Anyone familiar with Silver Oaks Cooperative School?

[Anonymous]

I had two kids enrolled at SOCS, one in kindergarten and the other in 2nd grade, I was also on the Board and taught very part-time at the school. The kindergarten class was a problem and seemed to have issue upon issue. The kids in kindergarten were not taught proper letter forming for handwriting but expected to write multiple sentence journal entries independently; my kid fell into some very bad handwriting habits that we had to work on unlearning. The school uses the debunked balanced literacy curriculum, this method left my kid way behind in reading. Despite not being able to read, my kid, along with other kids on his reading level, was expected to do independent reading and research projects in small groups. Although the school touts small classes with individualized learning, we didn't see much individualized learning in the kindergarten class of 12 kids; all kids regardless of reading level got the same age/ability inappropriate assignments. These assignments baffled me and frustrated my kid.
There were also issues outside of the classroom with the kindergarteners; although the school has a great outdoor policy and does send the kids out in all weather, they didn't safeguard the kids' physical privacy while the kids undressed and dressed after outdoor play, which was a big problem.
The Director wasn't much help when I approached her with concerns about the class, at one point yelling at me and telling me that she simply didn't believe me that there was a problem. We ended up pulling my son from the kindergarten class mid-year after I started feeling like there were too many things wrong with the class to fix and nobody to turn to about fixing them.
My 2nd grader had a much different experience, he had great teachers and a good learning and social experience. It was hard to have two such different experiences at the same school. The founders (the Director and President) were not able to run a consistent school and were not readily able or willing to recognize problems in the classroom. I don't think the founders are as organized, knowledgeable, or competent as they make themselves out to be and seem to make questionable decision after questionable decision.
I really wanted to like this school, especially since my 2nd grader had a good experience overall, it has the right ideas and is affordable but it doesn't delivery its promises with any kind of consistency and in the end I lost confidence in the school and its founders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello,
My son went for about 5 months. It was a disaster. He barely learned anything. We transferred to our local public school and by the end of the year was thankfully on target with his peers. That is thanks to our and his hard work. I know a few parents with similar stories. They claimed we were bad parents, he was a special needs child in need of therapy. Multiple doctors and real teachers disagree. The worst part is how they made me and my family feel. It took me over a year to really accept that this wasn't our fault. Now many of the founding families are coming to the same conclusion. I hope they shut down as they are not qualified to be teachers.
I AM JILL! I am not Anonymous!

New poster here. I know Jill and what she says is accurate. Her experience also wasn't unique. Other children who had behavioral or academic challenges in that environment were ...forcefully... referred to therapy or medical assessment by the lead teacher, some even as a condition of continued enrollment. Parents talk to each other (even when the school tells us we shouldn't). I know of at least 8 cases. They were wrong about my kid as well.

Also, Jill is outing herself enthusiastically at the bottom because Silver Oaks had a yelp review she left of them taken down based on her using an account that wasn't attached to her name. This was discussed at a board meeting. Being censored tends to make people more angry... it was a poor move on the leadership's part. Better to own up to failings and try to improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello,
My son went for about 5 months. It was a disaster. He barely learned anything. We transferred to our local public school and by the end of the year was thankfully on target with his peers. That is thanks to our and his hard work. I know a few parents with similar stories. They claimed we were bad parents, he was a special needs child in need of therapy. Multiple doctors and real teachers disagree. The worst part is how they made me and my family feel. It took me over a year to really accept that this wasn't our fault. Now many of the founding families are coming to the same conclusion. I hope they shut down as they are not qualified to be teachers.
I AM JILL! I am not Anonymous!

New poster here. I know Jill and what she says is accurate. Her experience also wasn't unique. Other children who had behavioral or academic challenges in that environment were ...forcefully... referred to therapy or medical assessment by the lead teacher, some even as a condition of continued enrollment. Parents talk to each other (even when the school tells us we shouldn't). I know of at least 8 cases. They were wrong about my kid as well.

Also, Jill is outing herself enthusiastically at the bottom because Silver Oaks had a yelp review she left of them taken down based on her using an account that wasn't attached to her name. This was discussed at a board meeting. Being censored tends to make people more angry... it was a poor move on the leadership's part. Better to own up to failings and try to improve.

If kids are having behavioral or academic issues it makes sense to have them evaluated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello,
My son went for about 5 months. It was a disaster. He barely learned anything. We transferred to our local public school and by the end of the year was thankfully on target with his peers. That is thanks to our and his hard work. I know a few parents with similar stories. They claimed we were bad parents, he was a special needs child in need of therapy. Multiple doctors and real teachers disagree. The worst part is how they made me and my family feel. It took me over a year to really accept that this wasn't our fault. Now many of the founding families are coming to the same conclusion. I hope they shut down as they are not qualified to be teachers.
I AM JILL! I am not Anonymous!

New poster here. I know Jill and what she says is accurate. Her experience also wasn't unique. Other children who had behavioral or academic challenges in that environment were ...forcefully... referred to therapy or medical assessment by the lead teacher, some even as a condition of continued enrollment. Parents talk to each other (even when the school tells us we shouldn't). I know of at least 8 cases. They were wrong about my kid as well.

Also, Jill is outing herself enthusiastically at the bottom because Silver Oaks had a yelp review she left of them taken down based on her using an account that wasn't attached to her name. This was discussed at a board meeting. Being censored tends to make people more angry... it was a poor move on the leadership's part. Better to own up to failings and try to improve.

If kids are having behavioral or academic issues it makes sense to have them evaluated.

I would tend to agree, except I was also given a laundry list of things my kid should see a doctor about including the perfectly normal way his new teeth were erupting. This was fine, it was easy to blow off as an over concerned teacher or just an uninformed one, but I was also told my kid's hands shake all the time, an issue we never witnessed at home. This was very concerning but what was more concerning was that the teacher only mentioned this in a quarterly report card and during the parent teacher conference, not before, despite the fact that she saw me daily and we were inclined to chat on days I was in the classroom as part of my co-oping duties. At the parent-teacher conference the teacher said I should see a pediatrician and report back to her, but after I asked the director about the issue and she said it was nothing to worry about since it was probably small motor muscle fatigue. My issue isn't really that the teacher reported that she saw my kid's hands shake, I appreciate that she was looking out for my kid, my concern was that she saw what she considered an urgent medical issue and waited for a quarterly report to tell me about it. At the same conference the teacher also hinted that my son might have a learning disability because he was behind in reading, not really considering that their balanced literacy program might be part of the problem (his reading is much improved using a pure phonics based curriculum). Again, I didn't mind being informed but it started to seem like any kid that was an outlier from the norm the school established was quickly pathologized at a school that purports to embrace individualized learning for kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello,
My son went for about 5 months. It was a disaster. He barely learned anything. We transferred to our local public school and by the end of the year was thankfully on target with his peers. That is thanks to our and his hard work. I know a few parents with similar stories. They claimed we were bad parents, he was a special needs child in need of therapy. Multiple doctors and real teachers disagree. The worst part is how they made me and my family feel. It took me over a year to really accept that this wasn't our fault. Now many of the founding families are coming to the same conclusion. I hope they shut down as they are not qualified to be teachers.
I AM JILL! I am not Anonymous!

New poster here. I know Jill and what she says is accurate. Her experience also wasn't unique. Other children who had behavioral or academic challenges in that environment were ...forcefully... referred to therapy or medical assessment by the lead teacher, some even as a condition of continued enrollment. Parents talk to each other (even when the school tells us we shouldn't). I know of at least 8 cases. They were wrong about my kid as well.

Also, Jill is outing herself enthusiastically at the bottom because Silver Oaks had a yelp review she left of them taken down based on her using an account that wasn't attached to her name. This was discussed at a board meeting. Being censored tends to make people more angry... it was a poor move on the leadership's part. Better to own up to failings and try to improve.

Wow. Sounds like every micro-school I've ever heard of, especially the other one mentioned on page 1 of this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If kids are having behavioral or academic issues it makes sense to have them evaluated.

Sure - particularly if a kid is struggling in multiple settings. However, when a kid is only struggling in one particular setting and when it is not just that kid, but half the class, it makes one wonder. It's both, and.

There is also an issue of how such a message is delivered. Had a teacher said, "oh, I wonder if this might be an issue with your child, have you considered an evaluation?" that's a very reasonable message. And if the parent said, "oh, huh. That's interesting, I've never seen that behavior before, I wonder if they are struggling with something about the school day," it would also be reasonable for a teacher to reflect on that and what structural changes might support the child and then go from there.

These are not the sort of conversations that parents were having with the lead teacher. The conversations went more like, "You must take Jimmy to the pediatrician." Parent, "Whoa... what's going on... I had no idea there were any issues. We didn't notice anything at home and Jimmy did great at preschool." Teacher: "I can see that you are also concerned about Jimmy's behavior, I'm so glad that you plan to take him to the pediatrician and then report back to me." Parent: "No, I'm saying that I've never seen that behavior before. Could there be something happening in school that Jimmy is struggling with?" "Oh, well, its nothing that is happening at school. This is your child's problem. Your child is acting very unusually. All the other kids are fine, just Jimmy is struggling. All the teachers agree on this. We all think there is a problem that must be urgently addressed by your pediatrician. I really must insist. Parents are often in denial, but I am a professional."

What's funny, is that other parents reported having similar conversations. Almost all of us coop in the classrooms too and see a fair range of behavior. It is simply not true to say that one kid only is struggling. The quieter kids seems to do okay, and the livelier (or bored) kids don't. I'd say it was somewhere between 1/3 to a 1/2 of the class. So, if the school is really designed for quiet kids who prefer to learn by listening or independently, that's absolutely fine, but perhaps that should be in the promotional material or part of the admissions screening and perhaps parents should be informed that if they have a livelier child, that child might be considered a problem.

It is really important to this discussion to note that the founders are really into the Aha Parenting approach and the school operates with an absence of traditional discipline or reward structures. This was a selling point to many of the parents who joined, including myself. I don't know if it is the theory or the implementation of this approach, but it seems like many of the young kids struggle to get the memo on what behaviors are acceptable. Or maybe they get the memo but aren't motivated to follow it. (and even if they say there is no memo... clearly there is.) If the non-coercive behavior program isn't working, does that necessarily indicate that a child has a intrinsic problem requiring medication or therapy? Maybe the method isn't working? Maybe the implementation is off? Or maybe it only works for half the kids? Whatever it is, this is something that the school should be curious about. I'm certainly curious about it.

What doesn't make sense is to say that the method is perfect and that all kids are allowed freedom to grow and develop at their own pace, and then be telling the parents of 1/3 to 1/2 of your students that their children have problems and referring them out to medical assessment/intervention.

[Anonymous]

My son attends this school, it's an ok school. It definitely has its issues but my son loves the outdoor time and likes his teacher. Honestly, you kind of get what you pay for with this school. It's great that it's affordable and that it's not public school, but it's not a great school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son attends this school, it's an ok school. It definitely has its issues but my son loves the outdoor time and likes his teacher. Honestly, you kind of get what you pay for with this school. It's great that it's affordable and that it's not public school, but it's not a great school.

I agree with this, my two kids were relatively happy at the school, my oldest liked his class and teachers and was happy, while my kindergartener was frustrated and unhappy academically but enjoyed his friends a lot and got to spend a lot of time with them. But the fact is that academically this school is quite weak. They couldn't teach my kindergartener to read (I taught him in 2 months after pulling him mid-year) and they couldn't teach my older son proper handwriting and letter formation (which I was able to do over winter break) or how to write a complete sentence. Neither of my kids has any kind of learning disability, the school just doesn't really know what it's doing. It's a "feel good" school your kids will enjoy but if you care about academics don't bother at SOCS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son attends this school, it's an ok school. It definitely has its issues but my son loves the outdoor time and likes his teacher. Honestly, you kind of get what you pay for with this school. It's great that it's affordable and that it's not public school, but it's not a great school.

I agree with this, my two kids were relatively happy at the school, my oldest liked his class and teachers and was happy, while my kindergartener was frustrated and unhappy academically but enjoyed his friends a lot and got to spend a lot of time with them. But the fact is that academically this school is quite weak. They couldn't teach my kindergartener to read (I taught him in 2 months after pulling him mid-year) and they couldn't teach my older son proper handwriting and letter formation (which I was able to do over winter break) or how to write a complete sentence. Neither of my kids has any kind of learning disability, the school just doesn't really know what it's doing. It's a "feel good" school your kids will enjoy but if you care about academics don't bother at SOCS.

That's disappointing to hear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son attends this school, it's an ok school. It definitely has its issues but my son loves the outdoor time and likes his teacher. Honestly, you kind of get what you pay for with this school. It's great that it's affordable and that it's not public school, but it's not a great school.

I agree with this, my two kids were relatively happy at the school, my oldest liked his class and teachers and was happy, while my kindergartener was frustrated and unhappy academically but enjoyed his friends a lot and got to spend a lot of time with them. But the fact is that academically this school is quite weak. They couldn't teach my kindergartener to read (I taught him in 2 months after pulling him mid-year) and they couldn't teach my older son proper handwriting and letter formation (which I was able to do over winter break) or how to write a complete sentence. Neither of my kids has any kind of learning disability, the school just doesn't really know what it's doing. It's a "feel good" school your kids will enjoy but if you care about academics don't bother at SOCS.

We have a kid at SOCS, and I would agree with all of the above. They’re trying and the kids are happy, but it’s just not great academically.

[Anonymous]

Anyone with recent feedback on this school?

[Anonymous]

I heard about this thread from another parent and came to take a look. I didn't know about it before we joined the school. My kids started last year and it's been really amazing. They are learning so much, love going to school, and I've had great interactions with the staff. After reading these comments, I suspect as a new school in the first couple of there were a lot of kinks to work out at Silver Oak Cooperative, and a couple of people were really unhappy! We think it's quite amazing though!

[Anonymous]

Is Silver Oaks a school? I cant find where it is accredited, and it is not listed on Maryland's Non Public Schools. Is it not a school? I am confused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is Silver Oaks a school? I cant find where it is accredited, and it is not listed on Maryland's Non Public Schools. Is it not a school? I am confused.

It’s a school, but I think it’s only a few years old and it may well not be accredited. Schools don’t have to be. https://www.silveroakscooperative.org

[Anonymous]

Silver Oaks is not accredited, and at the time we were there only some of the teachers had degrees in education and few were licensed teachers with the state of Maryland. There is an extremely high rate of turnover in the teaching staff, so the latter may have changed.