The school year ended on a bright spring morning as we gathered in the the campus amphitheater to celebrate the Class of 2026. It was a beautiful day, filled with music, flowers, and speeches. (Scroll down to see photos from the day!)

It has been a joy and an honor to watch these remarkable young people grow over many years—stretching all the way back to preschool and kindergarten. Below, we share memories of the class over their years at Marin Waldorf School.

Above: (L) With their 8th grade buddies and teacher Melinda Martin at the Rose Ceremony on the first day of 1st grade for our graduating 8th grade class, September 2018. (R) The Rose Ceremony last day of 8th grade for the Class of 2026, June 2026.

Memories from Melinda Martin

Melinda Martin was the Class of 2026's lead teacher from 1st grade to 4th grade.
Below she shares some special memories and wishes for the class.

In the fall of 2018, you were losing your first teeth, singing “one for the golden sun,” and learning to write letters through drawing pictures of mountains (M) and geese (G). Of course, I knew many of you for two years before first grade, from the time you were 4, when you just learned how to use the coveted sharp shovels and enjoyed the wonder of your beloved wee ones in the kindergarten. So while I have not seen most of you in quite some time, I have many memories of the early years that were foundational to who you are today.

In some respects a Waldorf class resembles family, being that you have experienced much together for many years. One major experience we shared was COVID. Our outdoor classroom will live in my memory forever, as a time when the community came together to build a classroom to enable us all to be at school. We harvested and juiced the garden grapes. Some of you periodically scaled the wooden poles to tighten the ropes when the sun tarp sagged. You cuddled my baby chicks (still alive and clucking!) and we all sat, masked, on stumps reciting poems and multiplication tables. (Do you remember when a mama deer gave birth to a baby deer behind our chalkboard?)

Over the years you performed beautiful plays, had a 3rd grade store, built shelters, and did animal reports. We traveled to Live Power Farm and you arose in the dark on rainy days to feed the pigs and milk the cows, before the farmers would offer you breakfast. As you can see, my memories are endless (and very fond), with too much to write about here.

I hope that the memories of your Waldorf experience stay with you, as they have stayed with me, for they have been ingredients that have helped you to become the person you are, and are continuing to become. I wish for you the best, as you continue to seek out the things that bring you happiness and fulfillment in your precious life.

— Melinda Martin

An Extraordinary Journey

It has been an honor and a joy to watch the Class of 2026 learn, play, collaborate, and grow over many years together. Some of our soon-to-be graduates started their MWS journey wearing capes and eating honey buns as Buttercups, Sunflowers, Hollyhocks, and Morning Glories. Others joined the class later in their journey, quickly becoming an important part of the class community. Over the years, they said goodbye to dear friends who moved across the country and the world. Together, they created a beautiful community!

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8th Grade: A Capstone Year

The 8th grade year is a capstone to the Marin Waldorf School experience, and the Class of 2026 made the most of theirs. Over the course of the school year, our students built motors in physics class, learned to use a sewing machine in handwork, and studied the lives and work of famous revolutionaries through history. They helped set up a beautiful Dia de Muertos celebration and lit up the amphitheater with a beautiful rendition of the song "Todos Juntos" by the Chilean band Los Jaivas in the Spring Assembly.

Social responsibility, stewardship, and They helped their 1st grade buddies learn to knit and carve pumpkins (see below!). They played soccer, they biked through the Lucas Valley open space, and they competed as a team in the annual inter-school 8th grade track meet in Aptos, California.They learned about bugs on a hike with a famous entomologist. They performed in their final class play (pictured above). And they each spent months planning, researching, and working with a mentor to complete a multifaceted 8th grade projects on a subject of their choice.

At the end of May, the Class of 2026 shared a week of campfires, starlight, river swims, redwood groves, laughter, challenge, and true camaraderie on a trip to Trinity and Klamath Rivers with Farthest Field Adventures and Mr. Neale. A river-to-the-sea rafting trip, the expedition was an opportunity for our students to explore the beautiful Northern California wilderness and to test their own strength and endurance on the river.