Franklin Montessori student age 3 left in Forest Hills Park by teachers today
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Anonymous
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I know from a teacher there that they are over-worked and very poorly compensated.
Also, not all Montessori have such horrific ratios, not to mention the fact that this particular daycare has no on-site outdoor play space to speak of. Maria Montessori never made any such recommendation as far I know. Dr. Montessori would never allow this nightmare place to call itself a Montessori school. I guarantee you. |
Anonymous
| Understood. However there was a troll in a previous string arguing these points. We are interested in how this week's incident happened, what is being done to fix it, and the role of process in the institution itself - from people who have firsthand knowledge. We are not interested in the previous debate on wages and compensation at Franklin. This is not to say those issues are unimportant, but they have been discussed at length elsewhere on these forums with active engagement of a troll who was banned from the discussion. Again we are interested in facts and firsthand knowledge of the situation at hand. |
Anonymous
Our child attends Franklin. No, it's not the nightmare school some try to make it out to be. Every teacher (minus perhaps one) is exceptional. The woods program is fabulous. The drama program is fabulous. The art program (which involves repainting an entire studio a number of times per year to fit with the particular artist the kids are studying) is fabulous. The indoor gym is large and perfect for bitter cold days. But yes, the outdoor playground is too small, which is why many of us - kids included - like the idea of heading over to the local park. The problem with doing so is that (1) the aftercare staff are not as qualified/exceptional as the teachers, (2) the park is big and a large number of kids go together after official school hours, and (3) some kids get picked up at the park, creating more room for error in maintaining attendance lists. We all thought having the Director go with the kids to the park would make the safety procedures air tight. We were wrong. Would I recommend you send your child to Franklin? A few days ago I would have said absolutely. But after a second incident, I'm not so sure. My recommendation would be that you request that they open up the Monday night parents session with the Director and the owners to prospective parents so you can hear about new changes/policies. Honestly, we don't know how the school will handle this going forward other than to stop going to the park. You should push them for consultations on this particular issue before you commit. |
Anonymous
Another Franklin parent here, and I'll second basically all of this. Overall, the school has been a fantastic experience for our children. They have learned and grown in ways I never would have expected. Each of the teachers we've had have been stellar. We had a number of reasons for choosing it, all of which it has delivered on. And then there's some other things that we didn't expect that turned out to be huge perks; I never would have considered the quality of an art program in choosing a school, but have been absolutely amazed at how good that program is, for example. But the school obviously has some minuses. The ones on my list (before this incident) would be: - It is expensive; - The parking situation can be a mess; - The school is below average at communicating with parents; and - The on site outdoor play area is too small. As to the last point, I haven't found this to be a major issue in the past, for several reasons: The indoor playspace is great, the woods program is great, and the kids go to Chesapeake fairly often. It now sounds like the reaction to this incident is that they'll stop going to Chesapeake Park. I can't really fault this decision, but its still sad, because it will make the small on site playground into a larger problem than before. Regarding your specific questions: Was it an hour: I think it is impossible it was an hour. The group got back to the school after 5 and last pickup is at 6, so if it had been an hour, the girl's parent would have got to school to find her missing, which did not happen. Whether it was 2 minutes or 35 minutes, I do not know. Did the school know she was missing: I don't believe so. This is different from the previous incident, where the teacher realized the mistake before she got back to the school (though simultaneously someone called the school). Why the director goes: She started going after the first incident as a fail safe. Most people thought it was a good idea. It obviously did not work as intended. Rock Creek Park procedures: I don't know if there's a listed set of procedures, though its similar to the playground procedures. I think the risk of getting left behind is a lot lower here because the class is alone in the woods, unlike at Chesapeake, which can be crowded with other kids. 100% of the people in the woods go back at the same time, so its easier to police. I don't know if there are anticipated changes but I assume it will be brought up at the Monday meeting. Student-teacher ratio: I think others (particularly people who are not parents there) will disagree, but I don't think it has a ton to do with student teacher ratio. Aftercare tends to have a lower ratio than primary, plus the director is there. I don't have a good explanation for how this managed to happen twice, other than that the two events were kind of linked, because the procedures put in place after the first time inadvertently contributed to the second time. Its also the case that this is an order of magnitude more likely to happen at a school that takes kids to an offsite playground multiple times per week than at a school that goes on field trips once or twice a semester. Are the staff tired? If they are, I have not personally noticed it. I would caution you against listening to one poster on here, who, as I think you've already deduced, is probably the troll who has been banned from the other Franklin threads. Regarding generally how the school is managed, the main thing to know is that parents have mixed feelings about the director and about the school's level of communication. Some people view her as straightforward, efficient, and professional. Others view her as closed and somewhat intimidating to talk to. We have known a couple families who have left the school, and they generally had similar reasons: they didn't like the level of communication and felt like the director wasn't being responsive to their concerns. Although I've had a positive experience with the school, I think it should work on ways to address this problem. For example, I think having something more akin to a PTA or a parent board might be a needed change, particularly after this incident. One thing that I do want to say in the director's defense, however, is that some of the comments on this thread implying that she does not care about safety or does not take these incidents seriously are utter B.S. and are written by people who I cannot imagine have any first hand knowledge of the situation. I have absolutely no doubt that Monday was one of the worst days of her life, that she is incredibly upset about what happened, and that she takes it seriously. And while I don't want to doubt anything said by the poster who helped comfort the little girl (thank you!), I honestly find it impossible to imagine that there was 15 minutes between when she talked to the director and when the director got to the park. It would truly shock me if she didn't sprint there the moment she realized what happened. And I would interpret her not appearing appreciative when she got the girl as her being incredibly focused on attempting to deal with the situation at hand. |
Anonymous
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Ok, I call bullshit on this. I directed a center in DC with teachers who were all "not as qualified" as Franklin's teachers. I'm serious, they weren't college educated, only some had their CDA, most did graduate from high school, others got their GED. and we didn't have a playground and they took kids to local parks and for walks every day. Every day.
And they NEVER lost any children. They knew the system, they followed the system, they gave a damn and they didn't leave kids behind. This was their livelihood, and they were proud of their job. Sure, they were a PITA to manage and called out sick all the time and sassed me something awful. But they never lost a child. Not for one second. They also had to write the kids' names on their attendance sheets and cross them off when they left. So they knew how many kids they had every second of the day. They counted when they left the classroom. They counted when they got outside. They counted when they got to the playground. And while at the playground. And then when they rounded then up to leave, and then when they got back to school. They counted and did face to name checks, actually, didn't just count. You have to make sure you have the right kids, not just the right number. The director effed up. Serioualy. She CAUSED A CHILD TO BE LEFT AT A PUBLIC PARK. She was the one who (if I correctly understand from up thread what happened) didn't write the child's name on the attendance sheet of the class who stayed back. So they thought they had 14 kids, so they brought 14 kids back. It's a horror show. And this happened another time about 2 or 21/2 years ago, right? And this time the actual director did it herself? I couldn't enroll my child here. |
Anonymous
| I am the PP whose kids are at the school and commented on how tired and overworked the aftercare assistants are. I am not a troll. |
Anonymous
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As for how wonderful the art program is, it is nice but the truth is that the amount of time the kids spend there is not very high. Each primary class has the art studio for only a few months. Even then, the kids get taken down in small groups. Focus is on the older (4+) kids. When I saw how few times my 3 YO had actually gone, I was surprised. There is also an art club after school but again, small group, once a week.
The 2 yOs do not use the art studio. I think they could redirect some resources from that program to increasing ratios. |
Anonymous
| If you have doubts why send your kid there? There are so many programs available. |
Anonymous
This. I'm grateful that people are using DCUM exactly as it was intended, to inform the public of issues, concerns, relevant happenings etc... My children are at another Montessori, so I also understand the tenant of child independence; however, there can be a slippery slope at times. Disorganization got the better of the head of school this time. Curious to know what will happen because of it. |
Anonymous
| We just want to thank everyone for your responses to our query last night. This has all been super helpful and like the poster above, we are especially grateful to OP. |
Anonymous
| Has there been any follow-up on this at the school - a meeting with all parents? A change in policy regarding going to the park? |
Anonymous
| The school held a meeting yesterday with parents to tell them that the kids would no longer go to the park, and they discussed parents' concerns. |
Anonymous
Thank you for the update, PP. What was the tenor and mood of the meeting? Were parents "happy" with how the meeting went? Were the owners there, as well? It is a shame that the school has to resort to not going to the park because they cannot handle watching the kids (the most important part of their job!) However, I think this is the only reasonable decision moving forward if they want to keep in business....and it is a "business" to the owners, as well as a school. |
Anonymous
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pp - if you are uncomfortable with preschools and daycares that are a business, then choose a non-profit to send your child to instead.
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Anonymous
Can you please shut-up already with your ridiculous defensiveness? What's happened is extremely serious. I'm frankly quite surprised they haven't yet lost their license to operate, considering that this is this second time they nearly lost a child. Don't places get shut down for lack of hot water? But hey, Mr. Franklin is well-connected with all the right people to protect his DC area "educational" empire. |