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Waldorf Watch: High Schoolers Benefit from Unique Partnership with Research University

For many years, Waldorf high school students have been taking advantage of the Waldorf School of Garden City‘s unique partnership with Adelphi University that allows them to take college courses for credit on the Adelphi campus. Leveraging its location directly next door to the recognized research university, Waldorf students are able to get a sense of what will be required of them in a collegiate setting while also enhancing their academic study and satisfying their growing intellectual curiosity. This huge benefit extends to the college application process demonstrating to admissions officers that the students are more than ready for college-level work. While Waldorf graduation requirements exceed college admissions standards, this rare opportunity is an added advantage not normally afforded to high school students.

Waldorf students enjoy college courses such as; Psychology, Precalculus for Business, Life Sciences, Statistics, Cultural Anthropology, Survey of Statistics, Creative Writing, Computer Science, Music Technology, and more. We asked current students, Christian Kritas ‘ 19, Justin Preister, ’19, and Aixin “Cheryl” Xu ’20, why they chose to enhance their high school experience with college coursework and what impact it has had on them.

“This has been an excellent opportunity for me to really feel what it is like to participate in a college class,” said Christian who is currently enrolled in Pre-calculus for Business at Adelphi. He has found the experience to be extremely fulfilling in a number of ways.  “I am not only happy that I have the opportunity to learn this college-level material in a higher education setting, but I am also getting accustomed to the workload I can expect starting next year. This is really a great way to transition into college.”

During the fall of 2018, Cheryl took Calculus and Spanish I at Adelphi. While she found managing the workload of the college courses in addition to her high school work challenging, she highly values of the experience.  “Taking the courses opened me up to new ideas, new ways to learn, and allowed me to improve my time management skills. It was a really good experience overall” said Cheryl. “Even if it was stressful at times, at the end it felt very freeing; I felt very accomplished.” Cheryl was also happy that she took the courses because it taught her how to listen to professors with different teaching styles more effectively. “It was a really great way to prepare for the college experience next year.”

Senior Justin Priester took an Introduction to Coding in Python class during the summer of 2018.  Justin found the experience incredibly rewarding. “The opportunity to experience a college class gave me a sense of what my future would be like.”  Justin also expressed how the unique skills he learned at Waldorf prepared him for the workload of the course. “Figuring out how to write lines of code in different ways was just like brainstorming different concepts in a Main Lesson.” He concluded by emphasizing that his time in the Adelphi course, “helped assure me that I would be successful in my future endeavors in higher education.”

According to College Guidance Counselor, Marisa Gelb, taking advantage of this unique partnership is an excellent way for students to get a leg up in the college admissions process. “Our partnership with Adelphi University is a unique and valuable opportunity for our students. The classes at Adelphi are the best way for our students to show their academic strengths, challenge themselves with college coursework, and earn college credit before graduating from high school. These courses can also prove invaluable in the college application process. Competitive colleges want to know that students are taking the most challenging courses available to them, and these Adelphi courses play that role for our students.”

The partnership with Adelphi has been an excellent resource, propelling a number of students into top tier schools. In 2015, Johnathan Gill, was able to leverage his experience with the program, into admission to several elite colleges, finally deciding on Harvard University. Jonathan, who had a propensity for physics, chose to study at Adelphi as early as his sophomore year where he developed relationships with professors who helped guide him into research programs and more advanced courses.

We are very proud of our students whose thirst for learning, reinforced by their well-rounded Waldorf education continually leads them to success in the colleges and fields of their choosing.


Learn more about our Adelphi Partnership and read Jonathan’s full story here. Read about additional student journeys here and view recent college acceptances here.