“Kids are working with binomial and trinomial cubes at the kindergarten level, so later when algebra gets introduced, they know what they’re doing,” Flayhan said. “Those kids in the third grade, they didn’t go through the Montessori curriculum, so you really can’t expect to see the Montessori curriculum playing out in test scores until the kids who are in the first grade right now are in the third grade.”
A ‘360-degree’ look
Paul Padalino, who became the district’s superintendent in January, said the future of the program, or any changes it might undergo if it’s determined it needs to adapt to be successful in Kingston, will be based on a number of factors.
“Looking at the test scores isn’t the only answer,” Padalino said. “That’s why we’re taking a 360-degree look at the program so we can have all the information we need to make a decision that’s best for the kids. Once we get that information in front of us, we can be able to tell people what’s going on.”
To help school officials determine the health of GW’s Montessori program, they hired Sean Walmsley, an emeritus professor at the University of Albany’s School of Education, to conduct an independent study. Padalino said that external review is expected to be completed sometime this summer.
Flayhan said she’s optimistic that the study will help keep the program alive.
“I think he’s examining it to see if it’s working, and if you examine it closely you’ll find it’s working well,” she said. “It might look like an endangered species right now, but it actually could thrive.”
Children’s house shut, 20 face layoff
The program has already taken a couple of hits with the passing of the budget this week, with 3-year olds no longer eligible for the children’s house and over 20 George Washington educators being cut loose, a far higher number than in any other school in the district. But while some critics saw the latter as an indictment of the Montessori program, Padalino stressed that it would be incorrect to view it that way.
“It’s really a product of seniority,” he said. “For whatever reason, our teachers with the least amount of experience tend to be at GW in the Montessori program. When you do layoffs, we don’t necessarily know what buildings people are coming from. You make a cut of a first-grade teacher, it’s where that teacher is on the seniority list.”
Padalino said school officials will ask the union to see if there are other teachers in the district willing to train in the Montessori method and make the move to George Washington, though he hasn’t set a specific timeline as of press time. There is also a possibility that because 22 teachers in the district took advantage of a retirement incentive, the reductions at George Washington might not wind up being so severe.
“We will have callbacks,” Padalino said. “Some of those people from GW may be on that callback list.”
Padalino said he expects the independent study will help answer many questions school officials are hoping to address, and he hopes, in turn, the district will be able to clarify what Montessori is all about and what it means to Kingston in the future.
“I think it’s almost a mystery to some people, Montessori,” Padalino said. “It’s not new. It’s been around forever, and it’s been proven effective in some places. In some ways it’s a nice addition to our elementary program here, and it makes us unique. But we don’t want to be unique at the expense of doing right by the kids.”
Flayhan said she hopes the program doesn’t sustain any more substantial changes, as she believes the value will continue to show itself the longer it lasts.
“That at-risk population that has an abysmal graduation rate (in Kingston), they’re going to thrive from this Montessori curriculum if it’s allowed to stay,” she said. “The kids work in groups, and they’re really diverse. They really know how to work together as teams, and that’s huge. Montessori is really the original project-based learning.”
The City of Kingston ought to weigh in. And the people who live around GW school and the parents whose children clearly get great benefits from that schools…
Schools just don’t give grades, they define and transform a neighborhood, and GW school is doing that. But if there is silence, if the people who live their, and the alderpersons of those wards and the Mayor of the city and all the people who wonder what they are getting for their taxes…
We really need a sheaf of testimonials from citizens… if you are out there, you had best speak up…
I have two children at GW and I could not be happier with the quality of the curriculum, the dedication and depth of the teachers and administrators, and the sense of community that has grown and grown since the onset of the program.
Our children are taught the fundamentals as well as grace and courtesy, and a respect for all living things all around this world. They are given the opportunity to grow -independent of standardized tests. They make decisions day to day in the clasroom that will impact their ability to be free thinking individuals in our society.
GW fosters children who will one day be leaders in our community and I am thankful every single day for the rich experience that this program and Principle “Val” have brought to our diverse community.
In summary, I LOVE Montesori at GW!
as a parent of two former students of G.W. i can say the montessori program does not work, at least for some children, we struggled for 2 years with my children trying to keep up with this program, it seems to me to be a program that needs to be really looked at , parents, do your homework. we have since moved from the kingston school district to another district and my kids are thriving and blossoming here. i don’t wanna sound negative but in this day of so many issues in schools, bullying and such, we as parents don’t and shouldn’t be pushed into a program that doesn’t work for all by a school district that doesn’t get it. parents, what will your children do when they move up from grade school to a middle school that doesn’t work the montessori program and don’t know how to cope in this learning situation and have to basicly have to be retaught how to learn. think about it. thank you for keeping an open mind please.