected expenses by $155,000. Staff offered to forego planned salary grid increases and to increase teaching hours in order to lower expenses without affecting student programs.

• Continued, but reduced, allocation of funds to hire a Grade One Teaching Assistant to support higher-needs Class.

• Allocation of operating funds to further support our Mentoring program for teaching staff, and to offer a full-year Eurythmy program to further enrich our Waldorf curriculum for Movement.

• Maintain Tuition Assistance budget to continue accessibility for all families. The Budget is based on operating revenues and costs and does not include any potential income from fundraising or donations. If necessary, the Board of Directors may access the reserve of $803,369 in the Future Operations Fund to offset any deficit in operations at year-end.


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Summary of Facility and Capital Plans Brief summary of on-going facility improvements:

• Continue to enhance our school grounds as an outdoor learning environment which supports and advances our curriculum for all ages of students in all subject areas: as a living classroom of indigenous planting; as a place for Class gardening and building projects; as a practical opportunity for students to learn to be stewards of our environment; as an interesting, stimulating and challenging space for children which fosters their imaginative, creative play and their healthy physical and social development and interaction; and as a place in which our school can hold gatherings for performances, festivals, community-building, and other celebrations and educational/social/cultural events.

• Continue to enhance our Assembly Room as a performance space for student/class presentations and as an activity and meeting space for Class community-building events and for parent/teacher/public education events.

• Continue to install permanent displays to house students’ work and Waldorf Education materials throughout the school.

• Continue to install non-permanent, hanging structures that will give the feeling of lowered ceilings within the Early Childhood classrooms.

• Complete our “Alcove Project” with a permanent artistic installation in order to express gratitude to all those who have helped found and sustain our school.

Parental Involvement The parents in our Calgary Waldorf School community have participated in the preparation of this combined Report and Plan through the following opportunities:

Parents served on (and usually made up the majority of members on) all six of the “Strategic Planning Working Groups” which drafted (during the 2011/2012 school year) the school’s new long-range Strategic Plan. Our new five-year Strategic Plan was then refined, finalized, and approved by the Board’s Strategic Planning Committee and by the Board in June 2012. Parents continue to serve on (and usually make up the majority of members on) the standing committees, the ad hoc working groups, and the research groups which are now implementing many of the directives in our new Strategic Plan.

Parents always serve on (and usually make up the majority of members on) a number of Board Committees, and this Committee work fed into and informed this combined Report and Plan for Alberta Education (for example, the Committees for Board Executive, Community & Social Events, Faculty Hiring, Festivals, Finance, Fund Enrichment, Gateways Conference Planning, Grounds, Marketing & Enrollment & Retention, Parent Education & Enrichment, Strategic Planning, and Tuition Assistance).

Parents make up the majority of the members of our Board of Directors, and so our parent community had direct representation within the information-gathering, analysis, discussion, planning, and decision-making activities that went into the preparation of this combined Report and Plan for Alberta Education.


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Timelines and Communication for this Document This combined Annual Education Results Report for 2012/2013 and Three-Year Education Plan for 2013/2014 – 2015/2016 will be posted and publicly-accessible on our school’s website as of the start of December 2013. Please go to www.calgarywaldorf.org and look under the “Resources” zone, and then in the “Public Documents” section. A variety of means will be used to communicate this combined report to our Calgary Waldorf School community, beginning in early December 2013, including:

Posting on our school’s website (www.calgarywaldorf.org): CWS parents, faculty, and staff will have direct access to the report through the password-protected “CWS Parents Important Documents” zone of our website.

Printed copies available through the School office (by request to the School Administrator, Cathie Foote).

Announcements in the school’s weekly newsletter (the “Wednesday Notice”), distributed to all parents, faculty, and staff, as well as to alumni (students, parents, teachers, and staff), friends, supporters, and stakeholders who request the Wednesday Notice.

Presentation and discussion at our Annual General Meeting in February 2014 – the AGM being open to anyone in our school community.

The all-school / whole-community process as we continue to refine and implement our new long-range Strategic Plan over the course of the next three to five years.


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Provincial Achievement Test Results – Measure Details PAT Course by Course Results by Number Enrolled.

Results (in percentages) Target

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2013 A E A E A E A E A E A E

English Language Arts 3 Authority 95.5 13.6 87.0 8.7 100.0 42.9 100.0 34.6 87.5 25.0 Province 81.3 18.2 81.6 19.5 81.8 17.5 81.9 20.4 81.5 17.8

French Language Arts 3 Authority n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Province 83.8 15.8 84.1 16.3 80.6 15.8 82.1 14.5 79.7 12.4

Français 3 Authority n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Province 82.5 16.3 86.4 16.3 84.2 18.6 82.3 12.5 82.8 14.1

Mathematics 3 Authority n/a n/a n/a n/a 100.0 66.7 100.0 65.4 91.7 20.8 Province n/a n/a n/a n/a 77.4 26.0 76.8 25.5 76.5 25.5




Mathematics 6 Authority n/a n/a n/a n/a 88.5 15.4 100.0 64.7 72.2 22.2 Province n/a n/a n/a n/a 73.7 17.8 74.7 16.6 73.0 16.4

Science 6 Authority 100.0 76.2 96.0 60.0 88.5 15.4 94.1 76.5 77.8 27.8 Province 76.5 24.8 76.8 26.4 76.2 25.0 77.8 28.2 77.5 25.9

Social Studies 6 Authority n/a n/a 96.0 44.0 88.5 15.4 94.1 35.3 83.3 5.6 Province n/a n/a 71.0 16.4 71.1 18.5 73.2 19.5 72.7 19.0


English Lang Arts 9 KAE Authority n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Province n/a n/a 66.8 7.8 67.2 7.9 61.4 5.8 62.4 4.3



Mathematics 9 Authority n/a n/a n/a n/a 80.0 33.3 95.0 35.0 n/a n/a Province n/a n/a n/a n/a 66.1 17.3 66.5 17.8 66.5 18.2

Mathematics 9 KAE Authority n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Province n/a n/a 65.6 15.3 64.9 14.9 62.4 15.4 65.9 14.7

Science 9 Authority 100.0 70.6 90.5 9.5 * * 90.0 40.0 n/a n/a Province 72.2 15.8 73.6 17.7 74.9 20.8 74.2 22.4 72.6 19.9

Science 9 KAE Authority n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Province n/a n/a 67.2 14.3 69.5 15.3 67.9 17.3 68.4 17.1

Social Studies 9 Authority n/a n/a 90.5 23.8 * * 95.0 45.0 100.0 29.4 Province n/a n/a 68.9 18.8 67.2 19.0 68.9 19.1 65.3 18.7

Social Studies 9 KAE Authority n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Province n/a n/a 64.6 15.7 61.9 13.6 63.5 13.9 64.6 13.0

Note: “A” = Acceptable; “E” = Excellence — the percentages achieving the acceptable standard include the percentages achieving the standard of excellence.

Please note that participation in Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Tests was substantially impacted by the flooding in June 2013. Caution should be used when interpreting trends over time for the province and those school authorities affected by the floods.


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Graph of Overall Provincial Achievement Test Results

Note: Please note that participation in Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Tests was substantially impacted by the flooding in June 2013. Caution should be used when interpreting trends over time for the province and those school authorities affected by the floods

0

20

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 R

esul

ts(%

)

Acceptable Standard %

Standard of Excellence %


Page 31

Graph of Provincial Achievement Test Results by Course

Note: Please note that participation in Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Tests was substantially impacted by the flooding in June 2013. Caution should be used when interpreting trends over time for the province and those school authorities affected by the floods.

0

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Res

ults

(%)

English Language Arts 3



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Mathematics 3



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Res

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Page 32



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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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Mathematics 6



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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Res

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(%)

Science 6



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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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(%)

Social Studies 6



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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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Page 33



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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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ults

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Mathematics 9



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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Res

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(%)

Science 9




Page 34



Citizenship – Measure Details Percentage of teachers, parents and students who are satisfied that students model the characteristics of active citizenship. Authority Province 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Overall 92.2 90.1 89.4 88.6 90.9 80.3 81.4 81.9 82.5 83.4 Teacher 96.7 98.0 97.0 98.7 99.4 91.8 93.0 92.7 93.1 93.6 Parent 97.6 95.2 95.1 93.1 93.7 77.4 78.5 78.6 79.4 80.3 Student 82.2 77.2 76.1 74.1 79.6 71.8 72.7 74.5 75.0 76.2

Graph of Overall Authority Results

Graph of Detailed Authority Results

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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ults

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Social Studies 9



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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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ult (

%)

Overall

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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Overall Parent

Student Teacher


Page 35

Work Preparation – Measure Details Percentage of teachers and parents who agree that students are taught attitudes and behaviours that will make them successful at work when they finish school. Authority Province 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Overall 92.5 94.8 94.1 91.8 94.8 79.6 79.9 80.1 79.7 80.3 Teacher 93.3 93.5 90.9 96.9 100.0 88.9 90.0 89.6 89.5 89.4 Parent 91.7 96.0 97.2 86.7 89.6 70.2 69.8 70.6 69.9 71.1



Lifelong Learning – Measure Details Percentage of teacher and parent satisfaction that students demonstrate the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for lifelong learning. Authority Province 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Overall 68.5 64.5 67.8 69.2 69.5 67.4 67.6 67.9 68.0 68.5 Teacher 73.1 69.0 71.4 73.3 78.0 74.0 75.4 75.3 75.8 75.7 Parent 64.0 60.0 64.2 65.1 61.1 60.8 59.8 60.6 60.2 61.2



0

20

40

60

80

100

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Res

ult (

%)

Overall

0

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100

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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ult (

%)

Overall Parent Teacher

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%)

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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Page 36

Program of Studies – Measure Details Percentage of teachers, parents and students satisfied with the opportunity for students to receive a broad program of studies including fine arts, career, technology, and health and physical education. Authority Province 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Overall 88.1 88.0 84.1 86.6 92.5 80.3 80.5 80.9 80.7 81.5 Teacher 97.2 95.9 93.5 97.3 98.4 86.8 87.7 87.6 87.3 87.9 Parent 95.2 92.9 92.3 92.7 94.0 78.7 78.0 78.3 78.1 78.9 Student 72.0 75.3 66.5 69.9 85.2 75.3 75.9 76.9 76.9 77.8



Parental Involvement – Measure Details Percentage of teachers and parents satisfied with parental involvement in decisions about their child's education. Authority Province 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Overall 90.3 93.2 90.7 89.3 92.8 80.1 80.0 79.9 79.7 80.3 Teacher 94.2 98.1 94.5 97.5 96.7 88.0 88.6 88.1 88.0 88.5 Parent 86.4 88.3 86.9 81.1 88.8 72.2 71.3 71.7 71.4 72.2



0

20

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60

80

100

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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ult (

%)

Overall

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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%)

Overall Parent

Student Teacher

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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Page 37

Education Quality – Measure Details Percentage of teachers, parents and students satisfied with the overall quality of basic education. Authority Province 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Overall 94.5 94.5 93.4 92.5 97.1 89.3 89.2 89.4 89.4 89.8 Teacher 97.3 96.2 94.9 96.9 100.0 95.3 95.6 95.5 95.4 95.7 Parent 94.6 97.0 92.6 91.5 97.4 84.4 83.9 84.2 84.2 84.9 Student 91.5 90.3 92.6 89.3 93.9 88.3 88.2 88.5 88.6 88.7



Safe and Caring – Measure Details Percentage of teacher, parent and student agreement that: students are safe at school, are learning the importance of caring for others, are learning respect for others and are treated fairly in school. Authority Province 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Overall 97.4 94.7 93.3 93.0 97.0 86.9 87.6 88.1 88.6 89.0 Teacher 99.4 95.5 95.1 95.6 99.4 93.8 94.4 94.5 94.8 95.0 Parent 99.2 98.4 95.6 96.1 97.6 85.3 86.1 86.6 87.4 87.8 Student 93.7 90.1 89.1 87.2 94.1 81.7 82.2 83.3 83.7 84.2



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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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ult (

%)

Overall

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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Overall Parent

Student Teacher

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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Page 38

School Improvement – Measure Details Percentage of teachers, parents and students indicating that their school and schools in their jurisdiction have improved or stayed the same the last three years. Authority Province 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Overall 83.1 86.3 74.0 84.1 88.5 79.4 79.9 80.1 80.0 80.6 Teacher 90.0 93.5 87.1 93.5 96.7 78.2 80.8 80.1 81.1 80.9 Parent 96.0 98.0 85.0 93.5 90.0 78.1 77.0 77.3 76.2 77.9 Student 63.2 67.4 49.9 65.4 78.8 81.8 81.8 82.9 82.7 82.9



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100

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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ult (

%)

Overall

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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Overall Parent

Student Teacher