The Denver Waldorf School

Face of Private Education
Ina Jaehnig and Joan Condon

Founded in 1974 as Colorado’s first Waldorf school, The Denver Waldorf School provides a Pre-K–12 education rooted in both tradition and forward-thinking pedagogy. Located in the heart of the city, DWS offers the rare combination of an urban campus with frequent access to nature—just steps from the 80 acres of fields, trees, and trails at Harvard Gulch Park. This blend allows students to learn in ways that engage both head and hands, whether studying earth science outdoors, composing and illustrating their own textbooks, or exploring literature through performance. Here, the world becomes their classroom, inviting students to observe, perceive, and connect more deeply with their environment.

At DWS, learning is alive. A holistic, arts-integrated curriculum nurtures intellectual curiosity while supporting emotional attunement and confidence. Movement, play, and experiential learning are foundational. Relationship-based teaching is strengthened through looping, where faculty progress with students over multiple years—deepening understanding, trust, and individualized support.

Kindergarteners learn through play, storytelling, and hands-on activities like baking and foraging as a group. In first grade, every child begins handwork through knitting—an exercise in patience, dexterity, and creativity. By eighth grade, students have practiced sewing, embroidery, and other practical crafts that build capability and artistry. All students engage in music, theater, and traditional STEM studies from kindergarten through twelfth grade, endowing them with a well-rounded sense of what it means to be fully human in the world.

We take the humanities literally. Our students are renaissance thinkers from the moment they arrive. And as Spartans—our mascot in spirit as well as athletics—they practice a robust range of subjects, developing resilience through challenge and versatility of skills. They learn not just information, but how to learn: how to observe, perceive, communicate, and navigate the world with clarity and empathy. These human capacities are increasingly essential in an automated age. With a 100% college acceptance rate, DWS graduates emerge as collaborative teammates, thoughtful innovators, and compassionate leaders.

A key principle of our philosophy is cultivating original thought by minimizing digital distraction in formative years. With a mindful, age-appropriate media and technology policy, students first build imagination, focus, and the capacity to reach their own conclusions by engaging with the depths and layers of the world—later pairing these strengths with technology from a grounded perspective.

More than ever, students need an education that fosters resilience, adaptability, compassion, and confidence. They need the intentional integration of academics, arts, music, and movement to educate the whole human. Welcome to The Denver Waldorf School.