Directors: Nancy Blanning and Leslie Burchell-Fox, MSEd ’96
Sunbridge’s Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Education Completion Track is an opportunity for early childhood educators with a minimum of 5 years of full-time teaching experience in a WECAN-member program, as well as relevant prior coursework or training, to apply their background to become fully WECAN-credentialed.
This is an every-year offering and will next enroll summer 2026. Applications will be available October 1.
The Program Experience
The Completion Track involves 8 weeks of on-campus coursework—a three-week session in the first summer followed by a one-week November session, a one-week March session, and a three-week session in the second summer—plus mentored teaching practice. In addition to on-campus classes, students complete study assignments and independent projects, as well as attend some online evening classes, between sessions. The Completion Track is designed to be completed over the course of 13 months.
The Completion Track utilizes our regular Early Childhood core and adjunct faculty. As a Sunbridge student, you’ll benefit from the wide array of resources available to us as part of the Threefold Educational Center community.
Program Components
Curriculum
Anthroposophical Studies
- Inner Development of the Educator: Working with one’s inner life and biography as a process of becoming
- A Child’s Changing Consciousness and working with The Six Basic Exercises
- Esoteric Science (gardening)
- Professional and Social Aspects of Education: Threefold Social Order and the Social Question, the art of working together
Child Development and Waldorf Education
- Early Childhood Development II/III/IV: including working with the lower senses, child study and observation, and first grade readiness
- Therapeutic Aspects of Waldorf Early Childhood Education
- Early Childhood Seminar and Independent Project Presentations
Art for the Educator
- Watercolor Painting
- Creative Speech for the Early Childhood teacher
- Eurythmy
- Instrumental Music, Movement, and Singing
Practical Activities of Waldorf Early Childhood Education
- Rhythmic Games and Music in the Mood of the Fifth
- Plant Dyeing
- Handwork: Working with wool
- Puppetry and Marionettes
- Gardening and Experiences in Nature
Mentored Early Childhood Teaching Practice
Each program student is assigned a faculty mentor—a highly experienced early childhood educator who will visit you in your work with young children each fall and spring during the length of the program to offer support and guidance in practical aspects of your work and in your development as an educator.
Directors / Faculty
Please visit our Faculty page to read bios of our Early Childhood program directors and faculty.
2025-2026 Academic Calendar
Summer 2025 Session
Sunday, June 15 – Friday, July 4
Fall 2025 Session
Sunday, November 16 – Friday, November 21
Spring 2026 Session
Sunday, March 15 – Friday, March 20
Master’s Degree
Successful completion of their Sunbridge studies enables our Early Childhood students and graduates who hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally-accredited institution to receive 12 credits toward a fully-accredited SUNY master of education or master of arts in liberal studies degree with self-designed concentration in Waldorf education, through our partnership with Empire State University of the State University of New York.
Admission Requirements
The Completion Track is intended to serve Waldorf early childhood educators with both significant experience and relevant prior coursework. Candidates must have a minimum of 5 consecutive years of lead-teaching experience in a WECAN-affiliated Waldorf setting. They must also have already successfully completed 200 hours of relevant coursework through a variety of workshops, conferences, courses, guided studies, and/or programs delivered by WECAN- or AWSNA-affiliated institutions either in person or in real-time virtual classrooms.
This coursework should include studies in these categories:
- Anthroposophical studies and human development
- Child development and Waldorf education
- Birth-to-age-three
- Arts for the educator
- Practical activities of Waldorf early childhood education
NOTE: Graduates of Waldorf-related but non-WECAN- or AWSNA-affiliated workshops, courses, or programs should contact our admissions office to see whether their prior coursework qualifies them for consideration of admission. Acceptance and allocation of previous coursework as satisfying the 200-hour requirement will be at the discretion of the program directors.
You must be actively working in a Waldorf early childhood setting both at the time of your application and during your enrollment in our program (with exceptions for sabbaticals–speak to a program director for more information). A high school diploma is required for admission.
Teachers who do not qualify for our Completion Track may instead apply as transfer applicants.
Application Process
The regular application deadline is June 1. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible, especially those individuals seeking financial aid.
A completed application consists of:
-
- Completed application form
- Current résumé
- Two letters of recommendation (accompanied, if required, by signed letter of recommendation forms) sent by your recommender directly to the Sunbridge Institute Admissions Office
- Letter/s from the school/s at which you have worked, verifying your 5 years of lead-teaching experience
- Copies of prior coursework completion certificate/s
- If applicable, a transcript indicating the highest level of college credits/degree earned; otherwise, your high school diploma/transcript
- Non-refundable $50 application fee. Applications submitted after June 1 must include a $50 late fee.
If mailing any materials, please send to:
Sunbridge Institute Office of Admissions
285 Hungry Hollow Road
Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977
Once your application is submitted and has been processed by our admissions office, you’ll receive a checklist in your account of all the items (still) needed. When your file is complete, it will be forwarded to a program director who will contact you for an interview. Admissions decisions are sent out soon thereafter, on a rolling basis.
Contact [email protected] if you need assistance with our application form.
Tuition / Financial Aid
Tuition for the 2025-26 Completion Track cohort.
Read about financial aid, including our Diversity Fund Scholarships.
International Students
Sunbridge is approved by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) to invite the transfer of foreign students into the United States to study at our Institute. We welcome students from all over the world to join our student body and engage in the pursuit of becoming a Waldorf teacher.
Applying for a visa with the support of Sunbridge Institute.
NOTE: All applicants whose first language is not English or who have taken their prior education in a non-English-speaking college or university must demonstrate oral and written proficiency in English during the admissions process (through a hand written personal statement and phone conversation). Taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) may be required.
For Assistance
Please contact our admissions office at [email protected] / 845-425-0055 x20
Please Note: Sunbridge Institute Waldorf Teacher Education programs and intensives are recognized by AWSNA, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, and are licensed by BPSS, the Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision of the New York State Education Department. These offerings do not lead to New York State teaching certification.
Sunbridge Institute reserves the right to cancel or change any offering at any time and to make faculty or course substitutions when necessary.
Non-Discrimination Statement
In all of its dealings, including its admissions, educational, and employment practices, it is the policy of Sunbridge Institute, its Trustees, officers, employees and other duly authorized agents not to discriminate against any individual or group for reasons of race, color, creed, gender, age, culture, ethnicity, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation or identification, or mental or physical disability.
