First grade students were welcomed with roses on September 4 at Housatonic Valley Waldorf School’s annual first day of school Rose Ceremony.

Students, faculty, parents, Board of Trustees, and community members gathered in the school’s atrium to witness the ceremony.

“Welcome first graders to this very exciting morning [on] this very exciting day,” said eighth grade teacher Marleen De Grande, who oversaw the ceremony with first grade teacher Laura Wittmer.

This year marks the 100th anniversary year of Waldorf schools internationally. This year marks 30 years since Housatonic Valley Waldorf School was founded in New Milford, according to Enrollment Director Therese Lederer. This year also marks the highest enrollment for the school to date, with 144 students attending pre-kindergarten through eighth grade classes at the school.

For the Rose Ceremony, students in the Class of 2020 — eighth grade students set to graduate in the spring — presented roses to members of the Class of 2027, current first graders set to graduate eighth grade roughly seven years later.

Once each first grade student was presented with a flower, Ms Wittmer began to share a story. As part of the ceremony’s tradition, Ms Wittmer did not finish sharing her chosen story — about a farmer’s beautiful daughter, a man who turns into a bear during the day, and a broken promise. Instead she said if those present want to hear the ending “then you will have to ask a first grader.”

Near the end of the assembly, everyone sang the school song, and parents were invited to attend a welcome breakfast.