Berkeley Rose Waldorf School was founded in 2009 by parents and early childhood Waldorf teacher Anita Rosasco. It opened its doors in a historic-landmark private home on Rose and Arch streets in Berkeley. The school’s rose logo comes from a tile in the home’s fireplace! Berkeley Rose has since moved, finding its current early childhood and grades campus in central Berkeley and establishing an urban East Bay presence for Waldorf education.

Our History || The school has been made possible by hardworking, pioneering parents and teachers who have worked with joy, vision, and dedication to the mission of bringing an independent school inspired by Waldorf education to the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The school is deeply grateful to all the educators, parents, and financial supporters past and present who continue to help Berkeley Rose grow and prosper.

Ohlone Land

We acknowledge that our school sits on the ancestral homelands of the Chochenyo Ohlone people, who stewarded this part of the Earth sustainably for thousands of years and who continue to inhabit the Bay Area. What we call Berkeley is known as xučyun in Chochenyo, the native language of the Eastern shores of San Francisco Bay.

The Ohlone persevere in their steadfast efforts to protect sacred sites and revitalize their cultural practices and language. The final native speaker of Chochenyo died in 1934, but in the last two decades the language has been revived by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, and many members are now able to carry on conversations in Chochenyo. The Muwekma Ohlone continue to fight for federal recognition and the protection of sacred sites. The West Berkeley Shellmound and Village site at 1900 Fourth Street—just 3 miles from our campus—was placed on the 2020 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

We honor the wisdom, resilience, and perseverance of the Ohlone people, and recognize their sacred and historic relationship to this part of the Earth.

 

Berkeley Rose is an Associate Member of AWSNA

Berkeley Rose Waldorf School (BRWS) is accredited by the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) as an Associate member.

The teachings and philosophy take a complete approach to learning—“head, heart, and hands”—and address each child as an individual with innate talents and abilities.

The vision for Berkeley Rose has always been to offer children a school that can be their home from preschool through 8th grade—to build a school that provides community for families for a decade or more as their children move through the grades.
Berkeley Rose seeks a representative community of diversity, welcoming students of any race, religion, ethnic, and financial background. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender identity, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational or admissions programs and policies. The school is a nonprofit 501(c)(3).

Association of Waldorf Schools of North America Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America   ISSFBA logo

BRWS is a proud member of these associations