Sanderling Waldorf School Hopes to Lease Vacant Classrooms at Magnolia Elementary

Sanderling Waldorf School (SWS) first opened in Carlsbad 16 years ago. For the past 3.5 years, the private school was located on South El Camino Real near Manchester in Encinitas. 

The school is now hoping to make a homecoming back to Carlsbad.

According to the school's website, SWS is starting the 2012-13 school year in temporary locations "to be determined shortly."  

The website states:

"Due to tremendous growth during the past two years, SWS has vacated its previous campus on El Camino Real in Encinitas. We are actively pursuing a new site in Carlsbad, which will eventually allow the school to house all of its programs, from the parent/child program through Grade 6/7, at the same location."

SWS will find out Wednesday night if it can lease open classroom space at . Magnolia is part of the . An approval vote is on the Wed. night school board meeting agenda.

SWS Administrative Director Tim Connolly is hopeful the lease gets approved. 

"We have searched for a site over the past 16 months," he said. "We are growing as a school community with a 35 percent increase in enrollment in the past 20 months and simply are seeking more space to grow and to achieve one of the school's long term goals of becoming an established nursery/kindergarten through 8th grade school. Carlsbad is a wonderful community and we feel that our school will grow and thrive here while we continue to seek a permanent location for the school."

The school currently has 140 regular students and another 50 families involved in the Parent-Child program that serves children from one to three years of age. 

There are over 400 Waldorf schools in the U.S. They are all non-profits, founded by parents, and independent of one another. SWS believes electronic media hampers the development of a child's imagination, television, videos and radio should be limited. Waldorf teachers also feel the appropriate age for computer use in the classroom and by students is in high school.

For more information on the school's philosophy and policies, go to sanderlingschool.org