Friday, August 9, 2013
Link to Missoula International School's Strategic Plan includes comments on Prescott School
The link to Missoula International School's Strategic Plan includes comments on Prescott School and how it figures into this plan.
Below is a link to this Missoula International School plan.
It appears that they wish to have a "ROOSEVELT SCHOOL REPEAT". That is MIS wishes to obtain Prescott School for their long-term use, including buying Prescott School just as the St. Joseph's School organization leased and then bought Roosevelt School for a sweetheart price of $1.2 million dollars.
The acquisition of Prescott School by Missoula International School MUST BE STOPPED for the good of our Rattlesnake children and also for the good of ALL of Missoula County Public Schools.
Decreasing classroom space effects all of Missoula taxpayers as the need for classroom space means that a NEW expensive school is about to be proposed. THIS HAS ALREADY HAPPENED! The discussion of a new school in the Miller Creek area has taken place. psm agrees that a school in this area would be beneficial for the residents of the area, however, not at the expense of taking away a public school for our children in other areas of the city. WE MUST BE FAIR TO ALL RESIDENTS OF MISSOULA, THAT IS IN THE OLDER RESIDENTIAL AREAS OF THE CITY AS WELL AS THE NEW AREAS.
www.mismt.org/documents/strategic_plan_web_smfl.pdf
Monday, August 5, 2013
Missoula International School hopes to renew lease on Prescott School building
To Pat McHugh,
In the Missoulian article published on July 10, 2011, (see link below) written by Victoria Edwards, you state the following:
"However, Pat McHugh, executive director of business and operations at MCPS, said the school district has no expectation of using the Prescott School building presently or in the future."
Then WHY in 2012 did Missoula County Public School authorize the building of a modular ont the Rattlesnake playground at the tune of about $250,000??
During the early winter and spring months of 2011 Principal Seidensticker and the district took Rattlesnake parents and teachers through another mini-hell as the district was discussing sending more of our Rattlesnake children to OTHER SCHOOLS - OUT OF THE RATTLESNAKE Valley.
The school to which the district was thinking of sending our students was Paxson School.
Hey, psm thought that the district didn't need Prescott School as evidenced by Pat McHugh's shortsighted comments !!
psm attended most of these meetings discussing how the district was going to deal with the over-crowding at Rattlesnake School. It turns out that Paxson School did NOT really have room for anymore children,. Of particular interest, one of the supposedly empty rooms was going to be used for a Lewis and Clark kindergarten classroom - THIS WAS NOT MENTIONED IN THE MISSOULIAN ARTICLE on this topic NOR BY ANY ADMINISTRATORS OR TRUSTEES!!
Another important point to remember - not too long ago, psm believes in 2009, the district built an addition to Lewis and Clark School for approximately $500,000. It would have behooved the district to re-open another school - perhaps Jefferson - to house the overflow of Lewis and Clark.
Prescott School could have also been used for this purpose. In the early '60's the over-flow of Lewis and Clark School students were sent to LINCOLN SCHOOL in the Rattlesnake. psm knows this as psm was one of these L&C students in 4th grade that was bused to Lincoln School and psm must say it was "heaven"
What a shame to lose Lincoln School And what a shame to have Prescott School leased to a private school. What negligence the distict has imposed on the Rattlesnake Valley for years!!!
The above (bulding a modular instead of re-opening Prescott) is just another example of incompetence and corruption regarding facility decisions by our school district officials.
Missoula International School hopes to renew lease on Prescott School building
| Prescott School Missoula will NOT delete the You Tube video exposing the Missoula International School for Breach of Contract in regard to the private school's care of the playground at Prescott School. MIS is STILL in Breach of Contract as the playground is STILL NOT UP TO DISTRICT STANDARDS AS WRITTEN IN ALL THREE OF THE PRESCOTT/MISSOULA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL LEASE CONTRACTS. Go to any of the other Missoula County Public School playgrounds in Missoula and ALL of the lawn area is GREEN. MIS has never watered the hill behind Prescott and in this negligence KNAPWEED has proliferated. MIS has rarely watered the front lawn of the school; the lawn has DISAPPEARED!! NO!! psm will NEVER delete this video.- even after MIS has vacated the premises. This video shall forever be a reminder of the SAD SAD lease agreement between MIS and MCPS. Prescott School Missoula has many many more pictures including RECENT pictures of the neglect caused by MISSOULA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL. As one can see from this comment the supporters of MIS do not understand the meaning of "MAINTENANCE OF THE GROUNDS". MCPS is equally negligent as they let this atrocity slide.  | |||||||||||||||
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Tuesday, July 23, 2013
MCPS gives 13 percent raise to Superintendent Apostle - Missoulian article from the January 16, 2013 edition
The link to the January 16th, 2013 article reporting on MCPS Superintendent's raise is below.
MCPS gives 13 percent raise to Superintendent Apostle
There were 92 comments (!) in the comment section after the article. One can find a lot of interesting information in many of the comments. Actually, Prescott School Missoula is in agreement with most of them as psm is against out-of-line salaries and raises for administrative positions. Remember: psm had a child profoundly effected by the 2004 school closures - the closing of three northeast schools at one time, including Prescott, Rattlesnake Middle School in the Rattlesnake Valley, and Mt. Jumbo in East Missoula.
The reasoning given for the closures was due to financial considerations, i.e. the administration stating there was not enough money to keep the schools open. Ever since this heartbreaking expereince, when there is wasteful spending a feeling of betrayal surfaces for psm - rightfully so, in my opinion.
One of the interesting comments that especially pertains to Prescott School is the following:
So they had letters from the CEO of Alps. I believe that school board member Mike Smiths wife works for Alps.
also a letter from lambros, I believe lambros, Reibein and Apostle goe to the same church. I wonder how hard it was to get those letters."
"Sherman" states that Michael Smith's wife works for ALPS. Another person also has worked for ALPS is DAVID REHBEIN - Toni Rehbein's husband.
Would not the fact that Michael Smith's wife and Toni Rehbein's husband work at the same company be an important fact to know since MCPS Board Chair Toini Rehbein has acvocated for the Prescott/MIS lease several times and Michael Smith has voted for the Prescott/MIS lease extension.
As stated in many of the posts on this blog Missoula County Public Schools Board Chair served on the Board of Missoula International School shortly before being elected to the MCPS Board in 2004.
Was the reason Michael Smith ran for the school board to help secure the lease of Prescott School for Missoula International School? It seems entirely possible, especially now that we know his connections to the Rehbeins.
MCPS gives 13 percent raise to Superintendent Apostle
There were 92 comments (!) in the comment section after the article. One can find a lot of interesting information in many of the comments. Actually, Prescott School Missoula is in agreement with most of them as psm is against out-of-line salaries and raises for administrative positions. Remember: psm had a child profoundly effected by the 2004 school closures - the closing of three northeast schools at one time, including Prescott, Rattlesnake Middle School in the Rattlesnake Valley, and Mt. Jumbo in East Missoula.
The reasoning given for the closures was due to financial considerations, i.e. the administration stating there was not enough money to keep the schools open. Ever since this heartbreaking expereince, when there is wasteful spending a feeling of betrayal surfaces for psm - rightfully so, in my opinion.
One of the interesting comments that especially pertains to Prescott School is the following:
So they had letters from the CEO of Alps. I believe that school board member Mike Smiths wife works for Alps.
also a letter from lambros, I believe lambros, Reibein and Apostle goe to the same church. I wonder how hard it was to get those letters."
"Sherman" states that Michael Smith's wife works for ALPS. Another person also has worked for ALPS is DAVID REHBEIN - Toni Rehbein's husband.
Would not the fact that Michael Smith's wife and Toni Rehbein's husband work at the same company be an important fact to know since MCPS Board Chair Toini Rehbein has acvocated for the Prescott/MIS lease several times and Michael Smith has voted for the Prescott/MIS lease extension.
As stated in many of the posts on this blog Missoula County Public Schools Board Chair served on the Board of Missoula International School shortly before being elected to the MCPS Board in 2004.
Was the reason Michael Smith ran for the school board to help secure the lease of Prescott School for Missoula International School? It seems entirely possible, especially now that we know his connections to the Rehbeins.
Conversations in the lower Rattlenake - the neighborhood of Prescott School
Today Prescott School Missoula visited with a couple that have lived in their home in the lower Rattlesnake for many years and have raised their children in this neighborhood.
Their children attended Prescott School in past years.
During our conversation they stated that they believe that neighborhood schools are the most beneficial for students. They prefer the K-8 school configuration so that children can attend their neighborhood schools.
This couple's children started out going to kindergarten at the University Church kindergarten (the University Congregational Church?). Note: Prescott School Missoula attended this kindergarten in the early '60's.
After kindergarten their children attended Prescott School for grades K-5 and then went on to attend Rattlesnake Middle School.
Later, their children attended Mt. Jumbo School for K-3, Prescott School for grades 4 and 5, and then Rattlesnake Middle School for grades 6-8.
The children attended Hellgate High School for their high school education.
This Rattlesnake couple is disappointed in all the busing taking place in Missoula. Prescott School Missoula mentioned to them that on schoolsopen.org (not sure about the accuracy of this website) it states that the cost of busing in Missoula has increased about a million dollars in the last 10 years.
They also are disappointed in the school district's philosophy that bigger schools are better for students and remember during the 2004 school closures that the district officials called the bigger schools, "attendance centers" and thought this was not in the best interests of our children.
This couple along with Prescott School Missoula do not currently have children in the public school children. Many people care about the education of Missoula's children- not just the parents which currently have children in the system. Many Missoulians are disappointed in what is going on with our schools - seeing so many of our schools have been closed in the last 25 years (three at one time in 2004).
Additionally, people care about the health of their neighborhoods. A neighborhood school is the "heart of the neighborhood" and is important for everyone in the neighborhood.
Prescott School Missoula was grateful for my conversation with this lower Rattlesnake couple. It is so comforting to speak with people that support our BELOVED PRESCOTT SCHOOL and support neighborhood schools in general and the K-8 school configuration.
Viva Prescott School!
Their children attended Prescott School in past years.
During our conversation they stated that they believe that neighborhood schools are the most beneficial for students. They prefer the K-8 school configuration so that children can attend their neighborhood schools.
This couple's children started out going to kindergarten at the University Church kindergarten (the University Congregational Church?). Note: Prescott School Missoula attended this kindergarten in the early '60's.
After kindergarten their children attended Prescott School for grades K-5 and then went on to attend Rattlesnake Middle School.
Later, their children attended Mt. Jumbo School for K-3, Prescott School for grades 4 and 5, and then Rattlesnake Middle School for grades 6-8.
The children attended Hellgate High School for their high school education.
This Rattlesnake couple is disappointed in all the busing taking place in Missoula. Prescott School Missoula mentioned to them that on schoolsopen.org (not sure about the accuracy of this website) it states that the cost of busing in Missoula has increased about a million dollars in the last 10 years.
They also are disappointed in the school district's philosophy that bigger schools are better for students and remember during the 2004 school closures that the district officials called the bigger schools, "attendance centers" and thought this was not in the best interests of our children.
This couple along with Prescott School Missoula do not currently have children in the public school children. Many people care about the education of Missoula's children- not just the parents which currently have children in the system. Many Missoulians are disappointed in what is going on with our schools - seeing so many of our schools have been closed in the last 25 years (three at one time in 2004).
Additionally, people care about the health of their neighborhoods. A neighborhood school is the "heart of the neighborhood" and is important for everyone in the neighborhood.
Prescott School Missoula was grateful for my conversation with this lower Rattlesnake couple. It is so comforting to speak with people that support our BELOVED PRESCOTT SCHOOL and support neighborhood schools in general and the K-8 school configuration.
Viva Prescott School!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Students immersed in Spanish at Missoula International School - Missoulian article published in the October 11, 2010 edition
Read a 2010 Missoulian article reporting on the Missoula International School now leasing Prescott School.
Students immersed in Spanish at Missoula International School
Note that MIS was started in a basement of a home and now has 145 full time equivalent students. This enrollment increase would NOT have occurred if MIS had not received a sweetheart lease of Prescott School begun in 2004. The use of a public school by a private school is not in the best interests of the public school district which has been explained over and over in meetings and in writing since 2004.The closure of Prescott School and the subsequent lease approval and extensions has been allowed by DISLOYAL MISSOULA COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLTRUSTEES.
Below is information which reporter Jamie Kelly included on Missoula International School.
Missoula International School
The article reporting on Missoula International School was part of a
series of articles written by Jamie Kelly named "Hall Passages". A
description is quoted below.
Editor’s note: “Hall Passages” is a weekly education feature in the
Missoulian. Each week on a rotating basis, K-12 education
reporter Jamie Kelly visits a private or public school in the
Missoula Valley to see what’s new in the halls and walls of our l
earning institutions. This week, Kelly spent some time at the
Missoula International School."
Students immersed in Spanish at Missoula International School
Note that MIS was started in a basement of a home and now has 145 full time equivalent students. This enrollment increase would NOT have occurred if MIS had not received a sweetheart lease of Prescott School begun in 2004. The use of a public school by a private school is not in the best interests of the public school district which has been explained over and over in meetings and in writing since 2004.The closure of Prescott School and the subsequent lease approval and extensions has been allowed by DISLOYAL MISSOULA COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLTRUSTEES.
Below is information which reporter Jamie Kelly included on Missoula International School.
Missoula International School
Address: 1100 Harrison St.
Mascot: None
Year Founded: 1995
Enrollment: 160 (145 full-time equivalent)
Full-time (or
FT-equivalent) teachers:
15
Student-teacher ratio: 10-to-1
Head of school: Julie Lennox (15th year)
Notable feature: MIS, which began as a preschool program in a
living room, now occupies the former Prescott School, a property of the
Missoula County Public Schools district.
Prescott School Missoula would have liked to have read more
about the lease and it's drawbacks in the article. This information
would have been of great interest to Missoula taxpayers as they are
virtually subsidizing the private school.
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