CAMPHILL SPECIAL SCHOOL

Camphill Special School consists of The Children’s
Village and School at Beaver Run, The Transition
Program at Beaver Hill and Beaver Farm, and
The Camphill School of Curative Education.
Our mission is to create wholeness for children and
youth with developmental disabilities through education
and therapy in extended family living. The Camphill
School of Curative Education offers a four-year professional
course of studies in anthroposophical curative
education, the approach to working with children and
youth with special needs that is practiced at Camphill
Special School. Camphill Special School does not
discriminate on the basis of race, age, color, creed,
gender, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin,
or disability.
CAMPHILL SPECIAL SCHOOL
2006–2007 Board of Directors
Craig L. Adams, President
Warren R. Gleicher, Esq., Vice President
Jeffrey Powers, Treasurer
Claus Sproll, Secretary
Guy Alma
Jan Christopher Goeschel
William C. Herman, Esq.
Ronald Landon
Eliza Carlson Lee, Ph.D.
Manfred Maier
Richard Oswald
Andreas Schad
Bernard Wolf
Emeriti
Ursel Pietzner
Raymond Ripper
CAMPHILL SPECIAL SCHOOL
2006 – 2007 ANNUAL REPORT
43 Years of Sharing Life
and Sharing Learning
1784 Fairview Road
Glenmoore, PA 19343
610.469.9236
www.camphillspecialschool.org

What does it mean to arrive at middle age Our
“forties” can be either a decade of crisis or years of
tremendous fruitfulness. Middle age potentially is a time
of maturity, capability, and a growing sense of purpose.
After years of learning the ropes, figuring out who we
are, and mentoring from our elders, we come to a time
Less visible, but equally important, our Camphill School
of Curative Education has matured into a full four-year
Certification course with an optional BA degree completion
component. This is our brightest hope for the
expansion of our work, not only here in Glenmoore,
but across North America.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A message from the President 4
Bernie’s poem: To Autumn Wake 5
1972: Something wonderful might slip in 6
2007: More beautiful than we imagined 7
This Annual Report is dedicated with love to
the memory of Theresa Katharine McCardell,
who lived as an angel among us from
of giving back.
Camphill Special School turned forty-three in December
Camphill Special School is forty-three years of proof that
children with intellectual and developmental disabilities
What does it mean to be a Waldorf School 8 – 9
Transition Program eagerly looks to the future 10 – 11
September 4, 1998, to July 20, 2006.
2006. Our middle-aged community remains excited
about its mission and devoted to its work, yet we feel
can shine in a community. We will continue to build
upon our rich traditions, always true to our mission, but
Collaboration extends School of Curative Education’s influence 12
Rock Crystal renovated and rededicated 13
”All I ask of you is forever to
we have new contributions to make. For instance, our
kindergarten is enriching its program and increasing
the number of children it nurtures, while The Transition
Program, serving eighteen to twenty-one year olds,
is entering its sixth year and expanding on a new
property.
unafraid to change and grow whenever we find it necessary.
In our 2006–2007 Annual Report, we celebrate
our past and with gratitude look forward to a promising
future.
Guy Alma
Forty-three years of Camphill Special School 14 – 15
Volunteers help our children grow 16 – 17
Camphill ProAm highlights fundraising year 18 – 19
Fundraising events are music to our ears 20
Strategic financial planning makes Beaver Farm purchase a reality 21
remember me as loving you.”
Director of Development
Our donors 22 – 27
2 3

A message from
the President
Dear Families and Friends of Camphill Special School,
It seems that the conclusion of every school year
approaches more quickly than the last one, and I find it
amazing that there have been forty-three such years at
Camphill Special School. From our inception, families
and children have looked to us for the unique care
and education found only in a Camphill community.
As President of Camphill Special School’s Board of
(L to R) Evan, Board
President Craig Adams,
and Tavake enjoying
time together.
Directors, I am very proud of our dedication to this timeless
heritage and energized by our community’s ability
to evolve and grow in its commitment to improving the
lives of students and their families.
The development of our Transition Program at Beaver
Farm is an example of this dichotomy. The Transition
Program has made available significant opportunities
for students completing our twelfth grade, providing
incomparable Camphill support while preparing
eighteen to twenty-one year olds for their next big steps
in life. In December, we purchased Beaver Farm and
now look forward to expanding and improving it while
enriching its essential programming.
At this time, I also wish to recognize and thank retiring
hard work on behalf of the school, and welcome Jeffrey
Powers as our new Treasurer.
Camphill Special School, at age forty-three, is advancing
and changing in remarkable ways, but remaining
focused on its legacy. Thank you for sharing your financial
support and your time and energy with our students.
Your gifts permit us to dream and to make those
dreams come true, so that more families might benefit
from the great blessing of Camphill Special School.
Thank you for another wonderful year.
Our Annual Report is written and assembled during the
summer and arrives in your hands in the fall. Summer is
a time for playing and dreaming. Fall is a time of waking
to learning and working. This whimsical, playful
poem tries to capture the transition between these two
moods. It is part of the cycle and rhythm of life as we
move each year from camp and vacation to classrooms
and workshops and then yearn for the summer to come
once more.
“Bernie” is Bernard Wolf, Program and Admissions
Director. Bernie has been associated with Camphill
Special School since he was nineteen years old, now
is a grandfather, and raises ducks in his “spare” time.
TO AUTUMN WAKE
When children smudge the summer’s green
On faces smeared with rich ice cream
And run and splash in crystal stream,
Then too soon the autumn hue
Forebodes an end to what they do.
When children smudge the summer’s green,
Shorts and shirts all splattered,
Rolling, tumbling, sliding hard,
As if it really mattered,
Then cricket answers with a chirp
And evening’s coolish creep alerts
Those greenish happy smudgy folks
Whose dream to autumn wakes.
Bernie
board members Marianne LaKamp, Tom Rosendale,
Craig L. Adams
Lydia Schulze, and Bob Swain for their enthusiasm and
President, Board of Directors
4 5

1972: Something
wonderful might
slip in
by Jill Levy
(L to R) Joseph and Jill Levy; Camphill
Special School alum Bruce and his
wife of sixteen years, Jodi; and
Allan, Bruce’s brother.
The fruit trees were newly planted along the path leading
up to Antanor from the office. The new grass was
shades of green and yellow and the light breeze made
the scene come alive. We didn’t notice it at the time,
but until we met Ursel Pietzner and Andy Hoy, we did
not see a soul, adult or child. It was May of 1972 and
we had stepped into a world that was unknown to us.
On the one hand, we desperately wanted our son to
be accepted. On the other hand, we were distressed
and frightened to part with him. The only hope we had
was what we felt in our hearts, the possibility in which
we believed, and the face of a wide-eyed, beautiful
and loving child. The world that we knew rejected all
of those things and we had little hope left. At Camphill
Special School we learned that there always is hope,
always joy, and a universe of possibilities.
For me, as an educator, I learned more in several years
“Embrace life!
about the human spirit, sharing, giving, child development,
communication, and beauty in all shapes and
And when you think there is nothing
But pain to embrace,
forms than I had learned in my lifetime. Those elements
Open your arms a little wider,
became part of who I became and how I met the
Something wonderful might slip in.”
challenges put before me.
J.L. 1988
Most of all, the human connections that grew over the
2007: More beautiful than
we ever imagined
by Sandy and Brian Epstein
We thought our dream of an independent life for our
son, Brandon, would remain a dream. Brandon had
never spent more than two nights away from home
or his family, and he became very dependent on us,
his older sister, Kenya, and Lucy, our yellow lab. As
Brandon’s sixteenth birthday grew closer, however, we
realized that he needed to develop a life outside of
his family.
Brandon loves the outdoors, animals, and music; he
can be inconsistent, difficult to understand, and, at
times, become frustrated with our world. Brandon has
autism. We kept all this in mind while searching for a
place that would honor his special abilities and needs,
but we were filled with anxiety.
We began our search and after nearly a year we
thought there was no such place. Then we found
Camphill Special School and before we even made it
into the office, we felt a loving and accepting sense of
peace. After our tour, we knew this was exactly
where our son belonged.
Brandon joined Longhouse in January 2007. With
the care and guidance of his houseparents, other
boys to keep him company, and Floss, a beautiful
yellow lab, he works with the land crew every day,
helps deliver milk, and is happy to be a part of his
community. Brandon walks through the Children’s
Village as if he has been there forever. Our son is
part of an extended family which is more beautiful
than we ever imagined.
Brandon
years remain with me and shape my everyday existence.
If there is a message, it is:
6 7

What does it mean to
be a Waldorf school
by Else Wolf
Faculty Chair
The first Waldorf school was founded by Rudolf Steiner
for typically developing children. You will find many indications
in Steiner’s lectures to teachers about the importance
of balance in teaching, the significance of
breathing, and the implications of sleeping and waking.
You find, too, that all children are in need of healing.
Waldorf education is based on anthroposophy, which
means ”wisdom of man.“ If you were to work with the
Waldorf curriculum over many years, as I have, you simply
would feel how well it is suited to each developmental
age group. The fourteen-year-old adolescent,
for instance, tests his parents’ authority and learns
about revolutions.
In Waldorf education, learning becomes real, consisting
of exciting experiences, not simply abstract theories. In
a physics class, we use a pulley to hoist everyone up
to the ceiling, and even the most delicate children are
able to lift another youngster with this simple machine.
Often these experiences are remembered far better
than laws and formulas from a textbook.
Many schools simply teach the head, or maybe the
limbs in athletics, and the arts often are omitted entirely.
In Waldorf education, it is an ideal to integrate head,
heart, and hands in the learning process. The arts play
major roles in bringing subject matters to life.
To adapt the Waldorf curriculum for our students,
teachers need to wrestle for essential elements and
condense content into shorter forms. Often inspiration
comes from our students, and suddenly we know the
perfect story for a specific child or the entire class! Our
students are fantastic teachers, for they help us to find
what we could not achieve without them.
8 9

Transition Program
eagerly looks
to the future
by Guy Alma
In years past, our students would leave us after grade
twelve, often moving on to other Camphill or similar lifesharing
adult placements. But increasingly we noted a
lack of readiness for placement or, more commonly,
a simple lack of openings at other communities. We
dreamed of beginning a “Transition Program” to act as
a safety net for our students, but we needed a suitable
location and appropriate coworkers.
Camphill Special School’s Transition Program began
in 2002 when we leased “Beaver Hill” and since then
has experienced tremendous success. In 2005 we
leased two additional houses at another site called
“Beaver Farm,” and in 2006–2007 we served thirteen
students. After this year’s purchase of Beaver Farm, we
eagerly look forward to expanding our program while
consolidating it at one location.
Our academic program includes language arts, functional
math, current events, social group work, and
content area electives. All students have opportunities
to work with different vocational crews in biodynamic
farming or gardening; animal husbandry; land and
building maintenance; crafts, such as pottery, candle
making, or textile arts; and recycling. Twice a year students
make outreach trips, visiting life-sharing communities
throughout North America, both Camphill and
Camphill-related. They go in small groups, helping out
wherever they are needed, meeting new friends, and
making successful connections.
This year four students are moving on: Derek and Alex
will be nearby at Camphill Soltane; Evan has gone
home to live near his family in California; and Jonathan
is checking out Cadmus in Massachusetts. As always,
we will miss them, but we are delighted they have
gained the skills they need to leave us.
10 11

Collaboration extends
School of Curative
Camphill Special School’s history of professional training
in curative education started in 1965, just two years
after our founding at Beaver Run. At that time, Donegal
Education’s influence
Springs, one of Camphill Special School’s forerunners,
still was in operation. Camphill Village Copake had
by Jan Christopher Goeschel
been founded earlier in upstate New York, so the three
Director, Camphill School
of Curative Education
communities joined forces to create an apprenticeshipstyle
two-year training course.
By 1972, this course was consolidated at Beaver Run
and extended to three years, following the curriculum
of the ”International Camphill Seminar in Curative
Education.“ Many of its graduates became the founders
and leaders of other Camphill communities that exist in
North America today. By the beginning of the twentyfirst
century, however, it became clear that new steps
were needed. Extensive curriculum development, college
credit equivalency, BA completion options for
graduates, and renewed national and international
engagement led to the formation of what now is called
the Camphill School of Curative Education.
enrolled students. Once
again, our activity also is
spreading beyond Camphill
Special School. We will be
cooperating with the Sophia
Project in California and
Maison Emmanuel in
Quebec to establish new
foundation studies programs.
We envision that such
shared efforts, not unlike
the original collaboration
among Camphill Special
Rock Crystal renovated
and rededicated
With the help of generous gifts from many dear friends,
Rock Crystal, Camphill Special School’s first house
built specifically to serve as a home for students and
coworkers, was expanded and renovated over the
summer of 2006. The house was rededicated amidst a
crowd of families, friends, coworkers, students, and staff.
Rock Crystal is named after a small book of the same
name by Adalbert Stifter. First published in 1845 as a
“Christmas tale,” Rock Crystal is a fable of two children,
Providence, are rescued the next day when residents
of both villages overcome their prejudices towards each
other and search together to find the lost ones.
In the same way, Rock Crystal was the first home to
embody Camphill Special School’s new ideal of a
“children’s village”: a collection of accepting and loving
homes where the lost could be found and, once found,
lead lives with purpose and significance.
We are grateful to everyone that made this extensive
project and significant event in our history a reality.
This year, for the first time, all four years of the new
School, Donegal Springs, and Copake, will become
lost on Christmas Eve on a glacier separating two
curriculum ran concurrently, with a total of twenty-six
ever more important parts of our work.
villages. The youngsters, protected by The Angel of
12 13

Forty-three years of
Camphill Special
School
14 15

Volunteers help
our children grow
by Courtney M. Coffman
Development Officer
2006–2007. These generous volunteers serve in our
classrooms, houses, and office; participate in the Parent-
Staff Group, on our Board of Directors, special event,
and other fundraising committees; and help with outdoor
projects, like mowing the grass or creating the
Horizontal Path.
In fact, volunteer groups nearly completed the
Horizontal Path this year! Volunteers from Chicago
Every August, volunteer coworkers from all over the
world arrive at Camphill Special School to learn, to
serve, and to gain experience in working with children
with special needs. While accomplishing all of this,
these exceptionally bright, hard-working, and caring
young people forge lifelong friendships, not only
among themselves, but also among the children they
work with so closely. We are grateful for all that they do
for our community and for the special kind of love and
companionship they offer our students. Without volunteer
coworkers, we could not sustain Camphill Special
School’s extraordinarily nurturing environment.
Non-resident volunteers also are a vital part of our
school community. Over 255 parents, grandparents,
family members, and members of the greater community
volunteered over 2,300 hours to our students in
Waldorf School, Church Farm School, Cornerstone
Co-op, Deloitte Consulting, GE/LNP, GRACO Children’s
Products, Sanofi-Aventis, Shamona Creek Elementary
School, Wayne Baptist Youth Group, and Williams Gas
Pipelines were welcome additions to our community
this year.
We appreciate the hard work of these
volunteers on our 2006–2007
fundraising committees:
Parent Campaign for the Annual Village Fund
Toni and Bob Bowersox, Chairs
Mary Beekley
Warren R. Gleicher, Esq.
Ruth Hedrick
Roz Heiko
James Herbert
Camilla Lange
Emily Smith
Thym Smith
Ginny and Bob Swain
Paula Toburen
Fiona Young
Grandparent Campaign for the Annual Village Fund
Iris and Sheldon Wyman, Chairs
Major Gift Committee
Warren R. Gleicher, Esq., Chair
Craig L. Adams
Robert Domergue
William C. Herman, Esq.
Marianne LaKamp
Ronald Landon
Eric Maskin
Richard Oswald
Bob Swain
We also extend appreciation to these officers of the
Parent-Staff Group:
Lisa Linder and Kim Small, Chairs
Camilla Lange, Secretary
Beth Eagen, Event Coordinator
16 17

Camphill ProAm
highlights
fundraising
year
The Camphill ProAm grows larger and more rewarding
every spring, and this year was no exception! Presented
by PECO, An Exelon Company, and hosted by Anthony
DeCecco’s Tennis Addiction, the 2007 Camphill
ProAm Tennis Tournament and Tennis Ball earned
over $107,000 in support of our 2006–2007 Annual
Village Fund and renovation projects at Beaver Farm.
Two hundred and fifty supporters enjoyed dinner, dancing,
auctions, and a student musical performance at The
Desmond Hotel on May 11. 6abc sportscaster Jamie
Apody volunteered as our celebrity auctioneer, while
parent and QVC on-air personality Bob Bowersox
served as emcee. At Valley Creek Park the next day,
energetic athletes treated spectators to exhilarating
tennis matches in the ProAm Tennis Tournament.
Professional Kyle Hawthorne and amateur Matt
Bonds triumphed over seven other teams to win
the coveted championship.
Camphill Special School thanks our sponsors, ticket
purchasers, program advertisers, donors, volunteers,
and committee members for contributing to our
most successful ProAm ever.
2007 Camphill ProAm Committee
Craig L. Adams, Honorary Chair
Theresa and Henry Beekley, Tennis Ball Chairs
Anthony DeCecco, ProAm Tournament Chair
Mary Beekley
Toni Bowersox
Amy Colannino
Michele and Dennis Duym
Kyle Hawthorne
Wasyl Manko
Cookie Maranella
Celes Panichelli
Ginny Swain
Paula Toburen
Tara Wood
18 19

Fundraising events are
music to our ears
Strategic financial planning
makes Beaver Farm
purchase a reality
by Claus Sproll, Finance Director
I wish to extend appreciation to Tom Rosendale, who
has retired from our Board of Directors after serving
eight years as treasurer. We remain grateful for the
steady guidance of our Finance Committee and
the innumerable gifts of commitment and financial
resources that enable us to fulfill our mission: to provide
educational opportunities for children with intellectual
In March 2006 Camphill Special School was offered
On September 26, 2006, the Frederick P. Rose Hall of New York Concert Benefit Committee
and developmental disabilities from pre-kindergarten
the chance to purchase Beaver Farm, a fifty-six acre
Jazz at Lincoln Center was the setting for a concert celebrating
Betsy and Bill Herman, Chairs
through age twenty-one.
property we had leased as a second location for our
forty-five years of Camphill in North America. Craig L. Adams
Transition Program (see page 10). Thankfully, due to the
Presented collaboratively by all the North American Robert Domergue
(L to R) Paul and Sandy Pluta,
kindness and generosity of many donors and our prudent
management of resources, we were able to take
Camphill communities, the concert featured Paula Sandy and Brian Epstein
2006–2007 REVENUE
Tamara Sheen of The Transition
Program, and B.J. Sarkissian presented
a concert on October 27, Elena McEntire, Charles Neidich, Mark O’Connor’s Leslie and Larry Meril
84%
Robison, Michael Bacon, Eroica Trio, Imani Winds, Eric Maskin
advantage of this spectacular opportunity.
4%
12%
2006. Despite the rainy and Appalachia Waltz Trio, Charles Wadsworth, and the Ginny and Bob Swain
We settled on the property in December 2006, securing
Tuition 84%
a tax-free mortgage from the Chester County
windy conditions that evening,
Contributions 12%
Camphill Village Ensemble before an audience of over Kim and Finn Wentworth
nearly 150 friends of Camphill
Other 4%
one thousand music lovers. The spectacular event raised
Economic Development Corporation administered by
Special School attended and
$4,400 was raised for The
Transition Program.
nearly $1.3 million in support of Camphill’s unique
mission.
New York Concert Committee
Amy and Warren R. Gleicher
New Century Bank. Forty-five acres will remain in permanent
agricultural easement, preserving unspoiled
Lydia Schulze
farm land in the heart of Chester County. Over the summer,
2006–2007 EXPENSES
with the help of gifts to our Annual Village Fund
7% 4%
Thanks to the unparalled efforts of Camphill Special
Lisa and Philip Turits
School’s own Benefit and Concert Committees and the
43%
4%
Iris and Sheldon Wyman
and several specific grants, some priority renovation
Administration 7%
generosity of our sponsors and those who purchased
Development 4%
projects were undertaken on the two existing houses.
18% Maintenance 4%
concert tickets, the concert raised $221,000 for our
Residential 18%
Our strategic plan calls for constructing two additional
Other 11%
2006–2007 Annual Village Fund. This was the highest
residential buildings and a multi-purpose space, eventually
permitting us to accommodate eighteen to twenty
13%
Program Cost 13%
amount ever raised for Camphill Special School at the
11%
Program Personnel 43%
triennial event.
students.
20 21