Thom Schaefer, M.A.

Thom Schaefer

Grades Department Chair

Thom Schaefer has been a lifelong educator, teaching and administering from elementary school through college. He has taught at elementary and high school levels in public school as well as in Waldorf settings. Thom, a former public school principal, was a Waldorf class teacher for fifteen years in California and New York, taking one class from grades one to eight. He then worked as a full-time consultant to Waldorf schools all along the West Coast. Thom and his family then moved to Boulder, Colorado where he taught history, English, movement and drama in the high school at Shining Mountain WS for a decade and a half, and also became the Pedagogical Dean of Faculty (K-12). Thom has been a Waldorf teacher trainer and an anthroposophic adult educator at Rudolf Steiner College in California, Sunbridge College in New York, the Rudolf Steiner Centre in Toronto, and Gradalis. Thom completed the Spatial Dynamics training with Jaimen McMillan. Over the past fifteen years they have been involved in international peace projects (OlymPeace, AllinPeace, HandsinPeace) in Greece, the Middle East, Ecuador, and China that use movement, art, and non-violent communication to go beyond flags and break down stereotypes. The research from these projects (Thom’s master’s thesis) demonstrates how movement, art, and games can overcome stereotyping and prejudice. Currently Thom functions as the Education Director at Credo High School, a Waldorf-Inspired Public Charter School founded in Sonoma County, California in 2011. This June Credo graduated its first senior class. Thom also serves as a core faculty member of Rudolf Steiner College’s Hybrid Teacher Training Program. Thom serves as a steward, faculty and board member of Gradalis Waldorf Teacher Training. Thom is the father of three grown children and has five delightful grandchildren with one just newly arrived.