Our School Today

As we enter the 18th year on this campus as a full school, we are excited and confident in our future. Enrollment is strong and steady, with a 30% increase in numbers since the 2006 opening. Due to careful financial management by the Board, our tuition is still one of the lowest in the country for a full Waldorf program, and the school is financially healthy.

In 2014, thanks to generous donors, the school was able to purchase a .75-acre property adjoining our Clay Street campus to the west. The remodeled Glendale property provided much-needed additional classroom space for our growing program. Then in 2015, the school, using reserves from its carefully managed resources, was able to purchase an open field to the south side of the school, providing much welcomed additional gardening space.  

In recent years, the school has also successfully navigated its first transitions in leadership. In the summer of 2015, Catherine Razi retired after nine years as founding administrator. The job she had held was split in two. The school hired Lisa Barry as Head of School and Karl Johnson as Pedagogical Chair. Karl worked with the faculty until spring of 2016; Lisa Barry stayed on for nearly two years, relocating back to the Bay Area in the spring of 2017. Aurilia McNamara, who had been the school’s Eurythmy teacher and part of the school’s administrative team for eight years, stepped up as Administrator in 2017 and is now in her seventh year.

Download the 2021-2022 Financial Report HERE

Our Governance Model: The Four Pillars

The “Four Pillars” governance model, adopted by the Siskiyou School Board and faculty in the fall of 2006, is based on collaborative leadership among the Board, Faculty, Parents, and Administration. Each pillar has its well-defined sphere of expertise and activity. The Board carries the school’s finances and legal affairs. The Faculty, in conjunction with our Pedagogical Chair, holds the pedagogical program. The Parents are tasked with “creating a mantle of warmth” by doing what they love in service of the school and helping organize events which build community and raise money to support the school. The Administrator heads the Administrative Team and acts as the school’s point person, holding the whole and supporting the work of each group to ensure good communication and collaboration among them. Each body has a part to play; all are needed to carry the work of the school.