History
Maple Village Waldorf School (MVWS) is located in the a quaint residential neighborhood in Long Beach, California on the previous Emmanuel Presbyterian Church property. After years of renting our space, we are excited to be in the process of purchasing our longtime home. The school was founded in 2008 by a group of passionate parents and teachers who met through a local home-based Waldorf-inspired program. Through outreach, the original group grew to include other educators and professionals, resulting in a larger community effort. They spent three years studying and researching together before forming a Board of Trustees and various dedicated committees. After one year of deliberation, the founders decided that Maple Village would be a private school – rather than a public charter school – in order to be free to offer a true and whole Waldorf curriculum to the greater Long Beach community.
Our school began with one parent/child class, including a built-in parent education component. We have since added a full and thriving early childhood program, including a baby & me class, four parent/child classes, two parent participation preschool classes, and two kindergarten classes. In the fall of 2011 we enthusiastically launched our grades program, which includes grades one through eight. With great joy and pride, we graduated our first class in 2018. Though we have come a long way from that home based program, the thread of passionate parents and teachers has continued to be a core value in our school and community of families.
Maple Village Waldorf School is an Associate Member of AWSNA, the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America which is a member of CAPSO (California Association of Private Schools), and a Developing Member of WECAN, the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America. We are recognized by the U.S Department of Education as a Green Ribbon School and the City of Long Beach as a Green Business. We also participate in the California Department of Public Health Asthma-Safer Microfiber Cleaning Program.
Listen to an interview with Lisa J. McCarthy, Co-Founder of Maple Village Waldorf School on the founding of the school.
