RSF Social Finance Makes a Loan to the Charlottesville Waldorf School
SAN FRANCISCO, October 28, 2014 /3BL Media/ - RSF Social Finance (RSF) is pleased to announce a new loan to the Charlottesville Waldorf School (CWS). RSF financing will help the school refinance existing debt, build reserves, and develop more classroom space.
The Charlottesville Waldorf School, located in Albemarle County, Virginia, offers Waldorf education to approximately 160 students in early childhood through eighth grade. Originally named Crossroads Waldorf School, CWS opened in 1982 with a class of 12 Kindergarteners. The school experienced steady growth in enrollment and programs throughout the 1980s and 1990s, adding classes in handwork, foreign language, stringed instruments, recorder and music, and physical education.
The Waldorf curriculum stems from the belief that true learning is a process of discovery that engages the whole human being. Instead of passively receiving information, Waldorf students are involved in a dynamic process of exploration, both of the world and of themselves. Charlottesville Waldorf School seeks to provide the child with the physical environment and stimulation of the imagination needed at each stage of growth, in order to awaken the new capacities required to reach his or her full adult potential.
"Tremendous dedication by its teachers, staff, and parent volunteers over many years has built up the Charlottesville Waldorf School from an idea that was first hatched around a grandparent's kitchen table, to a beautiful, accredited preschool-8th grade school on its own partly-wooded, hilltop Charlottesville campus,” says the school’s Administrative Chair Michelle Schlesinger
Throughout its history, which has involved several moves, Charlottesville Waldorf School has sought to find and fund a permanent location. That goal was attained in the spring of 2002, when a group of parents, grandparents, and friends of the school purchased a property for the school’s permanent home. Since 2002 the school has built up an extensive campus, which includes a newly-built, eco-friendly assembly hall, music room, and library. The students also enjoy ample outdoor space, including several open play areas and a large wood with trails and creeks, which are used at all levels of the program.
“The strong support of the entire community is ever present at the Charlottesville Waldorf School,” says Reed Mayfield, RSF Lending Associate. “It has been wonderful to work with the school community thus far and we are incredibly excited to support their long-term stability and growth.”
Since opening its doors over thirty years ago, Charlottesville Waldorf School has built a solid reputation in the community. The school hosts a number of social and artistic events on campus that are open to the wider community, including eurythmy workshops and a regional high school fair. The campus is also the site of several summer camps and year-round classes in Irish music and dance, which are run by outside organizations. The involvement of new parents in the school in recent years has brought energy and motivation, and the current atmosphere is one of satisfaction and excitement amongst students, parents, teachers, and administration.
“This loan from RSF provides us for the very first time with a single comprehensive financing structure that is aligned with our mission and allows us to focus more on achieving our long-term strategic objectives,” says Michelle. “It has been an incredible experience working with a lender that shares our commitment to improving the well-being of society and the environment, and that completely ‘gets’ the value of a Waldorf education that cultivates not only students' intellectual curiosity and imagination but also their social responsibility and passion for a better world.”
About RSF Social Finance
Located in San Francisco, CA, RSF Social Finance (RSF) is a financial services organization dedicated to transforming the way the world works with money. Since 1984, the organization has made over $275 million in loans and $100 million in grants to non-profit and for-profit social enterprises working in the areas of Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts, and Ecological Stewardship. RSF's lending capital comes primarily from 1,500 individuals who have invested $1,000 or more in the organization's Social Investment Fund. Investors earn a competitive return on their money comparable to a certificate of deposit while their funds are deployed to leading social enterprises. To learn more, visit www.rsfsocialfinance.org
About Charlottesville Waldorf School
The Charlottesville Waldorf School is an independent private school located in Albemarle County, Virginia, just outside the historic town of Charlottesville. Founded in 1982 by a group of parents and grandparents determined to bring a Waldorf education to Central Virginia, the school moved into its permanent, Charlottesville campus and LEED-certified grade school in September 2007. The Charlottesville Waldorf School offers a curriculum rich in academic, artistic, practical, and physical activities in an inclusive and diverse environment. The educational philosophy, based on Rudolf Steiner’s understanding of child development, cultivates the imagination, intellectual curiosity and social responsibility of the students. http://www.cwaldorf.org/
Contact
Reed Mayfield, Senior Lending Associate
reed.mayfield@rsfsocialfinance.org
415.561.6192
Megan Mendenhall, Communications Assistant
megan.mendenhall@rsfsocialfinance.org
415.561.6161
