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Old 02-02-2008, 02:40 PM
 
1 posts, read 5,060 times
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Pinewoods is a wonderful school! Very involved parents, a great location, and excellent teachers. The web site is [url=http://www.pinewoodsmontessori.com]Pinewoods Montessori School[/url]
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Old 02-11-2008, 01:57 PM
 
1 posts, read 5,046 times
Reputation: 15
I'd approach the Pinewoods Montessori School option with caution. The head of school there is known for being difficult, favoring certain children over others, not having patience with less-than-exceptional students and is generally burned out. You can't access the school without calling first and the head teacher doesn't allow parents to meet with each other without her being present--too many horror stories going around the community to count! I've heard that she's good using the Montessori terminology but doens't truly practice it (aka respect for others).

Beware and good luck!

PS: have heard great things about Montessori Children's House in Durham, hte Montessori School of Raleigh and also the Montessori Farm School in Hillsborough.
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Old 02-29-2008, 02:36 PM
 
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Thumbs down Pinewoods Montessori School

The director (she is also the owner and one of the teachers) is a very desorganized and difficult person to deal with. She is rude not only with staff and parents but also with kids. Parents used to give excuses like: " She is not a that friendly with adults but she is good with the kids!". I heard already of too many cases of kids diagnostic with child depresssion to believe that. Last year the Toddler's class had 3 diferent teachers in the same school year and another pre-primary teacher left too. More then half of the students did not re-enroll this year. There are also cases (not only one...) of parents that are been sued for tuition money after the director insulted them verbaly and in written. There are no clear rules in this school (the director is the one making the decisions), some kids that are not old enough to be in a certain age group class are allow, if the director decides so, and other not. This year a board of unexpiriences parents are going to be in charge of the school and they are trying to hire a new director but the former director/owner will still be there teaching.....I would look for other peacefull and stable options for my kids. There are others Montessori school's in Hillborough, Chapel Hill and Durham.
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Old 03-02-2008, 12:46 PM
 
Location: north raleigh
108 posts, read 493,255 times
Reputation: 44
Default NO No No Private schools being "Financially Selective" Is not part of the point of sending kids to private schools!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nacht View Post
I feel your pain but isn't "financially selective" part of the point in sending a kid to private school?
One of my children is enrolled at Ravenscroft. it is a great school that gets a bad rap for being "the school for rich kids" We are budgeting to afford the tuiton at this school. We realize that many families can't possibly budget enough to afford the tuition. Before enrolling my child, we asked about economic diversity. There are many deserving families who recieve assisance from people like ME because I WANT kids from all walks of life to be in school with my kids.
I'm told that no one gets a "free ride" so based on the income of a family, there will be some financial obligation.
Not every parent wants a private school for their child but if financial reasons is what is holding you back please know that Ravenscroft and most private schools offer financial assisance. The parents in ost cases provide the funding for financial assistance. We want kids to get assistance.
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Old 03-02-2008, 05:25 PM
 
9,680 posts, read 27,082,704 times
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There's more than tuition involved as I see it.

How do the kids of the "haves" treat the kids of the "have nots" who get scholarships?

Don't they feel inferior when Mom drops them in a Chevy, not a Beemer?
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Old 03-02-2008, 07:16 PM
 
Location: north raleigh
108 posts, read 493,255 times
Reputation: 44
Default Please re-read my post

Quote:
Originally Posted by saturnfan View Post
There's more than tuition involved as I see it.

How do the kids of the "haves" treat the kids of the "have nots" who get scholarships?

Don't they feel inferior when Mom drops them in a Chevy, not a Beemer?
I don't have a "beemer" If I did, I wouldn't call it a "beemer" and my kids certainly would not. Scholarships are available because families like mine WANT kids who would not otherwise to be able to afford it in school with our kids. I was raised my a single mom who taught school. No way would I have been able to get into private school. My husband had a similar experience growing up.
Sure, you'll see the occassional woman in a full length fur dripping diamonds checking out the car you're driving but you'll get that anywhere from time to time. Most of us just want our kids to have classmates and friends who are nice kids from nice families. We don't care if they live in an apt or in a mansion.
For every "snob" who wants their kids in an exclusive environment there or 4 or 5 like me. BTW, no one knows who has help and who doesn't. I guess if someone had absolutely nothing better to do they might try to figure out what the parents do, where they live, what they drive, etc. But I know lots of people who would like to afford a private school but can't because they have spent all thier $ of their home and vehicles.

I think Chevy's are cool and so do my kids.
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Old 03-03-2008, 04:34 AM
 
9,680 posts, read 27,082,704 times
Reputation: 4163
You are one of the good ones, then.

I've met some private school parents who don't feel their lovely kiddies should be exposed to lower status children.

Still remember living in a middle income NYC project. Big shots walked by us as if we were mounds of dog waste.
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Old 03-03-2008, 09:14 AM
 
34 posts, read 101,508 times
Reputation: 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by saturnfan View Post
There's more than tuition involved as I see it.

How do the kids of the "haves" treat the kids of the "have nots" who get scholarships?

Don't they feel inferior when Mom drops them in a Chevy, not a Beemer?
I was what you might call a "have-not" and I never felt out of place in private school.

Kids don't generally make financial decisions...I never knew that my church paid for part of my tuition until I was much older. I even got free lunch and no one ever knew because the teachers did not make a big deal about it and neither did the children.

Most teachers want to make the educational experience about educating the child, not about embarrassing them. I try to protect my students from this stigma - I teach mostly very poor children (household income averages around $14k). Kids who are taught to respect others generally do so, especially in the younger grades.

Back to the topic, I also read about Casa Esperanza and I am very interested in that school. I have read that many of the teachers are bilingual, which would be wonderful because my children are bilingual and I would like them to continue speaking both languages at school. All of the reviews of this school were really positive and high. I did not realize that it was a charter school, but that's a plus for me, too! I think Montessori is the way to go for my 4 year-old because she is very advanced in several areas and she will be able to explore higher level material in a varied-age classroom.
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Old 03-31-2008, 01:01 PM
 
1 posts, read 4,898 times
Reputation: 12
I'd recommend taking the above folks' comments on Pinewoods with a grain of salt. We have two children attending the school, one for two years now, and absolutely love it. I have found that some parents don't like the school's style as they are not able to give up control more than anything. I would highly recommend you visit and judge for yourself - forums like this have a tendency to only attract negative comments about things.
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Old 03-31-2008, 01:42 PM
 
1,036 posts, read 3,182,834 times
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I'll also chime in as someone who went to a private school on scholarship. Kids are kids regardless of whether they're in private school or in public school. Kids can be just as cruel in public school to those who don't have the right clothes or the right car or the right friends. Jerky kids are jerky kids regardless of whether they attend public or private school. Great kids are great kids everywhere. I just, two weeks ago, learned that a girl I went to school with is the daughter of the CEO of Neiman Marcus. This is a totally down to earth, nice person whose wedding I attended. she never made me feel like I wasn't worthy of the education I was getting because I couldn't afford it.
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