Todd Selva
Success in Life

Building the Foundation for Success in Life

"Waldorf education addresses the child as no other education does...  By the time they reach us at the college and university level, these students are grounded broadly and deeply and have a remarkable enthusiasm for learning.  Such students possess the eye of discoverers, and the compassionate heart of the reformer which, when joined to a task, can change the planet."
                  -Arthur Zajonc, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physics, Amherst College

94%

ATTEND COLLEGE AFTER 
HIGH SCHOOL 

42%

MAJOR IN MATH/SCIENCE

47%

MAJOR IN ART/HUMANITIES

92%

VALUE CRITICAL THINKING

The Test Results Are In! 

Our 2019, 8th-grade graduates OVERALL SCORE is at a 10th grade level or higher with 78% of the class scoring at 13th grade, (college) level math.

Our students take a standardized exam in the 7th and 8th grades to help prepare them to enter high school and to see just where they are in comparison to the public sector.  This year's results:

64%

Overall Score

64% of the class of 2019 scored at 13th grade (college) level overall. 

+78%

Mathematics

Over 78% of the class of 2019 scored at 13th grade (college) level math.

57%

Language

57% of the class of 2019 scored at 13th grade  (college) level for language.

50%

Reading

50% of the class of 2019 scored at 13th grade (college) level for reading.

THE GRADUATES

Live Oak Waldorf School graduates have a passion for the educational journey and often continue their education beyond high school.  Our alumni follow their passion in agriculture, music, politics, medicine, science, and language arts.  The Waldorf education movement  focuses on the whole human being, the thinking, willing, and doing so that they are capable as adults of discovering their own unique happiness.  They are passionate about life and learning into adulthood.


Many Live Oak Waldorf School graduates have earned degrees from the following universities:

University of California Berkeley

University of California Davis

University of California Santa Cruz

University of Southern California

California Polytechnic State University

University of the Pacific

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

University of South Florida

Portland State University

University of Portland

Willamette University

Oregon State University

Washington State University

University of Nevada, Reno

Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising

Richmond University in London

American University in Washington DC

Western Michigan University

Oberlin College

This video from Chicago Waldorf School is a great representation of what we hear all the time from our alumni students.

A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

LOS ALTOS, Calif. — The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard.

But the school’s chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home.

Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix.

This is the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, one of around 160 Waldorf schools in the country that subscribe to a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans.

The Waldorf method is nearly a century old, but its foothold here among the digerati puts into sharp relief an intensifying debate about the role of computers in education.

“I fundamentally reject the notion you need technology aids in grammar school,” said Alan Eagle, 50, whose daughter, Andie, is one of the 196 children at the Waldorf elementary school; his son William, 13, is at the nearby middle school. “The idea that an app on an iPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic, that’s ridiculous.”

academic success for waldorf students

Mr. Eagle knows a bit about technology. He holds a computer science degree from Dartmouth and works in executive communications at Google, where he has written speeches for the chairman, Eric E. Schmidt. He uses an iPad and a smartphone. But he says his daughter, a fifth grader, “doesn’t know how to use Google,” and his son is just learning. (Starting in eighth grade, the school endorses the limited use of gadgets.)


Three-quarters of the students here have parents with a strong high-tech connection. Mr. Eagle, like other parents, sees no contradiction. Technology, he says, has its time and place: “If I worked at Miramax and made good, artsy, rated R movies, I wouldn’t want my kids to see them until they were 17.”


While other schools in the region brag about their wired classrooms, the Waldorf school embraces a simple, retro look — blackboards with colorful chalk, bookshelves with encyclopedias, wooden desks filled with workbooks and No. 2 pencils.


Read more of this article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html

Beyond Waldorf Education

STATISTICS FROM A 20 YEAR RESEARCH STUDY:

• After graduating from a Waldorf high school, attends college (94%)
• Majors in arts/humanities (47%) or sciences/math (42%) as an
undergraduate
• Graduates or is about to graduate from college (88%)
• Practices and values life-long learning (91%)
• Is self-reliant and highly values self-confidence (94%)
• Highly values verbal expression (93%) and critical thinking (92%)
• Expresses a high level of consciousness in making relationships
work—both at home and on the job
• Is highly satisfied in choice of occupation (89%)
• Highly values interpersonal relationships (96%)
• Highly values tolerance of other viewpoints (90%)
• At work cares most about ethical principles (82%) and values helping
others (82%)

Q: Where do Waldorf students go to college?

Approximately 94% of Waldorf students continue their studies in college, university or other post-secondary education programs. Some High School graduates take a gap year (a trend that has been growing in popularity in the U.S. and elsewhere), before enrolling in higher education and use that time for travel, volunteering with international service organizations and other life developing experiences.

Q: What career paths have Waldorf students taken?

The range of career paths for Waldorf graduates is as varied as the individual students themselves. Over the years, Waldorf schools have educated some of the world’s foremost leaders, thinkers and creative minds including Kenneth Chenault, former president and CEO of American Express, Kristen Nygaard, a computer scientist whose work is the basis for all modern programming languages, David E. Blackmer, inventor of the DBX noise reduction system and Benjamin Agost, 2006 Olympic silver medalist in ice dancing and 4-time U.S. National Champion. For more examples, review a large list of notable Waldorf graduates with brief profiles of their chosen professions.

FAMOUS WALDORF ALUMNI STUDENTS:
Jennifer Aniston - Actress
David E. Blackmer - Audio Electronics Engineer
Sandra Bullock - Actress
Kenneth Chenault - CEO American Express
Timothy Daly - Actor
John McCrea - Singer of CAKE
John Fitzallen Moore - Physicist
Joanna Newsom - Songwriter/Harpist/Vocalist
Charles Rose - Architect
Veronica Webb - Model/Actress
Aram Roston - TV/News reporter

Famous Parents choosing to send their children to Waldorf Schools:
Russell Schweickart - Astronaut
Clifford Stoll - Astronomer/Author
Mikhail Baryshnikov - Dancer/Actor
Tilda Swinton - Actress
Liv Ullman - Director/Actress
Greg Allman - Musician
Gary Numan - Singer/Composer
Tom Waits - Singer-Songwriter-Composer
Art Garfunkel - Singer-Poet
Melissa Etheridge - Singer-Songwriter
James Taylor - Singer-Songwriter
Carly Simon - Singer-Songwriter
Eric Utne - UTNE Magazine founder/Editor





The survey suggests that a majority of Waldorf school graduates share the following characteristics:
  • They value the opportunity to think for themselves and to translate their new ideas into practice
  • They practice life-long learning and have a highly developed sense for aesthetics.
  • They value lasting human relationships.
  • They seek out opportunities to be of help to other people.
  • They sense that they are guided by an inner moral compass that helps them navigate the trials and challenges of their professional and private lives.
  • They carry high ethical principles into their chosen professions.
 If you know a Waldorf graduate, chances are you’ve noticed these characteristics!




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