A STEINER/WALDORF COMMUNITY SCHOOL IN DAVAO
Tuburan thrives to make transformative and child-centered education accessible through community solidarity.
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WHY TUBURAN AND WHY NOW
We want our children to grow up honest, kind, capable, and ready to care for the community they live in. Education is about preparing young people for life as a whole, nurturing a lifelong love for learning, and building the steady inner strength to meet the future.The world is also changing fast. AI can answer almost any question in seconds, so if education is reduced to memorizing facts and passing standard tests, it prepares them for a world that no longer exists.
That changes what a school is for. A child needs more than knowledge of facts. A child still needs knowledge, and a child also needs to learn how to think independently, how to live and work with others, and how to care for the world they will inherit. These three capacities grow through practice, beginning in childhood:
To see events clearly and imagine new solutions.
Feeling that is sensitive and resilient.
The will to turn hopes into reality.
True growth comes not from chasing speed, increasing screen time, or relying on standardized tests, but from returning to what makes us fully human.
At Tuburan, teaching and learning are approached as an artistic and individual process. Academics are taught through art,movement, music, and handwork to nurture potential, creativity, imagination, and the capacities needed for interaction,collaboration, and meaningful work and self-development. Our classrooms are filled with relationships that enable collaboration, cooperation, responsibility, and care for each other.
We always have the power to create a healthy environment for children and young people, and that living practice has been taking shape here, in Tuburan Waldorf School, from Early Childhood to Class 12.
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BACKED BY RESEARCH. This whole-human approach—engaging thinking, feeling, and intentional activity—is supported by educational evidence. Longitudinal research by the Value-Added Research Center (VARC) examining mature Waldorf graduates shows that students raised in this integrated environment consistently demonstrate high intrinsic motivation, advanced creative problem-solving, and exceptional long-term academic persistence.
WHY CHOOSE EDUCATION IN TUBURAN
Every aspect of our school is shaped by these guiding pillars, woven together to nurture the whole child — head, heart, and hands.
Contextualized for Mindanao, Tuburan grounds academic depth in real human experience—moving naturally from hands-on work, to artistic feeling, to independent thought. This approach nurtures every student’s innate capacities, allowing them to discover their own gifts and step into the world ready to shape their society.
Tuburan keeps learning accessible to families regardless of their socioeconomic status. Through our contribution scheme, parents pledge what they can give financially according to their capacity, alongside in-kind support and volunteer time. This spirit of mutual contribution ensures that this education remains open to all.
Tuburan is a learning community where students, parents, teachers, and staff care for each other and grow side by side. Together, adults provide a warm, stable vessel for the children and young people—working hand in hand through seasonal festivals, volunteer days, fundraising, and shared community work.
Learning in a screen-free environment surrounded by natural ecosystems fosters deep wonder, respect, and reverence within each child. Direct daily contact with nature builds sustained focus, quiet observation, and a grounded sense of responsibility toward the world.
OUR STORY
True to our name, we started fourteen years ago with no funding, no permanent classrooms, and just a handful of families who believed in a transformative and child-centered approach to education. Today, we are Mindanao's only complete K-12 Steiner/Waldorf school.Our Next Chapter: The Tacunan Permanent Campus
For fourteen years, our homes have been temporary. With our current land agreement ending in 2028, our aspirations and intentions require a permanent home. We have already been gifted with land in Barangay Tacunan, architects and engineers have completed our sustainable campus designs, and initial seed money is secured.
Now, we are inviting individuals, local and global partners, grant-makers, and donors to help us build it from the ground up.
Read about our Permanent Home campaign
Produced by Mindanow, this film takes you inside a real day at Tuburan, our classrooms, our farm, and the people who make it home.
An inside look at Tuburan’s natural, screen-free learning environment, highlighting its socialized tuition model and commitment to holistic community living.
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A feature on Tuburan’s unique classroom experience, showing how head, heart, and hands-on learning come together to nurture self-awareness, creativity, and emotional growth in young learners.
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A deeply personal profile on Tuburan Waldorf School co-initiator Kate Estember, tracing her inspiring journey of personal resolve and dedication to bringing Mindanao’s first Waldorf initiative to life in Davao.
Read article →
For supporters
See how the school is funded and the ways to give.
See how to give
FOR PARENTS
See what children learn and how enrollment works.
See programs and enrollment
Academic, emotional, and practical depth at Tuburan
Our curriculum is designed to honor the natural pace of childhood and adolescence¹, strengthening the core qualities that stay with them for life: critical thinking, curiosity², empathy, independence and purposeful will.
Our curriculum is rooted in the foundational educational insights of Martyn Rawson and Tobias Richter's comprehensive handbook, The Educational Tasks and Content of the Steiner Waldorf Curriculum. This foundation is combined with the lived experience and innovations of our own teachers, mentors, lecturers, and Waldorf consultants who have guided Tuburan for the past fourteen years.
This is not a rigid template; It is an evolving, dynamic curriculum continuously shaped by who our students and teachers are today, and influenced by the ever-changing local and global context around us.
Learning through imitation, rhythm, and structured play. In a comfortable nest filled with natural materials and nourished with healthy, natural foods, children build physical strength, wonder, and trust that the world is a safe and welcoming place to explore.
What children experience
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Awakening the feeling life through art, storytelling, music, and movement. Academics are brought to life visually and creatively, connecting head, heart, and hands.
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Adolescence awakens the capacity for independent thought. Students move from imitation to inquiry — testing ideas against evidence, forming their own judgments, and taking ownership of their learning through rigorous, self-directed work.
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1
Join the orientation
Sign up for our waitlist and we will reach out personally to schedule you for our upcoming orientation sessions.
2
Assessment & Interview
Our finance team meets with you for a confidential, pressure-free conversation to set your tuition pledge based on your willingness and actual household capacity.
3
Mapping Your Support
You sit down with our Resource Mobilization team for a warm, open conversation. Together, we look at the life of the school and match your family's unique time, skills, and capacities with where you can best contribute. Whether through committees, community events, or hands-on support, this is how we build the school together and where you find your natural place in our community.
4
Welcome to Tuburan
With everything settled, we officially welcome your family into the community and prepare your child's space.
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Astin and Shanti started in kindergarten and grew with the school through every stage, becoming our very first Class 12 graduates. Their journey demonstrates what this foundation builds: free thinkers who reason independently, creative problem-solvers who work with their hands, and conscious young adults ready to engage purposefully with society. Completing this path is not an ending but more of a beginning—stepping into life with the self-awareness and practical capability to shape the world around them.
SENIOR PROJECT
SENIOR PROJECT
Download Issue 01 ↗
Katherine Estember
Co-initiator of Tuburan Waldorf School
Help Build Our Permanent Home
Astin and Shanti grew up on temporary ground. Here is the community building their school a permanent home.
Help build our permanent home.
A permanent campus gives Waldorf education in Mindanao a place to grow for generations.
OUR NEXT CHAPTER
Our current campus usufruct ends in 2028.
Tuburan's campus in New Loon is held through a usufruct agreement that gives the school use of the property only until 2028. To keep learning stable and uninterrupted, our permanent home must be ready before that agreement ends.
The future site is already secured through a gift of land, and architects and engineers have committed their expertise. The work before us now is clear: build the campus before 2028.
OUR PERMANENT HOME CAMPAIGN
Help us root Mindanao's only Waldorf school in a home of its own.
For fourteen years, Tuburan has grown through borrowed spaces and steady community care. Now we are building a permanent home with classrooms, gardens, workshops, and gathering spaces shaped around how children learn.
₱1,000,000 raised toward our ₱65,000,000 goal across 3 phases
Campaign milestones
Phase 1 (2026 – Q2 2027)
Land secured & site earthworks completed in Tacunan
Phase 2 (Q3 2027 – Q2 2028)
Sustainable classrooms & student playgrounds built
Phase 3 (Q3 2028 – Q4 2028)
Community hall, offices, and craft workshops finished
What a gift creates
Make a pledge
Prefer to talk first? Email us at tuburaninstitute.rm@gmail.com.
READY TO BUILD
A strong foundation is already in place.
This campaign begins with real commitments already made. We now turn to the global community to help carry the permanent home from plans into classrooms.
01
The land is secured
Land for Tuburan's permanent home has been gifted to the school by a generous anonymous donor.
02
The design team is committed
Architects and engineers have already offered their expertise to help shape a green campus.
03
The school community is ready
Families, teachers, alumni, and friends are contributing practical work, ideas, introductions, and resources.
04
The global community is invited
Sponsors, grant-makers, Waldorf communities, and friends of education can now help bring the campus to life.
THE CIRCLE OF GENEROSITY
Meet the people making our permanent home a reality.
The Circle of Generosity brings together private donors, local partners, and dedicated supporters and friends who help fund our daily school operations and build our permanent home. Some contributed land, others funded building materials, and experts volunteered their time to design the campus. Every contribution keeps the school going and moves construction forward. We invite you to take part of this endeavor.
₱1.2M worth of construction materials
“We wanted to make sure the school had actual supplies ready so construction would not get delayed. Bringing in materials was our way of helping lay the physical foundation.”
Anonymous Donor
Construction materials
Full master planning and green school design
“The Tuburan Waldorf School in Tacunan translates Rudolf Steiner’s concept of Metamorphosis —the dynamic, continual evolution of human consciousness, the soul, and physical nature— into living architectural and landscape forms."
Tricia Peek of AEX Architects Exchange
Services
Irrevocable, renewable long-term land grant
“We wanted to give Tuburan a permanent place to put down roots. Granting the school long-term, free use of this land ensures the children always have a secure, natural space to learn and grow.”
Anonymous Donor
Land
Donors are acknowledged here only with their permission. Anonymous gifts are always welcome.
Help us build our permanent home
Another way to help
Support Our School Operations
Monthly or one-time gifts sustain teachers, classroom materials, student support, and the daily rhythms that help children learn well.
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Give in kind or offer your skills.
Books, tools, materials, professional expertise, and practical help can all strengthen the school.
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HOW TUBURAN IS FUNDED
Tuburan runs on a contribution scheme. Each family gives what they can toward their child's education according to their actual financial capacity, and our community works together to cover the rest, so a child-centered education stays within reach for families of different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Every family pledges what they can give according to their actual capacity, alongside in-kind support and volunteer time.
Community-led fundraisers and our Circle of Generosity cover much of what remains, through gatherings, markets, and the steady giving of families and friends.
We also welcome financial support, in-kind gifts such as art materials, tools, and your skills and time, or an introduction to someone who shares our vision.
KEEP OUR DOORS OPEN
Monthly or one-time gifts that sustain daily school life: teachers, materials, and the rhythm of the school day.
Make a pledge
Every gift is acknowledged personally, and we share how funds are used.
Download Our Fact Sheet ↗
OUR GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
Rudolf Steiner described a healthy institution as threefold: a free cultural life, an equal rights life, and a cooperative economic life, working together without one hierarchy governing all three. Tuburan is organized the same way.
Our pedagogical team teaches with the freedom to meet each child where they are, guided by Steiner/Waldorf pedagogy.24 teachers & staff give life to storytelling, movement, art, and discovery in every classroom.
Our administrative and finance staff hold the school's fairness, from how tuition is set in confidence through our Contribution Scheme, to how decisions affecting our community are made together.
At the heart of this sphere is Resource Mobilization, the effort that turns generosity into daily operations, carried largely by our own parents through the Contribution Scheme, our gatherings & experiences, and hands-on community work.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Registration, governance, and school leadership
How gifts are received, acknowledged, tracked, and shared with supporters
Come meet the people behind the school and see learning in action.
COME SPEND TIME WITH US
NOVEMBER
14 & 15
2026
COMING UP NEXT
Advent Fair
Tuburan's Advent Fair brings families, friends, makers, and neighbors together for two days of seasonal craft, food, music, and community.
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM · Tuburan Waldorf School
DATE AND TIME
NAME OF EVENT
LOCATION
DECEMBER 7, 2026
DUYOG: Concert of Kapunawpunawan sa Agila
A musical celebration designed and performed by our Upper School students as an expression of their courage and artistic maturity.
Tomate Cerise
STARTS JAN 2027
Series of School Orientations
Your first step to enrollment.
Tuburan Waldorf School
MARCH 7, 2027
DAGAN Tuburan
A gentle morning of making, conversation, and shared merienda.
To be announced
Even if you are far from Davao, you can still play an active role in our school community. Whether you share practical skills, supply classroom tools, or sponsor a student, there are many ways to build this future alongside us from wherever you are in the world.
Join our monthly giving circle to bridge the tuition gap and ensure our doors stay open to every family, regardless of financial capacity.
Sponsor a child or a class
Volunteer to teach a class, host a workshop, or lend professional expertise where we need it most.
Volunteer With Us
Share art supplies, handwork fibers, tools, lumber, or gardening gear directly to our classrooms.
View Our Wishlist
Join our community workdays to plant seedlings, build structures, clear trails, and help prepare our new campus.
Volunteer With Us
Tales from the Spring
Weekly stories, natural rhythm, and community life from Davao City's pioneer Waldorf school. Subscribe to follow our permanent home build, classroom moments, and upcoming events.
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READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP?
Start your Journey with Tuburan Waldorf School
VISIT US
📍Tuburan Waldorf School, Purok 8, New Loon, Tugbok District, Davao City
EMAIL US
tuburaninstitute.rm@gmail.com
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i.e. John Doe
Name
i.e. john@mail.com
i.e. 123-456-7890
Phone
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