Festivals and Celebrations
WSGC’s seasonal festivals and celebrations are a unique aspect of our school. They mark the passage of seasonal changes by honoring our cultures and coming together as a community to pause and reflect upon the meaning of the various times of the year.
Autumn
We honor the beginning of the school year with our Opening Day Assembly, where teachers share a wish with their class to be fulfilled during the school year. The Assembly includes the traditional Rose Ceremony where the senior class welcomes rising first graders.
Michaelmas, a traditional harvest festival, celebrates human courage in the face of adversity, through the story of the archangel Michael taming the dragon. In our school pageant, second graders, led by the High School seniors, face off against the dragon, played by the sixth graders. Later in the day, students participate in an afternoon of beautifying the school’s grounds and gardens and decorating the classrooms and hallways.
The annual Fall Fair is one of the largest community events of the year, organized by our Parent-Family Association. Students of all ages, teachers, and alumni gather for an incredible day of autumnal games, craft-making, a puppet show created and performed by our teachers, and soccer games on our fields.
In early November, as we journey into the darkest days of the year, the evening Lantern Walk for students and families in Early Childhood through Grade 3 reminds us to kindle warmth, compassion, and light in our hearts. Students spend the days prior creating lanterns in their classrooms.
Other celebrations of light include Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) a Mexican and Latin American observance honoring ancestors.
Diwali, a celebration of light over dark, is honored in both all-school and individual classroom celebrations.
Winter
Each December, Waldorf schools worldwide celebrate the Winter seasonal festival called the Winter Spiral. The spiral is an ancient form and symbolizes the reflective, inward turning needed as the night grows longer and the cold drives us indoors. Students in our Early Childhood program through Grade 12 walk the spiral created with pine boughs and winter greens, light a candle, and then place it along the pathway, guiding the way for others.
Classroom celebrations during the Season of Light include Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Families are always encouraged to bring their holiday traditions to their children’s classrooms.
Our Carol and Winter Sing before the December holidays brings together WSGC alumni from years past to sing songs, new and old, and celebrate time-lasting friendships.
In February, we honor Black History Month by authentically incorporating lessons for a greater understanding of the challenges faced and gifts given by African Americans throughout history, and Lunar New Year, a major festival for many Asian cultures, by decorating the school and making dumplings in our classrooms, with stories, festive music, and performances.
SPRING
Springtime is a season of birth, renewal and welcoming the Earth’s longer and warmer days. The Spring Festival, a community-wide outdoor celebration, features spring music and dances, including an English Morris dance performed by the sixth grade and Maypole dances by the fourth grade. The Maypole’s colorful ribbons are woven in a pattern by the older students and then younger children are invited to join in. The Early Childhood teachers perform a puppet show indoors, while outdoors, families enjoy picnic lunches, fun sack-races, and other games and festive activities.
Summer
We celebrate the end of the school year with a community Bonfire, a traditional summer solstice festival. Families and community members gather on our field for a festive early evening of story, songs, and end-of-year fun.