JW Prep Schools?! (page 2)

abbagail

That's interesting about the New System School System, lol. Never heard of that one.

In the 1980's here in FLA, one of my best JW friends at the time was the main propeller for the local 'JW (unofficial) School.' She organized it because, she said, she was horrified when her young daughter was being taught in public school that masturbation was okay. The 'JW' school they started was called the PALM School (Parental Alternative Learning Methods, or something like that). But it was not 'home schooling.' They had a 'real' location, building, etc. I don't think they had too many 'real teachers' either, but maybe 1 or 2 who held the official certificates. She tried to get me to teach there part-time (volunteer). I said I could never teach English or History or anything like that. She said I could teach art class to the younger ones (I was actually tempted and wish now I had taken the opportunity). But at the time I declined because I was already 'drowning' with my regular job, 5 meetings a week and always trying to do 'more more more' in service (which was all true, I could barely keep up as it was).

Her daughter graduated from PALM School with honors (they held the graduation at one of the local high school gyms). Her daughter was a smart little cookie anyway -- she could beat any adult at scrabble -- maybe not due to the PALM School but more due to the fact her mother 'taught her' day and night around the clock from infancy, about anything and everything. Her mom was a 'lifer' JW, born and raised in 'the truth' by a former CO/DO from the old days, etc.

In recent years I tried to find the PALM School in the local phonebook and the state's websites, but it is nowhere to be found, so I guess it fizzled out at some point or either they changed the name.

czarofmischief

Homeschooling is a good idea for any family that encourages reading and is willing to follow a structured learning environment. There should be a class that parents can take to do homeschooling.

Sometimes its a disaster, of course. But so is public education.

CZAR

Netty

I went to a "witness school" here in Tucson for one year. The school was completely run by witness volunteers, all the teachers, office staff, etc all witnesses. Not all the teachers had degrees to be teachers, most of them did not. Every morning we would begin the day with all students gathered together to sing kindgom songs, then we would go to class. When the school first started, most were unpaid volunteers. As the years went by, staff was eventually paid. My parents had to pull us out because we were not learning anything, my brother had to repeat a year of school, it set him back so bad. Up until at least my early twenties, the school was still in existence, all for witnesses, all run by witnesses, but I dont think its around anymore.

Netty

p.s. it was not a "home school" we also went to a real location, this was in the 70's.

Badger

Public schools only fail those who fail it. I was under the impression that a Prep school meant that person was college bound. I know some fantastic private schools, but a goodly portion of them offer worse instuction than public ed. Their only advantage? They screen and kick out the problem students and keep small class sizes. If I could do that in my class instead of having to take everyone in a class of 38-43, I would be a much more effective teacher.

detective

Welcome to the New System School. Please peruse some of the exciting courses we offer:

* Post-Armaggedon farming 111a

* Cooking on the open fire 101

* introduction to hand-stitching: crafting three piece suits from recycled paper 101

* Big ditch digging 101 (formerly mastering mass graves 101)

* janitorial management 111b

tink

my aunt went to the Witness home school in Sacramento, CA. thank god my mom didn't go in for that

imallgrowedup

All very interesting information. I am amazed at the personal experiences that were shared! Thanks everyone!

I'm with Badger. I thought prep schools were supposed to "prep" their students for college. The name seems pretty misleading to me!

The complexity of the corporate regime called "WTBTS" never ceases to awe me, so when things like this come up, I am immediately suspicious. However, I think I'm going to have to agree with Blondie, Euph and others in that I don't think the WTBTS endorses these schools.

blondie

Actually the WTS did run schools from 1936 to 1943 (?) in response to the expulsion of JW children for not saluting the flag, as well as JW teachers who were fired. These schools were disbanded when the Supreme Court upheld JWs right to refuse to salute the flag.

w95 12/1 22

Because of their refusal to salute the flag, six of my children were expelled from school in 1941, as were many other children in the United States and Canada. In order to meet the legal educational requirement, the Witnesses arranged schools of their own called Kingdom Schools. A former hotel in Lakewood, New Jersey, was the location of the school that my children attended. A Kingdom Hall was on the first floor, along with the school classroom, a kitchen, and a dining area. The girls? sleeping quarters were on the second floor, and the boys? bedrooms were on the third floor. It was a fine school. Most of the children who boarded there went home only on the weekends. Those who lived farther away went home every other weekend.

Proclaimers Book p 671

Because of the wholesale expulsion of the children of Jehovah?s Witnesses from school, for a time during the late 1930?s and early 1940?s it was necessary for them to operate their own schools in the United States and Canada in order to provide education for their children. These were called Kingdom Schools.

w87 6/1 22 Kingdom

School Organized

The question now was, How will the children get their education? For a time we attempted to teach them at home with whatever textbooks we could muster. But my husband and I had a difficult time that first school year as we tried to educate our two children. My husband was working full-time, and I was taking in washing and ironing to supplement the weekly paycheck. In addition to that, I had a five-year-old son, Robert, to look after.

Just about then, in the spring of 1936, Cora Foster, a sister in the congregation and a teacher in the public schools of Lynn for 40 years, was dismissed from her job for not saluting the flag and not taking a teacher?s oath that was in vogue at the time. It was therefore arranged that Cora would teach the children who had been expelled from school and that our home would be used as a Kingdom School. Cora had her piano shipped to our home along with some textbooks for the children to use, and some of the older boys fashioned desks out of orange crates and plywood. We started the school the following fall with ten children in attendance.

My younger son, Robert, commenced his education by attending the first grade at the Kingdom School. "Before we began our regular class work," recalls Robert, "Kingdom School opened with a Kingdom song every day, and then for a half hour we would study the Watchtower lesson for the coming week." In those days the Society did not print the questions for the paragraphs of the study article, so it became the responsibility of the children to come up with the questions for the paragraphs to be used at the congregation meeting.

Cora was a devoted teacher. "When I had whooping cough," reminisces Robert, and the school was closed till the contagious disease subsided, "Sister Foster visited the house of each student and gave homework." Despite her devotion, she must have felt frustrated at times, for she had to teach the students in all 12 grades in one room. At the end of the five-year period that we had the Kingdom School in our home, there were 22 children attending the school.

imallgrowedup

Blondie -

I have so much respect for the wealth of information you are always sharing! Thank you for posting this info!!

growedup

JW Prep Schools?!

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