Threefold Educational Center history

In 1948, Sabina Nordoff and Stephanie Jones started a kindergarten that in time grew into Green Meadow Waldorf School.

In 1949, the 200-seat Threefold Auditorium was dedicated, giving a permanent indoor home to the summer conferences and many other artistic and educational events.

The opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge in 1955 heralded Rockland County’s transformation from agricultural haven to bedroom community.

Paul and Ann Scharff arrived at Threefold in 1959 and soon began work to establish an intentional community centered around the care of the elderly – the Fellowship Community.

The 1965 charter of the Threefold Educational Foundation created a secure but flexible foundation upon which all our affiliated institutions – present and future – can evolve in freedom.

For that purpose, in 1966 the State of New York awarded a charter to the Rudolf Steiner Fellowship Foundation.

Summer conferences continued through the 1970s, including “Self Development and Social Responsibility,” a remarkable international youth conference that drew some 600 participants from throughout the United States and Europe in August 1970.

Green Meadow passed a major milestone when it held its first twelfth-grade graduation in 1973.

From its dedication until 1974, the auditorium also housed the research laboratory of Ehrenfried Pfeiffer.

After some growing pains, Dorothea Mier arrived from Dornach, Switzerland in 1980 to lead the re-founding of the eurythmy school.

The Eurythmy Spring Valley Ensemble embarked on its first performance tour in 1986.

In 1996, Renate Hiller and Michael Howard co-founded the Applied Arts program of Sunbridge College.

The Co-op’s building was renovated and expanded in 2004, Threefold extended its mandate for conscious land care by installing a 3,000-square-foot rain garden and starting an ongoing program of ecological landscaping.

After Michael moved away from the Threefold community, Renate led the development of the Fiber Craft Studio, which in 2008 became an independent institution operating under the Threefold Educational Foundation umbrella.

Responding to changing needs, in 2010 Sunbridge College re-imagined itself as Sunbridge Institute, focused on low-residency programs for aspiring and practicing Waldorf teachers, including a Master’s program offered in partnership with Empire State College.

That work reached a culmination in August 2014, when the community organized a nine-day festival and conference to celebrate the mystery dramas.

April 2018 brought the retirement of the Foundation’s Executive Director, Rafael (Ray) Manaças.