Urban Mamas

Thank you to the parents who've taken time out from your hectic days to respond to my questions. Your responses are very reassuring. "Collor" hit the nail on the head in mentioning the "leap of faith" and the search for the "perfect" school--the primary sources for the small doubts I have. We've decided to enroll at Ivy, and as each day passes we are more grateful and excited about the opportunity, both for our daughter, and for us to roll up our sleeves and get in there and help out!

We have a 1st grade daughter at Ivy and it has been a wonderful experience thus far! We had her in a Montessori pre school/K, so this was just a natural continuation for our family.
The principal is FANTASTIC. She is very supportive of her staff, students and families. She continually works hard and through her leadership, Ivy has grown and will continue to grow into an amazing place for kids to learn.
As far as test results, keep in mind this is just one way to measure learning. The school is only in it's 2nd year of being open and the children that are at Ivy have come from all different types of educational backgrounds. I believe once children complete 3 year cycles at the school, you will see a dramatic increase in test scores. When I was researching schools, many of the charters did not have high test scores the first 3 or 4 years of being open, interesting enough, the scores increased the more years they were open.
The bottom line is you are taking a leap of faith when you choose to enroll your child into any school. You want it to be perfect. I realized a long time ago, no one school had it all. For us, we would not compromise on educational philosophy, knowing that was our biggest priority, the Ivy School was our "perfect" choice.

where did you find the test results online?

There is a 3-6 community there, but-- like the preschool at Opal or Trillium, it is a private, tuition based school.

Hi! Current Ivy parent here. First of all, Kim is *wonderful*. She takes time to really talk with parents and I feel like she knows my kids. She spends time in the classroom, and always responds to my personal questions.

Ivy is very much traditional Montessori. I feel that Tammy Kennedy's version of Montessori is *very true* to the original ideals. That said, there are a lot of kids coming from other educational experiences, and so some modifications are needed. Some kids (after observation, of course!) have work plans to help them stay focused.

One note: Ivy *absolutely depends* on a lot of parental involvement. It is a small school (currently only 120 kids) so that is not a lot of families to draw from. If you don't want to roll up your sleeves and really get involved, then it might not be a great fit.

If you go into the school expecting a Private Montessori experience, you will not find it. Private schools get to pick and choose their students, public schools do not. But Ivy is really a wonderful testament to the Montessori approach.

One note on the test scores from last year-- one of the teachers who was here last year was *very* lazy. She didn't really do much teaching except for her "class pets." She is (thankfully) gone. She was good at pretending to teach, but really didn't.

The new administrator, Kim Carlson, is the administrator for Ivy only. Tammy Kennedy is still Executive Administrator of Montessori of Alameda, and is Board Chair at Ivy. I met with Kim Carlson the other day, and she was very nice, and seems very invested in the Montessori approach, but noted the need for Ivy to still meet PPS standards. She's taken some training in Montessori and is doing some more this summer. I've heard from a parent that she's very involved in the school--participating in drop-offs, etc. While I was there she helped out some students with the copier and opening rooms, since the administrative assistant doesn't arrive until later in the morning. She's definitely willing to get in the trenches. I'd still love to hear from some current parents, or anyone familiar with the guides there!

Does the whole school have a new administrator (the rest of the montessori program) or just the Ivy School? I used to work for MOA and liked the program but didn't know if they had changed the whole company around. I do know about the Ivy School (was around before it started) and the newer primary/toddler classrooms.