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EMILY MERCHANT
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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Emily Merchant is an Utah native with a life-long interest in education and child development. She has earned a BS at the University of Utah, studying psychology and elementary education and a Masters in education from Antioch University with a focus on administration and Waldorf teaching.

Emily’s professional career has included work as a technical writer, a congressional Policy Adviser on education in Washington, DC, and experience in various educational contexts, such as teaching children with autism, coaching high school debate, creating service learning programs, and teaching dance and arts for preschoolers and in public schools.

After years of study and involvement in education, it was as a mother of three beautiful and lively girls that Emily discovered Waldorf education. Emily was enlivened and inspired by the use of the arts as a primary teaching modality, the deep spiritual and philosophical basis, the attention to the whole, 

developing child, and the role of the teacher in Waldorf schools. She immediately began learning more, incorporating aspects of the Waldorf approach into her home, and looking for Waldorf schools in her area.

After attending training at Rudolf Steiner College and aware that there were not any Waldorf schools in Utah (to which she was moving with her family), Emily was inspired to work to bring a Waldorf school to the Salt Lake Valley. Given her personal experiences as a mother and deep commitment to providing the highest quality educational options for students of all demographics and socio-economic statuses, Emily felt strongly that this must be a public charter school, allowing Waldorf education to be a choice for all families. 

Over the last few years, Emily has worked with other dedicated individuals throughout the community to apply to the Utah State Office of Education for approval of Utah’s first Waldorf charter school. Emily is thrilled that the Waldorf approach to education will now be available to Utah’s children and families. She feels privileged to be a part of such a valuable work and is in awe daily of the blessing it is in her personal life to have had her interests, experiences, and passions all intersect into this endeavor.

Most of the time our children are doing well at school. They are “in the flow.” Sometimes, though, they experience challenges. For one reason or another they feel out of kilter with their teacher and classmates. Their challenges may have to do with the social realm (“They’re being mean to me.”); learning challenges (“Everyone knows how to read except me.”); or, occasionally, acting out, misbehavior, or non-compliant behavior (“I don’t have to if I don’t want to; you can’t make me.”) Social and emotional well-being is a prerequisite for academic success. Wasatch Charter School is committed to providing a foundation for healthy learning by supporting those students who are experiencing challenges. This commitment is the foundation of the curriculum and the heart of our work at Wasatch Charter. We have adopted our Three Care Streams of Student Support process in order to provide as much support as possible for students who are experiencing social, disciplinary, or learning challenges. It is based on the work of Kim John Payne, who is respected worldwide for helping children, parents, and teachers navigate challenge as well as conflict.

• Offers a rigorous, relevant, balanced, and memorable liberal arts education, structured around the Utah Core Standards. 

• Nurtures the intellect, imagination, and emotional life of each child. >

• Incorporates sustainable living practices, environmental stewardship, and experiential learning through outdoor experiences, animal husbandry, and gardening skills. 

• Infuses academics with singing, painting, movement, drawing, recorder and flutes, strings, storytelling, foreign language, speech, handwork, and drama. 

• Inspires children to live engaged and successful lives, prepared to meet the demands of their world. • Involves parents and families in a community of learning and self-development.

WCS is a valuable option for families seeking whole child centered education where children learn reading and writing, mathematics, history, geography, and the sciences, while also learning to sing, play a musical instrument, draw, paint, model clay, carve and work with wood, act in plays, do handwork such as knitting and sewing, speak a foreign language, think critically and independently, and work harmoniously and respectfully with others. WCS fully delivers the content and competencies outlined in the Utah Core Standards during the progression from K–8, but in addition to developing these skills, WCS uses Waldorf methods and curriculum to immerse children in the arts and an environment that nurtures their emerging capacities at each age.

WCS teachers use an experiential, arts-rich approach that engages students in intellectually stimulating academic activities, fine-motor activities, creative and imaginative activities, as well as larger movement and gross-motor activities in every lesson—“a head, heart, hands” philosophy. WCS teachers are trained and mentored in the principles of public Waldorf education, developing an engaging curriculum and effective pedagogical practices. Teachers loop with students through the grades, building relationships and competencies together.

• Waldorf-Inspired Public Schools Are on the Rise
• Waldorf Education in Public Schools
  Waldorf Schools – from the Atlantic
  
• The Wisdom of Waldorf

• Why Waldorf Works 
  
• Waldorf Answers 
  
• The Alliance for Public Waldorf Education 
  
• The Waldorf Research Institute 
  
• Core Principles of Public Waldorf Education 

• Understanding Waldorf Education: 
  
• Teaching from the Inside Out by Jack Petrash
  
• School as a Journey by Torin Finser
  
• Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne 
• Growing a Waldorf-Inspired Approach in a Public School District by Diane Friedlaender, Kyle Beckham, Xinhua Zheng, and Linda Darling-Hammond

• The Waldorf Way: Silicon Valley School Eschews Technology (NBC Nightly News) 
  
• A Silicon Valley School That Doesn't Compute (New York Times) 
  
• Turning Digital Natives into Digital Citizens (Harvard Education Letter)