Detroit Waldorf School
| Detroit Waldorf School | |
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Entrance to Detroit Waldorf (east side), 2015
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| Location | |
2555 Burns, Detroit, Michigan United States
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| Coordinates | 42°21′52″N 82°59′51″W / 42.3645°N 82.9975°WCoordinates: 42°21′52″N 82°59′51″W / 42.3645°N 82.9975°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Waldorf school |
| Established | 1965 |
| Opened | 1966 |
| Founders | Rudolf and Amelia Wilhelm |
| Grades | PreK - 8th |
| Enrollment | 240 |
| Campus size | 4 acres (16,000 m2) |
| Campus type | Urban |
| Website | www |
| Built | 1913 |
| Architect | Albert Kahn |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival, Arts and Crafts |
| NRHP Reference # | 72000667 |
| MSHS # | 2281 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | March 24, 1972 |
| Designated MSHS | September 24, 2016 |
The Detroit Waldorf School is a private PreK-8 Waldorf school located at 2555 Burns, Detroit, Michigan in an Albert Kahn-designed school in the historic Indian Village neighborhood. In 2016, the building was designated a Michigan State Historic Site. The school is the only remaining private independent school in Detroit, and is one of the city's highest-rated schools, receiving five stars on GreatSchools.org. As of 2016, 240 students were enrolled in the school.
In 1878, Rev. James D. Liggett settled in Detroit and established a small, independent school for girls, originally known as The Detroit Home and Day School, and later as The Liggett School. The school was originally located at Grand River and Broadway in Detroit, but in 1888 moved to a new location at Cass and Stimson. The school grew steadily, and by 1907 had annexed an adjacent house.
In 1913, the school contracted Albert Kahn to design the original portion of this building along Charlevoix as a branch campus to serve students on the city's east side. The building is one of only two schools designed by Kahn, and the only one still extant. Kahn's design for the school drew from then-popular English influences, and was a radical departure from previous school designs, both in his extravagant use of windows and use of stucco rather than brick. The building opened the following year as the "Eastern Liggett" branch. In 1916, landscape architect O. C. Simonds designed a landscape plan for the school.
An addition to the school, also designed by Kahn, was constructed in 1924, and houses an auditorium and additional classroom space. The addition so closely follows the style of the original building that the difference is nearly imperceptible. After the original Liggett campus on Cass closed, the Liggett School occupied the building until 1964, when the school moved to Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. In 1969, The Liggett School merged with Grosse Pointe University School to form what is now University Liggett School.
The Detroit Waldorf School was founded in 1965 by Rudolf and Amelia Wilhelm, who wanted to provide Detroiters more choices in educating their children. Other private schools in the area at the time were not integrated, and the Wilhelms and their supporters sought to provide a diverse educational experience to children. The school approached the board of the Central United Methodist Church about allocating space to open a nursery school. An impassioned speech by African-American Junius Harris, where he reminded Board members that families of color had far fewer educational choices for their children, convinced the board to allow the Waldorf nursery school to open in their building. The school opened as a nursery school in the Central United Methodist Church in 1965, and was deliberatley integrated from its founding. However, space in the church was limited, and later that year the school acquired the just-vacated Liggett campus. Classes for elementary students began at the present school building in September 1966. The Detroit Waldorf School was one of the first nine Waldorf schools in North America, and a founding member of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA).
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