Our History
50 years
of Waldorf education in Chicago
The Chicago Waldorf School opened in 1974 with a kindergarten class in a rented classroom at the Church of the Three Crosses in Lincoln Park. There were five children and one teacher. Three years later, in 1977, a 1st Grade was added, and the school began to grow at a rate of one grade per year until the first nine-member 8th Grade graduated in 1985. The school remained at eight grades until 1994 when a 9th and 10th Grade were added. The first nine 12th Grade seniors graduated from the school in 1997. Today, with a full 12-year curriculum and an enrollment of over 300 students, the school is the largest Waldorf school in the Midwest.
The Chicago Waldorf School is fully accredited by the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America and the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and is recognized by the State of Illinois. The school is also an active member of the Lake Michigan Association of Independent Schools.
Lyman Trumbull Elementary
In 2018, the Chicago Waldorf School moved into our permanent home in the former Lyman Trumbull Elementary.
Built in 1908 and opened in 1909, Trumbull Elementary was the first Prairie School public school in history. Designed by architect Dwight H. Perkins, the school was revolutionary in its day, emphasizing natural light and built entirely around a communal gathering space: the beautifully-domed, two-floor auditorium.
The school was named after Illinois Senator Lyman Trumbull, who co-authored the 13th Amendment and, later in his career, advocated for the rights of impoverished Illinoisans.
Trumbull was shuttered in 2013 during the mass closing of over 50 Chicago Public Schools. The building sat vacant until 2018, when it was purchased and reopened by the Chicago Waldorf School.
shikaakwa
The Chicago Waldorf School sits on the unceded land of the Potawatomi, Miami, Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Sac and Fox people.
This land was inhabited exclusively by Indigenous people until the 1780s, when Jean Baptiste Point du Sable and his wife Kitihawa established a trading post near the mouth of what is now called the Chicago River. Following their arrival, the site grew into a prosperous trade hub, leading to the city’s formal establishment in 1833.
The name ‘Chicago’ is derived from the Algonquin word, ‘shikaakwa’, which described the famously odorous wild onions that once covered the region.
Chicago Waldorf High School shares a building with the rest of the Chicago Waldorf School, including our Grade School and Early Childhood programs. There are many opportunities for cross-level collaboration, through our all-school festivals and events, curricular programming, and shared social spaces. Want to learn more about CWS? Visit our all-school website below.