New Elementary School Opening near the National Cathedral

[Anonymous]

Pillocks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So they are targeting the homeschooling movement? I know in NY home schooling coops are common. Maybe DC is next.

Hmmm, I know that people make way more than $20K a year, but to pay $20K for someone else to "homeschool" your child seems a bit odd.

[Anonymous]

Their guru, Clark Aldrich, who wrote Unschooling Rules and is the book that the entire Acton philosophy is based on, sent his kid to boarding school. His wife writes this insufferable blog called "The Daily Prep" about the New England WASP lifestyle.

http://www.muffyaldrich.com/

This is their Jesus. Good god.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So they are targeting the homeschooling movement? I know in NY home schooling coops are common. Maybe DC is next.

Hmmm, I know that people make way more than $20K a year, but to pay $20K for someone else to "homeschool" your child seems a bit odd.

I'm not even sure it's homeschooling-- it's more like unschooling. Now I have to say that sometimes that is attractive, but I wouldn't pay 20k to someone else to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Their guru, Clark Aldrich, who wrote Unschooling Rules and is the book that the entire Acton philosophy is based on, sent his kid to boarding school. His wife writes this insufferable blog called "The Daily Prep" about the New England WASP lifestyle.

http://www.muffyaldrich.com/

This is their Jesus. Good god.

OMG. This site is hilarious...

"This question came in overnight:

"Help! I dropped a piece of corn (small grease stain) on my Bedale jacket. What should I do to clean it? How much time do I have before it sets? Thanks!"

There are two schools of thought here.

The first is to actually answer the question. To start the conversation, waxed cotton can be washed with cold water, but never soap. This job is easier if the garment has been waxed in the last year or so.

The second is to go off on a tangent. Barbours are built to age well through hard use. As with all quality goods, they arrive as blank slates. Even the typical advice for classic clothes (rips are okay, stains are not) is softened, as every waxing blends in various flotsam, and adds patina and texture. There is even some evidence that in different locations, waxed jackets develop different colors over time. This is one reason so many would rather have their Barbours repaired then replaced. Having to get a new one is akin to replacing a passport after years of great travel.

With this second approach, the answer would be, keep adding more stains, and they will eventually all run together."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Their guru, Clark Aldrich, who wrote Unschooling Rules and is the book that the entire Acton philosophy is based on, sent his kid to boarding school. His wife writes this insufferable blog called "The Daily Prep" about the New England WASP lifestyle.

http://www.muffyaldrich.com/

This is their Jesus. Good god.

Never in a million yrs... And we are a family who have a similar background to these twits.

[Anonymous]

"Acton Academy of Washington, DC will start with grades 1-3, and grow with its students, adding grade levels each year and eventually opening middle and high schools."

So, they don't currently have Kindergarten? Are they planning on having Kindergarten? Seems odd. I'd think they'd want to get kids into their school and used to their way of doing things as early as possible. Hmm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, at least the founders have really extensive backgrounds in education. That bodes well … wait ...

Because public school teachers do such a fabulous job in the UnitedStates?

You don't have to have taught in public school to have a background in education ...

But how many public school teachers do NOT have a "background in education?" The DCPS can be exhibit 1 as evidence for a school with teachers who have a all background in education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, at least the founders have really extensive backgrounds in education. That bodes well … wait ...

Because public school teachers do such a fabulous job in the UnitedStates?

You don't have to have taught in public school to have a background in education ...

But how many public school teachers do NOT have a "background in education?" The DCPS can be exhibit 1 as evidence for a school with teachers who have a all background in education.

So can FCPS, MCPS, and every other public school system in the US. What is your point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Acton Academy of Washington, DC will start with grades 1-3, and grow with its students, adding grade levels each year and eventually opening middle and high schools."

So, they don't currently have Kindergarten? Are they planning on having Kindergarten? Seems odd. I'd think they'd want to get kids into their school and used to their way of doing things as early as possible. Hmm.

Maybe kindergarten is too young for the school to be able to separate the heroes from the non-heroes, or maybe kindergarteners are too young to embark on their heroes' journeys.

[Anonymous]

Kindergarten may have stricter staffing ratios and be less profitable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you read the admissions process? You need a portfolio with writing sample, recent math work, projects and a resume showing extracurricular activities. For a first grader.

These people are clueless.

Um, I think you are clueless.

Most of the parents trying to get their snowflakes into private Pre-K are likely to have these available. I had to submit extracurricular for my child for a PreK slot.

[Anonymous]

They require all students to be fluent readers before they arrive (probably part of the we don't teach they just learn thing) so that may be why they don't have K.

I won't delve into why all kids aren't, nor should, be fluent readers by the end of K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you read the admissions process? You need a portfolio with writing sample, recent math work, projects and a resume showing extracurricular activities. For a first grader.

These people are clueless.

Um, I think you are clueless.

Most of the parents trying to get their snowflakes into private Pre-K are likely to have these available. I had to submit extracurricular for my child for a PreK slot.

If you have all these things for a pre-K student, you're doing it wrong.

[Anonymous]

Even as an education traditionalist, I am happy to see someone "stirring the pot". There are many elements of the traditional independent school model that are not sustainable and in need of challenge, including the orthodoxies of excessive homework and low student-teacher ratios (unleveraged by technology or other means). Economic realities will eventually threaten their model - in fact they have in cities less well populated by upper middle class families relative to installed base; see Philadelphia. Their concept might seem radical, but perhaps no less radical than Quaker education did in the early years. Philosophically, their school isn't my cup of tea, or that of many others on this forum, but I for one will avoid denigrating their program until I know more.