A Campus Unlike Any Other
Where community, nature and tradition nourish the whole child.
Conveniently located minutes away from anywhere in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the Minnesota Waldorf School boasts a rigorous academic curriculum rich in art and music, as well as screen-free classrooms, plenty of recess and a commitment to a diverse and healthy social environment. MWS is a school where children experience the true magic and wonder of their childhood on a unique eight acre campus dotted with classroom gardens, mature oak trees and grazing chickens.
Why Waldorf?
Waldorf education addresses the whole child—their physical well-being, their social and emotional well-being, and their intellectual, cognitive, and spiritual development. In Waldorf schools, students benefit from having the same teacher for several years, which fosters strong bonds and lasting relationships. Social and emotional education is prioritized, with formalized testing introduced later on in the upper grades. Storytelling, projects, experiments, and games are used as challenging academic tools.
Low-Tech Learning
Waldorf education encourages a low-tech approach in the early years. Children are encouraged to engage in imaginative play, hands-on work, and outdoor and artistic activities. The goal is to cultivate a strong academic and developmental foundation, social skills, and a connection to the natural world before introducing digital devices.
Art is Not Extra, The Arts Are Essential
Our curriculum integrates art into all subjects from mathematics and history to language arts and sciences. Lessons become more accessible for a wider range of students while nurturing creativity and fostering emotional expression. Offerings include, handwork, wood work, ceramics, strings ensemble, choir, theater and more!
Graduates Who Soar
The outcomes of Waldorf education are impressive. Nearly 100% of graduates attend university. Waldorf students develop curiosity, creativity, and a deep love for learning. They graduate with confidence, poise, and a genuine care for the world and its people.
Inspiring Joyful Learning in the Twin Cities Since 1981
Established in 1981, The Minnesota Waldorf School provides a learning environment unlike any other in the region.
At MWS, we recognize the critical link between inspiration and education. A time-tested and developmentally based core curriculum of math, science, and humanities is skillfully supported by art, music, movement, world language, agriculture, and handwork/woodwork. Students are challenged academically while developing a strong sense of self and responsibility for others and the world around them. Our classrooms and teachers offer a joyful, nurturing environment that allows children’s natural capacities for curiosity and generosity to unfold.
Minnesota Waldorf School is a dual accredited, non-sectarian independent school supported by tuition, contributions, and volunteer efforts of parents and friends of the school. Our students come from a variety of social, economic, racial and cultural backgrounds.
As an independent school, Minnesota Waldorf School is an accredited member of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), a provisional member of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS). Minnesota Waldorf School is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, ability, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, nationality or ethnic origin.
The School is easily accessible from all parts of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. To inquire about admissions or to schedule a tour, contact enrollment@mnwaldorf.org.
Our Mission
Minnesota Waldorf School nurtures children’s highest capacities of thinking, feeling and willing by cultivating a sense of truth, the power of imagination, and a feeling of responsibility for themselves and the world around them.
Early Childhood
12 months - age 6
Play is the heart of early childhood and the key to creative and critical thinking. Your child will take their first steps into a school experience, guided gently and joyfully through a day of meaningful work, play, and outdoor exploration on our beautiful 8-acre campus. Visit our Growing Together page for information about our birth - toddler classes.
Elementary School
Grades 1-5
Academics come alive through stories, the arts and movement. Children experience new intellectual challenges while they explore the beauty of the world through language arts, choir, string ensemble, practical arts, math and sciences.
Middle School
Grades 6-8
New conceptual capacities awaken in middle school children as they approach adolescence and are eager to test their new intellectual powers. Over the course of sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, students examine science, technology, engineering, arts and math and expand on their foundational understanding of language arts, history, geography, Spanish, music and drama.