Emerson Waldorf School

6211 New Jericho Road

Chapel Hill, NC 27516

19 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on January 15, 2024

Emerson Waldorf promised my son (and our family) they would welcome us with respect, warmth, and loving care. Our experience was quite the opposite. It is application season for families planning to send their kids off to school in a few months. Remember how much you love your child and choose a different school for them.I grew concerned quickly after school began that I had made a poor choice for my lovely son. EWS’ long standing reputation started to tarnish a few years back when they stopped treating all families with the dignity and consideration deserved. The experiences my family encountered were consistent with what we heard from the other (mostly former) EWS families. The main issue seems to come from the fact EWS is a very closed organization. They repeatedly demonstrated to families and business partners an unwillingness to integrate outside feedback and information to provide students with the right experiences. The school prioritizes teachers over students.I came to realize I would need to transition my son to a different school as more families shared their stories with me. I also discovered that professional educators who help families select schools for their children have stopped recommending EWS because of these ongoing issues. My son’s teacher had been teaching the Waldorf approach for over 40 years. I felt she was no longer capable of teaching a classroom of young children even with the full-time assistant she was provided. She appeared to be more focused on cultivating a classroom that was easy for her rather than right for her students. We have to be the best advocates for our children. I voiced my concerns to the teacher which produced what I felt were retaliatory responses toward my son, I escalated to the school administrator. She simply turned me back over to the teacher to resolve my concerns. I went so far as to communicate our experience and concerns to the EWS Board Chair who is the mother of two EWS students. Weeks later I have yet to even receive an acknowledgement from her.Fortunately, my son transitioned to his new school remarkably well. His teachers are actually warm and welcoming. They have a diverse set of students in the classroom and the kids benefit from the diversity of styles the kids all bring. I could not be more grateful he is no longer enduring the environment at EWS.
Submitted by parent on January 12, 2022

I'm not sure that any one school is a perfect fit for everyone, but Emerson Waldorf School has been a great fit for our kids. They enjoy school and love their teachers, and come home happy and tired from a day spent well engaged in their learning. Waldorf teaching is much more experiential than most schools - using head, hands and heart - and the contrast is really strong, when you compare with the general push for schools to have their students all glued to screens for hours and hours each day. My own kids impress me every day with the talents and confidence they have, and I know that a great deal of that comes from the time they spend each day at the Emerson Waldorf School.
Submitted by parent on February 15, 2020

My daughter attended the school from Kindergarten through grade 12. It helped her develop into a marvelous young woman.
Submitted by parent on February 14, 2020

I'd like to touch on the people stating you are doing a disservice to your children's education sending them here. While it's true then don't learn at same level, initally in early education, as public school, they catch up by third. My husband went to Waldorf and her is one of the smartest Misty well rounded people I've met. What they aren't addressing is how developmentally children shouldn't be pressured to start reading in kindergarten. It causes undue anxiety. What they also aren't discussing is how my son at 6 is sewing. He is learning how to treat everyone with respect. He's learning how to cook (so is my 3 year old). They aren't just teaching reading and writing, they are teaching life skills as well. I love those school. My children feel safe and cared for. Learning is fun
Submitted by other on January 20, 2020

I graduated from this school and my experience was invaluable.
Submitted by parent on January 19, 2020

My family moved here in 2005 from Washington, D.C. so that our three daughters could attend the Emerson Waldorf School, and we've never looked back! My oldest is now a junior at Skidmore College, and frequently celebrates how well EWS prepared her for college. My middle daughter just got accepted to Haverford College, and plans to attend in the Fall of 2021 after a gap year in India. My youngest (a 9th grader) is fast on her older sisters' heels, loving school, thirsting for knowledge and the friendships she is developing.
Submitted by parent on January 18, 2020

The Emerson Waldorf School has been life changing for our family. It is an education for the whole family. The community life is strong and supportive. The teachers are available, encouraging, wise, knowledgeable and kind. They are dedicated to the development of our children in every aspect of their beings and invested in them as much as we are as parents.
Submitted by other on January 17, 2020

5 stars! Or really 6 if I had the choice. EWS is a key reason I am now a successful CEO of a fast-growing company in California. I exceeded academically (top percentile SATs in NC), was accepted to top-tier universities, and now have the skills and critical thinking to run an international company. I'm forever indebted.
Submitted by parent on January 16, 2020

My daughter attended from first through 10th grade. In eleventh grade, she left high school to begin college, a decision made possible because of the high quality education she received at EWS.
Submitted by parent on October 23, 2019

EWS has been a blessing in disguise for us. We had to pull our son out from his previous school urgently as they were doing serious damage to him, and we found this school. It turned out to be a gem. It always saddens me when I read things such as "brain wash" or "focus on nature and gnomes" as I saw recently somewhere. That is not what it is about at all. Let's not forget that, just like Montessori for instance (my son was in one of them before), it may not work for every child's personality. But if it is a match, believe me, it does wonders! After two months at EWS, my son found back his self-esteem, his happiness, he was himself again. And he started saying "I cannot understand how anyone would want to go to any other school!" (he was in 4th grade). And as far as curriculum, have no doubt. I used to teach in a rural public high school, and I can assure you that my now 7th grader knows in many ways about as much, if not more, than some of the high schoolers I had in my days... So I definitely recommend the Emerson Waldorf School.
Submitted by parent on October 23, 2019

Our children are thriving at EWS. My 8yo said to me the other day, "I can't wait to go to school tomorrow!" I asked, "Why, what's going on?" "I JUST LOVE SCHOOL!" The teachers and school meet the kids where they are developmentally, the teachers form a long-term partnership with parents, and the school leadership has been very responsive to all concerns I've ever raised.
Submitted by parent on October 23, 2019

Love this school! They have been so kind to our boys and I really feel like they are going to be better people because of this school!
Submitted by other on October 22, 2019

Amazing. We moved from another state just for our son’s to attend this incredible and amazing school.
Submitted by parent on October 22, 2019

Amazing. Love this school so glad my sons are attending. I wish I grew up in Waldorf
Submitted by parent on September 14, 2019

Please stay away! We sent our child here for 2 1/2 years. The community is lovely, but the education is terrible. You are doing your child a serious disservice sending them here. They will be so far behind that it is impossible to catch up without tutors and/or homeschooling. We transferred to another private school after homeschooling for 6 months to catch up academically. We were lucky that we had already been supplementing our child's education at home. Just don't do it! It isn't true that the students eventually catch-up. If you exam the eighth graders work at EWS and compare it to the work of eighth graders from other private schools in the area you will be appalled.
Submitted by other on April 05, 2019

Waldorf education and training is based on Anthroposophy. Please do your research and don't accept alternative facts from the staff or anyone else!
Submitted by parent on May 20, 2013

We've had all 4 of our kids at this school since 1998. Our oldest is now a rising junior at UNC-Chapel Hill. We love the way the Waldorf school preserves the love of learning, encourages wonder and mindfulness, and yet provides a rigorous, disciplined, and challenging curriculum without creating competition and stress.
Submitted by parent on May 11, 2013

We were so impressed with how the Waldorf curriculum (from pre-school/nursery to highschool) is designed to support each stage of a child's development allowing for the love of learning to naturally occur. My daughter loves to learn and she loves to go to school!! Emerson Waldorf is a place where a child can be a child and everything that surrounds them supports where they are at that particular moment in time.
Submitted by parent on May 04, 2013

From the moment my family walked on to campus we knew this was a wonderful school. The more we learned the more we knew we had found a good place for our kids to get a solid foundation of skills and confidence to take with them as they grew up and ventured into the wider world. Emerson Waldorf teaches kids to think without over working them. It teaches them that they can be musicians, artists, scientists or teachers and that they can do whatever they set out to do if they are willing to work hard and learn from others. The teachers at Emerson Waldorf are wonderful and become more than just teachers to these kids - they are role models and mentors. The setting is beautiful, the curriculum teaches the whole child, and the fruits are visible in Waldorf graduates that have come before - self confidence, curiosity, warmth, well-roundedness, success in college and a broad array of careers!