Boulder Valley Waldorf School (BVWS) appointed Ruth Godberfforde as the new School Director, effective January 1st, 2026. BVWS identified Godberfforde’s extensive background in the profession of teaching, experiential Waldorf learning, and collaborative leadership, as key qualifications leading to her new appointment.
BVWS is a private school in the Niwot area of Boulder, Colorado, serving students from two-and-a-half years old through eighth grade. BVWS shares that it prepares students for a lifetime of academic success and engagement. Boulder Valley Waldorf School educates children for the whole of life so they may become confident individuals, capable of making free choices, able to realize their full potential, and inspired to make a difference in the world.
The school cultivates a welcoming, inclusive community, which supports the growth and development of students, parents and teachers and recognizes and honors their talents. The education fosters reverence for nature and environmental stewardship by integrating the school’s agricultural land and exceptional natural setting in educational and community programs.
In a letter to the BVWS community, Godberfforde expressed her enthusiasm for her new role. “I am delighted to serve as Boulder Valley Waldorf School’s new School Director… It is my great honor to collaborate with the Board of Trustees, the College of Teachers and all the BVWS community to further enhance the already outstanding BVWS programs that inspire lifelong passion for learning.”
Godberfforde brings over a decade of school leadership experience – in meeting facilitation, teacher coaching, rules and regulations administration, student assessment oversight, institutional marketing and web design and, of course, with student admissions.
Beginning her educational career with a focus on science and nature, a love of learning and the desire to play led Godberfforde to teaching school-aged children. She worked as an elementary teacher at an arts-integrated public school in Colorado where she was integral in the marketing and outreach of this new school within the district. While there, she coordinated the Gifted and Talented programming, bringing games and mixed-age creative projects to the students.
Godberfforde has an adventurous and global upbringing. She was born in Australia and moved to Hong Kong as a child, attending an independent French International school. Her exploration of the natural world led her to study the physics of the upper atmosphere in New Zealand, Alaska and at the South Pole in Antarctica. She has now lived in Boulder longer than any other place. She still enjoys the rain but is fan of the bright Colorado sunshine!
Godberfforde holds an Elementary Teaching Licensure Program from University of Colorado, Boulder, a Master of Science in Geophysics from University of Washington, Seattle, and a Bachelor of Science from Imperial College Science Technology and Medicine, London, UK.