MADRONA VILLAGE SCHOOL
A one-room schoolhouse for an ever-changing world.
MVS is a unique, WA state approved school in the Madrona community. Our one-room schoolhouse was built and conceived in 2020 in order to offer healthy socialization, emotional wellbeing, and ongoing love of learning for our students.
MVS is a non-profit, independent institution, dedicated to providing a nurturing and individualized learning environment focused on core academics, Spanish language/culture, art, nature, and neighborhood public service. We are a multi-age classroom, in order to facilitate cross-age interactions, and nurture peer mentorship.
As a small-scale alternative to the traditional classroom experience, Madrona Village School offers a blend of classical principles and evolved methodologies, and the ability to adapt seamlessly to the ever-changing educational landscape, providing a cost-effective, community-oriented, and deeply personalized approach to education.
By bridging the gap between the classroom and the Madrona community, our students not only enrich their educational experience but also cultivate a profound understanding of the world, develop essential skills, and foster a strong sense of civic responsibility.
• MVS is permanently closing in June 2024. We are currently accepting students for the remainder of the 23/34 school year only.
Thoughtfully designed, rigorous middle school curriculum
provided through the student’s 8th grade year.
• Small class setting with caring, dedicated teachers
• Specialized instruction in Spanish immersion and art
• Inspiring Forest Days & botany education in onsite greenhouse• Engaged and welcoming community
We utilize the award winning Royal Fireworks Press curricula and materials. RFP publish high quality academic books and curricula that are intellectually stimulating, academically rigorous, accessible, and beautiful. This year we are on the Town Level
Daily schedule:
9:00-1:00: Core academics including reading, writing, spelling, math, science, debate, and history. Students have morning recess at the park, with a snack break.
1:00-3:00: Lunch, Spanish, art class, and P.E., and other enrichment activities including library time, and learning in the greenhouse.
Twice monthly, students spend the second half of their Fridays in the forest, dedicating their time to the restoration of the Madrona Woods.
Lindsay Eicher
Lead Teacher
Lindsay Eicher brings nearly 20 years of classroom experience to Madrona Village School. Lindsay has a wide range of experience as a teacher in both public and private schools. She spent 15 years as an early elementary school lead teacher at The Valley School in Seattle. There she was responsible for curriculum and assessment development, as well as teaching using the thematic model where students are immersed in learning through a topic of interest.
Lindsay has worked with a variety of learning styles and ages and has experience in adapting curriculum for both enrichment and intervention according to individual student needs. She is passionate about early childhood development and learning, as well as curriculum design and teaching around thematic units.
In 2015 Lindsay took a professional development trip to the Svalbard Islands in the Arctic to enhance her yearly Arctic animal unit. Lindsay is a multi-generational native of Seattle, Washington. She graduated from Seattle Prep and the University of Washington and earned her Masters in Education from City University. She has a teaching certificate in elementary education.
As a teacher and an innovator, Lindsay spearheaded MVS's pilot year and is now happily forging new ground with the fourth year of MVS' innovative model.
Hannah Lemberg
Spanish and Cultural Language Studies
Hannah Lemberg was born and raised in Seattle, where she attended the Seattle Waldorf School and the Northwest School. She holds degrees in political science, Spanish, and Shakespeare studies, and has studied education through Rudolf Steiner College, Washington State TATlab, and ongoing research and workshops.
Hannah has worked in education much of her life, including as a Waldorf grades and high school humanities teacher in St Louis and San Francisco, a theater teacher at schools and theater companies in locally, as a Spanish teacher at Seattle Waldorf School and as a substitute at Madrona Village. She loves to work collaboratively with parents, students, and other teachers. Her Spanish is from a mix of countries, especially Spain and Mexico, where she spends a lot of time in the southern state of Oaxaca.
She also finds joy and comfort in reading, travel, nature, tea, yoga, cooking, quiz games, folk music and dance, and sharing experiences with children, especially her six-year-old daughter, Calla.
Willow Bader
Art
As early as she can remember, Willow Bader knew her passion was to be an artist. She was born in Washington State and grew up drawing and creating at every opportunity, encouraged by her Waldorf School education. Willow studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia where she received a prized travel scholarship which took her to Europe for the first time to see art and architecture. She returned to the pacific northwest to continue her art career and currently shows with Cole Gallery in Edmonds WA and Edward Montgomery Fine Art in Carmel CA.
Willow paints with the ancient painting medium of encaustic. Her subjects are from her life and what she knows. She often paints the table, with food, wine and flowers, and evenings out with music and dancing. She also paints the NW landscape. Willow has been teaching children and adults since 2003 and enjoys passing on her knowledge, reminding her students that there is not just one right way when making art, and she enjoys the surprise and delight of the results.
Tom Kushner
Forest Steward / Community Service Coordinator
Hello parents,
I am the forest steward for Madrona Woods and went through training with the Green Seattle Partnership/Seattle Parks to be given this position. I have a life long love of nature and especially the plant world. My interest in native plants goes back many years and I have worked with native gardens in California, Central Washington and as a Volunteer in Madrona Woods. As the Forest Steward I manage work parties that are sanctioned by Seattle City Parks with community volunteers. I am looking forward to sharing the forest with younger generations. I am passionate about taking personal steps to restore the earth and combat global warming.
I am a retired physician and relish getting my hands dirty after so many years of keeping them clean! I know Lindsay since she was my son's teacher at the Valley School about 15 years ago. I look forward to working with your kids where her teaching intersects with the forest and the natural world. I look forward to being with your children to experience Madrona Woods. If you have not been there, it is a wonderful refuge in all seasons. Please visit sometime.
News and reviews
Click through the gallery below for our FAQ's
"We wanted an alternative to public school, without the rigors of homeschooling, the obligations of a co-op, or the price of a private school. Does such a thing even exist? Apparently so! We found Madrona Village School miraculously, just as the 2021 fall term was beginning." Caitlyn V. 7/16/2022
"My daughter has attended this adorable one-room schoolhouse since it's pilot year, and is now going into her fourth year. MVS is a wonderful, independent, community-minded school that is not only affordable but has an amazing community of parents and teachers." Kris D. 7/15/2022
MVS has been featured in the Madrona News and in Crosscut.
More parent reviews of MVS can be found on Yelp.
MVS Board
Megan Haas
Executive Director
Megan Haas, Executive Director of MVS, is a long-time strategist and founder, focused on building creative, rational solutions to fill the gaps in our societal systems. Megan has spent the last 30 years developing businesses from the visionary phase into community centered enterprises. Megan's passion for education began with her first business concept in 1992, the Front Porch School, a successful supplementary program to bridge the gap between socialization and education for rural, home-schooled girls in Asheville, NC. Moving to WA, Megan co-founded the Utilkilts Co, and founded Kinnected.org, a free, global, social-health sanctuary that supports community resilience through building purposeful, peer to peer connection. A 3rd generation Waldorf School graduate, Megan's goal with MVS is to model a learning environment that fosters knowledge, understanding and creativity, and prepares our students to find significance in navigating our ever evolving world.
Kathi Petrotta
Learning Support specialist
Kathi Petrotta has been an educator for 30 years working with students from preschool through twelfth grade. With public, private, and parochial teaching experience, Kathi has focused on the middle school age group and has specialized in neurodiversity and learning differences. Prior to entering the field of education, Kathi was an environmental planner involved in a variety of projects for both the public and private sectors. Living in Madrona for over 30 years, Kathi and her husband raised a son who is now residing out of state. Recently retired, Kathi is enjoying catching up on projects, as well as reading, gardening, cooking, and adventures with her husband and pup. She is excited to be part of a community school like MVS.
Julia kassisiah
Education and executive support
Julia Kassissieh has 25 years of education experience spanning the areas of independent school leadership, middle school teaching, and instructional leadership consulting in public and private schools. Julia has published numerous articles describing successful secondary school improvement efforts aimed at increasing graduation rates and post-secondary opportunities for traditionally underserved students. From 2006-to 2013, she served as a trustee and executive committee member for the Portland Children’s Museum in Portland, Oregon. Julia has a master’s degree in curriculum and teacher education from Stanford University and is a credentialed administrator and teacher. She is a recent fellow of the Pathways to Leadership program at the Northwest Association of Independent Schools, a program for women aspiring to head of school roles in the region. Julia was Head of Middle School at Seattle Academy 2016-2022 and continues to work in varied roles at SASS. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.
TUITION AND ADMISSIONS
MVS is currently accepting students for the remainder of the 23/34 school year only.
Tuition for the 23/24 school year is $19,000.
In addition to tuition, MVS is supported by our families through pledges and donations.
If you are interested in a tour please contact: admissions@madronavillageschool.org
Madrona Village School does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or disability. This policy applies to employees, students, volunteers, and parents.
2023/2024 CALENDAR
September 6 -- First Day of Fall Session
November 10 -- Veteran’s Day: No School
November 20-22 -- Teacher Professional Development
Days/Parent-Teacher Conferences: No School
November 23-24 -- Thanksgiving Break: No School
December 18 -Jan 1 -- Winter Holiday Break: No School
January 2 -- First Day of Winter Session
January 15 -- MLK Day: No School
February 19-23 -- Mid-winter Break: No School
April 8-12 -- Spring Break: No School
May 27 -- Memorial Day: No School
June 21 -- Last Day of School