Embracing Anti-Bias & Anti-Racism

At New Amsterdam, we acknowledge the truth that the founder of Waldorf education, Rudolf Steiner, espoused racist views about racial hierarchy. Further, we seek to actively dismantle the explicit and implicit racism embedded in this pedagogy and align ourselves with the evolving, modern Waldorf movement that embraces anti-bias and anti-racism. 

We also acknowledge our school rests on Lenape Land. The families, administration, and teachers are aligned in support of equity and equality. We stand with LGBTQ+ people, Black Lives Matter, Immigrant Rights, and Disabled Rights, and stand firmly against Anti-Semitism, racism, bias, and hate in all forms. We will continue to strive to bring these core principles to life and work actively to ensure our curriculum and community support them.

Our faculty and staff work with DEI educators and invest in professional training to ensure that we are constantly evolving, accountable, and building business practices that support anti-racism. Most recently, we attended a workshop with Britt Hawthorne and participated in WECAN’s 2021 conference, Toward a Kinder, More Compassionate Society: Black Lives Matter in Waldorf Early Childhood Classrooms and Communities, with keynote speaker Laleña Garcia. In the 2020-21 school year, we expanded our DEI committee to include both faculty and parent branches, where we explore accountability and collectively align our policies and practices to promote equity, inclusion, and belonging on all levels, especially for those voices that often go unheard. Together, we are committed to opening and continuing dialogue, unlearning, re-learning, creating space, and taking action with our community to bring understanding, healing, and change.

Many of the original words and views posited by Rudolf Steiner, over 100 years ago, are in direct conflict with our positioning and mission as a school community. We acknowledge this history and renounce the racist views associated with anthroposophy and Waldorf education. We declare our intent to be a leader in the ever-evolving and growing Waldorf movement. New Amsterdam School takes on this responsibility with humility and utmost conviction.

Waldorf Around the World…

We honor and give thanks to the Lenape people, whose land our school sits upon. The Lenape (the first residents of Manhattan - then called Manahatta, meaning hilly island) occupied and cared for the expanse of land (called Lenapehoking) of what is now Manhattan, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, southeastern New York State, northern Delaware, and a small section of southeastern Connecticut. Today, Lenape communities live across North America.