Thoughts on Sojourner Truth Montessori?

[Anonymous]

Any impressions to share from recent open houses?

[Anonymous]

I would be interested to know how many people attending actually have a child who would attend this fall.

[Anonymous]

I attended an info session in the fall. The principal has leadership experience in charter and DCPS schools, so that works in their favor. Their plans for individualized education sound wonderful, but I wonder about how a Montessori middle and high school will actually look when the rubber meets the road. In some ways, it seems like it will only work for kids who are super motivated and have a real sense of direction. I’m interested in Montessori for my kids who will be entering PreK3 and PreK4, so I will be watching Truth closely; in the long run, I really hope they are successful and will provide a viable middle school option.

[Anonymous]

The leaders are great, and that makes me hopeful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The leaders are great, and that makes me hopeful.

PP from above and I agree, the leadership seems very competent and like they really know their stuff. I believe they’ worked with Lee and other Montessori programs across the country, so I don’t feel like they went into this half-cocked.

[Anonymous]

So what is their approach for students with no Montessori or student led learning experience?

I know it took Cap City a while to figure out how to bring a cohort of new students in for MS and HS who were not accustomed to the expeditionary learning model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what is their approach for students with no Montessori or student led learning experience?

I know it took Cap City a while to figure out how to bring a cohort of new students in for MS and HS who were not accustomed to the expeditionary learning model.

That’s a good question to ask at an open house or on their Facebook page.

[Anonymous]

How are they going to handle kids who are way below grade level? Because the feeder schools are about 50% below grade level right now.

[Anonymous]

So is everyone just going to give up any hope of attending Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, if their kids have terrible PARCC scores? Or does "Truth" have a plan to improve test scores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So is everyone just going to give up any hope of attending Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, if their kids have terrible PARCC scores? Or does "Truth" have a plan to improve test scores?

Montessori schools are traditionally designed for hands on learning, applied, learn to think, experiences. They are kind of the anti fill in the bubble memorize information testing.
I imagine the hands on self paced learning middle will work really well for kids that are below grade level if they have enough staff. That strikes me as the issue really. It would take a lot of time, class room management and extra staff to help older kids/teens adjust and learn how to function well in a Montessori environment. After all it was designed for preschool kid how are generally wired to be curious and learn. Teen are not necessarily wired that way, especially after years of miss matched or negative learning experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is everyone just going to give up any hope of attending Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, if their kids have terrible PARCC scores? Or does "Truth" have a plan to improve test scores?

Montessori schools are traditionally designed for hands on learning, applied, learn to think, experiences. They are kind of the anti fill in the bubble memorize information testing.
I imagine the hands on self paced learning middle will work really well for kids that are below grade level if they have enough staff. That strikes me as the issue really. It would take a lot of time, class room management and extra staff to help older kids/teens adjust and learn how to function well in a Montessori environment. After all it was designed for preschool kid how are generally wired to be curious and learn. Teen are not necessarily wired that way, especially after years of miss matched or negative learning experiences.

Almost any school model will work with enough WELL-TRAINED staff. But it's too expensive. One of the reasons that the NW schools are good is that a large number of their students don't need extra help so they are able to focus their additional staff on those who do. Whether this school will have enough staff depends on the demographics of who enrolls. If a lot of needy kids enroll then, no, they won't have enough staff to serve them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is everyone just going to give up any hope of attending Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, if their kids have terrible PARCC scores? Or does "Truth" have a plan to improve test scores?

Montessori schools are traditionally designed for hands on learning, applied, learn to think, experiences. They are kind of the anti fill in the bubble memorize information testing.
I imagine the hands on self paced learning middle will work really well for kids that are below grade level if they have enough staff. That strikes me as the issue really. It would take a lot of time, class room management and extra staff to help older kids/teens adjust and learn how to function well in a Montessori environment. After all it was designed for preschool kid how are generally wired to be curious and learn. Teen are not necessarily wired that way, especially after years of miss matched or negative learning experiences.

I might’ve felt similarly but there is a whole movement for montessori middle and high schools. LAMB’s ED has experience in this and one comment she made is that they are free to focus in middle school on things kids are more wired for at middle school like social issues both interpersonal, small group, and in the wider society. That is something I found intriguing although it may not mean high test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is everyone just going to give up any hope of attending Walls, Banneker, McKinley Tech, if their kids have terrible PARCC scores? Or does "Truth" have a plan to improve test scores?

Montessori schools are traditionally designed for hands on learning, applied, learn to think, experiences. They are kind of the anti fill in the bubble memorize information testing.
I imagine the hands on self paced learning middle will work really well for kids that are below grade level if they have enough staff. That strikes me as the issue really. It would take a lot of time, class room management and extra staff to help older kids/teens adjust and learn how to function well in a Montessori environment. After all it was designed for preschool kid how are generally wired to be curious and learn. Teen are not necessarily wired that way, especially after years of miss matched or negative learning experiences.

It's not that teen's aren't "wired" to learn like preschoolers - it's that the learning is fundamentally different. By mid-late elementary, kids actually need curriculum and teachers to lead the instruction. They're not 3 year olds that can get what they need by pouring beads between cups, or whatever. Some direct instruction is needed; and for kids who are behind, even more direct instruction. And yes, that does mean you have to memorize some information.

[Anonymous]

So is everyone just indifferrent to application high schools, then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So is everyone just indifferrent to application high schools, then?

I know my child will likely not be a canidate for an application school. We aren't looking at a montessori high school either, just noting that no every dcum kid is a potential magnet high kid. This becomes more clear to parents in later elementary.