History of Urban Prairie Waldorf School
Urban Prairie Waldorf School was born out of the dreams and hard work of many people.
Its roots stretch back to 2005, with the opening of City Garden Early Childhood Center, a preschool and kindergarten in Pilsen, co-founded by veteran Waldorf teacher Jone Hellesoy and her business partner Victor Kroll. The early childhood center grew quickly, attracting families from across Chicago who were drawn to Waldorf education.
In 2006, several parents of City Garden preschoolers decided to found an elementary school. Watching their three- and four-year-olds, the parents already saw how Waldorf education sparks the imagination. As they weighed their elementary school options, the parents wanted to nurture that spark. They formed a Board of Directors, created a budget, and set a start date.
Urban Prairie opened its doors to a first grade class of 12 students on September 9, 2009, ninety years to the day of the opening of the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart, Germany. Like the early childhood center, Urban Prairie has grown quickly and now has more than 100 students in grades 1 through 6. In 2016-17 Urban Prairie will offer grades 1 through 8.
This thriving school now offers parent education, workshops in special interests, as well as social events and festivals for our community to gather together and celebrate. While remaining two separate schools, City Garden and Urban Prairie together form one larger community, with the faculty and families working and playing together.
Overview of Waldorf Education
Rudolf Steiner (1864–1924), an Austrian-born philosopher and scientist, founded the first Waldorf school in Germany in 1919 with Emil Molt, the director of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory. The intent behind the founding of this school was to bring hope to the next generation of Europeans. World War I had ended and people were devastated physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Molt and Steiner wanted a school that could develop the full range of students’ capacities and allow them to become free, self-reliant individuals capable of contributing fresh insights and initiatives to the world.
Today over 3,000 Waldorf schools in 60 countries form one of the largest independent educational movements in the world today. There are now over 175 Waldorf schools in the United States and Canada.