After we had established our kindergarten in 2009, we were soon faced with the need for our own school since the kindergarten children graduated quickly. Seven local teachers had been taking part in training courses, since 2009, at a Waldorf Teacher Training College in the Instituto Micael – Aracaju. We thus had already chosen our teaching staff.
Our first temporary classroom was set up with few means under two cashew trees on the school grounds that had been donated by Dr. and Mrs. Knipping. This classroom was gradually replaced by smaller rooms. The first courses that were taught in this “tree school” were flute playing, crafts and painting. Interest (in the school) was so great that we decided to try and establish an alternative school with an expanded course offering.
With the support of the SoftwareAG and Reiner Meutsch Foundation we began to build a Waldorf School in 2011. At first we taught only a single first-grade class. This was continued the following year and each successive year we added another first-grade class.
By 2015 we had five grades and have thus reached a first goal of our project. Paulo Kayo from the SoftwareAG Foundation had recommended a step-by-step growth up to the fifth grade only, because the operational costs would become still steeper after that.
Parents and teachers deeply regret that in 2016, after graduating from the 5th grade, their children will have to attend public schools for the first time. They are urgently looking for support to continue expansion of our school. The main problem is how to cover current expenses.