High School
Waldorf education culminates in high school. These are the years we find agency and morality in knowing ourselves.
Shining Mountain’s High School runs on a unique Block Schedule where courses vary in duration and level throughout the year:
Shining Mountain offers individually accredited enrollment for most block courses.
Living our Values
People learn best in communities built on shared values. The high school’s faculty strive to offer these three:
Discovery of Self
Integration of the Arts
Learning through Experience
The Living Elements of Shining Mountain Waldorf High School
These three living elements we value address the interdependent pathways of growth, both academic and personal, to which both teacher and student devote themselves. As they move through high school, the student experiences these pathways as an ever-maturing being moving toward adulthood.
Hover over the rotating high school logo to learn more.
Discovery of Self
Along with a focus on strong academic and social competencies, Shining Mountain commits to working with the adolescent to foster the development of self-knowledge. Developing an understanding of one's relationship to risk, motivation, resilience, interdependent thinking and collaboration forms the foundational layer of the lifelong journey of "know thyself". We work toward developing, strengthening and synthesizing this undertaking throughout the four years.
Learning through Experience
At Shining Mountain, the commitment is in the doing. We ask our students to take an active role in their learning. They cultivate wonder, seek meaning, engage their will, and effectively communicate. Experiential learning brings the academic experience alive within the student which in turn awakens them to their place in the world.
Integration of the Arts
Fine, practical, and performing arts are central to a Shining Mountain education, yet the creative process goes beyond the arts as they are traditionally understood. When each discipline is approached as a creative endeavor, experiential knowledge is deepened through a revelation of the unseen, and the discovery of its intrinsic value. A creative interaction with the processes enriches learning, strengthens recall, and inspires original, and innovative work.
High School Programs
Alumni Stats at a Glance
98%
college graduates
Of surveyed SMWS graduates, 98% attend and graduate from college, far above the U.S. national average.
51%
with honors
Of surveyed alumni, 51% complete undergraduate study with honors.
37%
advanced degrees
37% go on to graduate school to earn master's and PhDs.
35%
self-employed
Of surveyed alumni not currently in school, 35% are self-employed, more than double the national average.
Meet our Faculty
Hover over any of our teachers to meet them.
