Color, Community, and Celebration: WSP Marks Lunar New Year and Holi

At Waldorf School of the Peninsula, the late winter weeks brought two vibrant celebrations — each distinct in origin and tradition, and each a reminder of why community ritual matters.

Lunar New Year

For Lunar New Year, families from our Chinese community helped fill the school with festive spirit. Red decorations and hand-written 春联 (Spring Festival couplets) adorned the campus, while a group of volunteers gathered early in the morning to transform the spaces with lanterns, artwork, and chalkboard drawings welcoming the new year.

Students across the grades experienced the traditions in hands-on ways. In kindergarten, children decorated drums marked with special symbols, beating them with delight in the tradition of chasing away the Nian monster. In first grade, a parent led a lantern-making craft, brought yummy treats, and tucked a red envelope in for good measure. Another classroom gathered around a table to hear a story about dumplings and then made them, from scratch, together.

Families brought the celebration to life in many ways: through crafts, treats, red envelopes, and the beautiful calligraphy of the 福 (Fu) character for good fortune. We are grateful to our parent volunteers who created an atmosphere of warmth and festivity that was felt throughout the campus!

Holi, The Festival of Colors

On a bright March afternoon, clouds of saffron, magenta, and turquoise rose above the field as middle and high school students dove into WSP's Holi Color Party.

Holi, the Hindu spring festival celebrated across South Asia and beyond, marks the triumph of renewal over stagnation — a day when social boundaries soften, color flies freely, and the arrival of spring is met with unrestrained joy. Students came dressed in white, ready to be transformed. The non-toxic colored powder did the rest.

What stayed with us wasn't just the spectacle (though the photos speak for themselves!). It was what students said about it: reflecting on letting go of old grudges, on forgiveness, on starting fresh. Great intentions to carry into spring!