(540) 987-9212  ~  11576 Lee Hwy, P.O. Box 247, Sperryville, VA 22740  ~   info@hearthstoneschool.org 

~A Combination of Distance Learning and In-Person Days
for the 2021-2022 School Year~
After a year of entirely virtual classes, Hearthstone welcomed students back to campus in September.
​Students look forward to in-person classes 3 days a week and continue to learn virtually 2 days a week.

The health of students and staff, as well as their families, continues to be paramount. In-person classes are predominately held outdoors: over the course of three work days, parent and teacher volunteers rallied together to build an outdoor open-air classroom. From vaccinated staff to mandatory mask-wearing indoors to virus-killing air purification systems, Hearthstone is committed to ensuring a safe environment for our children. 

Pay-What-You-Can Tuition

Determined to accept students regardless of the family’s ability to pay, Hearthstone has continued to offer tuition for 2021 – 2022 on a pay-what-you-can basis.

Parent Testimonials

“Being able to connect virtually with Hearthstone this year has been an anchor in our weekly rhythm during the pandemic. While playing on her own, I hear my three-year-old singing the beautiful songs that Miss Julia has presented in the Circle time. Our supply bag is filled with beautifully rich and natural materials that feel so meaningful to little and big hands alike. [My daughter] has thoroughly enjoyed the lovely handiwork, especially finger knitting, and asks to work on it herself while I make dinner.”                              
- Nursery/Kindergarten Parent
“We were so very fortunate to hear about Hearthstone School. Shortly after we started back in person, my son said to me, “Mommy, I want to go to Hearthstone School forever!” Hearthstone’s curriculum is outstanding, and the teachers are so very warm, kind, helpful, supportive, capable, smart, dedicated, well-rounded, and attentive to the individual needs of each child and family. It feels like we have gained not only a great school but a caring community to which we already feel quite attached."
- 2nd Grade Parent

Educating Children
Heart   Head   Hands

Hearthstone School nurtures and educates the whole child. 
We are committed to developing each child's ability
to ​feel deeply, think clearly, and act purposefully. 
​
Our program extends from Nursery/Kindergarten through 12th
and includes Parent-Child Classes and part-time enrollment.
Our highest endeavor ​must be to develop free human beings,
who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives. 
The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility
—these three forces are the very nerve of education.    
​
                                                                                  ~Rudolf Steiner

Purposeful Education

Students at Hearthstone School are taught through an integrated, developmentally-appropriate,  Waldorf-based approach that reveals the interrelatedness of all knowledge. Our curriculum is designed to bring academics to life through the arts and the natural world. In addition to mastering academic knowledge, our students practice life skills- from mindfulness meditation to conflict resolution. The arts (poetry, drama, studio art, music, sculpture, textiles, and cooking) are used as tools to teach, among other things, inner grounding and focus, creativity, and individual empowerment. These art forms bring the world of ideas not just into the mind of a good student, but into the heart, mind, and hands of a good person.​
​At Hearthstone, we cultivate a spirit of ownership and community by emphasizing responsibility and cooperation, respect for others, reverence for nature, and a sense of unity with all life. Children see their parents involved in the daily life of the school, form close relationships with teachers, and actively participate in the wider community through service projects.​

Hearthstone welcomes students of every race, color, gender, religion, ethnicity or national origin. 

Individualized

Small classes provide quality, individualized instruction. ​​Learning takes place in an environment of compassion and safety, where every child feels seen and heard. ​

Interdisciplinary

The curriculum is a unique blend of traditional and innovative elements. By encouraging students to draw connections across subjects, we work to​​ ​deepen their natural love of learning. ​​

Experiential

A hands-on approach allows each subject to be explored through many modalities and activities including field investigations, drama, drawing, movement, and music. 

Celebrating Childhood Since 1996

​Hearthstone was founded in 1996 as a parent cooperative. Some of the founding members, teachers, and parents were affiliated with Spring Mountain Waldorf School for nine years before Hearthstone was born. Our students are drawn from the surrounding six-county area of Rappahannock, Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Warren, and Page.

We moved to our current site in 2000 and worked to renovate the main school building, the lower school building for Nursery through Second Grades, and the pottery studio. Renovations to the first floor of the main school building were completed in 2004; it now houses a large Community Room, the Rainbow Market, and several therapy offices. Renovations to the lower level of the main school building were completed in the fall of 2005; it houses the school administration office, classrooms, music room, arts and crafts room, library, and kiln room.

All children are honored at Hearthstone School.

We regard each child as a powerful and precious force of Being, unfolding into the world, and in need of guidance, protection, inspiration, and nurturing. Just as a child's body grows, so does his or her inner life.
Of paramount concern to us at all times is the inner and outer development of every child. Our teachers work respectfully and deliberately to support the students' intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual growth.

 We believe in the right of every child to a happy childhood. Through creating a positive learning environment, Hearthstone promotes inner harmony and centeredness in a vastly changing world. ​A successful student is one who unfolds into a free-thinking, purpose-driven, conscientious, happy adult; one who, with a deeper understanding of the meaning of life, values wholeness and peace of mind over material fulfillment.