Every learning program is shaped by curiosity. Every child is met with care. Every experience is built with craft.

It’s called the Waldorf curriculum, and at WSSD it runs unbroken from Pre-K through grade 12 in San Diego. One subject is studied at a time, in focused blocks of three to four weeks, so a topic gets explored rather than skimmed.

The arts aren’t enrichment around the edges — painting, music, and movement are woven through how every academic subject is taught. The result is an education that meets each child as a whole person, head, heart, and hands, and grows with them at every stage. Find where your child fits.

How learning works at WSSD

Middle School students dissect something organic in biology class.

Block scheduling

Instead of juggling six subjects at once, students go deep into one. The school year is built from blocks — three to four weeks spent inside a single subject, whether that’s botany, fractions, or ancient history. A topic gets explored, not just covered.

Main lesson

Every school day opens with the main lesson — a two-hour stretch devoted to the current block. It’s unhurried by design: time to write, draw, discuss, and investigate. The deepest academic work of the day happens before the morning is half over.

Arts-integrated learning

Painting, music, movement, and handwork aren’t enrichment tacked onto the timetable — they’re how academic subjects are taught. A fraction can be drawn; a historical moment, performed. Arts-integrated learning gives an idea more than one way in, and that’s what makes it stick.

The Pre-K through 12 journey

From a parent-child playgroup to a college-bound senior class, each stage builds on the last. Find where your child fits today.

Morning Glory (Parent–Child)

One weekly morning of song, seasonal craft, and snack — for children 12 to 37 months, with a grown-up beside them. You sit inside a real Waldorf classroom and watch what unhurried looks like, long before any form is filled out.

Early Childhood (Pre-K)

Days are built from real things: bread kneaded by hand, gardens dug, stories told and re-told. No screens, no worksheets — just play, which at this age is the serious work of building a curious, capable mind.

Lower School (Grades 1–5)

One teacher stays with the class for years, not months — long enough to truly know each child. Children are introduced to reading, math, and science through story, music, and hands-on work, building an academic foundation that lasts.

Middle School (Grades 6–8)

The years when students push back — so the curriculum pushes them. Science labs, world history, and projects with real stakes meet that restless energy head-on, building young people who question, test, and think for themselves.

High School (Grades 9–12)

A 110-minute morning seminar gives every subject the depth most classrooms never reach — where, as we like to say at WSSD, artists learn to think like scientists and scientists learn to see like artists. The only Waldorf high school in San Diego County.

What every grade shares

The Waldorf curriculum is based on insight into the brain and physical development, kinesthetic learning, and emotional intelligence.

Families at arts and crafts table.
Lower school male and female students stand in line.
Early school female student coloring artwork.
Students stand against a wall of art.
Students play instruments in a concert.
Lower School students carve wood.
High School female students rehearse Eurythmy dance.
Lower school students in art class painting with watercolors.
Lower School female student listens intently.
Lower School female students learn baking.

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Everything you need to know about Waldorf curriculum

Get in touch

Does WSSD offer before- and after-school care?

Yes. Extended Care is available before and after the school day for families who need it, across the grade levels. It runs on the regular school calendar; for current hours, age eligibility, and fees, contact the school office at (619) 280-8016.

What is a main lesson?

The main lesson is the two-hour block that opens each school day, devoted to one subject for a stretch of three to four weeks. It’s how WSSD students go deep into a topic rather than skimming many at once.

How is the Waldorf curriculum different from a traditional school?

Subjects are taught in depth, one block at a time, and the arts are woven into academics rather than treated as extras. The same subjects — math, science, history, language — are covered; the difference is how, and how deeply.

Which grades does WSSD serve?

WSSD is a Pre-K through grade 12 school in San Diego — one continuous Waldorf education, from a parent-child playgroup through a college-bound senior year. It’s the only Waldorf high school in San Diego County.

The best way to understand a Waldorf education is to see it.

Tours run regularly throughout the school year — about 60 to 90 minutes, with time to ask the questions a website can’t answer.