That’s what last week’s article in the Gazette — “New private school in Darnestown geared toward gifted youngsters” — was. Simply sloppy. No doubt it started off as a PR pitch for the new Feynman School (the “Special to…”) but then, in the interest of “balance” decided it needed to tell the MCPS side of the story, hence the quote from the new head of AEI, Monique Felder:
“Overall we do have programs and services in place to meet the needs of our students,” she said. “Especially those whose needs are difficult to meet at the local school.”
Where the story completely went off the rails was in its assertion that
The Montgomery County Board of Education is reviewing whether to drop the “gifted and talented” label — but not the programs — because of the negative effect it can have on the self-esteem of students who don’t make it into the program.
Hello! That was 2008. GTAMC asked for clarification from Board members and AEI, and the Gazette has since issued a correction.
I couldn’t agree with you more. There were so many inaccuracies in the reporting (not only about MCPS, but about the new Feynman School). How the reporter depicted the admissions process, the staff and the overall intent of the school was just downright unprofessional and wrong. It’s too bad, given that this private non-profit school is working hard to serve young gifted preschoolers through first grade with a powerful curriculum and talented leaders who are passionate about gifted education. The entire tone of the feature and number of factual mistakes proved downright disappointing. Sadly, this reporter – and her editor – missed a viable opportunity to share timely, positive news with the community. Sloppy indeed.