Transitional Kindergarten (TK) & Kindergarten
Purposeful Work and Play
San Francisco Waldorf School’s joyful mixed-age Kindergarten is a bridge between early childhood and elementary school. Through a balanced, child-centered, and play-based program, Kindergartners develop essential cognitive, physical, and social skills while building a positive relationship to learning and school.
Our two-year Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and Kindergarten classrooms are for children ages 4-6. Read more about eligibility and the admissions process here.
An Environment Rich in Language and Culture
SFWS’s carefully sequenced literacy program begins with a curriculum of stories from around the world, including fairy tales, verses, songs, and puppet shows with complex themes, structure, and vocabulary. Daily activities build essential skills in listening, speech, memory, imagination, empathy, and oral comprehension, laying the groundwork for cultural competency and a lifelong love of reading and storytelling.
Tactile and Screen-Free Classrooms
Our classrooms are designed to welcome and delight young children with soft colors, natural materials, cozy corners, and simple toys that invite imaginative play. We know that children learn best in the physical world, and our Kindergarten is screen-free, encouraging students to engage with each other and the world around them.
Purposeful Work
Every day, Kindergartners engage in meaningful work in the classroom and outdoor spaces, including crafting, cooking, baking, games, gardening, and daily chores. These activities build self-esteem, integrate the senses, and develop foundational skills in numeracy, patterning, tracking, sequencing, and logical thinking. These capacities are further developed during free play, when children demonstrate their most advanced communication, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
Healthy Movement
Healthy movement is an integral part of a child’s education. In our Kindergarten classrooms, students build fine motor skills through cooking, painting, crafts, and daily chores. Children make friends, explore nature, and exercise their bodies on weekly hikes through the wooded parklands in the Presidio. They further develop coordination, rhythm, and an aesthetic sense through circle time and eurythmy, a movement art unique to Waldorf education.
Strong Social Foundations
Our Kindergarten classroom teachers skillfully guide children in developing awareness of others, navigating conflict, and building classroom community. Through carefully planned group work and social play, our students learn about themselves and each other. As they grow into future leaders, they will employ these skills to inspire collaboration and build a united vision.
See it for yourself. Visit our beautiful, child-centered classrooms on a tour of San Francisco Waldorf School.
An Urban School with a Heart of Green
At San Francisco Waldorf School, we believe that time in nature is essential to a healthy childhood.
While students benefit from a vibrant urban campus, they also enjoy access to ample green spaces and outdoor activities throughout the school year. On campus, children dig, plant, harvest, and learn about the Earth’s natural cycles in our teaching garden, which uses biodynamic farming and gardening techniques that ensure the health of a complex ecosystem.
Kindergartners also have the opportunity to play, climb, build forts, and connect with the natural world during weekly visits to beautiful Alta Plaza Park in Pacific Heights and during forest days in the Presidio. A national landmark overlooking the San Francisco Bay, the Presidio is close to 1,500 acres of verdant wooded areas, natural landscapes, and diverse ecosystems, just steps from our Pacific Heights campus.
The Kindergarten Day
The Kindergarten day follows a gentle daily rhythm that alternates between structured activity, storytelling, and imaginative play. As part of our daily rhythm, we share a warm, organic snack every morning, made fresh in the classroom, and set the table for lunch, which children bring from home.
Morning Arrival between 8:10-8:25am
Afternoon Pick-Up time at 2:15pm
After Care is available Monday through Friday until 5:30pm, with an additional warm snack served at 4pm.