Teachers
Katharine Woods, Head of School and Waldorf Teacher
Katharine Woods is a native of New York City, twelve-year resident of The Wood River Valley, and mother of a fifteen year old daughter. She graduated from The Rudolf Steiner College in San Francisco, California in 2000 with a credential to teach Waldorf kindergarten - Eighth grade. Katharine then taught at both The San Francisco and Santa Cruz Waldorf Schools in California for five years. She also started the non-profit organization called The Friends of the Earth Festival Company which offered art and theater after-school programs and produced seasonal festivals devoted to celebrating the gifts of the Earth. She is a certified permaculturist and the vision of opening a Waldorf school in this community has been deeply held for many years. Katharine's family is widely involved in educational projects around the world and is generously making the opening of this unique school possible for the youth of the Wood River Valley.
Mende Ward, Grades Teacher and Waldorf Teacher
Mende grew up in Pennsylvania in a rural setting. Her family gardened organically and was involved with their community through animal husbandry, fiber arts projects, 4-H, and various community service programs. She remained active in these ventures until she graduated from high school.
Mende elected to study World Religions and Spiritual Thought at a Seminary in the south; earning a Bachelors of Divinity before moving into the field of education. Her interest in education was stimulated by her experiences with the AmeriCorps/Emerald Avenue Literacy Project in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Mende then moved to California to attend the RudolfSteinerCollege in Fair Oaks, California. She began in the Goethean Studies Program, and then completed the Foundation Year Training and Summer Teacher Training Program. While pursuing her studies at SteinerCollege, she was hired by the SacramentoWaldorfSchool to work in the kindergarten and after school care programs.
In 2001, Mende was hired as class teacher at the SacramentoWaldorfSchool and served the Fair Oaks community for a number of years. During this time Mende cultivated many new interests: she married a wonderful man (Chris) in the National Parks of Ireland, became an avid knitter, a travel enthusiast, and began to explore folk singing/music. She is still attempting to master the banjo.
After her time in California, she then moved to the mountains of Colorado and began working with families in the community who were homeschooling or seeking a private tutor. Mende began assisting students who were not succeeding within the local public schools. While working with home schooling groups, Mende decided to pursue graduate work. This summer she completes a Masters of Divinity in Modern Spiritual Thought.
Her practical and ideological background led Mende to begin seeking a school that blended a Waldorf approach with a true concern for student success, and a spirit of exploration. Her search led her to her current position at The Mountain School.
John Delorenzo, Primitive Wilderness, Animal Husbandry and Woodworking Teacher
John Delorenzo has been an essential member of The Mountain School team since the spring of 2006. He has been indispensable in overseeing the building of the school’s farm, play yard and classroom. John has been involved in animal husbandry and mountain man living all his life. He has raised six sons and one daughter and lived in the Philippines for five years and in Japan for eleven years building schools and teaching children both woodworking and animal husbandry. He has lived in Bellevue, Idaho for the last 12 years and is an avid bow hunter and mountain man. Before taking his position with The Mountain School John worked as a master finish carpenter and cowboy in the Wood River Valley. John was raised during his early years on a homestead in Arizona and then moved to Newport Beach California during his adolescence. He is currently 54 years of age and has three sons living in the valley.
Patti Lousen, Administrator
Patti Lousen is a wife and mother of two teenage girls. She has her B.S in Zoology and a teaching credential in the State of Idaho. She has lived and worked in The Wood River Valley since 1983. Patti taught junior high students for 7 years winning regional, state and internationally recognized awards for her hands on personally developed curriculum which was unwittingly Waldorf based. This affiliation led her family to Maui so her two daughters could attend the Haleakala Waldorf School.
She has a plethora of community service which included being on a large number of boards: The Galena Nordic Ski Patrol//Blaine County Search and Rescue, the Sawtooth Science Institute, The Sawtooth Management Advisory Task Force and The Natural Resources Conservation District.. Patti started the Wood River Watershed Advisory Group, which is still thriving today, and has been a Girl Scout Leader for four years and coached Volleyball for eight years. She loves being an active and present mother and wife, serving her greater community, enjoying the pristine outdoors above all.