Building a healthy foundation for life-long learning through work, play, and nature. 

Fresh from your loving home into the loving arms of our Early Childhood Preschool teachers who understand what the young child needs to set a healthy foundation for lifelong learning.

Our rooms are set-up to feel home like and support healthy development that prepares a young child for Kindergarten. Children learn to move in a community which is socially responsive to the other. Our days consist of indoor and outdoor play, communal meals, movement circles, and story time.

Led by our dedicated Early Childhood teachers, the preschool program is designed to meet the needs of the young child as they take their first steps into a school experience. Guided gently and joyfully through a day of work, play, and outdoor exploration on our beautiful 8-acre campus, your preschooler will be met with reverence for the special wonder of childhood. Program choices of 3 or 5 day attendance, as well as full or half day options are available starting at 33 months.

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Morning Rhythm

While children play, teachers engage in purposeful activity worthy of imitation and children's participation. Sewing and knitting, grinding wheat and baking bread, water color painting, and various handcrafts are some of the activities of the early childhood classes.

Each day, a hearty, mid-morning snack is provided and shared by all children. A typical daily snack consists of a grain of the day, homemade whole wheat bread or soup. These snacks are cooked in the classroom, with participation from the children, as part of the daily rhythm

Two integral parts of the day are Circle Time and Story Time. Both of these are points in the day where the children come together and learn through play and story.

Waldorf Festival Life

Festivals in the early childhood are a rich tradition which encapsulate all the teachers have been working toward through song, story, and craft. The rooms themselves become imbued with the beauty and anticipation of festival life. Perhaps corn or squash are found in the room during harvest time, or a fresh bouquet of flowers from the yard in the springtime. Apple sauce or jam might be cooked; beautiful lanterns made. The room is filled with anticipatory joy and warmth, which activates awe, wonder, and reverence in the children.

Parents are warmly invited to participate in several of our festivals, which last approximately one hour and begin at drop off in the mornings. The festivals: Harvest Festival, Advent Spiral, Winter Festival, Spring Festival, May Day and the End of Year Festival. We have other festivals that are smaller and celebrated with just the children.

Preschool Teachers

  • Jessi Lisell

    Preschool Lead Teacher
    Known to students as Teacher Jessi, I bring nearly two decades of experience working with children from toddler age through middle school, with a special focus on preschool and kindergarten. I’ve been a Waldorf educator since 2007, most recently serving as a lead kindergarten teacher at City of Lakes Waldorf School for ten years. My own experience attending a Waldorf school from kindergarten through 8th grade deeply shaped my understanding of education and inspired me to explore what makes learning meaningful and lasting. I've completed Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Training coursework at Sunbridge Institute in Spring Valley, NY, and have taken elementary education courses at Normandale Community College. I am committed to lifelong learning and regularly take classes, read research, and keep in touch with Waldorf teachers across the country to stay responsive to the evolving needs of young children and their families.

    I’m inspired by place-based education and the Waldorf approach, and I’m most passionate about building strong relationships, fostering a sense of belonging, and supporting families in the joyful—and sometimes challenging—work of raising children. Outside the classroom, I love spending time in nature around water, camping and hiking, as well as knitting, sewing, and enjoying the company of my two cats and teenaged son, Lachlan. 

  • Sophia Swank

    Preschool Lead Teacher
    As the second child of seven, I have been caring for young children off and on my whole life. I was changing diapers at age eight (the kind with diaper pins if anyone remembers those) and babysitting outside the home at ten. I continued to babysit throughout my teens, worked in education through my mid-twenties, and then had babies of my own.nI have been an Early Childhood assistant at MWS since 2019. I first worked with Mary Lou Bala, then Eileen McMonigal, and most recently with Raina Fiedler. I have gained a wealth of wisdom and repertoire from working with such gifted and experienced teachers. But my experience with MWS EC began even earlier. My two children, who are now teenagers, spent three beautiful years each in Mary Lou's class. I learned many songs and rhymes directly from them, and learned some of the why and how from Mary Lou's parent meetings, conferences, and take home literature. I was a kindergarten Parent Council rep, and have worked and volunteered in various capacities at our school for over a decade. My other teaching experience includes: teaching English as a Foreign Language in Japanese public schools to students in grades 5-12; teaching Japanese in the US in grades 1-8; tutoring students in reading and writing; teaching small group literacy classes; teaching private guitar lessons; TAing in college. I have an MFA in writing for children from Hamline University, and a BA in Asian languages and literatures from the University of Minnesota. I specialized in Japanese but also studied Mandarin Chinese and music.