From the Prelude: "The sections of the source book that follow — including an extended set of appendices—are meant both to encourage and to caution those who would start up a Waldorf high school. At the outset we should state clearly what this source book is not:
• it is not a cookbook, since each Waldorf high school must discover its unique mission and profile
• it is not a manifesto for promoting the swift proliferation of Waldorf high schools, since they can all too easily collapse if they are too hastily fashioned
• it is not a compendium of all that the existing Waldorf high schools have to offer in terms of course descriptions and schedules and policies and procedures (though a few samples can be found in the appendices)
• it is not a guide book, suggesting what to do and what to avoid Which purpose, then, is this source book intended to serve?

Briefly stated, our aim is to offer ingredients more than recipes: characterizations of what is and images of what could be among Waldorf high schools of North America, examples rather than prototypes, descriptions rather than prescriptions. In the pages that follow, we offer talks to inform and inspire, essays to foster an appreciation for adolescence and the entire K-12 Waldorf program, questions to provoke new perspectives and revisit old verities, information to route the anxious reader to further sources, materials to help new initiatives get started and more seasoned ventures to deepen their work."

Available in print from Waldorf Publications

Keywords: main lesson; teacher training; teacher education; starting a Waldorf high school