Our School
Lakeside is not just a school. It’s a community where all the people involved have one main goal: educate our children for freedom, respecting their individualities, learning together how to be better human beings.
“Love is higher than opinion. If people love one another the most varied opinions can be reconciled - thus one of the most important tasks for humankind today and in the future is that we should learn to live together and understand one another. If this human fellowship is not achieved, all talk of development is empty.”
Rudolf Steiner
At Lakeside School, students are invited to experience with their heads, hearts and hands what they are studying.
Our unique curriculum follows the BC Ministry of Education guidelines and standards while adding art and soul to every taught subject.
Interested in learning more about Lakeside School?
We invite you to keep exploring our website, and get in touch with questions about our values, academics, community and more.
Join us today!
Our Location
Lakeside is located in the neighbourhood of Lower Mission in the beautiful city of Kelowna, the heart of the Okanagan Valley, part of the traditional unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Syilx - Okanagan people. We are lucky to be one block from Okanagan Lake, where our children enjoy nature walks weekly on one of the three beaches that takes less than 5 minutes to reach.
Our Threefold Social Structure
The goal of this social initiative is to be not just a building where people come to learn, but a community where people learn to live. We strive to work as a threefolding structure.
First, following the principles of an education for freedom, our committed faculty and staff support the children in their learning processes respecting their individualities and group characteristics, along with strengthening the class community.
Second, endorsing those principles, the Board of Trustees is the legal, financial and administrative body responsible for the economic well-being of the school, while the Administrative staff ensures documentation is updated and completed according to the law.
And last, but not least, the Parent Council navigates between faculty and board to make the festivals and fundraising happen.
All three divisions work as one toward the centre of our objective: the healthy educational development of our children.
If you want to know more about Threefold Social Structure, visit:
Our History
Our school’s association was founded in 1981 with the name Waldorf School Association of Kelowna. The first Preschool class was offered in 1982 and the first Grade 1 class in 1985. The school, Kelowna Waldorf School at that time, continued to grow one class each year. The first Grade 8 class graduated in June of 1993.
The property was purchased in 1987, in 1990 the current Peach Blossom preschool building with a Eurythmy room was built, followed by the main building with 5 classrooms, science lab and office in 1993.
The bell tower and the flow form were completed in 1999. In 2002 new wooden playground structures were finished.
In 2018 the school was rebranded as Lakeside School, and the association became Lakeside Educational Society of Kelowna.
Despite the difficulties of recent years, since 2020, our school remained united and we were able to provide our students with support and education, even with distancing and other restrictions.
In 2021, a huge fundraising effort resulted in the possibility of constructing four new playground structures. They were built by our families and by Kukuk Playgrounds.
In 2022 we are celebrating 40 years of our first class, the beginning of this amazing community!
Our Mission and Vision
Our school community is reviewing the school’s mission and vision statements.
As soon as we conclude our work, the new version will be posted here.
Accreditations
WECAN
The Peach Blossom,Lakeside Hollow and Golden Dawn preschools are Associate Members of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN). WECAN provides direct dialogue with early childhood educators and their colleagues about the programs they design in institutions and in homes, and about how they define and develop their roles and their work with parents. Site visits, regional gatherings, and conferences allow WECAN to research and harvest the current needs of programs in the USA and in Canada.
ASWNA
Lakeside School has been a Registered Initiative member of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) since 2018. AWSNA accreditation is a structured, cyclical process of self-study, peer review, and follow-up. The AWSNA accreditation process includes all aspects of school life, including Waldorf principles, independence and mission, self-reflection, students and families, faculty and staff, community, educational programs, decision-making, resources, health and safety, and legality. The goal is to strengthen Waldorf schools while maintaining the true and complete independence of each school.
FISA BC
The Federation of Independent School Associations in British Columbia (FISA BC) is an umbrella organization of independent school associations formed in British Columbia. FISA BC was founded in 1966 by a diverse group of independent schools and represents 307 schools enrolling approximately 94% of the students attending independent schools in British Columbia.
More
If you are interested in learning more about Waldorf Education around the World, watch these videos.