Christine Leonard
(Salmon Class)
With her degree in education, Christine Leonard taught for Pennsylvania public schools before moving to Oregon in 1976, with her young family, to support developing alternative schools for troubled teens. Working out of her home with dedicated parents and teachers, she then co-founded the Waldorf education impulse in Southern Oregon. Her children were among the first Waldorf graduates in Oregon! After 21 years of administration, school board membership, teaching and training in Waldorf education in this area, she took her experience on the road to teach and work in New Mexico, Los Angeles, and Mount Shasta. She returned to teach in Oregon in 2010. Over time her students’ ages have ranged from birth to 80 years! Christine has been a school consultant, a teacher evaluator, and has served on the faculty of the Waldorf Institute of Southern California’s teacher training program. She has a master’s degree in Communication. For the past eleven years, Christine has been Administrator for Sweetwater Education Foundation: Native Children Education Program, a non-profit serving underprivileged Native children and families. Christine Leonard began her relationship with Woodland Charter School during its pre-charter years as a workshop leader and consultant. Once the school’s charter was approved, she expanded her services to include mentorship for teachers. Soon after the doors opened for the children in the fall of 2012, Christine stepped into a class teacher opening and carried that class through 8th grade graduation last year. She has now come full circle, as the teacher of our 1st grade Salmon Class. Education, children, art, music, and the wild outdoors feed her spirit!