Bozeman

This is one of those, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you" stories...

Several years ago, my father mentioned a small college town in the mountain west that was expected to be the next "boom town" He'd told me to check it out as it may be a nice place to raise a family. Every summer we'd try to schedule a family trip to Bozeman, but my sisters and I were growing our families and it never seemed to be the right time. 

Then, I randomly ran into my middle school crush on a solo trip to San Diego. Our paths crossed unexpectedly and we hadn't seen each other in twenty-five years! He was in town for work, but was from...Bozeman. We stayed in touch and did the long distance thing for about a year before he joined me and my twin boys in Austin, Texas. The boys were at the Austin Waldorf School at the time, a place where I thought they'd be K-12th grades as I was so passionate about Waldorf education and becoming more and more involved in the Waldorf community. 

For personal reasons, we needed to leave Austin and fast! We decided if Bozeman and Austin had a baby- it would be Bend, Oregon. We loved Bend and we're here now, but Oregon (although filled with natural beauty and enchanting sites) has horrible politics. Trying to escape the leftists nightmare? Avoid the west coast! Friends and family wondered why we didn't go straight to Bozeman and the answer was simple- there is no Waldorf school.

I cried to Justin almost daily about knowing Bend wasn't a fit, him wanting to return to Bozeman and me feeling intense mom  guilt about not being able to provide a Waldorf education for them. What to do, what to do...

Then, as if by magic, the universe started dropping tiny little pebbles in front of me that led me to Bozeman and started yelling at me "start a Waldorf school".  I remembered a message I received once from a total stranger telling me that he channels the energy of Rudolf Steiner when he meditates and that Steiner told him to let me know I was doing good work in the Waldorf community and not to stop. "Should I start a school?", I wondered.

I began searching for properties in Bozeman out of curiosity and the first property I clicked on was a 19030s log cabin on 5.5 acres with a creek. It had a separate house on the property with a workshop as well. I wondered if that could be a classroom...

The Waldorf early childhood program reached out and connected me with their board members with whom I met in Bozeman the same day I toured that property. They told me they'd been manifesting new energy to Bozeman to help make a Waldorf school for the grades a possibility and they'd been hoping for an east Bozeman location. Hmm...this I couldn't ignore. We put an offer in on the house the next day. 

Since then, I've had COUNTLESS members of Waldorf community, homeschool moms, Bozeman families, and teachers from all over offer encouragement, resources, and support to bring this long-awaited vision into fruition. 

Fall 2022, Bozeman Montana will have a Waldorf inspired school for the grades beginning with 1st/2nd grade. Also, on the property, I'll be hosting toddler playgroups, homeschool student meetups. a parenting workshops, new mom support groups, and eventually a Waldorf toy store!

Please click on EPOCH link above and express interest by filling out the RSVP form to the right. Subscribe to the newsletter and follow the journey on my podcast and youtube!

We're looking forward to welcoming you all at Epoch Bozeman soon! -Chelsea