Summer Series Overview
Welcome to Sunbridge’s Summer Series 2020! Our June and July courses and workshops offer professional development and personal enrichment for those already working in education and leadership, and introductory experiences for anyone interested in discovering Waldorf Education. You’ll appreciate that all our Approaching the Grades faculty—and almost all our other Summer Series faculty—are currently teaching in their own Waldorf classrooms, assuring our participants cutting-edge instruction by current educators.
Long a favorite summertime destination for Waldorf professionals, Sunbridge is now a New York State Education Department Approved Sponsor of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (NYSED CTLE), enabling area teachers of any background to choose Sunbridge for their CLTE professional development credits. (Check to see if your state honors our status.)
Each Summer Series 5-day course and weekend workshop includes a mix of content-based work, artistic work, and discussion. Designed with both balance and rigor in mind, your days will be rich and full. Each period of your schedule is individually tailored to the specific subject you have come here to study, and your experience will be enhanced through conversations with classmates who work at schools across North America and beyond. Come prepared to learn—and to be inspired!
NOTE REGARDING THE CORONAVIRUS:
We are hoping that our Summer Series will proceed as planned, but are currently exploring all available options, including moving from in-person classes to virtual classes. We will notify you as soon as we know more. Meanwhile, we have revised our non-refundable fee policy and have lifted all penalties for cancellation of registrations—whether that cancellation comes from us or from you. So know you can safely go ahead and register to hold your spot without incurring any financial risk.
Discount Options & Registration
VOLUME DISCOUNTS
To accommodate schools sending multiple attendees, we offer the following volume discounts:
- If a school sends between 2-4 attendees, that school’s invoice will reflect an overall 20% discount.
- If a school sends 5 or more attendees, that school’s invoice will reflect an overall 30% discount.
These discounts do not apply to Waldorf Weekend registrations, as all Waldorf Weekend registrants receive a regular $85 discounted rate if that Waldorf Weekend registration is an add-on to another course.
Qualifying for a volume discount is a two-step process:
- Step One: Schools should submit a volume discount form, listing all teachers/staffers the school intends to pay for and the title/s of their chosen course/s and/or workshop/s.
- Step Two: Each teacher/staffer listed on the volume discount form completes an individual registration form. Teachers/staffers who do not complete this final step of submitting an individual registration form are not considered registered.
Schools will be invoiced in July, based on actual attendance. A non-refundable fee—as specified on the registration form—applies to any canceled registration.
COMBINED OFFERINGS
- 20% discounts on subsequent registrations (of equal or lesser value) will automatically appear on your registration form when you register for more than one course and/or workshop. (Exception: Waldorf Weekend, which offers an $85 discount when selected as a subsequent registration.)
- Current Sunbridge program students receive a 50% discount on 1 or more registrations.
- Sunbridge program alumni receive a 15% discount on 1 or more registrations.
- Accounts must be in good standing.
CANADIAN DOLLARS:
- Payments made in CAD will receive a 25% discount off the full price in US dollars. (Instructions will pop up on your registration form when you indicate you are paying in Canadian currency.)
- This discount will be applied after any other applicable discount is made.
Course Capacity
A maximum number of spaces is available in each Summer Series classroom and a minimum number of students is needed to run each offering. To be certain to get into the course or workshop of your choice—and to help ensure your chosen offering runs—don’t wait! Get your registration in as soon as possible, as courses and workshops not meeting minimum registrations will be cancelled. Titles that are nearing—or have reached—capacity will have a note placed alongside their description, with wait lists made available as necessary.
Housing & Meals
Threefold Café, our on-campus dining hall serving hearty and delicious fare, offers a discounted meal plan and gift cards to Sunbridge summer students.
All campus housing is arranged directly through Threefold Educational Center; on their website, you will also find a “Home Stay” list of local residents who rent out rooms in their homes to campus visitors. Read more about housing and meals.
Download a Threefold Community map.
Find directions to our campus.
Note regarding the coronavirus:
Sunbridge, along with our neighbors at Threefold Educational Center, is monitoring all updates regarding COVID-19 and taking all necessary precautions as recommended by the CDC to help ensure the health and safety of visitors to our campus.
To this end, our cleaning staff is diligently cleaning and disinfecting all door handles, light switches, rest rooms, and general surfaces in our dorms, dining rooms, and classroom buildings on a daily basis. Each guest room is cleaned and disinfected when guests check out, and sanitizing and disinfecting materials, including soap and paper towels, are available for our students’ use in our Brookside Building and Main House bathrooms.
Campus Life
Sunbridge’s location offers its Summer Series participants many singular advantages: a nature-filled 140-acre campus at your disposal; restaurants within easy walking distance; mass transit to and from NYC and area airports just a block away; and destinations such as the artsy Hudson River towns of Nyack and Piermont, as well as Harriman State Park, New York State’s second-largest state park, within a short drive.
Scheduled on-campus activities for our Summer Series 2020 attendees include:
- NEW! Monday evening Things I Wish I Had Known: As teachers, it’s important to have carefully thought over the many choices you make (such as, Why do you choose the stories you do? Why do you emphasize certain aspects of history over others?) and to be able to explain to parents and colleagues why you’ve made them. You also need to be able to easily discuss aspects of the Waldorf curriculum (Why do we teach form drawing? Why do students take eurythmy—and why is it beneficial throughout the grades?) and to know how to handle the essential collaboration with parents. Then there are the aspects of teaching that maybe you haven’t even thought about (the importance of self care, the need to review each day, acknowledge one’s successes and challenges, and to start fresh each morning). Anyone new/ish to Waldorf teaching is invited to join Director of Education (and veteran Waldorf class teacher) Linda Ogden-Wolgemuth for a conversation around these topics and more, to help prepare you further for your year and ready you for the questions that will come toward you from parents, colleagues, and even students.
- Tuesday morning Meet and Greets: Join all other Summer Series and program students and faculty and mingle over complimentary coffee, fruit, and cookies during morning break time.
- Tuesday evening Faculty Panels: Participate in a lively guided discussion on a topic relevant to everyone on campus that week.
- Wednesday evening BBQ Suppers and Evening Swim: Order a delicious dinner at Threefold Cafe, enjoy it on the Main House Terrace, and take a dip in the refreshing Threefold Pond right across the street.
Calendars with these and other activities, along with additional events sponsored by our neighboring Threefold community institutions, are posted weekly around campus.
Read more about our campus and community and local activities for our students and their families.
Ask to join Sunbridge Connections, our closed Facebook group for Sunbridge program, course, and workshop students to connect and help one another with logistics relating to their time on campus (ride-sharing, room-sharing, baby-sitting needs, etc).
Summer Series 2020
For All Educators
July 17-19 (Weekend Workshop)
NEW! Enriching the Classroom Through a Waldorf Perspective: New Approaches for Teaching and Learning for All Classrooms From Early Childhood Through 8th Grade
With Liz Beaven, president of the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education
Of Interest to All
June 19-21 (Weekend Workshop)
Waldorf Weekend: Foundations and Fundamentals of Waldorf Education from Early Childhood to High School
With Linda Ogden-Wolgemuth of Sunbridge Institute, Lisa Miccio of The Waldorf School of Garden City, and Harlan Gilbert of Green Meadow Waldorf School
For School Decision-Makers and Other Leaders
July 26-31 (5-Day Course)
Collaborative Leadership: Personalized Strategies for Becoming a More Effective Member of Your Leadership Team
With Joachim Ziegler, organizational development consultant, and Jessica Heffernan Ziegler of Sunbridge Institute
For Early Childhood Educators
June 14-19 (5-Day Course)
Introduction to Waldorf Early Childhood Education: An Immersion in the World of the Waldorf Nursery / Kindergarten With Lisa Miccio of The Waldorf School of Garden City
June 26-28 (Weekend Workshop)
NEW! Exploring the World of Birth to Three: Developmental Insights and Practices for Working with Infants and Toddlers
With Anna Ruth Myers of The Nurtured Child
For Grades 1-8 Educators
June 26-28 (Weekend Workshop)
NEW! Crafts in the Early Grades: Seasonal and Festival Craft Activities for Grades 1-4
With Judit Gilbert, fiber artist
June 26-28 (Weekend Workshop)
A Focus on Middle School Science: A Phenomenological Approach to Teaching Science in Grades 6-8
With Gary Banks of the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor
July 17-19 (Weekend Workshop)
Creating Beautiful Drawings in the Grades: Techniques and Skills for Chalkboards and Main Lesson Books
With Steve Simonak of Brooklyn Waldorf School
June 28-July 3 (5-Day Course)
Approaching Grade One: Inspiration and Guidance for Your Year
With Calisa Tucker of the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor
June 28-July 3 (5-Day Course)
Approaching Grade Two: Inspiration and Guidance for Your Year
With Karen Atkinson of the Waldorf School of Princeton
July 12-17 (5-Day Course)
Approaching Grade Three: Inspiration and Guidance for Your Year
With Laura Cox of the Washington Waldorf School
June 21-26 (5-Day Course)
Approaching Grade Four: Inspiration and Guidance for Your Year
With Leslie Lew of Housatonic Valley Waldorf School
July 12-17 (5-Day Course)
Approaching Grade Five: Inspiration and Guidance for Your Year
With Karen Crandall of the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs
June 21-26 (5-Day Course)
Approaching Grade Six: Inspiration and Guidance for Your Year
With Karen Crandall of the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs
June 28-July 3 (5-Day Course)
Approaching Grade Seven: Inspiration and Guidance for Your Year
With Karen Crandall of the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs, Elizabeth Hall of Green Meadow Waldorf School, and Gary Banks of the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor
June 28-July 3 (5-Day Course)
Approaching Grade Eight: Inspiration and Guidance for Your Year
With Elizabeth Hall of Green Meadow Waldorf School, Karen Crandall of the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs, and Gary Banks of the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor
For High School Educators
June 28-July 3 (5-Day Course)
NEW! Further Explorations into Waldorf High School Education: A Deeper Dive into Principles and Practices for Teaching Today’s Teens
With Stephen Sagarin of Berkshire Waldorf High School and Sunbridge Institute, Gary Banks of the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor, and other high school specialists
Praise From Previous Summer Series Attendees
~ My school recommended Sunbridge to me, and I’m glad they did.
~ It’s beautiful here. Staff is well-prepared and organized.
~ Great people. Great program.
~ Sunbridge draws from all over and offers all the diverse styles needed.
~ My (Approaching the Grades) course provided me with a lot of tools that I will be able to bring to my class. The more philosophical questions were very inspiring.
~ This was my first Sunbridge course. I learned so much from my instructor and all the students. I feel I am leaving with much to enrich my teaching this year.
~ Well-organized course. Excellent, well-chosen faculty. Participants in this class were exceptionally fine people and first-rate teachers.
~ This (Leadership) course was on many levels deeply satisfying, combining content info, plenty of case work, group work, reflection time, and opportunities to use all parts of our brain (with eurythmy and music and nature all around).
~ I enjoyed widening my perspective of other Waldorf Schools/teachers who face completely different challenges than my school and I do.
~ I feel super informed and satisfied that I have the info I need to have a great year.
~ Thank you for a lovely experience. I learned so much and have found a new network and community.
For Assistance
For all inquiries regarding Summer Series courses, registration, or life at Sunbridge, please contact:
Barbara Vitale
Admission and Summer Coordinator
summer@sunbridge.edu
845-425-0055 x20
