About Desert Star Community School

In 2004 a group of Sedona parents and educators began networking and researching to develop a vision for an innovative new Waldorf inspired charter school in Sedona. A non-profit was formed, Desert Star Community School Inc., and in January of 2006 our charter application was approved by the Arizona State Board of Charter Schools. Desert Star’s 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit, tax exempt educational organization was approved on Sept. 18th, 2006. Desert Star has included “community” in its name to honor and recognize the importance of community participation and involvement in the creation and maintenance of a healthy thriving school. Our community school values and supports parent involvement and requests that families volunteer a minimum of 50 hours a year in support of the school if they are able to do so.

The charter has been written to accommodate grades K-6 with teachers teaching two grades until each grade is large enough to have its own teacher and the school facility can accommodate individual grade classrooms. We will provide a full Waldorf curriculum for each grade by separating the grades in the mornings for main lessons and individualized academic work. Teacher’s aides will work with students who are not in main lesson while their teacher is teaching main lesson to another grade.

Children start learning to play the recorder in first grade.

Hours for grades 1-6 will be 8:30-2:45. The Kindergarten will have a separate teacher, aide and classroom space. Kindergarten hours are 8:30-12:00 Monday through Friday. The kindergarten after care and enrichment program “Kinder Arts and Play” will be available from 12:00-2:45 for $10 a day or $4 an hour. Please call (928) 282-0171 if you have any questions or would like more information.

At the heart of Desert Star is the importance of the teacher’s relationship with the child and his or her ability to understand, assess, and respond effectively to the child’s temperament, potentials and intelligences. We believe that the key to unlocking each child’s innate intelligence is a caring, supportive teacher-student relationship that is nurtured over time. To build a strong class community and reap the benefits of a long-term teacher-student relationship, each group of children will move through the grades with their teacher. Our goal is to provide a strong secure foundation for students with social and academic consistency from year to year along with the flexibility to respond to specific needs.