Blog: RSF Makes a Loan to the Pine Forest School
RSF is pleased to announce a new loan to the Pine Forest School (PFS). RSF financing will help fund the acquisition and renovation of a new campus property that will increase access to Waldorf education in the community.
Celebrating their 20th anniversary this school year, Pine Forest School is a publically funded, Pre-8 grade school in Flagstaff, Arizona using the Waldorf curriculum and methodology. PFS was founded in 1995 as a K-4 public school, and was originally funded by the Arizona State Department of Education. Through collaborative efforts by Flagstaff families interested in Waldorf education and enthusiastic, trained Waldorf educators and public school teachers around the country, Rudolf Steiner’s desire to bring the Waldorf model to public education became a reality in Northern Arizona. Over the next five years the school grew to be a complete K-8 program.
“Pine Forest School and RSF Social Finance have known each other for many years,” says RSF Senior Lending Associate Reed Mayfield. “I first visited the school in the spring of 2011 when they were seeking to build out new facilities – it was not the right time for a move. But now as the school and community have grown, we are proud to co-create a path to the new space. Talk about long-term relationships!”The school currently operates on a 1.5 acre campus located in a light industrial park area of north Flagstaff. For the past several years the school has been focused on developing resources and community support for a move to a site offering a more Waldorf-appropriate environment, as well as the capacity to embrace a larger community. With the help of RSF financing the school was able to acquire a 3.5 acre property in Sunnyside, one of Flagstaff’s oldest neighborhoods. The school has plans for over $1.4 million in renovations, and hopes to open the new campus for the 2015-2016 school year.
The Waldorf-modeled curriculum that Pine Forest School follows uses a child development model that nurtures and embraces learning for the head, heart, and hands of each student. With nearly 250 students currently enrolled, PFS offers Waldorf main lesson blocks intertwined with Southwestern culture, tradition, and history. Special classes and extra-curricular activities include German, Spanish, eurythmy, woodwork, handwork, art, archery, chess, basketball, and volleyball. The school is led by a passionate group of teachers and administrators, and seeks to facilitate strong family and community involvement through events, volunteer opportunities, and communication.
The Pine Forest School is currently the only public charter school in Flagstaff using the Waldorf methodology. PFS believes all children should have access to Waldorf education, regardless of their financial resources, and hope that the move to a new location will provide greater access to underserved children. The new site is more centrally located in Flagstaff, and is surrounded by several different neighborhoods and communities of people from varying ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
“I am very excited that PFS has been blessed with the opportunity to expand our enrollment and bring this form of education to more children and families, and move to a location which is in the heart of Flagstaff, surrounded by neighborhoods, other schools, public libraries, city parks and national forest,” says PFS Executive Director Michael Heffernan. “We will be able to build our program with the larger facilities and more acreage, and the possibilities for community collaboration are many. RSF is the perfect organization to partner with as their mission for social finance is aligned with our mission for excellence in education.”
Watch Video courtesy of Pine Forest School:
About Pine Forest School
Founded in 1995, Pine Forest School (PFS) is the only public charter school in Flagstaff, Arizona using the Waldorf methodology. PFS provides an education of the whole child, with a curriculum that is a truly comprehensive balance of academic, practical, and artistic activities. The school is dedicated to helping individuals achieve their full intellectual, emotional, and physical potential, in a sustainable and beautiful environment that reinforces integrity, understanding, respect, and trust. www.pineforestschool.org
