Mountaintop Montessori (Formerly Montessori Community School): Concerned Parents Speak Out

Another Dissatisfied Family Weighs In On Mountaintop Montessori

2011-02-25T20:01:00.001-05:00

Posted December 26, 2010

I hope that any families considering the newly re-named Mountaintop Montessori School will review all of the available information before committing to a so-called "community" that, in my opinion, does not truly follow the child. I am writing as a parent of a former student. Our family left the school at the onset of the new leadership for reasons that still cause difficulty for our child today.
—Submitted by a parent

The above single star parent review is posted on www.greatschools.org, where Mountaintop Montessori is one of the only schools in Charlottesville, public or private, to be rated three or fewer stars.

"A good school must also offer the assurance that it is fiscally sound and that the governance and leadership are ethical and competent."

2010-10-20T16:11:00.006-04:00

The title of this post is a quote from the "Our Future" page of the Mountaintop Montessori website, and we agree with it. A good school should be able to do that. But the question is whether the Mountaintop Montessori, under the present leadership, can truly make the "assurance that it is fiscally sound and that the governance and leadership are ethical and competent," given its fiscal and ethical track record? Consider just a few documented examples of that track record out of the many to be found in other posts on this website:

"A good school must also offer the assurance that it is fiscally sound…"

In the last three years for which financial data is publicly available, which are the first three years for which this leadership prepared and implemented the budget, the school reported to the IRS that it lost over half a million dollars, including a stunning loss of $282,409 in the fiscal year ending June 2009. More here.

"A good school must also offer the assurance that … the governance and leadership are ethical and competent."

Under the present leadership, the school has awarded thousands of dollars of contracts to the spouses of the Head of School and others in school leadership positions, despite almost universal criticism of this practice of "self-dealing" (aka "excess benefit transactions") at not-for-profit organizations such as Mountaintop Montessori. In its latest report to the IRS, the school confessed that, unlike almost every other not-for-profit in America, it did not have a conflict-of-interest policy (When one considers how common conflicts of interest are at the school, it's no wonder. The school now says it has adopted one). More here.
According to The Daily Progress of March 26, 2008, the Mountaintop Montessori Head of Business Operations, who is also an ex officio member of the School's Board of Trustees, "was part of a Ponzi scheme that raised about $200 million in investor funds through a sham investment company between April 1998 and April 2002. Authorities said the funds were not invested, but held in accounts controlled in part by (her). She pleaded guilty Nov. 8 (2007) to conspiring to commit wire fraud," a felony, and was sentenced to six months of house arrest and three years of probation. More here.
In a reassuring letter to parents and students about their classroom's new teacher, Wendy L. Fisher wrote, "[New Teacher] has 20 years of experience teaching children from kindergarten through high school." She then added the new teacher "will complete her Upper Elementary Montessori certificate this summer." Unfortunately, the truth behind this reassuring letter turned out to be that it was not truthful: the new teacher had far less than 20 years' experience, and the experience she did have was entirely home-schooling her own children. She had no classroom experience whatever. And she had not even started her Montessori training when the letter was written in June, less than nine weeks before the new school year was to begin. Thus, it was impossible, under either AMS or AMI, for the new teacher to complete her Montessori certificate that summer. And then came the attempted cover-up. Predictably, the results in the classroom were disastrous, causing many students and families to leave the class and school. More here.
After protests were raised following Ms. Fisher's enforcement of her wildly unpopular "No Child Left Behind" policy -- forcing families to withdraw all their children from the school if they withdrew one in the middle of a 3 year cycle -- she claimed that this policy had "always existed" at the school. In fact, as the prior Head of School and Chair of the Board have confirmed, it had never existed at the school until Ms. Fisher unilaterally decreed it. More here.
More examples of the highly questionable ethics and competence of the school's governance and leadership can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and in many other posts on this website.

Read again on the "Our Future" page on the school's website to see how the leadership tries to dance around and avoid these and so many more documented facts on this website about its stewardship of the school. Then, please read the other posts on this website for more discussion of this leadership's fiscal and ethical performance. Does the leadership pass its own test? Are you assured that, under this leadership, the school "is fiscally sound and that the governance and leadership are ethical and competent"?

Shoot the Messenger

2010-08-04T15:22:00.001-04:00

Recently, I received a letter from the Mountaintop Montessori's attorney, on behalf of the School leadership, requesting that I cease all postings on this website. Interestingly, the letter does not dispute the accuracy of our reporting on this leadership's dismal track record, which includes:

ruinous financial mismanagement, including the loss of over half a million dollars in just three fiscal years ending June 30, 2009. And, in the FY just ended June 30, 2010, there is little doubt that more heavy losses occurred which the leadership has not yet revealed;
blatant self dealing;
repeated false, misleading, and/or inaccurate communications to parents and students;
multiple dissatisfied families leaving the school, with some posting highly negative reviews online;
and more, as chronicled on this website.

No, the lawyer's letter, posted here, didn't question the accuracy of this reporting, which is all well documented and sourced in the posts below. Rather, the letter claims this website is infringing on the School's alleged trademark, "Mountaintop Montessori," because people might somehow confuse this website with the School's website. It charges us with damaging the School.

First, as our reply, here, makes clear, the School leadership's position in the letter is wrong on both the facts and the relevant law. Second, it is the School leadership that is entirely responsible for its disastrous track record that endangers the School's future. We're merely reporting it. Was The Washington Post responsible for Watergate?

There's no need to shoot the messenger. Instead, what's really needed is new leadership that will remedy the damage done by today's entrenched claque to the School, threatening its mission of serving present and future generations. Then, the messenger -- and this website -- will happily go away.

More "Miscommunication"

2010-07-19T15:08:00.077-04:00

We've reported previously on the Head of School's repeated and documented "miscommunication," in her memorable phrase, here, here, and here. Now comes another one - on her own LinkedIn page:

Wendy Fisher’s Experience

Head of School

Mountaintop Montessori

(Education Management industry)

July 2003 — Present (7 years 1 month)

Head of School

Montessori Community School

(Privately Held; Education Management industry)

July 2003 — Present (7 years 1 month)

Wendy did not become the Head of School at Mountaintop Montessori (formerly Montessori Community School) until 2006 after a brief period as "Interim Head of School." This can be documented by reviewing the MCS Board's Letter to UE Parents dated October 7, 2005, here, where the officers of the Board of the School refer to her as "our Director of Education, Wendy Fisher..." and her own letter dated September 27, 2005, here, which she signs as "Director of Education." Sure, Wendy was employed at MCS starting in 2003, just as Lyndon Johnson was employed at the White House starting in 1961. If he claimed to be President of the United States from 1961-1969, surely he would be, to use that memorable euphemism again, "miscommunicating."

It's hard to believe that granting herself an extra few years as Head of School could be a "fat-fingered" typing mistake, since it appears twice on LinkedIn and her other positions at MCS go unmentioned. Of course, the school's cumulative loss of over half a million dollars started in July 1, 2006 -- the first Fiscal year in which as HOS she prepared the budget. Surely that has nothing to do with Ms. Fisher instead representing that her tenure as HOS began in July 2003, back when her leadership wasn't causing the school to lose so much money that its future is now at risk? In case, say, another potential employer was checking Linked-In?

Just speculating how and why this could happen. But it is interesting to note that Wendy's "miscommunications" seem to always portray her accomplishments or arguments in a more favorable light than the facts justify, rather than less. Perhaps that's just a coincidence. Or, perhaps, as we've pointed out in past reports on these "miscommunications," Wendy's LinkedIn page reveals more about its author than she intended. In 2006, Wendy wrote in the Montessori Community News, the School's newsletter, "I hope that we model the ideals we espouse to the children." Given these repeated "miscommunications" she is modeling to the children, let's hope not. Instead, let's hope that in this time of crisis, Mountaintop Montessori (formerly Montessori Community School) can attract the new leadership it desperately needs; leadership whose communications can be trusted, and who are financially responsible.

If the LinkedIn page is edited or disappeared, here's what it looked like, as of July 19, 2010.

Un-spinning the Head of School Spin

2010-06-30T11:45:00.004-04:00

As a response to serious questions of financial mismanagement, self-dealing, and other leadership issues, the Mountaintop Montessori Head of School posted an "Our Future" article on the school's website. To the fact that the school under her leadership has lost over half a million dollars in its operations over the past three years, including nearly $300,000 in FY 2008-9 (the most recent fiscal year for which data is publicly available), Ms. Fisher answers that the value of the school's land is higher than its mortgage. Leaving aside the doubtfulness of this claim in today's real estate market, does she suggest that the school sell its land or buildings to raise the money needed to continue to pay the losses from operations under her leadership? Now that she has depleted the school's cash reserves, how exactly will the school cover these escalating losses? Tuition increases? Teacher layoffs? More crowded classes? She doesn't say. Far from giving reassurance, her failure to seriously address the school's financial crisis gives only further cause for concern.

To the fact that Ms. Fisher engaged in self-dealing with the school's dwindling money, hiring her husband's company to what we are told was a no-bid $6,000 contracting job, she says that, "The school has been deemed in compliance with IRS guidelines and within the standards required to qualify as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation every year we have been audited." For a school leadership that, as Ms. Fisher herself has stated, "should model the ideals we espouse to our children," meeting this de minimis standard for avoiding disqualification as a nonprofit is an extremely low bar indeed. However, it's not clear the school has even met it. In the FY 2008-9 Form 990, the School made this curious confession to the IRS: "A conflict of interest policy was not in place as of June 30, 2009, but has been approved by the Board subsequent to year end." Yet, it appears the self-dealing continues. We're informed that Ms. Fisher's spouse is doing additional work at the school and that spouses of other school employees and board members are also working at the school -- and not as volunteers. Is this work subject to independent competitive bidding before these spouses are hired? Is the hiring of spouses fully disclosed? Will the school disclose these conflicts-of-interest to the IRS? As if the ethical questions were not enough, with the school racking up huge operating losses, the school can simply no longer afford sweetheart deals and self-dealing. But rather than pledge to clean up this practice, Ms. Fisher's article instead celebrates it. More on the perils of self-dealing at a nonprofit, also known as "excess benefit transactions," is here.

Ms. Fisher's article does raise a new issue: this Concerned Parents' website and how it was able to purchase the dot-com version of the Mountaintop Montessori domain name. The story of how that happened is quite illuminating: Like so many organizations, the leadership preceding Ms. Fisher's purchased both the dot-com and dot-org versions of its old montessoripantops domain name. That's just good marketing and customer relations. After all, current and prospective parents don't know if your school is a dot-com or dot-org, they just know the name of the school. Often, they type in "dot-com" since that is the most popular domain suffix. Buying both domains is the cheapest, most cost-effective marketing an organization can do - it costs next to nothing. Yet when the School registered mountaintopmontessori.org in October 2009, for whatever reason it did not also register the dot-com of that domain. Six months later, in March 2010, having learned from a source close to the situation that Ms. Fisher wanted to change the school's name so that the Concerned Parents' website would not show up in Google searches for the school, we were amazed to discover that the school had failed to register the dot-com domain. So, at a cost of $10/year, we took it, ironically making it easier to find this website. Now, Ms. Fisher calls this website a "cybersquatter," but a five second Google search for "cybersquatter" reveals this is false. Rather, the real story here is how could the school's leadership fail to register the dot-com version of its new name for a cost of $10/year - how could it so completely fail Marketing 101? And what does this astounding marketing failure say about its ability to lift the school out of its financial crisis?

More Families Leave Mountaintop Montessori

2010-06-07T21:20:00.009-04:00

We quote this recent email we received with permission of the sender:

I’d like very much to remain anonymous, I thought I’d tell you we are leaving the school. The educational standards are simply inadequate. ... We are not the only family leaving after this year. That I do know.

Two recent posts concerning Mountaintop Montessori on Greatschools.net confirm this:

Posted April 24, 2010

Our son attended montessori for 7years and it was once
a truly great school. Unfortunately the current head has driven
out some of the best teachers. the school is now run by a small
group of parent/administrators who retaliate against families
who raise criticisms. Plans for changes are kept from the
community at large and parents are not welcome to comment.
There are still some wonderful dedicated guides so maybe there
is hope for the school to get back on course if there were to be
a much needed change in adminstrator.
Submitted by a parent

Posted March 29, 2010

Sadly this once wonderful school has been spirally steadily
downward since the controversial head took over in 2005.
Budgets for education are slashed while professional perks
for the admin team grow. unqualified friends are promoted
via quickie summer programs giving them 'certification' while
professional career educators have been driven out. Some
dedicated quality teachers remain but one never knows until
one returns in August who will be teaching the class and how
the student teacher ratio will be that year. We are taking our
child out and will not return so long as the current administration
is in place.
Submitted by a parent

Mountaintop Montessori Deficit Up Stunning 45 Percent to $282,409, School Reveals

2010-05-05T13:57:00.009-04:00

MCS is in even deeper financial trouble than we previously reported, according to its IRS Form 990 filed in February 2010, accelerating the stunning deterioration in financial health since Wendy Fisher became Head of School in 2005. In the most recent fiscal year, the school's total expenses exceeded its revenue by $282,409, a 45% increase over the prior year's deficit of $195,247. The FY 08 deficit of $282,409 exceeded the school's cash on hand at year end of $187,023. Under Ms. Fisher's leadership, total operating deficits in the past three fiscal years exceed half a million dollars while the school's cash reserve has dropped 65%, or $326,466. It is now beyond question that she has put the future of the school at risk. The details of FY 2008, the most recently completed fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, include:

Expenses. FY 08 total expenses were $2,317,494, an increase of 22% ($423,222) over FY 07 expenses of $1,894,272, despite no increase in enrollment. FY 08 expenses exceeded revenue by $282,409, a 45% increase over FY 07's deficit of $195,247. This loss is more than five times the loss reported in FY 06 ($50,369), and represents a dramatic reversal from FY 05, when revenue exceeded expenses by $201,127, on a school budget that was adopted under the previous Head of School. Expense details include:

FY 08 payroll expenses increased 12.3%, including a raise in Ms. Fisher's compensation to $71,157, despite the ongoing deficits and no increase in enrollment.

Interest expense on the school's debt more than doubled in FY 08, from $111,678 to $223,996, reflecting higher mortgage payments on the school's ill-timed and ill-considered purchase of the parcel next door which generates considerable added expense but no added income.

Fundraising expenses were $117,738, up 20% ($19,566) from FY 2007, while net funds raised totaled $81,498, an increase of $544 (< 1%) from the prior year, reflecting this leadership's ongoing record of fundraising failure.

The school gave tuition discounts to 41 of its 200 students that totaled $186,606. In other words, in FY 08 approximately 20% of the students at MCS each received, on average, $4551 per year to attend MCS. Many families attending the school express concern about its overcrowded classes; little do they realize that if they are paying full tuition for their child, over a thousand dollars of that tuition, on average, is going to pay for another child's tuition.

Assets vs. Liabilities. In FY 08, the total value of the school's assets dropped while the total liabilities of the school increased. The school reports that assets exceeded liabilities by $475,933, down 37% in just one year from the $758,342 cushion reported in FY 07. This confirms our projection that the school is rapidly heading for the day when its liabilities exceed its assets and goes "underwater." Indeed, given that the school's property may be carried on its books at a higher value than it could fetch in today's market, that day may already be here.

Cash on Hand. MCS ended FY 08 with $187,023 cash on hand, a drop of 25% from FY 07 ($254,449), and down 65% from FY 06 ($513,489). In other words, the FY 08 deficit of $282,409 exceeded the school's cash on hand at the end of FY 08, an extremely worrisome development illustrating that in just three years most of the school's cash reserves that had been prudently and carefully built up over the years prior to Ms. Fisher's arrival have now been squandered.

Board Governance. In April 2007, the MCS Board of Trustees adopted a new set of bylaws which require that the Board "shall consist of eight to fourteen members, not including ex officio members." As of June 30, 2009, the Board reported to the IRS that it had just five members, not including ex officio members. One can understand, however, the difficulty in recruiting new board members, given the disastrous financial record of this leadership, the effort it will take to turn the situation around, and the difficulty of effecting positive change on a board where the future of Ms. Fisher often seems a higher priority than the future of the school.

In her Spring 2010 Update, Ms. Fisher claims that you are reading this on "a website seemingly designed to damage our school and its leadership." One thing Ms. Fisher does extremely well is shoot the messenger; we are simply reporting the same facts about the school's finances that Ms. Fisher and the leadership reported to the IRS. They created and are entirely responsible for those facts. All the school's recent IRS reports are available on our website so all can read them and draw their own conclusions; something the school itself has not done and, given the grim news they contain, we doubt ever will do. As usual, Ms. Fisher confuses and conflates her own fate with that of the school, as though if she were gone, the school would not survive. But the school's own reports to the IRS make it abundantly clear that the reverse is true: for the school to survive, Ms. Fisher must go.

Appointing a Convicted Felon to the Mountaintop Montessori Board of Trustees

2010-04-14T12:36:00.002-04:00

Head of School Wendy L. Fisher recently revealed that Rebecca Dowdell, the MCS Head of Business Operations, is now a member of the School's Board of Trustees. Ms. Dowdell, according to The Daily Progress of March 26, 2008, "was part of a Ponzi scheme that raised about $200 million in investor funds through a sham investment company between April 1998 and April 2002. Authorities said the funds were not invested, but held in accounts controlled in part by Dowdell. She pleaded guilty Nov. 8 (2007) to conspiring to commit wire fraud," a felony, and was sentenced to six months of house arrest and three years of probation. [Our earlier post regarding Ms. Dowdell is here. The FBI's statement is here.]

While Ms. Dowdell may be personally rehabilitated and well-liked, this issue is not about her but about the School leadership's stunning thoughtlessness in ignoring the future impact on the School from appointing a convicted felon to the School's board. Most nonprofit organizations strenuously avoid having convicted felons on their boards. "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to destroy it," warns the website of the National Association of College and University Business Officers. "Many boards have added morals or ethics clauses to their bylaws or trustee policies, which call for automatic suspension of trustees indicted of a crime and their removal in the event of conviction. Such measures preclude convicted felons from continuing to serve on the board and the damage to the institution's reputation that would likely result."

Funders and foundations can choose among tens of thousands of nonprofits to support, so why should they support one of the only ones that has a convicted felon on its Board? Why at this time of financial crisis, when the Board should be doing everything it can to woo these potential sources of funding, would Mountaintop Montessori inexplicably damage its reputation built up over 20+ years to appoint to its Board someone known by Ms. Fisher to be a convicted felon, even as a non-voting ex officio member? Ms. Fisher once wrote with respect to the School's leaders, "I hope that we model the ideals we espouse to our children." We have chronicled her own challenges living up to those words throughout this website. But appointing a convicted felon to the Board of Trustees of the School truly makes a mockery of Ms. Fisher's words, and will likely cause the School's long-term interests to suffer.

If the Trustees knew of Ms. Dowdell's criminal record when they appointed her to the Board, it indicates an astonishing lapse of judgment and dereliction of duty, and they should resign. If they did not know because they were not informed by Ms. Fisher, then Ms. Fisher should be fired for concealing such material information from the Trustees.

Why Do I Write These Posts?

2010-03-30T09:27:00.001-04:00

My name is Jonathan Rintels and I author many of the posts on this website. They are usually based on publicly-available documents (tax returns) or information from reliable sources close to the leadership who don't wish to suffer retribution from the leadership, so they ask me to post for them.

I was a parent of two children at MCS, as well as a member of the Board for nearly a decade. I was Chair for many of those years. My wife and I gave hundreds of hours of volunteer service to the School, doing everything from serving on the Board, to discovering and helping establish the Audubon Certification program, to spreading mulch and baking cookies. During that time, I was also directly responsible for raising at least half a million dollars for the School from friends, family, and foundations, which was used to purchase the original six acres, construct the community building, as well as general support. This record of successful fundraising, for a school that had done almost no fundraising in the past, compares quite favorably with that of the present leadership, which in the last few years has actually managed to spend more to raise funds than it has actually raised.

Prior to the new leadership arriving, donors large and small contributed to MCS because we articulated a very clear vision: we wanted generations of students in the Charlottesville area to have the same opportunity at MCS that ours had: to enjoy an excellent education in an ethical community environment. Today, however, we believe, along with many others, that the present MCS leadership threatens that vision, for the reasons explained in the many posts on this website. While there is no doubt many students at MCS today have a good experience, the present leadership has burdened the School with such enormous financial, institutional, and ethical challenges that we have a real fear about whether the school will survive to serve future generations.

People at the school - or who have just left the School - keep urging us on and sending us information. And so we keep on posting, giving the Community a peek behind the leadership's closed curtain so that it might know what's really going on and why. By doing so, we firmly believe that while it might not occur today or tomorrow, change will come to MCS. And it will be change for the better, for the benefit of future generations.

Welcome

2010-03-26T17:33:00.011-04:00

We’re aware that as a result of an email circulated by Wendy L. Fisher, Head of School, many Mountaintop Montessori families are visiting this site for the first time and we welcome them. The story of this website, which started in 2006, is contained in the subheading above as well as in greater depth below in the post, “The Story of This Website.” Contrary to Ms. Fisher’s assertions, we do not intend to damage the school. Rather, as believers in quality Montessori education and the Montessori method, we created this website to serve as a catalyst for urgently needed positive change at the school, so that it will be able to serve future generations.

Ms. Fisher confuses criticism of her leadership of the School with criticism of the School itself. She is not the school. MCS was a wonderful school before Ms. Fisher arrived, it still is for many of today's students, and it will be so after Ms. Fisher is gone. That does not mean Ms. Fisher is wonderful. Ms. Fisher's record after several years is now clear: she has brought the school to a financial crisis; she has caused management expenses per pupil to skyrocket; she has turned what was once an open Board of Trustees into a secretive and insular rubber-stamp of her actions; she has communicated with the parents and students of the School in ways that are demonstrably false, misleading, or inaccurate; her actions have raised serious ethical questions such as self-dealing; her ineffective efforts at fundraising have cost the School more than they have raised; and more as detailed below. It is little wonder that with all these issues surrounding the School under her leadership, tuition skyrockets and fundraising pleas become increasingly onerous, or that individuals and foundations with significant resources have not stepped up to support the School and ensure its future, as they did before she arrived.

Ms. Fisher apparently believes it is only members of the Community who haven't been at the School in years who are critical of her leadership. Not so. This and the other recent posts are based on information divulged to this website by current and recent former members of the Mountaintop Montessori community who are extremely concerned about the School’s condition and leadership, and have no other means to express it for fear of retribution; that's why the website is able to respond to her email so quickly. So, we hope you will read these recent posts closely, as well as all the other content on this website, seek further information from the School, ask why the School's leadership and operations are so non-transparent compared to other nonprofit private schools, and judge for yourself whether the School could -- and should -- have better leadership.

Will Mountaintop Montessori Survive? It’s Up to You

2010-03-03T16:50:00.007-05:00

The Mountaintop Montessori financial picture has become even more dire than we described in our below review of the FY 2007 IRS Form 990, reports a very well-informed - and worried - source. In 2008, the School then named the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville (MCS) purchased the American Legion property next door, paying top dollar. It then put a large mortgage on that parcel and also added another mortgage to the debt already securing the original six acres, based on those properties' real estate "bubble" values. The MCS leadership's timing could not have been worse; the bubble had already burst in 2007, and the valuations of MCS's old and new parcels have dropped considerably. Today, like many homeowners who borrowed to buy at the top of the real estate market, the School is probably "under water," with its debts exceeding the value of its assets. Even worse: the School's mortgage payments will soon increase considerably as the debt's "interest-only" payments end and payments of principal plus interest must begin. The School, which in FY 2007 reported a loss of $195,247, will likely become even more financially-challenged.

As Mountaintop Montessori's leadership seeks a bailout in the form of increased tuition and donations for its imprudent piling on of debt, parents and donors owe it to themselves to closely review the last few years of financial data the School has reported to the IRS, which are available in the Links section of this website. These returns reveal a steady decline in the financial health of the School since this Head of School took over in FY 2005; a consistent story of deterioration due to layering on of debt, fundraising that costs more than it contributes, and out-of-control spending on administration rather than education.

For parents and donors to trust those who are responsible for this situation to now fix it - well, as the saying goes, "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Once parents, donors, and the wider community familiarize themselves with the record of the past years, it will be clear that new leadership is required to rescue the school from its precarious financial difficulties. Reading the next few posts will make it even clearer.

Mountaintop Montessori

2010-03-03T16:35:00.003-05:00

In a textbook example of fiddling while Rome burns - or in this case, while the School sails toward a financial iceberg - the School has announced that effective April 1, 2010, the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops Mountain will be renamed "Mountaintop Montessori." The School leadership informs us that before deciding on this name change, We gathered our courage to be as forward-thinking as we expect our students to be... We talked with MCS students, MCS faculty members, MCS parents (past, present and incoming), MCS trustees, Montessori school heads from around the country, and leaders from all kinds independent schools (sic) across the state.

At this time of crisis at the School, we wondered why the School would choose this moment to "gather" such "courage" and "forward-thinking" to solve a problem that didn't even exist - the School's name? The timing sure seemed odd.

Well, maybe not. One reliable source with knowledge of this effort says the real rationale was this; that Head of School Wendy L. Fisher has been applying for jobs at other Montessori schools which would Google her and MCS, discover the Concerned Parents' website, and in at least one in-person job interview, question her closely about the events and issues it describes. Changing MCS's name might solve this problem by burying this website so far down in the Google search results that it wouldn't be found, or so the reasoning goes. [Whether this site's content has played any role whatsoever in her job quest is unknown; all we can confirm is she is still at "Mountaintop Montessori"]. While we have no way of independently confirming this account, we can confirm that this website's traffic data shows numerous hits from other Montessori schools that are Googling MCS and its Head.

If the Head of School is indeed seeking positions elsewhere, it does cause us to wonder why the Board is relying on her to lead Mountaintop Montessori out of its financial and leadership crises? Which leads us to the next post.

The MCS Board of Trustees Needs Reform, Openness, and New Trustees

2010-03-03T16:22:00.007-05:00

On July 1, 2009, the MCS Board of Trustees had just four voting members, half the minimum of eight required by the School's bylaws. It's instructive to contrast the MCS Board and its operation to, for example, the Board of the Williamsburg Montessori, another nonprofit school at which a MCS board member had long experience. At Williamsburg Montessori, the 12 board members are named on the school's website, board meetings are open, parents are encouraged to attend, and an agenda is posted well in advance; following the board meeting, the minutes are posted online for the benefit of the community; and the board members themselves are drawn from a broad cross-section of the school and local communities, and include several with extensive backgrounds in business or finance.

At Mountaintop Montessori, however, board members are not named on the school's website, board meetings are closed to parents and members of the community, and the agenda is not publicized; following the board meeting, minutes are not posted on the website; the few board members do not represent a broad cross-section of the school or local communities and have no significant business or financial experience; indeed, a reliable source reports that the most important prerequisite for new trustees is being a "rubber stamp" for Head of School Wendy L. Fisher. No wonder there are so few members.

Consider how the MCS Board acted, according to this source, when it discovered that the Head of School had paid $6,000 to a company owned by her spouse without informing the Board. Such "sweetheart deals" present troubling issues of self-dealing and conflict-of-interest that can threaten a nonprofit's tax-exempt status. Mountaintop Montessori, like nearly all nonprofits, has a clear policy against such deals: "To avoid conflicts of interest between my position as Trustee and my personal/professional life and, if necessary, to declare any such conflict before the Board ..." [The Head of School is an ex officio member of the Board who is subject to this Board Member conflict-of-interest pledge. In addition, all nonprofit executives, including a Head of School, have a duty to avoid self-dealing and conflict-of-interest]. This source reports that the HOS made no declaration of a conflict of interest to the Board, nor was there any evidence that she had solicited any other bids for this work or sought verification from an independent third party that her husband's company's charges were reasonable.

The majority of MCS Trustees decided to take no action regarding the Head of School's actions, according to this source, and instead criticized those who raised the conflict-of-interest issue and the potential threat to MCS's tax-exempt status for being insufficiently supportive of the HOS. Is it any mystery then why the Board has had such extraordinary turnover in the past few years and has trouble recruiting new Trustees? These kinds of behind-closed-door shenanigans need to end. In this time of crisis at MCS, it is also time for reform, openness, and new trustees.

Yes, MCS Is In “Deep Financial Trouble”

2009-11-10T14:25:00.009-05:00

In the prior post, we reported that we had received an unsigned letter stating that Jan Elmore was fired and the Mountaintop Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops was in “deep financial trouble.” Apparently, the letter writer was well-informed. Elmore did not return to MCS for the 2009-10 school year. And a review of MCS’s 2007 IRS Form 990 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008 shows the school is indeed in “deep financial trouble,” a stunning reversal from when Wendy Fisher became Head of School in FY 2005.

Total Expenses. According to the figures submitted by MCS to the IRS for FY 2007, MCS’s total expenses of $1,894,272 exceeded its revenue by $195,247. This loss is nearly four times the loss reported in FY 2006 ($50,369), and represents a dramatic reversal from FY 2005, when revenue exceeded expenses by $201,127.

Management Expenses. For FY 2007, MCS management expenses for 200 students totaled $270,495. For FY 2005, management expenses for 178 students totaled $195,114. On a per child basis, FY 2007 management expenses were $1352 compared with $1096 per child in FY 2005, a 23% increase per child in just 2 years.

Fundraising. In FY 2007, MCS raised $80,954, while its cost of fundraising was $98,172. Put another way, in FY 2007, MCS spent on average $1.21 for every dollar it raised. In FY 2006, MCS raised $88,173, 8.9% more than in FY 2007, at a cost of $79,911. In FY 2005, MCS raised $112,520, 39% more than in FY 2007, despite fewer students, at a cost of $71,827.

Assets vs. Liabilities. In FY 2007, MCS purchased the parcel next door. As a result, at the end of FY 2007, MCS had total assets of $5,493,879, of which $4,601,011 was in real estate and $892,868 was in other assets. Since we all know what has happened to the value of local real estate since 2007-08, let’s conservatively estimate that the value of MCS’s real estate assets has declined by 15%, or $690,150. Accumulated depreciation in FY 2007 was $156,172 and it is now more than a year later, so reduce total assets by another $156,172 in accumulated depreciation to arrive at an estimated FY 2008 asset value of $4,647,557. Total liabilities in FY 2007 were $4,735,537 and they remain constant or decline only slightly in FY 2008. Using these figures, MCS’s current total liabilities exceed the current value of its assets by an estimated $87,980. The bottom line is it is quite likely that MCS is now close to or in fact “under water,” with its current total liabilities exceeding the value of its assets. MCS could conceivably earn or fundraise its way out of this predicament. But as the figures above show, it is doing just the opposite: over the past two fiscal years, MCS has lost nearly $250,000 and its fundraising has declined significantly.

Cash on Hand. At the end of FY 2007, MCS had $254,449 cash in the bank, less than a month and a half in expenses, down over 50% from FY 2006’s $513,489 and down 71% from FY 2005.

Board Governance. In April 2007, the MCS Board of Trustees adopted a new set of bylaws which stipulate that the Board "shall consist of eight to fourteen members." As of June 30, 2007, the Board had six members. As of June 30, 2008, despite the new bylaws this Board passed over a year earlier, the Board still had just six members, the same six Board members it had the year before. It's clearly time for new leadership that can return the school to financial health.

MCS in “Deep Financial Trouble?” Elmore Gone? School Going AMI?

2009-07-10T11:27:00.006-04:00

"Just wondering if you knew that MCS is in deep financial trouble and has fired Jan Elmore without just cause.

Apparently the program is becoming AMI and all others are being slowly replaced."

The above quote is the entire contents of a letter that someone went to great trouble to anonymously snail mail to us with no signature or return address. Whether any of it is true or not, we don't know. Make of it what you will.

But it did pique our curiosity enough to cause us to compare the Mountaintop Montessori's recent IRS Form 990s for information about its financial situation. The 990 is the publicly available tax return and financial statement that all nonprofits must file.

As of this writing, the most recent 990 is for the school's fiscal year (FY) ending June 30, 2007. Comparing this financial statement with the 990s of the years ending June 30, 2006 and June 30, 2005 reveals that even in that last "good" economic year before the recession hit later in 2007, MCS's financial position had deteriorated. Consider that:

In the FY ending June 30, 2007, MCS generated program income and contributions of $1,474,679 compared to the prior FY income and contributions of $1,526,880, a reduction in income of $52,201.
At the same time, program services (expense of operating the school) increased $199,295 to $1,525,048 from the prior FY's $1,325,753.
In the FY ending June 30, 1007, MCS lost $50,369 compared to the prior year's gain of $201,127.
Accounts receivable in the FY ending June 30, 2007 were $405,515, up from $130,730 in the prior FY and $44,796 in the FY ending June 30, 2005.
Contributions in the FY ending June 30, 2007 totaled $25,049, of which $10,350 were cash donations. In the prior FY, contributions totaled $116,772, of which all but $720 were cash donations.
Salaries in the FY ending June 30, 2007, not including that of the Head of School, totaled $865,423, up from $710,502 in the prior FY.
The salary of Head of School Wendy Fisher increased to $70,386 from $64,770 in the prior FY. In the FY ending June 30, 2005, the prior Head of School earned less than $50,000.

Other items of note in the 2006 Form 990:

On April 18, 2007, the MCS Board of Trustees voted to revise the school's bylaws, reducing the minimum number of Trustees on the Board to eight. Ten weeks later, on June 30, 2007, the school's Board had just six Trustees.
In contrast to the open meetings required under the old MCS bylaws, the new bylaws state that meetings of the MCS Board of Trustees "shall be closed, except when the Board votes to hold an open meeting."
In the Form 990, the IRS requires that a nonprofit list the names and addresses of all trustees who served during the FY. MCS did not, however, name in the 990 for the FY ending June 30, 2007 at least two Trustees (the Vice-Chairman and the Treasurer) who served on the Board during that FY and then left well before their terms ended.

We'll review and report on the MCS financial situation again when the IRS Form 990 for the year ended June 30, 2008 becomes available.

"Misstatements"? Or More?

2009-07-10T10:29:00.008-04:00

In a June 16, 2005 letter written by Wendy Fisher, the Head of School of the Mountaintop Montessori (formerly the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville on Pantops Mountain), to the parents and students in that year's Upper Elementary class, she described the new teacher for the UE as follows: "[Teacher's Name] has 20 years of experience teaching children from kindergarten through high school. She has also taught at the university level and will complete her Upper Elementary Montessori certificate this summer." These qualifications turned out to be false or highly exaggerated:

The new teacher had no prior teaching or classroom experience from kindergarten through high school, other than homeschooling her own children.
The new teacher had no teaching experience at the university level, other than as a graduate Teaching Assistant.
The new teacher did not complete her Upper Elementary Montessori Certificate over the summer, and would not complete if for another year. In fact, on the date the letter was written, she had not yet begun her Montessori training.

After the discrepancies between the facts and her claims had been made public, and weeks after they had been brought to her attention, Wendy finally wrote to the UE parents and students and admitted her “misstatement” and that she regretted her “miscommunication.” But, as detailed in the post below, "School Leadership Should "Model the Ideals We Espouse to Our Children." many believed Wendy's "misstatement" and "miscommunication" actually, albeit unintentionally, revealed more about Wendy than it did about the teacher she purported to describe.

We recall all this because we recently saw an article Wendy wrote in 2007 for a magazine published by the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce. There, she made a couple of curious new statements. The first was that the "Montessori Community School on Pantops Mountain … has served students from the toddler years through 8th grade for more than 25 years." But, as can be found on the School's own website and in its Parent Handbook:

While the school was founded 25 years prior to her writing the article, for over ten years it served only elementary school children.

The first Primary class serving ages 3-6 was not added until after the School moved to its present location in 1993.

The Middle School (grades 7-8) was added in 2002.

The Toddler program was added in 2004.

Thus, the claim that MCS "has served students from the toddler years through 8th grade for more than 25 years" is far off the mark. So, is this just an innocent example of horribly sloppy writing that a middle school teacher would mark in red for correction? Or is it evidence of something more?

Before we answer, let's consider her second curious statement in the article. Wendy goes on to write:

Visitors to MCS often ask, "Where do all those perfect children come from?"

Sure they do. First, let's agree that it is not credible that "(V)isitors (plural) to MCS often ask" the very same exact question about "perfect children." That's not to disparage the kids at MCS, who are great. Perhaps visitors ask about nice, or well-behaved, or curious, or wonderful children. But, really, for a writer to quote multiple visitors to MCS often asking "where do all those perfect children come from?" is absurd.

Now, consider Wendy's use of the phrase "perfect children" that she claims multiple visitors to MCS often use to describe the children at MCS, the school she happens to lead. Since it's a rare school that turns out "perfect children" (are there any?), that must make MCS, and its Head of School, pretty darn close to perfect, too.

Still more sloppy writing? "Misstatement?" "Miscommunication?" Or something more?

Making up this quote, attributing it to multiple visitors, choosing to say that "perfect children" are produced by MCS -- that goes beyond sloppy writing. Once again, Wendy's Chamber of Commerce article unintentionally succeeds in revealing far more about its author than it does about the "visitors" and "perfect children" and school that she purports to describe.

MCS Business Manager Convicted of Felony

2008-04-13T15:34:00.013-04:00

On November 8, 2007, Rebecca "Becky" Dowdell, the Business Manager of the Mountaintop Montessori (formerly the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville on Pantops Mountain), pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud, a felony, according to this news release from United States Attorney John L. Brownlee posted on the Richmond FBI's website. The conviction was unrelated to her work at the school.

On March 26, 2008, Ms. Dowdell was sentenced in federal court in Charlottesville to six months of house arrest and three years of probation, according to the Daily Progress. She faced a maximum sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine, according to an earlier news release from the U.S. Department of Justice issued at the time of her indictment.

The website of Roy M. Terry, Jr. and the law firm of DurretteBradshaw PLC. which has been appointed Receiver in the case of the Securities and Exchange Commission v. Terry L. Dowdell, et al. (including Rebecca Dowdell as "relief defendant"), currently pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Charlottesville Division (Civil Action No. 3:01CV00116) is here and contains court documents and information related to the civil case.

We're informed that following her felony conviction, Becky has remained as the MCS Business Manager, and she is named on the school's website as its Business Manager, as of April 18, 2008.

Members of the MCS community have expressed concerns to this website over the safety of the school's funds and their private financial information. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide any information on this situation other than the facts and sources cited above. As of April 18, 2008.

The Story of this Website

2007-02-06T22:47:00.002-05:00

UPDATED MAY 2007. In early 2006, current and recently-departed families at the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville on Pantops Mountain, many of whom did not know one another, found they had something in common. They shared a strong support of -- and devotion to -- the School, and were extremely concerned about the School's new direction and leadership. They identified several critical issues, including overcrowded and understaffed classrooms, false and misleading School communications, unsafe School environments, violation of School Bylaws, a new, intimidating Community atmosphere that was hostile to parent concerns, and others. These extremely serious problems and more had been brought to the attention of the Head of School and the Board of Directors by these families, some of whom had been at the School for years and volunteered years of service on the Board and in other positions. Not only was nothing done by the School Leadership to address these problems, but in some instances, they were not even viewed as problems. Clearly, the School had gone far down the wrong track. So these families came together to consider other ways to bring these serious issues to the attention of the School Community. In February 2006, they circulated an An Open Letter to the Montessori Community School Community -- Why We're Leaving MCS, linked here, that described these problems, and then set up this website to document in detail the problems expressed in the Open Letter. They then circulated a second letter, Ten Reforms to Restore Parent Confidence at MCS, linked here. These reforms are constructive, common-sense, un-controversial, can be quickly adopted in most cases, and would provide significant and immediate improvements to the School.

On March 9, 2006, The Hook, a weekly newspaper in Charlottesville, published a cover story about the problems at the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville under the title Schoolhouse Rocked: Debate Rumbles on Montessori's Mountain, which is linked here, and here. The Concerned Parents did not solicit this article, and with perhaps one exception, did not cooperate with the reporter who wrote it. In contrast, the School Leadership rolled out the red carpet for the reporter, with the Board Chair and the Head of School sitting for long interviews and setting up photo shoots at the school.

The article turned out to be devastating to the School in the eyes of the Charlottesville community. Here, in the School Leadership's own words, were documented the very problems the Concerned Parents had raised: the endorsement of up to 45 children in one class with one teacher and no aide; an admission that the Head of School materially misstated a teacher's credentials to parents; and the School's judgment that despite two different families discovering their young children unsupervised on the playground (one was a 4 year old found with the playground gate open!), there was no problem with safety at the School. "We've never had a child go missing," the Head of School was quoted as saying. Leaders of other Montessori schools in Charlottesville suddenly fielded numerous calls from their own families, and correctly reassured them that the serious issues raised in The Hook article were not a reflection on the Montessori method itself, but were specific to the new leadership and policies at the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville on Pantops. Indeed, several of the primary-level children who were pulled out of MCS during this school year now attend other Montessori schools in Charlottesville.

The School Leadership tries to reassure parents that all is well with the School. To this end, it has added an FAQ section to the School website to answer parent questions. But of the three FAQs on the website, which is linked here, one of the School's answers is simply false (see History of "No Child Left Behind" Policy post below). A second tries to answer a question about the School's finances, yet fails to mention that the School has a debt of over a million dollars, an omission of a material fact that makes its answer that the School's finances are "excellent" so incomplete as to be deceptive. These "answers" to parents' FAQs are yet more examples of the kind of communications that cause so many to view the School Leadership as "credibility challenged." [UPDATED 6/19/06: Perhaps the challenge of giving credible answers to parents' Frequently Asked Questions proved too much for MCS. Without explanation, the School has eliminated access to the FAQ section from within its own website. However, you can still read the deceptive FAQ page here.]

As the Concerned Parents said in the Open Letter, the reason we raised our concerns publicly is that we strongly support Montessori education and care deeply about the future of the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville on Pantops. We want families in Charlottesville to have the same opportunity we once had to experience a quality Montessori education in a nurturing, community environment. As the School Community and the greater Charlottesville Community become aware of the serious challenges facing the School, we hope an ongoing process of open debate and meaningful reform will ultimately lead to a better School and a healthier School Community. It is in that spirit that we put forth these materials on this website and continue to update them. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

One Year After Mass Exodus, Turmoil Continues at MCS

2007-01-25T22:27:00.000-05:00

SPRING 2007. The Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the Board of the Montessori Pantops Mountain Community School recently resigned simultaneously, after serving just seven months out of their 24 month terms. In November, after just a few weeks of school, Head of School Wendy Fisher summarily fired an experienced, certified, and well-liked Montessori primary guide who she had just hired, based on a self-interested "consultant's" report -- and then, ahem, hired the "consultant" as a replacement. And, we hear, the Parent Exodus from MCS continues; many families will not return next fall for the 2007-2008 school year.

During and after the 2005-2006 school year, in an unprecedented mass exodus from MCS, numerous families who were dissatisfied with the leadership and educational experience at MCS either withdrew their children or refused to reenroll them for the current school year. Some of these families were members of the "Concerned Parents" who created this website to highlight problems at the school that the leadership refused to address. But many others who left MCS were not affiliated with the Concerned Parents, and included Board members and other families with a long history at the school.

The leadership of MCS proclaimed to those families who stayed or started at MCS, that with all those "noisy" families gone, the turmoil at MCS was over. The facts prove otherwise, and that the problem is not families no longer at the school, but the leadership that is still there. Consider that last spring, after the exodus of Board members from the school, and the resignation of other Board members who felt they were not being allowed to fulfill their ethical responsibility to independently and objectively review the performance of the Head of School, just three Board members remained out of the minimum of ten required by the bylaws. To fill those seats, the Head of School and her supporters packed the Board with the Head of School's most reliable supporters. Yet now, two of those supporters - the two who were considered so reliable that they were installed as Board officers even though they had no prior experience on the MCS Board, including one who led MCS fundraising efforts and was a major contributor -- resigned after serving barely a quarter of their terms.

As for the fired primary guide, you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy the railroading she got from this leadership. After just a few weeks of school, the Head of School brought into this well-liked, experienced, and Montessori-certified teacher's classroom, an alleged "consultant." This "consultant," who now wanted a primary teaching job, and who the Head of School had previously tried to hire, was - surprise, surprise - critical of this teacher's performance. The Head of School then used that "consultant's" report to fire the teacher "for cause." Guess who replaced the fired teacher? Why, the "consultant," of course. And were the parents of the children in that class informed about what caused the teacher to be fired? No.

And what happened to the former MCS teacher? It turns out that other local schools' opinions of the MCS leadership are uniformly unfavorable, as families enrolling at these schools after leaving MCS recount their experiences. Thus, this teacher's bad treatment is just one more unfortunate MCS horror story; more a reflection on the MCS leadership's problems than on the teacher herself. She is teaching elsewhere in the Charlottesville area.

So, what happened in the past two years at MCS? The answer, perhaps, lies in George Orwell's Animal Farm. Like the new MCS leadership, the animals' goal was to create a perfect peaceful sanctuary. Unfortunately, highly imperfect leaders seized power. The result was that Animal Farm became one of literature's great cautionary tales of what happens when the good end is repeatedly invoked to justify any and all means to achieve it, such as lying, intimidation, personal destruction, expulsion from the community, etc.

MCS Head of School Wendy Fisher recently was quoted in the press as saying: "It's a leap of faith for parents to enroll their child." Read the posts below to see why so many agree, and have chosen not to re-enroll.

Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

"Faith-Based Montessori Play" Replaces Academics

2006-11-18T08:59:00.000-05:00

From Catherine Leslie, former Board Chair and Treasurer of the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops:

I have a few comments to post. I think Barret Stump's letter is excellent, heartfelt and astutely true. I had three children at MCS from 1995 until this past spring. Two were there throughout their elementary and middle school years. I served on the Board during most of their time there, as a Board member, Chair of the Board and Treasurer. I left the school because it wasn't teaching my youngest child fundamental academics and I felt I had become the Board 'crank,' bringing up concerns but finding no ear. Clearly the concerns of the school's constituents, Board members or not, are being ignored. More will just have to vote with their feet. Given what has happened of late, I feel inclined to say some things, but, quite frankly, feel I have already mourned the loss of what was once a wonderful school in this community, so I think I will make a few, brief comments. I suspect much will come out in these pages.

The curriculum and accountability were once excellent. The teachers (particularly the Roells) knew what a child needed to learn at each grade level and ensured that it happened while following the child within a Montessori framework. By the time my youngest was in the LE classrooms, however, inexperienced and dogmatic teachers failed to teach a fraction of the content my older children were exposed to. Quite frankly, I would call it "faith-based Montessori play."

I tried to keep an open mind about the new direction the school was going, but decided that my youngest daughter would leave MCS when I was not able to convince the Board to use the words 'academic' or 'knowledge' in the mission statement. As I pointed out then, even Covenant's mission is, "Academic excellence under the sovereignty of God." They get what should come first at a school. One example of the state of things was when I had to question why the Board was going to vote to endorse Wendy Fisher's plan for changes in the middle school without even hearing about the changes!

It appears that over the past eight months, the Board has allowed the administration of the school to spend funds and hire with rampant cronyism, without competitive bidding or legitimate hiring practices. Board Bylaws have not been followed, possibly threatening the legitimacy of its tax-exempt corporation status.
Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

School Leadership Should "Model the Ideals We Espouse to Our Children"

2006-11-17T20:52:00.001-05:00

I've been asked more than once now: "Jon, what the heck are you so fired up about?"

Indulge me for the time it takes to read this post. A few minutes tops, and that's only if you read all the linked materials. But the reason I highlight this particular episode, among several I could cite, is because it's objective and well documented. And, to me at least, it's very revealing.

We start on June 16, 2005, when Wendy Fisher, the highest ranking staffer at the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops, wrote a letter, linked here, to all the parents and students in this year's Upper Elementary, including my family, that described the new hire for the UE and what the class would look like. In that letter, she wrote: "Patricia Machat has 20 years of experience teaching children from kindergarten through high school. She has also taught at the university level and will complete her Upper Elementary Montessori certificate this summer."

The truth turned out to be this:

Patricia had no prior teaching experience, other than homeschooling.
Patricia had no teaching experience at the university level, other than as a TA.
Patricia did not complete her Upper Elementary Montessori Certificate over the summer, and is not now Montessori certified. In fact, Patricia didn't commence her Montessori training until June 19, 2005, three days after Wendy's letter was written. It takes one year, minimum, to finish Montessori training under either AMS or AMI. Only after successfully completing this training does either society award a Montessori certificate.

Now, this troubled me. Wendy had Patricia's resume and had interviewed her, and no one has ever suggested that Patricia misled Wendy, because if you ask Patricia about her background, she's very up front about it. So why would Wendy's letter take such liberty with the facts? Items 1 and 2 exaggerated the truth beyond recognition. And item 3 was out and out false.

What then troubled me even more was Wendy's reaction to my requests for clarification of these points. She would not confirm any of the above, even though it turned out to be easily documented. Finally, the Board Chair wrote to her, posing one question: Is Patricia Montessori certified? Wendy's reply, link here, took up a full page of 7 paragraphs - and still evaded answering that simple yes or no question. On September 10, I informed the Board officers of the huge discrepancy between what Wendy Fisher had written about Patricia's qualifications to parents and the actual facts. In her response on that same day, Wendy finally admitted that her prior statements that Patricia was Montessori certified and had "completed training" (something Wendy said in several emails exchanged at this time) were, to use her phrase, "miscommunication."

Given that Wendy had an obligation both to do due diligence on Patricia's qualifications and to also communicate forthrightly with parents, this "miscommunication" was troubling enough. Giving Wendy every possible benefit of the doubt, she failed in both obligations. But it got worse. Here's what troubled me still more: On September 15, Wendy wrote a letter, link here, to Upper El parents and students addressing the growing concerns about that class. In that letter, she chose not to divulge to parents what she had just five days earlier admitted privately to the Board's officers; that she made these material "miscommunications" to these very same parents. Given this perfect opportunity to admit and correct her prior misstatements to these very same parents, I found her failure to do so very disturbing. Because to me, this was a clear test of character and leadership. We want leaders who, if they tell you something that they later learn was wrong, will admit it, correct it, and apologize. Isn't that what we'd all want our kids to do in that situation? Instead, Wendy chose to not reveal the truth to the parents she had, to put it most charitably, misinformed.

On September 26, I reviewed this sequence of events at a Board meeting, so it was all now public. And with it now public, Wendy had no choice but to address it. On the next day, September 27, Wendy wrote to the UE parents and students, link here, and admitted her "misstatement" on Patricia's training and certification. She attributed it to her confusion between AMI and AMS certification procedures. But recall that it takes a year, minimum, to achieve certification from either society, and Patricia didn't start her Montessori training until June 19, 2005. To me, Wendy's explanation was not credible. And that's not my opinion alone, but also the opinion of nationally known Montessori leaders with whom I reviewed it. One called it such a "serious breach of ethics that the Board should demand her resignation." (Instead, the MCS Board quashed the search it promised to the Community for a new Head of School and hurriedly promoted Wendy to the position. See Why Did the Board Cancel the Search for the Head of School? post below).

Those who defended this behavior said it was a result of Wendy having a "communications problem." To address this "problem," the MCS Board even established a committee to review her communications. But when we communicate, we make choices about how and what to communicate, and what NOT to communicate. We make those choices based on our character. To me, Wendy's choices about what -- and what not -- to tell parents demonstrate not a "communications problem," but a character problem.

Someone shared with me a recent edition of the Montessori Community News in which Wendy wrote, "I hope that we model the ideals we espouse to the children."

Then isn't it fair to ask if the conduct described above satisfies that standard? Does it "model the ideals we espouse to our children?"

I think most of us would agree that the answer is No. And that's why Jon has been so fired up. And this was just one example where the school leadership failed to model the ideals we espouse to our children. As you read the other posts on this website, you'll see there are so many others. By Jon Rintels, former Board Chair. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

It's the End of the School Year. Do You Know Where Your Board Is?

2006-06-07T22:40:00.000-04:00

Why have so many Board member-parents resigned from the Board and chosen to remove their children from the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops?

Of the ten MCS parents who constituted the Board of Directors at the start of the Board term in June 2005, just two remain on the Board for the new Board term starting June 2006. At least five of those ten '05-'06 Board member/parents, and perhaps more, withdrew one or all of their children from MCS before or during the '05-'06 school year, or will not reenroll them for the '06-'07 school year. Of the three parents who volunteered to become new Board members early in the '05-'06 year, all three resigned from the Board last month prior to the expiration of their terms. The Faculty Representative to the Board at the start of the '05-'06 Board Year, Beth Van Wassenhove, has also chosen to leave the School. All these good people were once among the school's strongest supporters, and are also the people most familiar with the school's new leadership. Now, they're gone. With the School making no comment about this unprecedented Board turnover and exodus, no wonder parents continue to be concerned. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

History of "No Child Left Behind" Policy at Montessori Community School of Charlottesville

2006-03-09T11:31:00.002-05:00

The Hook's March 9, 2006 cover story on the Montessori Community School on Pantops, link here, and here, reports that Wendy Fisher states the highly unpopular, punitive, and vindictive MCS "No Child Left Behind" Policy has "always existed, though she agrees that the school may not have enforced it in the past." This policy says, per the FAQ section of the School website, "siblings of students who do not complete the three-year cycle were not offered enrollment," link here. The FAQ section also claims this policy has existed "informally" at MCS "in past years."

This is simply not true. Last year's policy was QUITE different and very narrowly confined to one particular situation in the primary class. In the primary class - and the primary class ONLY -- the staff was frustrated that some families sent a child to MCS as a 3 year old only to have that child leave after two years to enroll in a public school kindergarten. Therefore, in the year 2004-2005, MCS implemented a policy to not enroll new younger siblings in the primary class from a family that had withdrawn an older child from primary prior to kindergarten. It never applied to any other level. And it certainly never applied, as the School has this year sought to apply it, to deny reenrollment to a sibling already enrolled in the school. Such a harsh and punitive policy would be completely contrary to the Montessori First Principle of "Follow the Child," as well as be completely antithetical to the idea that a child should finish each three year cycle that this policy was supposed to promote at the primary level. Really, could there be anything less "Montessori" than punishing one sibling by kicking him out of MCS because MCS turned out to be not the best environment for another sibling?

If it's true that this year's greatly expanded policy was in effect last year, then why has it never appeared in the Parent Handbook prior to this year, Wendy Fisher's first as the top staffer at the school, when she rewrote the Parent Handbook? Isn't it odd that such a critical policy for parents and the school, one that the School now claims has always applied to all classes at the school, would not receive one single mention in prior years' Parent Handbooks? That it would never receive one single mention in any prior year's tuition contract or enrollment materials? That instead, per Wendy Fisher and the MCS website, it was applied "informally?" Isn't that strange for a policy that had the potential to critically impact every single family with more than one child at MCS? The School's assertion on this is just not credible, and that is backed up by Board Members with years of service at MCS.

If it's true that this policy was in effect last year, then why didn't it apply last year to Board members' families, as well as other families? Did they get preferential treatment? Many people have asked this and they deserve an answer. The answer is the policy didn't apply to them. Why? Because their kids were not in the primary class.

The truth is the "No Child Left Behind" Policy, other than in the very narrowly tailored circumstance described above, has never been the policy at MCS in prior years, even "informally." Rather, Wendy Fisher imposed this far broader punitive policy this year, without Board approval (see Where Was the Board? An Ex-Board Member Speaks post below). But rather than take ownership of her unpopular policy, and defend her efforts to use it to deny reenrollment to siblings already at the School (see Yet Another Committed Family Forced to Leave Montessori Community School of Charlottesville post below), she repeatedly claims she is merely implementing a policy that was in effect "informally" in prior years before she became top staffer, trying to pass the buck and the blame, and deflect criticism away from her for what is entirely her creation and responsibility.

This is a clear example of not just bad new policy at the School, but also the quality of leadership and lack of credibility that so concerns not just the Concerned Parents, but the wider Montessori and Charlottesville communities. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

UPDATED 6/19/06: Perhaps the challenge of giving credible answers to parents' Frequently Asked Questions proved too much for MCS. Without explanation, the School has eliminated access to the FAQ section from within its own website. However, you can still find the FAQ page here.

Yet Another Committed Family Forced to Leave Montessori Community School of Charlottesville

2006-02-21T22:16:00.000-05:00

Dear MCS Community,

As some of you know, we withdrew our children from MCS a few weeks ago. We have suffered a tremendous amount of hurt and heartache over this experience. Our main concerns have been expressed in detail in letters to the Board of Directors, and echo those of others in this forum. Like others, our concerns about education and safety were ignored rather than addressed. Like others, we have not been treated with honesty, grace, courtesy, or respect. And like others in this community, we were denied the opportunity to re-enroll our children for no reason other than because we voiced our concerns. We were unable to remain at a school with such a hostile climate and culture and chose instead to leave immediately.

We have never been Board members. We have never been involved in the politics at MCS. We had no particular loyalty to the previous leadership. We are average Montessori parents who support the Montessori method in our home, who go on field trips, and who have coached an MCS soccer team now and then. We are private people. We did not want to post our concerns in a public forum.

But over the past few months, we have lost faith in the leadership of the school at all levels. We feel obligated to make the parents of the MCS community aware of yet another family harmed by the current leadership. We want to speak for the many families still at MCS who feel unable to voice concerns for fear of retribution. Our motivation in coming forward is to do the right thing, in the hope that the community that we loved, but were forced to leave, can come together to honestly and openly resolve these problems.

Fortunately, this eye-opening experience has given us the opportunity to transfer our children to other schools and we (and they) are thrilled. We wish to echo the stories of other parents who have found public and other private schools in town to be far superior in academic rigor and training for life (grace and courtesy, open and honest communication) than what we have experienced at MCS over the past year.

Sincerely, Kurt and Lisa Illig

Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

Ten Reforms to Restore Parent Confidence at Montessori Community School of Charlottesville

2006-02-17T20:51:00.001-05:00

Last week, Concerned Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops Parents sent to the School Community an "Open Letter," linked here, citing numerous serious issues that caused us to decide, reluctantly, to withdraw our children from MCS. We also launched this Concerned MCS Parents website, where the School Community could find additional information on these issues, as well as personal stories and observations. Today, we sent to the Community a list of Ten Reforms that we believe are constructive, common-sense, un-controversial, can be quickly adopted in most cases, and will provide significant and immediate improvements to the School. We hope they will help guide the School Community as it addresses the issues raised in our Open Letter. They are:

The School should add "academics" to the MCS Mission Statement, re-emphasize core academic subjects in the curriculum, and develop specific benchmarks.
The School should not overcrowd and understaff classrooms, and should adhere at all times to AMS Standards on Ratios of Students to Lead Teacher and Classroom Staff/Assistants. No more than 30 students per lead teacher in primary, lower elementary, and upper elementary classes; no more than 15 students per full-time classroom staff member in primary, and no more than 20 students per full-time classroom staff member in lower elementary and upper elementary.
The School should communicate graciously and honestly with parents, fully and accurately informing them of class size, personnel, curriculum, policies, and other key issues, in full compliance with AMS Standards on "truth in advertising."
The School's Board of Directors should adhere to the School's bylaws and implement Good Governance practices. It should allow Directors to fully discuss school issues with staff, parents, and other stakeholders in the MCS Community, in confidence, and without permission or attendance of Board Officers or Head of School.
The School's Board of Directors should appoint new Directors to reach its maximum allowed size of 20 Directors, including a significant number of parents that support these reforms as well as non-parent members, and not decrease its minimum number of 10 directors. At least one non-parent member with an expertise in educational evaluation should be appointed.
The School's Board of Directors should regularly review the MCS budget and program, and conduct an annual independent and objective review of the performance of the Head of School using confidential evaluations from staff and parents.
The School should end its new policy of denying admission to one child in a family if that family chooses to withdraw or not re-enroll another child at MCS.
The School should implement "best practice" hiring: for top staff positions, the School should advertise the position and interview multiple qualified candidates; for contracted jobs, open and competitive bidding.
The School should achieve AMS accreditation.
The School should implement additional reforms to restore parent confidence and a sense of "community" to MCS, and establish a system where parents and staff may bring issues, concerns, and suggestions for improvements to the attention of the School and the Board without fear of intimidation or retribution. To that end, these ten reforms are only a beginning.

Respectfully submitted, Concerned MCS Parents

Read the entire letter describing the Ten Reforms here.
Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

Why Can't My Daughter Read?

2006-02-16T11:25:00.000-05:00

I found out last week that my daughter, who is more than halfway through 1st grade at MCS, will not be able to transfer to another school due to her extremely low (non-existent) reading level. By one account, she is two grade levels below her grade. This new school would have no teacher or reading group that low. She does not know her sight words or basic blends. We might have to hire a tutor, seek assistance at the McGuffey Reading Center at the Curry School and begin lessons at home. She might need to repeat 1st grade.

I know there has been much concern in the past about the educational rigor of the MCS program. Some parents who have transferred out have expressed their disappointment in the educational program at MCS and the difficulty their children have faced in their new schools.

We were very disappointed when the guide structure changed in the Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary classrooms. We believe there are enough students in each class to warrant two guides in each class at all times. They need assistance, monitoring, accountability and gentle guidance. Younger children especially should not be expected to perform independently and always choose challenging works. If the goal of MCS is to improve the classrooms, then why has there been a decrease in the amount of time the guides are available to the children?

Children should meet basic educational standards at each grade level comparable to other schools, traditional or alternative. Most people choose a private education for their children (and pay a large sum of money) because they believe it to be superior to the education provided by public schools. If a Montessori education does not offer more benefits to my child than a public education, then why spend the extra money?

I hope the MCS Board will admit that there are serious problems within MCS. Its educational program alone requires immediate attention. All of the unhappy parents have a right to express themselves, to be heard, respected and taken seriously.

Hunter & Andrea Davidson
12 student/years at MCS (2 children)
Unable to support its policies or leadership, Andrea resigned from the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops Board in October 2005. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

Where Was the Board? An Ex-Board Member Speaks

2006-02-16T10:39:00.001-05:00

It was my pleasure to serve on the MCS Board until I resigned in October 2005, unable to support its policies or leadership. In June 2005 the Board began to struggle with its responsibilities as stated in the Bylaws, linked here. The Board's struggle began with the HOS search. The Ad Hoc Search Committee created by the Board identified two main tasks: "1. Filling the immediate needs of the school with two temporary, part-time positions… 'Director of Operations and Marketing' and 'Development Administrator'; 2. Performing a formal Head of School search. This latter process is expected to last at least nine months and we are aiming at having identified a new Head of School for MCS by spring of 2006 and have this person formally hired for the 2006/2007 school year." But ads for the two temporary, part-time positions were never placed. And a formal search was never made for a Head of School.

Without a Head of School in place, the Board found it extremely difficult to fulfill its role as the governing body of the school. The Board lacked vision, determination and strength to lead in a time of change and crisis. As a result, Wendy Fisher, the Director of Education, took on the Board's governing role as well as many of its responsibilities as stated in the Bylaws. The Board struggled with initiative, short term and long-term planning, execution of plans, accountability and evaluating the Director of Education. Eventually, without ever conducting a search, the Board named Wendy Fisher "Interim Head of School" and then, soon after, "Head of School."

The Board allowed the DOE to make sweeping policy changes at MCS. One such change was in the guide structure of the lower and upper elementary classrooms. Assistant guides now float from class to class instead of staying in one class all day. At times this new system leaves the Lead Guide alone with as many as 28 or more students (32 in Upper Elementary at beginning of the year). This change was made without Board approval and without notification to the parents. The Board did not fulfill its duty of being accountable for its educational program. Changes in class layout, guide structure, reenrollment, etc, were made by the DOE without the Board's approval. Since there was no acting HOS, the Board was in aposition to directly monitor actions by the DOE. But when problems arose, the Board showed its unwillingness to step in and support the parents with communication, grace and courtesy. The Board did nothing to prevent the loss of enrollment and incurred tuition refunds.

Another significant change the DOE made was that concerning re-enrollment. The new policy states, "Once a family has made the decision to leave the school before the end of a cycle, we will be unable to offer spaces to younger siblings." This change was also made without Board approval.

The structure of the Board changed as well. In October 2005, another member of the Board resigned along with me, leaving the Board with its minimum required number of members to 10. The list of Board Members is no longer listed in each monthly newsletter. Characteristics of the Board were defined and a Board Member Code of Conduct was established. Board Members were told to refer "questions and concerns of parents or staff to the Administrator." Board Members were told not to "discuss board or committee deliberations outside the meetings."

As a Board Member, I was not free to speak, ask questions or even disagree. I was reprimanded, as others were, and made to feel that my comments were inappropriate and unacceptable. When I resigned from the Board, it should have come as no surprise that I did not receive a letter of recognition from the Board, merely an informal email from the Vice Chairman of the Board.

I care deeply about MCS. This is our 9th year and second child at the school. It would be wonderful for my daughter to stay. I would love to bring my youngest son to MCS in the near future. However, I do not have faith in the Administration or the Board to make good decisions about MCS, the future of the school or the education of my children. The current Head of School and Board leadership lack integrity to follow the proper course. The operation of the Board as a whole has failed to uphold the responsibilities as set forth in the Bylaws and has failed to support the needs of the parents and most importantly the children of the Montessori Community School.

Andrea Davidson
12 student/years at MCS (2 children)
Unable to support its policies or leadership, Andrea resigned from the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops Board in October 2005. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

Why Did the Board Cancel the Search for a Head of School?

2006-02-16T10:27:00.000-05:00

When the prior Head of School left, the Board of the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops promised to conduct a thorough search for a new HOS and appointed a committee to design that search process. But then in late September, Wendy Fisher was compelled to admit that she had misstated the qualifications of the new Upper Elementary teacher. A few days later, at a hastily convened Parents Meeting for Upper Elementary, she was roundly criticized by the parents of more than half the students for her design of that class, which embodied her vision of “authentic Montessori,” yet turned out to be what many consider the worst and most dysfunctional classroom in the history of MCS. When Ms. Fisher flatly refused to make any improvements to the class, and refused to even engage in a constructive dialogue with parents, crisis ensued.

The Board leadership strongly supported Wendy, and thus was in a dilemma. Since Wendy was a candidate for Head of School, the growing community concerns about her performance would become critical issues in the search process, and require thorough investigation. But when the Board suddenly quashed the Head of School search it had promised to the Community and bestowed the Head of School position on Ms. Fisher, voila -- No Debate. No Investigation. Done Deal.

This was completely contrary to the Board’s duties under the bylaws and any concept of good nonprofit governance. It may be an exaggeration to say that the Board's cancellation of the promised HOS search is the nonprofit world's equivalent of an anti-democratic coup d'etat, but not much. In my view, it's certainly a much more plausible explanation for the cancellation of the Head of School search than what Board officers offered at the Community Meeting, "sorry, we were too busy building our house, going to Europe, etc." I think the Board leadership feared that a legitimate search process might not deliver the result it wanted -- giving Wendy the Head of School position. So it halted the process, and instead just handed Wendy the job. Was she the best Head of School candidate available to MCS? Thanks to the Board's actions, we'll never know. But if she was the best, what did the Board leadership have to fear from a real search? By Jon Rintels Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

"Authentic" Montessori? That Depends...

2006-02-14T04:02:00.000-05:00

Wendy Fisher's actions are defended by some as necessary to foster "authentic" Montessori at the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops.

But consider this year's Upper Elementary (UE) class. For this year's UE, Wendy started with an entirely blank slate. She hired a new UE teacher. She wrote the curriculum. She chose to enlarge the class to 32 kids and move it to new classrooms, which she designed and remodeled. She structured the class schedule, eliminated the assistant, and hired the parade of parents doing "specials." Add to this that Wendy is personally in the class two days a week as Patricia's trainer, because Patricia is a student teacher-in training. No doubt this year's UE class is Wendy's baby. So, clearly, this UE class perfectly embodies Wendy's vision of "authentic" Montessori, right?

But that was this year's "authentic Montessori" UE class. For next school year's "authentic Montessori" UE class, which will be far smaller due to families pulling their children out of the class or not reenrolling them due to dissatisfaction with this year's class, the School has announced there will be a second lead teacher in the classroom. Which is exactly what so many parents pleaded with Wendy to do for this year's overcrowded and understaffed class, only to to be rebuffed by her because that would not be "authentic Montessori." Since what she's doing for next year's UE is exactly what parents pleaded with her to do for this year's UE, apparently what qualifies as "authentic Montessori" depends on who proposes it.

While we applaud this change for next year's UE, it simply makes even more obvious the tragedy for the children in this year's UE -- what one UE parent aptly called "an experiment that failed" and what other UE parents are calling a "lost year." Even present and former MCS Board members, the most loyal families at the School, either removed their children from this UE class in mid-year, or did not reenroll them in the UE for next year. Such was the satisfaction with -- and success of -- Wendy's "baby" -- this year's "authentic Montessori" UE class. By Jon Rintels. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

Why Stump Family Pulled Kids Out of MCS in February

2006-02-04T04:42:00.001-05:00

From Barret Stump, a teacher and former co-chair of the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops Parents Association:

Dear MCS Board Members,

Chuck and I were only mildly surprised when we weren't offered reenrollment contracts with MCS for the 2006-07 school year. We've certainly voiced our opinions this year about the decisions being made and our dissatisfaction with the choices the school is making regarding the education of our children.

What was surprising was the tone of the letter that we received from Wendy, suggesting that we have not worked in partnership with the school, and that "gracious and honest communication strengthens this partnership, and in turn, fosters a more effective learning environment for the children". Also, if we wished to seek reenrollment, we would need to meet with Wendy.

Since enrolling my oldest child at MCS six years ago, Chuck and I have dedicated ourselves to helping MCS be an acclaimed educational setting, not just for our own children, but for others. Together, we worked as a board member, chair of the Parent Association, chair of numerous fundraisers, etc. Never has our commitment to the school been questioned. The entire text of the Stumps' letter is here. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

Why Rintels Family Removed Child from Montessori Community School of Charlottesville

2006-02-01T03:29:00.001-05:00

From Jon Rintels, former Board Chair.

To David Cathcart, Chairman of the Board, Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops, Board Members, and Wendy Fisher, Interim Head of School, MCS

Dear David, Wendy, and Board Members:

Less than 24 hours after the end of the UE Parent Orientation of August 29th, as the true picture of the changes to this year's UE finally started to emerge, Trish and I began expressing our concerns about whether that class structure was the best possible learning environment for UE students and whether it was the best possible class that MCS could provide. At that time, those concerns were, among others, the number of students with one lead teacher, unprecedented at MCS; no assistant, but a rotating patchwork system of adults doing specials who would also somehow serve the assistant function, again unprecedented at MCS; one lead teacher for two non-contiguous classrooms, again unprecedented at MCS; and that the class would be led by a teacher, who while she had 20 years' teaching experience, had only just completed her Montessori training and only just received her Montessori UE certification.

To us, the class changed so dramatically from what history at MCS, as well as the school's communications to us over the spring and summer, had led us to believe we would receive, that it was virtually unrecognizable. Then, as we came to discover, the school's statements about Patricia's experience and qualifications bore no relationship to the truth and much of the other communications were false, inaccurate, or misleading. It is now clear that this class is not the best possible learning environment for UE students and is not the best possible class that MCS could provide. It is also clear that there is nothing preventing MCS from providing a far better learning environment for its UE students. It just chooses not to.

But this letter needs to be about [our daughter], and why we're removing her from the class and MCS, and how her expressed desire "to learn something" (her words) has been so thwarted by this year's UE. The entire letter is here. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

Rintels' Letter to Upper El Parents

2006-02-01T02:59:00.002-05:00

Attached is the text of an email written by Jon Rintels to Upper El parents at the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville describing the "never before in the history of MCS" conditions in the Upper Elementary (UE) class, and the false and misleading communications sent by the school, and how they violate AMS accreditation standards. Some highlights:

Here are some things I'm concerned about:

Never before in the history of MCS has there been a class with one lead teacher and over 30 students. This UE class has 32 students and the lead teacher is, as it turns out, an uncertified student teacher still in training.
Never before in the history of MCS has a class exceeded AMS's published standards that set a maximum class size of 30 UE students. [AMS accreditation standards are here]
Never before in the history of MCS has there been a class with no assistant, but a patchwork system of adults periodically doing "specials" who are now defined or counted as "assistants," and used in lieu of an assistant. Moreover, we're told there are times that there is only 1 adult in the class with most or all 32 kids. AMS has a published standard maximum of 20 students to each staff person. [AMS accreditation standards are here]
Never before in the history of MCS has a class been spread across two non-contiguous classrooms where an adult is not regularly present in each classroom. The one prior time MCS had a class that was spread across these two classrooms, there were 33 students, two lead teachers, and two assistants.
Never before in the history of MCS have such significant changes to a class been made with little or no input from parents of the children in that class.
Never before in the history of MCS have such significant changes to a classroom been made without fully and accurately communicating them to the parents of the children in that classroom.
Is this class structure the best way to address last year's UE problems? To now increase class size, eliminate the assistant, move to a class space where the kids can't all be seen and supervised, etc.?
Why not add a full time assistant to the room? Wendy wrote to UE parents on September 15 that "We have taken a collaborative approach to guiding the students that includes purposeful work with several adults as opposed to less active supervision by one assistantà" But isn't this a false choice? Why shouldn't these adults doing specials be IN ADDITION TO a full-time UE assistant? Why not ALSO have a full time assistant for reasons of safety, supervision, and education?

The entire letter to UE parents is here. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

A Policy of Retribution at the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville?

2006-02-01T02:59:00.001-05:00

Where did this new policy come from that says if an older child doesn't complete a three-year cycle, then all younger siblings may be banished from the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops, regardless of how many years a family has been a faithful, tuition-paying customer? How can such a policy co-exist with the diametrically-opposed principle of individually "following the child"? Since this new policy is a complete reversal of the school's past practices, did the Board vote to approve this change, or was this policy surreptitiously slipped into the Parent Handbook without Board approval? Given the fact that this policy was never part of the enrollment agreement parents signed for the 2005-2006 school year, doesn't it seem improper (if not illegal) for it to be invoked into practice during the 2005-2006 school year? Does it seem that the policy is being arbitrarily and inconsistently applied and is being used as a pretext for retribution (so much so that when the Board found out how parents were being treated when meeting with the Head of School to discuss this policy, the Board apparently had to inform her that it is not acceptable to treat parents with arrogance and insults?) While it is understood that some Montessori Primary schools REQUEST that students stay through kindergarten, is it an AMS-approved practice or a Montessori "best practice" to kick out every family member in a school that goes through the 8th grade, if one child needs to leave before completing a three-year cycle? And what about cases where the school is admittedly at fault for the removal of a child, such as was the case in this year's UE? When the school's at fault, why should younger siblings be punished for that? Don't parents deserve a clear, written explanation from the Board as to why this policy was established; whether the policy is officially endorsed by the Board at this point in time; and, if so, how the policy will be implemented in the future and whether it should co-exist along with an ombudsman or other appeals system for cases where the policy is applied inconsistently or without warrant? Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville

Posted by Name Withheld, Fears Retribution From Head of School No. 6

Top Ten List -- Classroom Structure and Intimidation at MCS

2006-02-01T02:54:00.001-05:00

Concerned MCS Parent Name Withheld No. 6, Fears Retribution from Head of School, poses this Top Ten list of questions about the Montessori Community School of Charlottesville at Pantops:

CLASSROOM STRUCTURE -- Five Questions That Deserve Answers

1. What could possibly have triggered the change from the traditional, time-tested, sensible classroom structure of one-lead-guide-plus-one-aide, into a rotating patchwork aide system using "student support specialists" (as the elementary aides are now called)? FULL LIST OF QUESTIONS HERE.

THE ART OF INTIMIDATION -- Five Questions That Deserve Answers

1. Does it seem that an atmosphere of intimidation pervades the Montessori Community School now and that pressure tactics have become the norm? For example, are parents wrong to think that fundraising contributions should be a private choice, and not an act of public coercion as was evidenced this year with an open hand reaching in through car windows at drop-off time, pleading for a donation? FULL LIST OF QUESTIONS HERE. Technorati Tags: montessori charlottesville