With school back in session, the letter below may be of interest to Frank Report readers.
The Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs, NY [near Albany] sent this letter to their school community last spring after parents contacted the school’s administration regarding the school’s connection to NXIVM.
Parents were concerned about recruiting being done on campus, as well as the large presence of NXIVM families at the school, especially at the Forest Kindergarten, where a single class included multiple families of High-Rank members.
The letter is vague – as the school was allegedly advised by legal counsel not to identify the NXIVM group by name.
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May 31, 2018
Dear Parents:
Recently, a few parents have made inquiries regarding the school’s affiliations. We always feel it is good to remind parents of our affiliations and the mission which flows from them.
As parents, you know that the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs provides a rich, unique education to our community in preschool through twelfth grade. We do this through offering a developmentally aligned curriculum that educates the whole student. We aim to graduate global citizens with a curiosity about the world.
As a Waldorf school, we are affiliated with the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN) and the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS). These are the only associations and affiliations the school has.
These affiliations support Waldorf education and our school in offering a developmentally appropriate, experiential, and academically rigorous approach to education. We integrate the arts in all academic disciplines for children from preschool through twelfth grade to enhance and enrich learning. Waldorf Education aims to inspire life-long learning in all students and to enable them to fully develop their unique capacities.
Finally, in keeping with our mission, the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs does not endorse or promote recruitment into outside organizations; nor is it our practice to require parents to disclose associations or outside involvements they have.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions about the school’s affiliations or any other concerns you may have. As always, the safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority.
On behalf of the Collegium and the Board,
Collegium: Abigail Reid, Anne Maguire, Steve Balmer, Katherine Scharff, Julie Niles, Karen Crandall, Sam Godsey, Astrea Ravenstar, Christa Therrien, Richard Fron, Carly Lynn, Michael O’Donnell
Board: Rich Frank, Burt Porter, Kathy Jaques, Anne Maguire, Manon N’Dolo, Donna Behen, Debra Rice, Sarah Day O’Connell, Eric Sabatella, Michael O’Donnell, Scot Esty, Michael Whitney
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As far as I know, none of the Collegium [advisory board] or the Board itself are NXIVM members.
According to sources, Rosa Laura Junco had to yank her children out of the Waldorf School in 2017 because she needed to ship them out of the area [possibly out of the US] because of something they may have witnessed between the Vanguard and some teenage girls from Chihuahua that she brought to Albany to be mentored by Vanguard.
More recently, Karen Abney – who was a guarantor for the bail bond of Kathy Russell – reportedly chose to distance herself from the Waldorf School to protect the school from potential adverse publicity connected to her NXIVM association. She was/is listed as a staff member of the school.
Abney, who works in the bookkeeping department of NXIVM – formerly under Russell – came up with $25,000 in cash to bail out Kathy. Anyone who knows the inner workings of NXIVM knows that a lower level bookkeeper like Abney would not likely be allowed to have that much cash of her own saved up. She would have been required to spend it on NXIVM courses.
This has inclined some people to suspect the money was part of the money that NXIVM routinely laundered for itself and other organizations and that was often stashed at various locations [$500,000 was found at Nancy Salzman’s house] – or that it was Bronfman money.
Details about a “Forest Kindergarten hosted by Christine Collins and Karen Abney” [both NXIVM members]- seems to have disappeared from the internet.
The Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs was founded in 1981.