Experience with Shining Stars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this as we are a military family who received their orders after the lottery deadline, and are approaching the top of the list for our lower elementary kid. I noticed that in the job postings on the Shining Stars websites, lead teachers aren't required to have a Montessori degree or experience? How integrated are Montessori materials in the classroom? Is it all in or 50/50? We are coming from an NC Montessori charter that isn't yet AMI certified, but wants to get there, so all guides have to have a masters in Montessori teaching

All lead guides are required to be certified. The job postings indicate so. The school requires it to maintain all its accreditation. They are also piloting a Spanish program, started a little slow but is taking great shape. New guides have been hired in the upper levels to address previous issues and most of the facility problems have been address. It’s a great school, with a nice and diverse community.

This is categorically false. Shining stars absolutely hires guides who are not certified and simply requires them to work towards certification. Last year the sole upper elementary guide was not montessori trained and was so awful, close to half the upper elementary families left in the first few months of school. I believe she was ultimately fired. Similarly, the Spanish speaking guide was not certified and the current principal has zero montessori training or experience, beyond whatever course she took over the past summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No upper level class at any public Montessori in DC approaches AMI standards; they have to worry about PAARC prep and other things (including a population of students with no Montessori backgrounds) that make that too big of a hill to climb.

Lee absolutely does. They do zero PARCC prep and focus on faithfully implementing Montessori, hence the fact that they have terrible PARCC scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No upper level class at any public Montessori in DC approaches AMI standards; they have to worry about PAARC prep and other things (including a population of students with no Montessori backgrounds) that make that too big of a hill to climb.

While they may not be certified as such a few could easily meet this https://amiusa.org/school-standards/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No upper level class at any public Montessori in DC approaches AMI standards; they have to worry about PAARC prep and other things (including a population of students with no Montessori backgrounds) that make that too big of a hill to climb.

Lee absolutely does. They do zero PARCC prep and focus on faithfully implementing Montessori, hence the fact that they have terrible PARCC scores.

Ok, but why the big decline in ELA this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this as we are a military family who received their orders after the lottery deadline, and are approaching the top of the list for our lower elementary kid. I noticed that in the job postings on the Shining Stars websites, lead teachers aren't required to have a Montessori degree or experience? How integrated are Montessori materials in the classroom? Is it all in or 50/50? We are coming from an NC Montessori charter that isn't yet AMI certified, but wants to get there, so all guides have to have a masters in Montessori teaching

All lead guides are required to be certified. The job postings indicate so. The school requires it to maintain all its accreditation. They are also piloting a Spanish program, started a little slow but is taking great shape. New guides have been hired in the upper levels to address previous issues and most of the facility problems have been address. It’s a great school, with a nice and diverse community.

This is categorically false. Shining stars absolutely hires guides who are not certified and simply requires them to work towards certification. Last year the sole upper elementary guide was not montessori trained and was so awful, close to half the upper elementary families left in the first few months of school. I believe she was ultimately fired. Similarly, the Spanish speaking guide was not certified and the current principal has zero montessori training or experience, beyond whatever course she took over the past summer.

The new hires are all montessori certified. The assistants are not but have training. The spanish teachers are getting their certification by the end of the year. Both new teachers in the first grade Spanish class are real montessori, trained and certified. The problems of the previous years are being addressed with the great plus of a diverse faculty. Not many schools can say that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No upper level class at any public Montessori in DC approaches AMI standards; they have to worry about PAARC prep and other things (including a population of students with no Montessori backgrounds) that make that too big of a hill to climb.

Lee absolutely does. They do zero PARCC prep and focus on faithfully implementing Montessori, hence the fact that they have terrible PARCC scores.

Lee is failing minority students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this as we are a military family who received their orders after the lottery deadline, and are approaching the top of the list for our lower elementary kid. I noticed that in the job postings on the Shining Stars websites, lead teachers aren't required to have a Montessori degree or experience? How integrated are Montessori materials in the classroom? Is it all in or 50/50? We are coming from an NC Montessori charter that isn't yet AMI certified, but wants to get there, so all guides have to have a masters in Montessori teaching

All lead guides are required to be certified. The job postings indicate so. The school requires it to maintain all its accreditation. They are also piloting a Spanish program, started a little slow but is taking great shape. New guides have been hired in the upper levels to address previous issues and most of the facility problems have been address. It’s a great school, with a nice and diverse community.

This is categorically false. Shining stars absolutely hires guides who are not certified and simply requires them to work towards certification. Last year the sole upper elementary guide was not montessori trained and was so awful, close to half the upper elementary families left in the first few months of school. I believe she was ultimately fired. Similarly, the Spanish speaking guide was not certified and the current principal has zero montessori training or experience, beyond whatever course she took over the past summer.

The new hires are all montessori certified. The assistants are not but have training. The spanish teachers are getting their certification by the end of the year. Both new teachers in the first grade Spanish class are real montessori, trained and certified. The problems of the previous years are being addressed with the great plus of a diverse faculty. Not many schools can say that

We're not in the immersion program, but I have to say I'm quite impressed with the guides they hired for the new Lower El immersion classroom. Great credentials and backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this as we are a military family who received their orders after the lottery deadline, and are approaching the top of the list for our lower elementary kid. I noticed that in the job postings on the Shining Stars websites, lead teachers aren't required to have a Montessori degree or experience? How integrated are Montessori materials in the classroom? Is it all in or 50/50? We are coming from an NC Montessori charter that isn't yet AMI certified, but wants to get there, so all guides have to have a masters in Montessori teaching

All lead guides are required to be certified. The job postings indicate so. The school requires it to maintain all its accreditation. They are also piloting a Spanish program, started a little slow but is taking great shape. New guides have been hired in the upper levels to address previous issues and most of the facility problems have been address. It’s a great school, with a nice and diverse community.

This is categorically false. Shining stars absolutely hires guides who are not certified and simply requires them to work towards certification. Last year the sole upper elementary guide was not montessori trained and was so awful, close to half the upper elementary families left in the first few months of school. I believe she was ultimately fired. Similarly, the Spanish speaking guide was not certified and the current principal has zero montessori training or experience, beyond whatever course she took over the past summer.

The new hires are all montessori certified. The assistants are not but have training. The spanish teachers are getting their certification by the end of the year. Both new teachers in the first grade Spanish class are real montessori, trained and certified. The problems of the previous years are being addressed with the great plus of a diverse faculty. Not many schools can say that

This is such a load of cap. There is a primary class with no teacher at all right now. Even worse, families were NEVER notified that the teacher in that classroom wasn't returning this year and that no replacement teacher had been hired. Parents prepared their children to go back into a classroom with the same teacher, only to learn from their kids that actually their teacher wasn't there anymore. The administration has not shared this critical information on advance, although this teacher left in July. This is just cruel and I really feel for those kids. Stay away!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this as we are a military family who received their orders after the lottery deadline, and are approaching the top of the list for our lower elementary kid. I noticed that in the job postings on the Shining Stars websites, lead teachers aren't required to have a Montessori degree or experience? How integrated are Montessori materials in the classroom? Is it all in or 50/50? We are coming from an NC Montessori charter that isn't yet AMI certified, but wants to get there, so all guides have to have a masters in Montessori teaching

All lead guides are required to be certified. The job postings indicate so. The school requires it to maintain all its accreditation. They are also piloting a Spanish program, started a little slow but is taking great shape. New guides have been hired in the upper levels to address previous issues and most of the facility problems have been address. It’s a great school, with a nice and diverse community.

This is categorically false. Shining stars absolutely hires guides who are not certified and simply requires them to work towards certification. Last year the sole upper elementary guide was not montessori trained and was so awful, close to half the upper elementary families left in the first few months of school. I believe she was ultimately fired. Similarly, the Spanish speaking guide was not certified and the current principal has zero montessori training or experience, beyond whatever course she took over the past summer.

Do you know what the Principal's Montessori experience is?

The new hires are all montessori certified. The assistants are not but have training. The spanish teachers are getting their certification by the end of the year. Both new teachers in the first grade Spanish class are real montessori, trained and certified. The problems of the previous years are being addressed with the great plus of a diverse faculty. Not many schools can say that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No upper level class at any public Montessori in DC approaches AMI standards; they have to worry about PAARC prep and other things (including a population of students with no Montessori backgrounds) that make that too big of a hill to climb.

Lee absolutely does. They do zero PARCC prep and focus on faithfully implementing Montessori, hence the fact that they have terrible PARCC scores.

I don’t think this is true. Check your source.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this as we are a military family who received their orders after the lottery deadline, and are approaching the top of the list for our lower elementary kid. I noticed that in the job postings on the Shining Stars websites, lead teachers aren't required to have a Montessori degree or experience? How integrated are Montessori materials in the classroom? Is it all in or 50/50? We are coming from an NC Montessori charter that isn't yet AMI certified, but wants to get there, so all guides have to have a masters in Montessori teaching

All lead guides are required to be certified. The job postings indicate so. The school requires it to maintain all its accreditation. They are also piloting a Spanish program, started a little slow but is taking great shape. New guides have been hired in the upper levels to address previous issues and most of the facility problems have been address. It’s a great school, with a nice and diverse community.

This is categorically false. Shining stars absolutely hires guides who are not certified and simply requires them to work towards certification. Last year the sole upper elementary guide was not montessori trained and was so awful, close to half the upper elementary families left in the first few months of school. I believe she was ultimately fired. Similarly, the Spanish speaking guide was not certified and the current principal has zero montessori training or experience, beyond whatever course she took over the past summer.

The new hires are all montessori certified. The assistants are not but have training. The spanish teachers are getting their certification by the end of the year. Both new teachers in the first grade Spanish class are real montessori, trained and certified. The problems of the previous years are being addressed with the great plus of a diverse faculty. Not many schools can say that

This is such a load of cap. There is a primary class with no teacher at all right now. Even worse, families were NEVER notified that the teacher in that classroom wasn't returning this year and that no replacement teacher had been hired. Parents prepared their children to go back into a classroom with the same teacher, only to learn from their kids that actually their teacher wasn't there anymore. The administration has not shared this critical information on advance, although this teacher left in July. This is just cruel and I really feel for those kids. Stay away!!!

This is the Shining Stars that I remember. I agree completely. If you have any other options, go somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this as we are a military family who received their orders after the lottery deadline, and are approaching the top of the list for our lower elementary kid. I noticed that in the job postings on the Shining Stars websites, lead teachers aren't required to have a Montessori degree or experience? How integrated are Montessori materials in the classroom? Is it all in or 50/50? We are coming from an NC Montessori charter that isn't yet AMI certified, but wants to get there, so all guides have to have a masters in Montessori teaching

All lead guides are required to be certified. The job postings indicate so. The school requires it to maintain all its accreditation. They are also piloting a Spanish program, started a little slow but is taking great shape. New guides have been hired in the upper levels to address previous issues and most of the facility problems have been address. It’s a great school, with a nice and diverse community.

This is categorically false. Shining stars absolutely hires guides who are not certified and simply requires them to work towards certification. Last year the sole upper elementary guide was not montessori trained and was so awful, close to half the upper elementary families left in the first few months of school. I believe she was ultimately fired. Similarly, the Spanish speaking guide was not certified and the current principal has zero montessori training or experience, beyond whatever course she took over the past summer.

The new hires are all montessori certified. The assistants are not but have training. The spanish teachers are getting their certification by the end of the year. Both new teachers in the first grade Spanish class are real montessori, trained and certified. The problems of the previous years are being addressed with the great plus of a diverse faculty. Not many schools can say that

This is such a load of cap. There is a primary class with no teacher at all right now. Even worse, families were NEVER notified that the teacher in that classroom wasn't returning this year and that no replacement teacher had been hired. Parents prepared their children to go back into a classroom with the same teacher, only to learn from their kids that actually their teacher wasn't there anymore. The administration has not shared this critical information on advance, although this teacher left in July. This is just cruel and I really feel for those kids. Stay away!!!

This is the Shining Stars that I remember. I agree completely. If you have any other options, go somewhere else.

Agree, it's one thing for an administration to be a mess but to care so little about the kids that you'd let them believe they were walking into a class with their familiar teacher, only to blindside them on the first day is pretty awful.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of things I like about that school, but they did the same thing to Upper Elementary at least two years in a row that I know about--and in one case, fired a really good teacher right before school began. Blindsided us very badly. We stayed and I liked the teacher the year after, too, but... I don't think Upper Elementary has ever had the same teacher for more than one year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of things I like about that school, but they did the same thing to Upper Elementary at least two years in a row that I know about--and in one case, fired a really good teacher right before school began. Blindsided us very badly. We stayed and I liked the teacher the year after, too, but... I don't think Upper Elementary has ever had the same teacher for more than one year

They've also never had a principal for two consecutive years. We had at least 3 principals in our 2 years there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumping this as we are a military family who received their orders after the lottery deadline, and are approaching the top of the list for our lower elementary kid. I noticed that in the job postings on the Shining Stars websites, lead teachers aren't required to have a Montessori degree or experience? How integrated are Montessori materials in the classroom? Is it all in or 50/50? We are coming from an NC Montessori charter that isn't yet AMI certified, but wants to get there, so all guides have to have a masters in Montessori teaching

All lead guides are required to be certified. The job postings indicate so. The school requires it to maintain all its accreditation. They are also piloting a Spanish program, started a little slow but is taking great shape. New guides have been hired in the upper levels to address previous issues and most of the facility problems have been address. It’s a great school, with a nice and diverse community.

This is categorically false. Shining stars absolutely hires guides who are not certified and simply requires them to work towards certification. Last year the sole upper elementary guide was not montessori trained and was so awful, close to half the upper elementary families left in the first few months of school. I believe she was ultimately fired. Similarly, the Spanish speaking guide was not certified and the current principal has zero montessori training or experience, beyond whatever course she took over the past summer.

The new hires are all montessori certified. The assistants are not but have training. The spanish teachers are getting their certification by the end of the year. Both new teachers in the first grade Spanish class are real montessori, trained and certified. The problems of the previous years are being addressed with the great plus of a diverse faculty. Not many schools can say that

This is such a load of cap. There is a primary class with no teacher at all right now. Even worse, families were NEVER notified that the teacher in that classroom wasn't returning this year and that no replacement teacher had been hired. Parents prepared their children to go back into a classroom with the same teacher, only to learn from their kids that actually their teacher wasn't there anymore. The administration has not shared this critical information on advance, although this teacher left in July. This is just cruel and I really feel for those kids. Stay away!!!

Which teacher’s class is this? Was it just Ms. L’s? We caught wind from another parent that our child's primary teacher had left, contacted the principal and got a snotty reply, and jumped ship.