The Santa Cruz Waldorf School has its roots in the early 1970s when a small group of friends gathered to study Rudolf Steiner’s thoughts on education. Several participants had attended Emerson College and were especially interested in biodynamic agriculture. The study group was born at the behest of Gudrun Monasch, a German native and eurythmist who taught Eurythmy, German, and Handwork in the early years of the school’s history.
In the summer of 1975, preschoolers met once a week at the Farm for Eurythmy, painting and playing together; it was not until October 1976 that a kindergarten with ten students was established at Western Drive with Jessica Rubin-King, trained at Emerson, in charge. She named it the Golden Goose School. The same year the Santa Cruz Waldorf School Association was founded as a non-profit organization with ten active board members.
Spring and summer of 1977 saw an enrollment campaign with lectures, workshops, exhibits, advertising, and a new school site search. School opened in September of 1977 at 165 Pryce Street, Santa Cruz. The Kindergarten class taught by Ruth Jonason grew from ten to twelve children. First grade, Spanish and German, taught by Jacques Koenig grew from eight to twelve children. Gudrun Monasch taught Eurythmy and handwork.
The school has settled into its present campus with the purchase of land and the construction of classrooms. In the decades that followed, grades were added as the school’s population grew. In 2015, the school developed a preschool program on campus to support the families wishing to begin their children’s education not yet of age to start kindergarten. Today, all preschool and kindergarten programs are on the main campus.