Waldron School is...

Waldron Island School is a K-8 Remote and Necessary school in the San Juan Islands, Washington state.  It operates in the Orcas Island School District, though originally it was its own district.  The school population at Waldron fluctuates depending on the dynamics of our island community.  In recent years, numbers have ranged between 5-14 students, spread throughout the nine grade levels.  

The Waldron School content curriculum is thematically organized in a four year cycle, with the intent that a student who began in kindergarten or first grade and continued through eighth grade would go through each set of topics at both a primary and upper grade level.  We follow all state standards regarding content and instruction. The four year cycle topics are broad enough to allow us to follow particular interests of the group of students we have any given year.  We play music, of various different types, and for the last many years we have studied Spanish at all levels.

The unique features of Waldron education are the focus on integration of topics across the curriculum and the multigrade aspect of our classes. We generally break students into grade level clusters for core subjects, like math and language arts, but often all ages are combined for all or part of content classes.  Individualized instruction is the rule, rather than the exception, and in our tiny classes everyone can get targeted instruction and be successful. Students with special needs are catered for with a combination of special services through Orcas District and Waldron staff implementing IEP programs.  We emphasize hands-on and experiential instruction, take field trips and host visiting artists, and participate in citizen science projects going on in the San Juans and the Salish Sea.  We also enjoy kayaking and sailing small boats, and other unique activities.  

The school is the center of the Waldron community, and there are a host of traditional events and functions that happen every year where the community and students join together.  We reach out to community members to share skills and stories, and turnout for school presentations and plays is nearly one hundred percent.  In addition, the school building is used for a variety of community happenings, like yoga class, marimba, Community Meeting, political events, dances, concerts, and generally whatever you might find going on in a community building.  The Waldron Community Library is housed in the old teacherage, on the school grounds, and hosts the internet cafe and weekly book club meeting.  

Orcas Island School District’s Equity Statement on the culture of diversity: 

Waldron School strives “… to actively promote a culture of belonging, one which confronts bias and injustice, and is inclusive of the diversity of our entire learning community. We are dedicated to acknowledging historical truths, reconciling harms, and interrupting the institutional and systemic barriers that prevent our staff and students from realizing their unique potential. We hold ourselves accountable to our community in the creation of an equitable, sustainable, healthy educational and work environment, where opportunity cannot be predicted based on race, characteristics, or circumstances.” (Approved by OISD Board 11/30/2021)