The Structure of the School

The Board of Trustees
The Faculty Circle
FSDM Faculty Manager Team and Sectional Chairs
Administration

Waldorf Academy is incorporated in the Province of Ontario as a non-profit corporation and, in addition, has charitable status with Revenue Canada. All full-time employees of the school, trustees and class representatives are automatically members of the Corporation.

The legal and financial affairs of the school are the responsibility of a volunteer Board of Trustees drawn from the faculty, parents, and friends of the school community. One-third of Board members are Faculty members.

During the 2003.2004 school year the Board of Trustees adopted a new management structure for the school, known as Facilitated Shared Decision-Making (FSDM). The school will be undergoing a gradual transition from the old management structure to the new. In the new structure, the Board of Trustees will be replaced by a Board of Governors, responsible for policies and legal matters, but not active in management.

Until the Governors are ready to step into place, the Board of Trustees will continue to function as the school’s main governing body, and hold monthly meetings. Trustees are elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Corporation.

Board Members

Sarah Luke (Parent Board Member 2009-present, Treasurer 2009-2010, President/Chair 2010-present ) Sarah and her husband, Ian Chernoff, have two children in the school: Alexandra in Grade Two and Samuel in the Kindergarten.  This is her 7th year as a parent at Waldorf Academy. Sarah grew up in Fredericton, New Brunswick and moved to Ontario in 1997. In 1993, she completed a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Brunswick with a focus in Math and Biology and completed an MBA from the University of Western Ontario in 2000. She has over 16 years of experience in business, having run a medium sized business, and then later working for Deloitte Consulting as a Senior Manager  focusing primarily on people change management and organizational effectiveness. For the past 5 years, she has shifted priorities and has enjoyed the flexibility of some independent consulting and many volunteer hours at the school.

Scott Lamacraft (Parent Board Member 2010-present, Treasurer 2010-present) Scott and his wife Leigh have 3 children at the school. He has a B.A. in Economics (Queen’s University) and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (Association for Investment Management and Research.) He has spent his entire career at Cormark Securities Inc. and its predecessor companies and has been a Director and CEO since 2001.

Cathy Cooper (Parent Board Member 2009-present, Secretary 2009-present) Cathy and her husband, Milan Rupic, have one child, Lionel, at the School, who is in Grade 5. This is her 7th year as a parent at Waldorf Academy. Cathy has volunteered in various capacities at the School. In particular, last year she was class rep (Grade 3) and also served as the Community Council  Board Liaison. She has a B.A. in Geography (York University), an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School, and an LL.M. She has spent most of her career in the Crown Attorney’s system with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, first as a prosecutor, then extensively doing appeals, and, since 2000, as criminal policy counsel.

Janet Hendershot (Faculty Board member 2005-present) Janet is in her eleventh year at Waldorf Academy as the Therapeutic/Remedial Teacher. She is a Fine Arts graduate of York University and of the Rudolf Steiner College, Sacramento. She is active in her community and is Past President of the Ontario Society of Artists. She has taught for more than twenty years as well as administered a successful graphic design business for many years. Entering her seventh year as a Board member at AHWS Janet is also an active member of the Finance Committee.

Robert Teuwen (Parent/Faculty Board Member October 2007- present) Robert is the Grade Six Teacher, and Woodwork Teacher. Robert joined AHWS in 1994 as a class teacher and has graduated Grade Eight classes in 1999, 2002, 2006 and 2009. He was home-schooled following the Waldorf curriculum. He rejoined his original class for high school, graduating in 1984 from The Toronto Waldorf School. Robert went on to obtain a degree in Physics and Philosophy at the University of Toronto. In 1993 he became the Grade Eight class teacher at The Toronto Waldorf School. Truly gifted at inspiring individual development in children, Robert’s passion for science, the environment, and sailing on the open seas are irresistibly engaging for all students.

Dean Husseini (Faculty Board Member 2010-present)  Dean joined us from the Chicago Waldorf School where he was a class teacher for five years.  Dean joined Waldorf Academy as the Grade One teacher in 2008. He has served as the Curriculum Manager since 2009. He completed his teacher training at the Rudolf Steiner Centre in Thornhill in 2003 and his Foundation studies in 2002.  He also holds an M.A. in Holistic and Aesthetic Education, and a B.A. in History from the University of Toronto.  His passion for teaching began in 1998 when he assisted at Highview Elementary School in the Grade Three class, and continued in 2000 at Deer Park Elementary school where he was an educator of the Peace curriculum for Grades Five and Six.  Dean’s extracurricular activities included being an active member of the College of Teachers, Board of Trustees committee, and other committees at the Chicago Waldorf School.

Marion Chow (Parent Board Member 2010-present) Marion has one child in the school, Ariana, in Grade 1. Marion completed a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan and an International MBA from York University.  She has over 11 years of experience in Information Technology and brings strong and deep skills in the areas of business process and systems design and implementation.  As a Senior Manager for Deloitte Consulting and a self-employed consultant, Marion has managed many large scale systems implementations in North America and abroad.  Marion enjoys volunteering her time at Waldorf Academy, as a class parent rep, an Advisor to the Enrollment Committee, Chair of the School Store Task Group, and organizer of Winter Fair activities.

Catherine Kirkland (Parent Board Member 2010-present) Catherine has a daughter, Celeste, in Grade 2.  She is an educator, who, for the past 10 years, has been the Head of the Junior School at Royal St. George’s College.  She is familiar with the evaluation process involved in maintaining status with independent school associations.  She has direct experience and a thorough understanding of the critical issues facing independent schools. She believes that if you have happy faculty, you have happy students.  She has direct experience with fiscal management, admissions and succession planning.

Richard Varkey (Parent Board Member 2010-present) Rick is a parent of two sons at the school, Owen in Grade 2 and Oscar in Kindergarten.  He has been part of the school community for five years, where he is currently a member of the school’s internal Finance Committee, presently serving as Chair of the school’s Real Estate Task Group, and is also supporting a Board and Administration co-initiative to review and refine Waldorf Academy’s financial controls and policies.  Rick attended the University of Western Ontario and graduated with an Honours Degree in Geography with a focus on urban development. Rick has worked for a number of real estate investment firms over the past 18 years. He is currently a Senior Portfolio Manager, Real Estate for the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP).

Faculty

The faculty consists of the teachers and assistant teachers in the Early Childhood Education programmes and in the Grade School (including Main Lesson and Specialty Teachers). As is traditional in Waldorf schools around the world, the teachers meet together every Thursday. The purpose of the meeting is to share teaching experiences, develop professionally, engage in pedagogical and child study, and co-ordinate details of school life. The weekly meeting of the Faculty Circle is the heartbeat of the school. The Faculty are also responsible for all decisions made that relate directly to teaching or working with the children. Professional development is an ongoing process at the school and involves all Faculty members and professionals from beyond the school. The school’s teacher development and evaluation process includes the following and is described in greater detail in our policy binder, available on request. Note that all teachers report to the Faculty Managers.

As part of the FSDM (Facilitated Shared Decision Making) structure of the school, individual teachers have taken on the roles of managing various essential aspects of the school’s educational activities. There are five Faculty Manager roles, and four Sectional Chairs representing the middle school, lower school, ECE and Childcare. Faculty Managers and Sectional Chairs meet in a Managers Circle once a week to address opportunities to strengthen the pedagogy. Faculty Managers report to the board through the Facilitator.

• Teacher Development Manager: responsible for maintaining the standard of teaching through teacher development and evaluation.
• Curriculum Manager: responsible for overseeing student curriculum implementation.
• Social Health and Discipline Manager: responsible for maintaining standards of student behaviour and the social health of the classroom.
• Student Assessment Manager: responsible for ensuring all senior kindergarten, Grade Two students, and other students as requested by the Main Lesson teacher are adequately assessed, and for recommending appropriate remedial action where needed.
• Staffing and Human Resources Manager: responsible for staffing all teaching positions and implementing WA human resources policies.

For the 2011/12 school year, there will be a Facilitator, a Business Operations Manager, an Enrollment Manager, a Marketing Manager, a Business Operations Assistant an Office Administrative Assistant and an FSDM Coordinator/Staffing Manager.

• The Facilitator is responsible for ensuring that all issues that arise in the school are dealt with appropriately and that all aspects of school management are running smoothly. The Facilitator reports to the Board of Trustees through the Chair. The Facilitator also mandates task groups to make recommendations or decisions, and gives input to the Board for financial or legal decisions that have pedagogical implications.
• The Business Operations Manager is responsible for overseeing and maintaining a sound financial footing. The Business Operations Manager reports to the Board of Trustees through the Facilitator.
• The Enrollment Manager is responsible for publicity, enrolment and re-enrollment.
• The Enrollment Manager reports to the Board of Trustees through the Facilitator.
• The Business Operations Assistant is responsible for accounting, payroll, purchasing and related duties as well as helping to support our facilities. The Business Operations Assistant reports to the Business Operations Manager.
• The Office Administrative Assistant is responsible for answering the phone, greeting visitors, attending to immediate front-office needs, and assisting the administrative staff as needed. The Administrative Assistant reports to the Business Operations Manager.
• The FSDM Coordinator/Staffing Manager is responsible for providing support to the FSDM Faculty Manager team and the Facilitator, as well as managing human resources. The FSDM Coordinator/Staffing Manager reports to the Facilitator.