Washington Waldorf School
Washington Waldorf School is one of more than 1,000 Waldorf schools worldwide. Waldorf schools strive to develop the whole human being in a healthy and nurturing environment. The curriculum is designed to develop students academically, emotionally, and physically. In addition to a strong grounding in core academic skills, WWS students have many opportunities to engage in the arts, music, and drama, as well as textile arts, metalwork, woodwork, and more.
Enter a Waldorf school for a tour and you may be immediately struck by the beauty within the classroom. Waldorf teachers typically do amazing chalkboard drawings, which is something the Washington Waldorf School wanted to visualize on their website. We used an artistic chalk and watercolor design to carry forward the personality of the school. The resulting design is beautiful and user-friendly, creating a welcoming introduction for website visitors.
Objective
Washington Waldorf’s former website was built with a proprietary CMS that they had a hard time updating and customizing. They chose to use WordPress for their new website to keep it affordable and manageable, and to give them more control over their digital space. They had a lot of pages and content on their former site, which we were able to smoothly copy and migrate to the new website and server.
Part of every website process for Design TLC is a careful inventory of existing website content, to ensure nothing is lost in the conversion, and that any content that is not used on the new website is redirected to avoid 404 errors.
With all of this in mind, Design TLC sought to:
- Redesign the outdated website built with a proprietary CMS.
- Move to WordPress to improve affordability, control, and ease of editing.
- Showcase the Waldorf aesthetic, including chalkboard-style artwork.
- Retain and migrate a large volume of existing website content.
- Ensure a fast-loading, mobile-friendly website.
Approach
We worked closely with Washington Waldorf to plan a thoughtful content migration, conducting a full inventory of existing pages to preserve all essential material and avoid broken links through proper redirects. For design, we leaned into the Waldorf ethos by using chalk and watercolor-inspired visuals that reflect the creativity and warmth of the school. We built reusable page templates to ensure consistency and easy expansion, and placed thorough editing documentation in the WordPress backend.
It’s important to us that our school and nonprofit clients can easily update their own website. We create thorough instructions that are housed on the back end of the website for easy reference. When clients ask questions, we update the instructions with written and/or video explanations, ensuring that they can understand and learn how to work with their own website going forward. We create page templates which can be applied to different types of content, making the website consistent in design and functionality.
Outcome
The new Washington Waldorf School website beautifully reflects the heart of the Waldorf philosophy—creativity, depth, and care. It provides a smooth, intuitive experience for visitors while giving the school team full control over content updates. The artistic elements make a strong visual impression, setting the school apart and inviting prospective families to explore further. On the backend, the site is structured, secure, and built for long-term sustainability. The client is thrilled with the outcome, and the new site stands as a vibrant digital representation of their community and mission.
Key features include:
- Stronger visual identity aligned with Waldorf values and aesthetic.
- Easier navigation and clearer messaging for prospective families.
- Faster page load times and A+ performance metrics.
- A joyful, professional website that will serve the school for years to come.
