Member Spotlight
Tomorrow River Community Charter School
Photo: TRCCS
The Tomorrow River Community Charter School is a Waldorf-inspired program located at the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station in Amherst Junction. Tomorrow River serves around 200 students from 4k-8th Grade, who enjoy daily time outdoors in all kinds of weather. On average, students spend around two hours per day in nature, embracing the proximity to both the forest and a lake.
Natural Start spoke with Naomi Miller, a Pre-K and Kindergarten Teacher, to learn more about the school.
You describe TRCCS’s learning approach as “guided by the core principles of Waldorf education.” Can you share what that looks like in practice?
In the early childhood program, the learning environment is play-based and we don’t start traditional “academic learning” until the first grade.
A few other Waldorf principles we follow are:
- A focus on social-emotional learning
- Time for both practical and artistic work
- Developing the whole child through nature, art, language and music
- Creating a comfortable, predictable learning environment through a rhythmic schedule and routine
At TRCCS you work with community partners. Can you share more about that?
One way that we’ve been connecting with the community is by having student teachers and practicum students in the PreK and K classroom. It has been really fun for me to show soon-to-be teachers another schooling option that is out there.
Our school community is made up of people with different experiences and backgrounds. We are all different in our own ways. We respect everyone's differences and incorporate stories from all over the world into the classroom.
For early childhood at TRCCS, enrollment is voluntary and there is no tuition. How are you able to provide this education at no charge?
We are a charter school within the Tomorrow River School District. So we do get federal funds per pupil. The families and students enrolled in our school have sought us out and are very committed to it.
And we do a lot of fundraising!
Learn more at www.trccs.org
