Feynman school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prospective families should be aware that not everyone is happy with Feynman. I agree with most of what has been written thus far, but that's only part of the picture. It is not accredited. Fledgling parent organizations are shut down. Dissenting opinions are pushed aside if they make the owners uncomfortable. There has been a lot of student and staff turnover. Parents are treated with glowing favoritism or coldness, depending on how the Golds feel about them. It might still be the best school for your child. It might even be life-altering for your child. But before committing, you should locate and talk to a family who has left Feynman and is willing to speak frankly to get a more complete picture of what goes on behind the scenes. There are a number of former Feynman families who are quite angry and resentful.

Okay, excellent feedback. How would I get in touch with parents who left Feynman?

You would have to talk to people who know the school and are willing to be honest. But it's hard to find that while being watched at events. The school does a lot to keep these people far away. You might be able to get a look at the class yearbook - look at the names of families that left and reach out to them.

[Anonymous]

So how do we learn more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prospective families should be aware that not everyone is happy with Feynman. I agree with most of what has been written thus far, but that's only part of the picture. It is not accredited. Fledgling parent organizations are shut down. Dissenting opinions are pushed aside if they make the owners uncomfortable. There has been a lot of student and staff turnover. Parents are treated with glowing favoritism or coldness, depending on how the Golds feel about them. It might still be the best school for your child. It might even be life-altering for your child. But before committing, you should locate and talk to a family who has left Feynman and is willing to speak frankly to get a more complete picture of what goes on behind the scenes. There are a number of former Feynman families who are quite angry and resentful.

Sounds very Trumpian.

Trumpian indeed. They are not bad people, but the school is getting too big for one couple to control everything. Many families are not aware of the school's instability. If the school is to succeed, look for change in these areas:

Is there a parent on the Board of Directors who is chosen by the parents? One who is cherry-picked by the administration doesn't show true parent representation.

Is there a parent committee or organization that operates independent of the administration? One that is appointed by the administration or controlled by the administration doesn't show true parent representation.

If families have concerns, are they simply directed to Ms. Gold or one of her surrogates? Are parents discouraged from sharing concerns with each other and trying to find solutions together?

Are families kept abreast of important news regarding the school's status? Accreditation progress? Where the school will be next year? Or is information not shared until the last minute?

These are hard changes for the Golds to make. This school is their life. But it's not fair to the families who invest all of their hopes in the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prospective families should be aware that not everyone is happy with Feynman. I agree with most of what has been written thus far, but that's only part of the picture. It is not accredited. Fledgling parent organizations are shut down. Dissenting opinions are pushed aside if they make the owners uncomfortable. There has been a lot of student and staff turnover. Parents are treated with glowing favoritism or coldness, depending on how the Golds feel about them. It might still be the best school for your child. It might even be life-altering for your child. But before committing, you should locate and talk to a family who has left Feynman and is willing to speak frankly to get a more complete picture of what goes on behind the scenes. There are a number of former Feynman families who are quite angry and resentful.

Okay, excellent feedback. How would I get in touch with parents who left Feynman?

You would have to talk to people who know the school and are willing to be honest. But it's hard to find that while being watched at events. The school does a lot to keep these people far away. You might be able to get a look at the class yearbook - look at the names of families that left and reach out to them.

Agreed. And many families are unwilling to jeopardize their financial aid. Even if you ask on online GT forums, I think the school keeps an eye on them so people don't want to say anything negative in a public space like that.

[Anonymous]

What gifted talented forums would you recommend visiting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prospective families should be aware that not everyone is happy with Feynman. I agree with most of what has been written thus far, but that's only part of the picture. It is not accredited. Fledgling parent organizations are shut down. Dissenting opinions are pushed aside if they make the owners uncomfortable. There has been a lot of student and staff turnover. Parents are treated with glowing favoritism or coldness, depending on how the Golds feel about them. It might still be the best school for your child. It might even be life-altering for your child. But before committing, you should locate and talk to a family who has left Feynman and is willing to speak frankly to get a more complete picture of what goes on behind the scenes. There are a number of former Feynman families who are quite angry and resentful.

Sounds very Trumpian.

Trumpian indeed. They are not bad people, but the school is getting too big for one couple to control everything. Many families are not aware of the school's instability. If the school is to succeed, look for change in these areas:

Is there a parent on the Board of Directors who is chosen by the parents? One who is cherry-picked by the administration doesn't show true parent representation.

Is there a parent committee or organization that operates independent of the administration? One that is appointed by the administration or controlled by the administration doesn't show true parent representation.

If families have concerns, are they simply directed to Ms. Gold or one of her surrogates? Are parents discouraged from sharing concerns with each other and trying to find solutions together?

Are families kept abreast of important news regarding the school's status? Accreditation progress? Where the school will be next year? Or is information not shared until the last minute?

These are hard changes for the Golds to make. This school is their life. But it's not fair to the families who invest all of their hopes in the school.

Great set of probing questions, thank you. as a prospective parent, can I ask for a yearbook

[Anonymous]

I would like to know too- are there discussion forums for gifted talented kids?

[Anonymous]

For the people looking for a family that has left Feynman I would be happy to put you in touch with one. My children are still at Feynman School, but I know several who left for various reasons who would be willing to chat. Simply shoot me an email and I'll connect you. [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

As a former Feynman teacher I would advise you to look elsewhere for an education in the Washington D.C. area. Feynman is creating a large amount of learning gaps in their students, consistently hires teachers without proper training, education, or experience, reprimands teachers who are using methods they have learned in higher education programs, and solely cares about money. This school is NOT the school for you if you want your child to be educated properly, and NOT the school for you if you want to actually teach using proper methods and pedagogues.

The Head of School is afraid of losing customers, therefore upon parent complains she tells teachers they must change what they are doing even if the teacher is collecting positive data from their lessons (which is rare because the lessons are not data driven because many of the teachers have no past teaching experience or licenses.) The Head of School sends students, parents, other teachers, and substitutes to spy on her teachers after receiving a parent complaint (whether the complaint is true or false) rather than observing the classroom herself. The Head of School wants the lessons to be based in "play" rather than content, and more than half the time the lessons are fluff and there is no actual written learning objective (upon entering employment at the school after previously teaching elsewhere I found that many of the staff members had no experience even writing a proper lesson plan, let alone a learning objective or SLO). The Head of School's main focus is PR, and as a teacher at the school I was asked to stop sending home the work that the students were completing in class, and start sending home more "rigorous" looking work. I was asked to sit down with a "specialist" at the school who gave me a lesson in PR so that I could better please the parents. The parents are not actually receiving correct information about their students, and this is also prevalent in the Narratives the parents receive rather than report cards. The Narratives are not based in daily data but how could they be? The school does not give out grades and reprimands teachers for assigning written work rather than solely play based activities. Play is good, but only in combination with true learning experiences.

If a parent donates to the school, their child gets to do and say whatever he/she wants. That is the bottom line. Donate some money and your kid is set at Feynman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former Feynman teacher I would advise you to look elsewhere for an education in the Washington D.C. area. Feynman is creating a large amount of learning gaps in their students, consistently hires teachers without proper training, education, or experience, reprimands teachers who are using methods they have learned in higher education programs, and solely cares about money. This school is NOT the school for you if you want your child to be educated properly, and NOT the school for you if you want to actually teach using proper methods and pedagogues.

The Head of School is afraid of losing customers, therefore upon parent complains she tells teachers they must change what they are doing even if the teacher is collecting positive data from their lessons (which is rare because the lessons are not data driven because many of the teachers have no past teaching experience or licenses.) The Head of School sends students, parents, other teachers, and substitutes to spy on her teachers after receiving a parent complaint (whether the complaint is true or false) rather than observing the classroom herself. The Head of School wants the lessons to be based in "play" rather than content, and more than half the time the lessons are fluff and there is no actual written learning objective (upon entering employment at the school after previously teaching elsewhere I found that many of the staff members had no experience even writing a proper lesson plan, let alone a learning objective or SLO). The Head of School's main focus is PR, and as a teacher at the school I was asked to stop sending home the work that the students were completing in class, and start sending home more "rigorous" looking work. I was asked to sit down with a "specialist" at the school who gave me a lesson in PR so that I could better please the parents. The parents are not actually receiving correct information about their students, and this is also prevalent in the Narratives the parents receive rather than report cards. The Narratives are not based in daily data but how could they be? The school does not give out grades and reprimands teachers for assigning written work rather than solely play based activities. Play is good, but only in combination with true learning experiences.

If a parent donates to the school, their child gets to do and say whatever he/she wants. That is the bottom line. Donate some money and your kid is set at Feynman.

WOW...quite an eye opener. Would like to see what previous parents say regarding placement of their DC to other schools.

[Anonymous]

Is everything play-based, all the way through 8th grade? Or is just the preschool/pre-K program play-based?