New Waldorf-themed charter school in town

By Tom Eastman

CONWAY — A new Waldorf-inspired, outdoors-focused charter school is set to open this fall serving K-7 students for the 2020-21 school year.

Organizers say Northeast Woodland Chartered Public School will be renting space from Granite State College next to the Tech Village off Route 16 in Conway.

In contrast to the private White Mountain Waldorf School in Albany, as a charter school, Northeast Woodland will be a tuition-free public school.

It received its charter in March and will receive funding from the New Hampshire Department of Education, according to Northeast board members Spring McKenney, who serves as the group’s secretary, and Carolyn Harrison, who currently teaches kindergarten teacher at White Mountain Waldorf School.

Reached for comment, the board of trustees of the White Mountain Waldorf School said: "We are glad to see Waldorf education expanding in the Mount Washington Valley, yet we are realistic in foreseeing that a public charter school could impact the enrollment of our independent school."

McKenney and Harrison said as of April 27, Northeast Woodland had received 65 applications.

In addition to Spring McKenney, officers of the new school are Jesse Badger of Conway, chair; Ethan McKenney, vice chair; Tara Hartnett of Bartlett; and Jason Gagnon of North Conway, foundation president.

In addition to Carolyn Harrison, board members are Heidi Miller of Conway, Jory Bailey of Silver Lake, Charles Greenhalgh of Albany and Janice Crawford of Fryeburg, Maine (who is also executive director of the Mt. Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce).

Grants and fundraising will help open and sustain the new school, Harrison and McKenney said, and fees will be charged for certain school trips and supplies.