Highland Hall - Raising Killer Bees on Campus

Friday, September 6, 2013

Where the bees SHOULDN'T BE!

Highland Hall has employed someone on campus to raise bees...

http://www.timesofisrael.com/how-to-catch-a-spiritual-buzz/

Not honey bees... African bees!  While I'm certain this man is well-meaning, anyone who has read my blog knows that idiots are abundant in Waldorf environments.  From the article linked above:

“These honey bees have African genes, which means they’ll swarm to defend themselves if they feel in danger. You have to approach the hives calmly and carefully,” he explains softly as he sprays smoke into several wooden boxes before peeking inside. “I inspect the hives every few weeks to make sure they are ok.”

Notice, the guy is wearing a protective suit... head to toe with head gear, gloves and so forth.  Safety first.  I happen to know Highland Hall... and I can tell you the lower school playground (1st - 3rd grade) is on the other side of the wooden fence where the bee hives are.  

http://www.webpronews.com/30000-killer-bees-attack-couple-kill-horses-2013-07  "A Texas couple was attacked by what is being described as a swarm of 30,000 killer bees. "  July 29, 2013

http://planetsave.com/2013/07/30/bee-attack-africanized-killer-bees-attack-people-in-texas-kill-their-horses/

Two dead horses, five dead hens, and their owner with a couple hundred bee stings — that’s the end result of a recent bee attack in Texas. The bees in question initiated the attack on Kristen Beauregard and her animals shortly after she had finished exercising the two horses on Wednesday afternoon — according to Beauregard, the attack was completely unprovoked, her and her animals were nowhere near the hive at the time.

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/city_life/08-06-13-summer-of-killer-bees-aggressive-swarms-plague-texas-leaving-one-dead-and-many-others-injured/

Texas has been making national headlines since early June, when a 62-year-old farmer from the Waco area was fatally attacked by a swarm of 40,000 killer bees after he disrupted a hive near an old chicken coop. The expert charged with removing the nest told area reporters that although the sub-species is still rare, he had spotted at least fives hives in the last month.

And the strange bee incidents keep coming:

• A woman in Pasadena nearly died on June 18 after bumping into a hive while mowing her lawn,
• In Arlington, a couple was severely injured on July 27 as they unsuccessfully attempted to save their two miniature horses from roughly 30,000 killer bees,
• A Cypress family discovered mores than 100,000 honey bees living in a front yard tree,
• In north Houston on Aug. 1, a dog named Ace was killed by a swarm while an elderly person was sent to the hospital. Days later, hundreds of thousands of bees were removed from a nearby oak tree, along with 250 pounds of honey.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/huge-swarm-killer-bees-attack-texas-man-3000/story?id=19314956

The family of a Texas man attacked and killed by a huge swarm of Africanized killer bees said Larry Goodwin suffered more than 3,000 stings and collapsed as he was apparently trying to reach a hydrant to wash off the bees.

http://www.kgun9.com/news/local/162318866.html

Bees were attacking workers near discarded trailers and trucks at the scrapyard. It all started when 75-year-old Ramon Figueroa Rascon was helping to clean up trash and debris. Little did he know when he moved an old tire, he would disturb a bee hive underneath.

Nogales Fire Dept. Division Chief Gerry Castro said, "We received a call that several people were being attacked by bees."
 
But firefighters had a battle on their hands because these were not just any ordinary bees -- they were Africanized "killer" bees.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/09/bees-sting-man_n_1759824.html

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas -- A 40-year-old warehouse worker has been stung more than 300 times after accidentally disturbing a massive colony of Africanized bees in Central Texas.

http://www.westernfreepress.com/2012/08/02/more-killer-bee-attacks-in-phoenix/

Some experts don’t like the term “killer bees,” as it evokes B-horror movies about giant ants, marauding tomatoes, or blobs that ate things. But honestly, what else does one call the africanized honeybee? After all, they swarm and kill.

I'm certain Highland Hall's irresponsibility with regard to the safety of children comes as no big surprise to many of us. Sure, the world needs bees... but there's a place for everything. Raising African "killer" bees has its place. But no reasonable person would suggest that place is on a campus full of children. The articles above show these bees can attack without provocation or warning. With the playground just over the wall, it's amazing there hasn't been news of an attack yet. Clearly, it's only a matter of time before a child or group of children are harmed.

Parent Sorry for Trusting Waldorf

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/368640/a-safe-healthy-haven-waldorf-questio\
ners-concerns-thread/60

I have posted about some of our experiences in this forum before so I have been
hesitating writing about them again. Just in case there are some who have not
read them, I will try to describe as quickly as I can what happened to us. Just
to save time I have pasted parts of my old posts, so sorry for the repetion for
those of you who have read my them before.
So here I go………….
My son started a Waldorf Kindergarten at age 3 ½ (at this particular school they
had the preschool and Kindergarten in one class). Because we moved he went to
another Waldorf school when he was 5 and ½.
When it was time to go to first grade, at age 6 and ½ he was unable to focus in
the classroom of 20 children. He had difficulty following the teacher's
instructions and had a hard time sitting still. Also his drawing was not the
same level as most of his peers. After a month he was deemed to be too"
immature" to stay in first grade and was sent back in Kindergarten. At the time
I did not question the decision. I trusted them.
Staying back in Kindergarten was a big mistake. My son became very unruly,
disruptive and refused to participate in the activities. In particular he hated
all the circle games and eurhythmy. All this only made the Waldorf teachers even
more convinced that my son was still not ready for first grade.
We finally got outside help and took my son to see an occupational therapist who
confirmed that he had both fine and gross motor skill delays known as dyspraxia
resulting from sensory integration problems. Sensory over stimulation also
explained why my son could not focus in the first grade classroom. It was not
because he was too immature, but because there was too much stimulation in the
Waldorf classrooms. The set up, which is rows of desks with the teacher in the
front and lots of copying from the blackboard, is not an idea setting for allot
of children.
It was one of kindergarten teachers who first suggested that my son see an
Occupational therapist. However once he started going to one she disapproved of
what the occupational therapist did. The OT usually liked to visit the schools
of the children she was treating to see how they were doing and then give the
teachers advise, but my son's teachers refused to even allow her to visit the
class room! Anyway just a few weeks before my son's 7th birthday some so called
Waldorf "expert" on children with learning problems saw him and maintained that
my son STILL was not ready to go to first grade! She (the "expert") even made
fun of the OTs report saying, "what is dyspraxia? I can't even pronounce it!"
Her only advice was that he was not incarnating properly into his body and he
would have to go to a Waldorf school for children with special needs This was
the final straw for me. I never took our son back to that kindergarten again.
We put our him in a Montessori School instead. He continued seeing the
Occupational therapist. My son made wonderful improvements. To my great relief
the Montessori teachers have had no problem getting him to learn and to follow
and do the work. Within a few months he learned to read and write, do basic
addition and subtraction. And he loved it! Everyone who knew him commented on
how much happier my son seemed after I pulled him out of the Waldorf school.
His Montessori teachers all shook their heads in disbelief over the fact that he
was held back in Kindergarten another year for they felt he was so ready to
learn!
It has been 6 months now. My son is thriving in his new school and all his
behaviour problems are improving. I am still getting used to him not being
considered a "problem" anymore! I look back and it is so clear that Waldorf was
so, so wrong for him. I see he was bored in Kindergarten and angry for being
sent back there. I see it never suited his personality.
In both the Waldorf Kindergartens and the 1st grade there was allot of
unstructured free play with not enough supervision. This was a problem for allot
of children not just my son. From the beginning now I remember parents
complaining about all the bullying going on, kids hitting and getting hit, with
the teachers either saying they were not aware of it or acting like it was not a
problem. I did not want to see it at the time, but it was always there. Waldorf
definitely brought out the "wildness" in my son and I experienced allot of
another children mostly little boys who had difficulties there as well.

So we try to move on and for the most part we have moved on. But I guess I still
keep coming back to this forum because even though everything is getting better,
I still feel anger, sadness and pain.
I feel angry with the teachers for sending my son back to Kindergarten. I feel
angry with my self for going along with it! The move back to Kindergarten really
hurt my son's self esteem and it will be a while before he will catch up
academically. This makes me sad. The Waldorf teachers really made me feel like
the worst mother in the world, like it was my entire fault he was acting up in
the classroom. That really hurt. It really hurts to have people say such
horrible things about your child.
What also hurt is that none of the other parents even bothered to call us when
we left. Afterwards when I ran into any of the parents of my son's former
Waldorf classmates they did not even want to know any thing about my son, that
the child who was once a "problem" was no longer a problem and was now thriving!

Anyway sorry for going on for so long but I really needed to get this out.
Thanks for giving me the chance to vent!
 

Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs Reviews - NXIVM

The Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs has NOTHING but 5-star reviews.  That's usually a tip-off that something is not right with the school.  Further investigation provided the following:

http://saratogaindecline.blogspot.com/2011/01/waldorf-school-of-saratoga-springs.html

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs: NXIVM hotspot? 

First; A women contacted me about her experience in The Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs. She said that she felt so pressed to take NXIVM classes, both from other parents and from school administrators that she pulled her daughter out and enrolled her in my old alma mater Catholic Central{Old St.Peter’s in my day}. She then asked if I knew anything about it, which I must say I didn’t.

Second; Coincidentally someone who is close to me and that I care deeply about asked me what I thought about the school because her granddaughter was thinking of going to their preschool.

Before NXIVM was done with her, she had lost her husband, who was forced to defend himself against ridiculous NXIVM Black Ops allegations, her piece of mind and the respect of the community. So why am I bringing this up? DeeDee at least on the Waldorf School website is still listed as a high school teacher, although she is the only staff member not to have biographical information available.

 

Secrets of NXIVM

  http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Secrets-of-NXIVM-2880885.php

In a Saratoga County townhouse complex, a man who wears a Jesus beard and seeks to patent his philosophies keeps a cluster of adoring women at his side. He has drawn more than 10,000 people to his mission of ethical living. But some disciples say he has delivered a much darker reality.

Susquehana Waldorf School - Reviews by Parents

This is one of the Waldorf schools that was an example of Waldorf schools that hide their Anthroposophical underpinnings:

http://www.greatschools.org/school/parentReviews.page?id=4576&state=PA#from..HeaderLink

Posted January 26, 2012

Sadly, the Susquehanna Waldorf School (SWS) is the worst run institution that I have come across in both the public and private sectors in the United States. Most of the teachers at SWS are wonderful educators, but the school itself is in such disarray due to their incompetent, uneducated administration powers that be. Furthermore, I seriously question the safety of the building that the school is physically housed in at present in Marietta on many levels (e.g., mold, radon, roof stability, lead paint...). SWS has had a numerous and significant change overs in staff and board members in the past few years and for very just reasons. It is seriously questioned whether or not the school will be reaccredited as a true "Waldorf" school once again given all of these circumstances. Again, it is a most unfortunate situation because there are many wonderful educators working at SWS... but one cannot take a blind eye to the real problems at SWS. The bottom line is that SWS a poor example of how a "Waldorf" school should operate, may even be the worst.
—Submitted by a parent

http://www.judysbook.com/members/8238/posts/2005/7/20473/
Colin N., Saturday, July 09, 2005

This review is for: Waldorf School See Susquehanna Waldorf School

The Susquehanna Waldorf School is a great experience for young children ages 5-8. It is funny while still learning the basics of education. The child will come to like learning and learn to respect others. However, as the child begins to mature further it is a good idea to switch schools as the Susquehanna Waldorf School is not that good for children ages 10 and up as it begins to become childish for them and they begin to dislike it.