“This school has given our family so many gifts. It’s made us better parents. It’s made us a better family. It’s made us better human beings.”
Maggie Jones is proud to be the mom of three “men in the making,” as she likes to say — Noah, an 8th grader, Grayson, a 3rd grader, and Everett, who’s in Kindergarten.
She’s always been committed to helping in her boys’ classrooms and supporting their teachers. “The teachers are why we’re here, and they hold a lot,” says Maggie.
Now, after eight years as a committed Waldorf mom, Maggie’s passion for CWS has led her to a new calling — becoming the newest member of the CWS Board of Trustees!
The Board of Trustees is a group of community members and faculty leaders who develop and execute legal and financial strategies, maintain organizational integrity, and support the vision of the College and teaching faculty to ensure the health of our school.
“It’s a new role, so I don’t know yet exactly what I’m getting into,” laughs Maggie. “I’ll be focused on supporting facilities, and I’m excited to see where I can help. I know it’s a big job — especially now that we have the two buildings.”
For Maggie and CWS, it was love at first sight, even though it wasn’t her original plan.
She, her husband Rob, and their older two boys were living in Hyde Park where Noah attended the Hyde Park Community UMC Preschool. A public school kid herself, Maggie had always imagined the family walking up the street to Hyde Park Elementary.
But, another mom kept urging Maggie to check out the Cincinnati Waldorf School. Maggie saw that there was an Open House, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I walked in, and I thought, ‘Oh, now I see.' And I was hooked. It was everything I had been trying to do as a parent — minimal screens and outdoor education. Just more simplistic and intentional. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of home, of belonging.”
Some of Maggie’s very favorite memories of CWS have been in NatureTots — seeing the kids’ faces light up during the fire fairies song, eating bread and honey butter and soup. “It made being a mom so much more beautiful,” says Maggie. “Ms. Kyle holds a special place in my heart.”
When Maggie’s not “momming,” her passions are the family’s rescue dogs, fitness, and gardening/landscaping/yard work: “I love to be outside. I love to run. Love our dogs.”
But being with her family — her “mess of boys” — is what she loves most. Some Jones family favorites include swimming and music by the pool, fish hatchery play days, impromptu dance parties, fire pit nights, and watching their favorite sports teams.
And, all these years later, Maggie couldn’t be happier to be at the Cincinnati Waldorf School embarking on a new labor of love as a CWS Board member:
“This school has given our family a lot of gifts. The world can be so crazy and loud and noisy, and this is a nice place to intentionally watch your kids grow up and learn in a safe and age-appropriate way. It’s helped add beauty and wonder to our lives and hearts. We are better for it, and we are grateful. So, if I can be of help, I’m there.”