École Rudolf Steiner de Montréal

DEVELOPMENT FUND

The Fonds de développement de l'École Rudolf Steiner de Montréal was created in 1996 to support the pedagogical project in its growth, stability and development. The essential focus areas of the Fund is to develop: artistic projects, financial aid to create accessibility to the school for lower-income families, teachers’ retirement funds, and the acquisition of a permanent site.

In acknowledging these needs, the parents and friends of the school contribute a specified amount annually in the form of a donation or loan that helps realize these goals.

The Fonds de développement de l'École Rudolf Steiner de Montréal is a non profit, charitable organization.

Taking Root

“Love is not just looking at each other, it’s looking in the same direction.”  Antoine de St-Exupery

The Property

The most ambitious plan accomplished to date is most certainly the acquisition of the site that the school currently occupies.  The building at 4855 Kensington Avenue became the property of the Fonds de développement de l'École Rudolf Steiner de Montréal on September 27, 2007.  Parents, former parents and friends generously offered both time and money allowing the school to find a permanent home.

The school had been renting from different School Boards since its founding in 1978.  Over the years, the School Board reclaimed these buildings for their own needs and the ability to rent other schools on the island of Montreal became more and more difficult.  The situation not only required many moves, but also created instability in our community.

In May 2005, a group was designated to develop an acquisition plan.  The mission of this group was “to provide stability and the possibility of growth for the École Rudolf Steiner de Montréal by finding a permanent home that meets the defined criteria while respecting the financial capacity of the school.”

The group explored many sites in the neighbourhood to find the most suitable option.  Finally in April 2007, after several disappointments, the Institut Fraser-Hickson announced its intention to sell the building that it had occupied since construction in 1958.

The building combined many favourable elements for establishing a Waldorf school.  The financing, evaluation, and inspection took place during the summer and the bid was accepted.  We sent proposals to different banking institutions for financing the project and at the end of August 2007, RSF Social Finance accepted.  At that point, Institut Fraser-Hickson allowed us to rent the space so that we could start the school year in September.

On September 27th, the purchase contract was signed.

We are now entering the second phase of this project: configuring the interior spaces to optimize our teaching and educational practices such as new classes, planning of the daycare space, computer room, laboratory, alarm system, etc.

We are thankful to these organizations that opened their doors to us and helped make our dream become a reality:

L'Institut Fraser-Hickson
RSF social finance (Rudolf Steiner Foundation)

We are also grateful to the donors, lenders and volunteers.  Without your support, this project would not have been possible.  Thank you.

Circle of Support
If you would like to contribute to the development of this wonderful place where the Waldorf teaching practices can flourish in Montreal, please make a donation or a loan to the Fonds de développement de l'École Rudolf Steiner de Montréal.

For more information: (514) 481-5686 or info@ersm.org.

The members of the Conseil d'administration du FDERSM:

Francine LaTerreur - president

Michel Mercier - treasurer

Daniel Bilodeau - member

Pilar Garcia - member

Rosalie McDougall - member