OUR HISTORY

The first impulse to found a Waldorf School in Asheville, NC, began in the late 1990’s, coming into expression in 2004 through a study group and beginning of festivals. In 2009, a Board was formed, a first Parent/Child class began, and a name was chosen for the school. On May 26, 2010, Azalea Mountain School was incorporated and a Foundation Studies group began.

In early 2011, the youth minister from Trinity United Methodist Church in West Asheville attended a visionary meeting and offered the church’s school building as a possible location. Support was mustered and zoning challenges resolved enabling Azalea Mountain School (AMS) to open its doors that fall with a Kindergarten, First/Second and Third/Fourth Grades.

In the following early years, challenges were encountered and met, and Faculty and Administrative Staff members were added as new families joined the school community and classes grew. The Site Committee, formed to address space limitations, seriously considered three sites over the ensuing years for a permanent location, including being part of two agrihoods and purchasing a church building and school. In March of 2018,

AMS was selected from a group of non-profits to occupy the vacated daycare space at Calvary Baptist Church enabling the Early Childhood program to move into a second campus (Magnolia) with the Grades remaining in the original facility on the Azalea Campus.

In June of 2018, Azalea Mountain School proudly became a certified Waldorf School and a Developing Member School of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. Upon this designation, Azalea Mountain School changed its name to Asheville Waldorf School.

When school doors opened this past fall, enrollment had increased by 44%! With such growth in size, and the movement into a Middle School program as we add the Seventh Grade in the fall of 2019, we continue our search for our permanent site and look ahead to an eventual Capital Campaign. The future is ours…one we look forward to sharing with all in our wonderful Waldorf community, and the families who are yet to join us!

Our community grew out of the seeds of our collective ability to imagine . . .

• An education that focuses on whole brain stimulation through the arts, movement and nature, taught within a caring, safe and pressure-free environment
• A school that understands that academic excellence and a lifelong love of learning result when a child’s senses, feelings and thinking are actively engaged
• A curriculum that follows the developmental stages of childhood and mirrors the inner transformation of the child from year to year
• A faculty that incorporates academic, artistic and practical elements into every subject, creating meaningful, engaging lessons and successful scholars
• A community of like-minded people that provides opportunities for study, music and handwork groups, festivals and the mutual support of a lifestyle inspired by Waldorf

Nondiscrimination Policy

The Azalea Mountain School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin or gender in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

Azalea Mountain School is a Section 501(c)(3) organization. The school complies with local and state regulations and inspections.