About Polaris School and Centre 
​ - a holistic approach to education

“The heart of the Waldorf method is the conviction that education is an art – it must speak to the child’s experience. To educate the whole child, his heart and will must be reached as well as his mind.”

—Rudolf Steiner

Polaris School and Centre is inspired by the principles of Waldorf education.
​

Our Mission

We awaken knowledge and creative ability through a rich and multifaceted educational experience.
Acting with freedom, our teachers evoke reverence for the world and humanity, and guide our
​students toward a life lived with purpose as responsive citizens of the world.

Our Vision

The heart of our community beats with a desire to seek a healthy approach to education for our
times. We are committed to Rudolf Steiner's vision of a community where we are equals, free in
our realms of activity and truly supporting each other in our striving for social and cultural
renewal in the world.

Our school is filled with life, beauty, and openness, allowing each student to reach their
highest potential as a human being with confidence and integrity.
​
Together, we strive to resolve financial barriers for families, teachers, and staff. Consciously acknowledging every relationship, we create a community of mutually supportive members,
all bringing their own needs and gifts in support of the whole organization.

We foster a community of joyful learning and exploration that gives our students the courage to
step into the unknown. To nourish a vibrant inner life, we cultivate artistic expression and the
celebration of cultural festivals.

Honouring that all is connected, we awaken a sense of service toward humanity and the world,
starting in our own neighbourhood.

With respect for and reverence of the natural world, the children experience the gifts of each
​season and the weather every day.

Our Name

Polaris School and Centre 
learning for our time, teaching in freedom
​
​Our name references the North Star or Polaris. Polaris is straight above the North Pole, the
Earth's axis pointing toward it. We are located in the capital of Canada, a northern nation, which
creates an obvious association to Polaris for us.
 
Polaris is at the centre of the other stars  which circle around it daily as seen from Earth. Therefore,
it provides a stable fixed point, a reference for navigation, and a metaphor for the centre around
which we move, the fire of the hearth. Our students are navigating into life, and our school
provides guidance and a community.
 
Also, through a telescope, Polaris resolves into three stars, giving us the image of a unity composed
of three separate entities - the threefold social order.  In our time, we need humans who unite
hand, heart, and mind - economy, culture, and rights - for the health of humanity and our planet.
 
From the very beginning, our initiative’s vision has included a school for the children as well as a
“hub”, a centre for learning, meeting, and exchange for the whole community. The Polaris stars
represent a beautiful picture of such a hub – this is why we chose to include both “School” and
“Centre” in the name. They form the core, the heart of our initiative.
 
The very first question the pedagogical committee asked themselves in preparation for the
upcoming school year was the following: “What do the children of our time need?” Thus, the
importance of our values which are essential to the fabric of our school are reflected in the
​phrase “learning for our time, teaching in freedom”.

Our Pedagogical Approach 

​The guiding principle for us is, “What do the children of our time need and what are they asking of
us, the teachers?” In essence, they need us to listen, to not impose on them a fixed, outcome-driven curriculum, but to bring an openness on our part to teach them in a way that will speak to each
individual child standing before us.
 
It is important to us to provide a pedagogical program which teaches the whole child – head, hands,
and heart. Thus, the weekly schedule offers four days of main lesson plus a nature day. We seek
to create community involvement, with the vision of the school becoming a “hub” where we actively engage with our neighbours around us. Subjects such as music, art, handwork, woodwork, foreign languages (French), Eurythmy, and movement education are woven into the days.
 
Our program is flexible in that it offers families the choice to enroll their children for the five
day-program or the four days of main lessons. Registration for only the nature day is also possible
and we encourage others from the community who are homeschoolers or attending public schools
​ to join us for this special day.

ABOUT WALDORF EDUCATION

...The word 'movement' needs to be understood, for it is in no sense organized or directed from any given centre - it is a cultural movement sustained in its growth by independent and spontaneous efforts wherever the ideas underlying the education fire human imagination and will.

Francis Edmunds
Rudolf Steiner's Gift to Education - The Waldorf Schools