Schoolhouse rocked: Debate rumbles on Montessori's mountain

Mar 9

Silhouetted figures of children cartwheel across the campus, but what's going on inside a local school high atop Pantops Mountain has some parents flipping out– and pulling their children out. In an open letter signed by 11 families that began circulating by email in mid-February, the former chair of the Montessori Community School board enumerates "reduced emphasis on basic academics," "overcrowded, chaotic, and unsafe classrooms not conducive to learning," as well as "false, deceptive, and/or incomplete communications to parents on critical issues."

4Better Or Worse

The week in review
Most hung jury: A mistrial is declared March 6 in the murder trial of William Franklin "Billy" Marshall, accused of strangling Azlee Hickman, 18, March 13, 2004. Marshall c...

Editor's Note

Yeatts evidence: "Shelf Life" begins
In this issue, we welcome Thomas Yeatts, who has devised a new column merging local literary interests and events with cultural context. In this, his debut of "Shelf...

The Dish

Cops who cook: Fundraiser puts chief in the kitchen
Last Sunday, March 5, the Monticello Area Community Action Agency (MACAA) kicked off its 19th annual Men Who Cook! fundraiser at the Seasonal Cook with a special pre...
DISH- Cops who cook: Fundraiser puts chief in the kitchen

Essays

ESSAY- Heart attack: All's well that ends well
Heart attack: All's well that ends well
My 48-year-old doctor-spouse chalks up the pain in his shoulder to post-golf muscle strain and blames his indigestion on the 19th hole chili-dog. As both complaints ...

Question of the Week

What do you know about Montessori schools?
Roy Miller:"They have a special teaching attitude, like Eureka College, I guess. They have a method of teaching for kids who are more interested in education than in...
QUESTION OF THE WEEK- What do you know about Montessori schools?

Real Estate

Real Estate - $old

$old
ALBEMARLE 10/21 RD Wade Builder Inc. to John E. and Lois S. Post, 0.426 acres at 3392 Darby Road, Glenmore, Keswick, $669,000. Steven and Heather Leonardo, tru...
REAL ESTATE- $old

Real Estate - Commercial Construction Permits

Commercial construction permits
CHARLOTTESVILLE 2/16 Nationwide Health Properties, 1242 Cedars Court, rehab therapy addition, $163,811. 2/21 First Virginia Bank- Blue Ridge, 120 Seminole Cou...

Real Estate - Off the Block

Off the Block
APPEARED IN THE HOOK: December 15, 2005 in issue 0450 ADDRESS: 240 Warren Street, Scottsville ASKING PRICE: $449,000 SELLING PRICE: $410,700 2005 COUNTY ASSESSMENT: $304,00...

Real Estate - On the Block

REAL ESTATE- ON THE BLOCK- Rock house: A river runs through it
Rock house: A river runs through it
ADDRESS: 805 Oak Avenue NEIGHBORHOOD: Rose Cliff, Waynesboro ASKING: $475,000 2005 CITY ASSESSMENT: $208,600 YEAR BUILT: 1748 SIZE: 2,579 fin. sq. ft., 998 unfin. LA...

Real Estate Property auctions

Property Auctions
March 13 at 9am at the Greene County Courthouse Property: 101 Greene Lea Drive, Green Lea subdivision Debtor: unknown Amount owing: $94,000 Bidder brings: $9...

Art Features

CULTURE- ART FEATURE- Local Looks: C2D is flat-out fun
Local Looks: C2D is flat-out fun
Regular readers of this column know a sure-fire way to make me roll my eyes is to mention a "group show." But there is one collective endeavor I always look forward ...

DR. HooK

Salt water helps: Colds can lead to sinusitis
Felix Unger from The Odd Couple has a bad rap. C'mon, if you had to live with an ultra slob like Oscar Madison– who probably smells like spoiled Oscar Mayer– ve...

Movie Reviews

Hedon seek: Depp's 'Libertine' a pompous bore
"You will not like me," John Wilmot (Johnny Depp), the 2nd Earl of Rochester, promises at the opening of The Libertine. "The gentlemen will be envious and the ladies...
MOVIE REVIEW- Hedon seek: Depp's 'Libertine' a pompous bore

Music Reviews

CD round-up II: Folk, pop, and a Carnival of Odditie
March Madness is upon us. In sports, that phrase, of course, refers to college basketball hoops and hoop dreams. In music, March Madness is that time of year when the tour ...
MUSIC REVIEW- CD round-up II: Folk, pop, and a Carnival of Oddities

News

Budget time: The cost of being "world class"
Property owners still reeling from this year's 18 percent average assessment increases could get a couple of Band-aids to staunch the flow in Charlottesville's new, ...
Deep-sixed: Don't bother to learn 'Shenandoah'
No, Virginia, you still are without an officially blessed state tune. The Rules Committee in the Virginia House of Delegates voted Wednesday, March 1, to table a mea...
Hollymedium: There grows the neighborhood
There's Target and Starbucks, but the only center in the ever-expanding Hollymead Town Center on 29N is the huge sweep of asphalt parking lot. While that may be expe...
Last ball: 'Clam' actually aided recruiting
The last ball has dropped, and the run of what Ted Jeffries long ago referred to as "The Pregnant Clam" has ended. Okay, so Jeffries isn't so sure that he actually ever gav...
Miller's time: Can he work Warner's magic?
It worked for Tim Kaine in 2005– but will running on the coattails of Mark Warner work for Harris Miller in 2006? "I want to have the same a bipartisan approach Gov. ...
NEWS- Budget time: The cost of being "world class"
NEWS- Deep-sixed: Don't bother to learn 'Shenandoah'
NEWS- Last ball: 'Clam' actually aided recruiting
NEWS- Miller's time: Can he work Warner's magic?

On Architecture

ON ARCHITECTURE- Urban hustle: Ready for <I>two more</I> Malls?
Urban hustle: Ready for <I>two more</I> Malls?
For readers who don't know, Albemarle Place is Charlottesville's biggest test case for new urbanism a development scheduled to rise up at the intersection of Route 2...

The Brazen Careerist

Caffeine nap: Try new energy booster
I've been doing a little research on sleep, and I've found that the more I understand about nutrition, the better I eat. I thought the same would hold true for sleep...
THE BRAZEN CAREERIST- Caffeine nap: Try new energy booster

Strange But True

Go fetch! Brainy dog finds toys
Q. Could a dog learn to pick a novel object out of a group of familiar ones– without ever having seen the object or being taught its name before? – R. T. Tin ...
STRANGE BUT TRUE- Go fetch! Brainy dog finds toys

Facetime

Fischer's price: Hired by Keswick, he rocked
Describing someone as a "musician's musician," is typically a value judgment– "This guy is good," it implies. "Even other artists appreciate his work." In Vern...

Hotseat

Cox on Council: Keeping the part-timers in line
In 1983, Jeanne Cox had a small catering business in Charlottesville that was so successful that before long she knew she had to either expand it or change jobs alto...
HOTSEAT- Cox on Council: Keeping the part-timers in line

Letters

Biofuels tops in efficiency
I was interested to read Ronald Bailey's piece in the February 23 Hook ["Energy rhubarb: Biofuels lead to biofeud"]. As the events director for Public Policy Virginia, a lo...
Courts should ease up on fathers
I was so glad to hear another woman speak out about the inhumane laws of marriage and divorce courts [Letter, "Kroboth driven crazy," March 2]. I too do not know Kur...
LETTER- Biofuels tops in efficiency
LETTER- Courts should ease up on fathers

Uncategorized

Rita's repose: Getting catty with fiction
SOUR PUSS (A Mrs. Murphy Mystery ) By Rita Mae Brown 272 pages Bantam Books While writers of fiction have often deferred to an otherworldly muse fo...
Silver Jews: David Berman clears things up
Silver Jews mastermind David Berman has been distancing himself from the rock success story of fellow UVA alums Pavement over the course of the past few albums, dete...

Full Stories List for March 9th, 2006 issue #0510

4Better Or Worse