Reply to The Sojourner Truth School - possible new public middle and high school option

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think this sounds like a set up to fail. Unless you give preference to Montessori feeders. Otherwise you may be getting a lot kids who are two or three grades behind by the time they start middle school and will need extensive support from teachers and that’s not what they will get from Montessori at that level.  [/quote]

That's what it takes to have a truly diverse and equitable middle school on DC.  Why do you think people don't want to go to the existing middle schools? It is the same exact reason!  [/quote]

so why does OP seem so naive. Her focus is "changing the world"  when she needs to get real that accepting all kids means kids who are reading on a 3rd grade level and montessori is not the right fit for those kids.  So then the UMC families will bail when they see the test scores etc...and boom you have Brookland middle 2.0[/quote]

Unclear why you assume Montessori isn't the right fit for those kids. I might argue it's exactly what those kids need.

I think the school will, however, try for a preference for Montessori feeders since they are trying to solve the problem that those kids have no good pathway to continue their preferred type of education. Probably like DCI with guaranteed seats for the rest of the city as well. Will be interesting if they also can include at-risk preference.

Montessori schools were originally developed to teach the "unteachable" - those with retardation, very poor, etc, who were deemed society's throwaway children by meeting them where they are and developing their curiosity. It can definitely educate anyone if done well, though I don't know how many high schools have attempted this in the US.[/quote]

There are only ~20 public Montessori high schools in the entire US, and none in a city with as diverse and high needs student population as DC with open enrollment.

At the primary and elementary level, at least in an AMI school, other instructors (music, special educators, OTs, etc) are not supposed to enter the environment to provide instruction or assist special needs students. This flies in the face of the LRE requirements of IDEA. Both Lee and SSMA initially ran afoul of the PCBS in this regard and in the latter case lost several due process cases.

There are corollary concerns in a middle school. Not all students can manage self-directed and independent learning due to their disabilities. SJ cannot screen out these students, so how will they adjust their model to serve them? You cannot say 'well they shouldn't apply' in DC>

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