LIFE AT MADRONE TRAIL
Calendar & Festivals
A year of learning, connection, and celebration. Find school calendars and explore the seasonal traditions that bring our community together.
2026–2027 SCHOOL YEAR
School Year Calendar
Planning ahead? Open the 2026–27 school calendar for a year-at-a-glance reference you can save or print.
DATES & SCHOOL EVENTS
ParentSquare Calendar
Looking for a school event? Visit Madrone Trail’s ParentSquare calendar to check dates and details for your family.
OUR FESTIVALS
Celebrating the rhythm of the year.
Seasonal festivals are an integral part of life at Madrone Trail. They invite children and families to notice the changing natural world, celebrate together, and find meaning in the rhythms of the year.
As the Earth journeys around the sun, the solstices and equinoxes mark the turning seasons. Our festivals draw on these natural rhythms and cultural traditions, exploring themes of courage, kindness, light, and renewal.
AUTUMN · COURAGE
Festival of Courage
Meeting the changing season with inner strength.
During the autumn harvest season, our children celebrate Michaelmas, known in Waldorf tradition as the Festival of Courage. Falling near the autumn equinox, it marks the transition toward the colder, darker months.
The festival invites children to explore courage and the inner warmth they can carry with them as the seasons change.
AUTUMN · KINDNESS
Lantern Walk
Carrying our light into the evening.
Our early grades welcome the shortening autumn days with a Lantern Walk. Children make their own lanterns, symbolically bringing their inner light into the growing darkness.
The tradition recalls the story of St. Martin, who shared his cloak with a person in need. His kindness and generosity inspire a celebration of the warmth and light we can offer one another.
WINTER · LIGHT
Winter Spiral of Light
A quiet journey from darkness into light.
A spiral of evergreen boughs and pine cones, decorated with crystals, shells, and plants, becomes a pathway for reflection. Accompanied by music, each child walks inward with an unlit candle and lights it from the candle at the center.
On the journey outward, each child places their candle along the path. Little by little, the room fills with light—a gentle celebration of change and the promise of spring.
SPRING · RENEWAL
May Faire
Welcoming spring with music, movement, and joy.
Rooted in longstanding May Day traditions, May Faire bids farewell to winter and welcomes the renewal of spring. Maypole dances passed down through generations celebrate the life and energy of the new season.
Our community comes together for maypole dancing, music, activities, and food in a welcoming country-fair atmosphere.
Make room for connection.
Check ParentSquare for festival dates and school events as you plan your family’s year.
