For College and University Admissions

CEEB code: 060111
College Counselor: Patricia Sexton
Email: hs@smwaldorf.org
Kindergarten – Grade 12: 315 students
High School: 75 students

Shining Mountain Waldorf School is a non-profit, independent, co-educational day school, Kindergarten through Grade 12, founded in 1983. Part of the worldwide Waldorf school movement which is based on the philosophical and educational insights of Rudolf Steiner, Shining Mountain provides a comprehensive education that integrates academics, the arts, and practical studies. The curriculum cultivates independent thinking and imagination and fosters a life-long love of learning. Our goal is to enable students to become balanced, vigorous, life-affirming, and compassionate individuals. 90% of the students attend four-year colleges and universities, and 5% attend two-year colleges.

Accreditation and Affiliations
Shining Mountain is accredited by the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America and the Association of Colorado Independent Schools. Our college counselor is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), Rocky Mountain ACAC, and the Colorado Council for High School and College Relations.

Academic Program

• four years of English
• four years of chemistry, physics, life science, earth science
• four years of mathematics
• four years of one foreign language
• four years of history
• four years of fine and practical arts
• four years of performing arts
• four years of physical education

Each day begins with a “Morning Lesson,” a one hour and thirty-five minute period which is devoted to intensive, in-depth study of an academic subject over the course of three to four weeks. The Morning Lesson is followed by forty-five minute long track classes meeting four to five times per week, which build skills in math, English, history, science, foreign language, choral and instrumental music, practical and fine arts, and physical education. The average class size is 15.

Faculty
High School students are taught by 10 full-time faculty members, who hold bachelors degrees, with 73% holding masters or doctoral degrees. Fine arts and professional craftspeople from the community support specialty classes.

Explanation of Credits

• Morning Lesson: 3-week course equals 2.5 credits.
• 3.5-week course equals 3.0 credits.
• 4-week course equals 3.3 credits.

Note that subjects such as life science, earth science, physics, and chemistry are given credit for one course each year to total one year of course credit.

Track classes:
One period 4x/week carries 4.8 semester credits or 9.6 per year. One period 5x/week carries 6.0 credits per semester.

Grading
The GPA is computed cumulatively. Grades are not weighted. Shining Mountain does not assign rank to its students.

Senior Projects
Seniors plan, design, and research a topic of strong personal interest over the course of the senior year, culminating in a formal presentation to the faculty and parent community in the spring. Students find a mentor and commit to a minimum of 50 hours of work.