Grace: WARNING!
Christy Johnson
From: "Elizabeth Stone" <whatshername@...>
Subject: Grace Academy
My name is Elizabeth. Weve been home schooling our children for 5 years.
This
year we enrolled them in Einstein Academy, and it was a disaster.
Before considering The Grace Academy, you should know that Mimi and Howie
are
Einsteins founders. Their company, Tutorbots, mismanaged the school
until about
three weeks ago. In her dealings with Einstein families, Mimi used the
name
Mimi Rothschild.
IEPs were not done for the 300 special ed children who were enrolled in
the
school. It is now the end of April and only nine IEPs have been written.
I have never seen a more substantive fundamental violation of special
education
by a local education agency, charged Jane Sullivan, special education
adviser
for the education department, who testified against Einstein Academy.
Courier
Times 3/20/02
The curriculum was not what Einstein promised. One class didnt have a
teacher
until early Dec then he left the school in February, and the class is
teacherless
again.
Einstein has been sued by many PA school districts and the PA Department
of
Education. It is only open now through a court-brokered agreement which
required:
eliminating Tutorbots as manager and financial manager of the school,
forensic
accounting of payments to Tutorbots, approval of all payments by a
comptroller
who reports to the chartering school district and strict oversight by the
chartering
school district.
Here are excerpts from articles about Tutorbots and its mismanagement of
Einstein:
************
I am convinced that Einstein will not be successful as long as Tutorbots
is
the management company, Ken Junkins, the Morrisville board president,
said
yesterday.
I believe Tutorbots is not properly managing Einstein. I believe there
is possible
mismanagement of funds, and they are not responding appropriately to the
needs
of students, he said.
Courier Times 2/28/02
**************
We believe they (Tutorbots) totally mishandled the management of the
school.
Said Morrisville Superintendent John M. Gould.
The school board, Gould said, is particularly concerned about Tutorbots
general
operation of the school, a lack of fiscal oversight and problems
providing services
to special education students.
Another source of Morrisvilles ire: Einsteins teachers havent been
paid since
early February. We are quite angry at Tutorbots because they have used
$2.3
million to pay themselves but have not paid the teachers, Gould said.
Thats
unconscionable.
Morning Call 3/2/02
***************
Court documents showed that about $3 million was paid to Tutorbots during
the
school year, while teachers have gone unpaid and the schools internet
service
provider, Digital Freedom, canceled its service for nonpayment.
Other complaints include copyright infringement, a lack of curriculum and
teachers
and a lack of special education services.
During todays arguments, attorney Scher insisted that the state has a
responsibility
to pay its bill owed the cyber school, some 15 million in all. The judge
asked
Scher how the state would know that the money is not going to a bank in
the
Cayman Islands.
But from day one they (the state) funded you and you did virtually
nothing,
Judge Pellegrini said. You are supposed to be up and running on day one,
not
day 90 of a 180-day school year. In effect, you put Tutorbots over the
interest
of the children you were supposed to educate.
Lancaster New Era 3/22/02
****************
Gould believes Mandel and Rothschild are controlling much of the schools
spending.
Howie Mandel had the responsibility for approving all invoices, Gould
claimed
in a letter to Einstein, including invoices from his own company,
Tutorbots,
and Gould said some of those invoices are grossly inflated
All this while other vendors, and even the schools teachers went unpaid.
Einstein paid Tutorbots $2.4 million before paying teachers, Gould
said.
WGAL 3/26/02
*****************
our information is that Einstein has received $3.3 million from the
Commonwealth
of PA to fund its educational program. Our Business Administrator cannot
conceive
of any way that the funding to date would not be sufficient to allow
Einstein
to be current on its bills and meet payroll.
Morrisville attorney
*****************
Tutorbots Inc. is prohibited from providing any management or financial
management
services to Einstein. In addition, a forensic accounting firm will review
all
paid and outstanding invoices previously submitted by Tutorbots to
Einstein
to determine if they were properly paid and that the funds were used for
purposes
permitted under the Public School Code:
PDE press release 3/28/02
*****************
In June a forensic accounting firm will do an audit to determine whether
the
payments Einstein made to Tutorbots were warranted. A total of $2.2
million
of $3.8 million in state funding that Einstein received went to
Tutorbots, and
the state Education Department wants to know why, said Beth Gaydos, a
spokeswoman
for the Education Department.
Courier Times 4/4/02
****************
The computer problems coincide with a new legal battle between Einstein
and
Tutorbots, which is demanding the repayment of a loan of about $345,000.
Tutorbots officials, Howard Mandell and his wife, Mimi Rothschild, also
the
founder of Einstein, have been withholding student records as well as
control
of the schools web site, until the money is repaid.
Last week, a judge in Philadelphia ordered the return of the records as
well
as the web site, but as of Tuesday that had not happened.
Intelligencer Journal 4/10/02
*****************
Tutorbots mismanagement turned what could have been a great cyber school
into
a disaster which damaged children enrolled.
You should exercise great caution before considering The Grace Academy!
Buyer Beware!
Elizabeth Stone
Click here for more info:
Cyber School Flunking First Year
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,51489,00.html
This email may be reproduced in its entirety and posted where
appropriate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The above was written in response to this email sent to many homeschool
egroups...
On Mon, 29 Apr 2002 15:53:16 -0000 "mimi_rothschild"
<mimi@...> writes:
--Christy
"And we should consider every day lost on which we
have not danced at least once." --Freidrich Nietzche 1844-1900
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Subject: Grace Academy
My name is Elizabeth. Weve been home schooling our children for 5 years.
This
year we enrolled them in Einstein Academy, and it was a disaster.
Before considering The Grace Academy, you should know that Mimi and Howie
are
Einsteins founders. Their company, Tutorbots, mismanaged the school
until about
three weeks ago. In her dealings with Einstein families, Mimi used the
name
Mimi Rothschild.
IEPs were not done for the 300 special ed children who were enrolled in
the
school. It is now the end of April and only nine IEPs have been written.
I have never seen a more substantive fundamental violation of special
education
by a local education agency, charged Jane Sullivan, special education
adviser
for the education department, who testified against Einstein Academy.
Courier
Times 3/20/02
The curriculum was not what Einstein promised. One class didnt have a
teacher
until early Dec then he left the school in February, and the class is
teacherless
again.
Einstein has been sued by many PA school districts and the PA Department
of
Education. It is only open now through a court-brokered agreement which
required:
eliminating Tutorbots as manager and financial manager of the school,
forensic
accounting of payments to Tutorbots, approval of all payments by a
comptroller
who reports to the chartering school district and strict oversight by the
chartering
school district.
Here are excerpts from articles about Tutorbots and its mismanagement of
Einstein:
************
I am convinced that Einstein will not be successful as long as Tutorbots
is
the management company, Ken Junkins, the Morrisville board president,
said
yesterday.
I believe Tutorbots is not properly managing Einstein. I believe there
is possible
mismanagement of funds, and they are not responding appropriately to the
needs
of students, he said.
Courier Times 2/28/02
**************
We believe they (Tutorbots) totally mishandled the management of the
school.
Said Morrisville Superintendent John M. Gould.
The school board, Gould said, is particularly concerned about Tutorbots
general
operation of the school, a lack of fiscal oversight and problems
providing services
to special education students.
Another source of Morrisvilles ire: Einsteins teachers havent been
paid since
early February. We are quite angry at Tutorbots because they have used
$2.3
million to pay themselves but have not paid the teachers, Gould said.
Thats
unconscionable.
Morning Call 3/2/02
***************
Court documents showed that about $3 million was paid to Tutorbots during
the
school year, while teachers have gone unpaid and the schools internet
service
provider, Digital Freedom, canceled its service for nonpayment.
Other complaints include copyright infringement, a lack of curriculum and
teachers
and a lack of special education services.
During todays arguments, attorney Scher insisted that the state has a
responsibility
to pay its bill owed the cyber school, some 15 million in all. The judge
asked
Scher how the state would know that the money is not going to a bank in
the
Cayman Islands.
But from day one they (the state) funded you and you did virtually
nothing,
Judge Pellegrini said. You are supposed to be up and running on day one,
not
day 90 of a 180-day school year. In effect, you put Tutorbots over the
interest
of the children you were supposed to educate.
Lancaster New Era 3/22/02
****************
Gould believes Mandel and Rothschild are controlling much of the schools
spending.
Howie Mandel had the responsibility for approving all invoices, Gould
claimed
in a letter to Einstein, including invoices from his own company,
Tutorbots,
and Gould said some of those invoices are grossly inflated
All this while other vendors, and even the schools teachers went unpaid.
Einstein paid Tutorbots $2.4 million before paying teachers, Gould
said.
WGAL 3/26/02
*****************
our information is that Einstein has received $3.3 million from the
Commonwealth
of PA to fund its educational program. Our Business Administrator cannot
conceive
of any way that the funding to date would not be sufficient to allow
Einstein
to be current on its bills and meet payroll.
Morrisville attorney
*****************
Tutorbots Inc. is prohibited from providing any management or financial
management
services to Einstein. In addition, a forensic accounting firm will review
all
paid and outstanding invoices previously submitted by Tutorbots to
Einstein
to determine if they were properly paid and that the funds were used for
purposes
permitted under the Public School Code:
PDE press release 3/28/02
*****************
In June a forensic accounting firm will do an audit to determine whether
the
payments Einstein made to Tutorbots were warranted. A total of $2.2
million
of $3.8 million in state funding that Einstein received went to
Tutorbots, and
the state Education Department wants to know why, said Beth Gaydos, a
spokeswoman
for the Education Department.
Courier Times 4/4/02
****************
The computer problems coincide with a new legal battle between Einstein
and
Tutorbots, which is demanding the repayment of a loan of about $345,000.
Tutorbots officials, Howard Mandell and his wife, Mimi Rothschild, also
the
founder of Einstein, have been withholding student records as well as
control
of the schools web site, until the money is repaid.
Last week, a judge in Philadelphia ordered the return of the records as
well
as the web site, but as of Tuesday that had not happened.
Intelligencer Journal 4/10/02
*****************
Tutorbots mismanagement turned what could have been a great cyber school
into
a disaster which damaged children enrolled.
You should exercise great caution before considering The Grace Academy!
Buyer Beware!
Elizabeth Stone
Click here for more info:
Cyber School Flunking First Year
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,51489,00.html
This email may be reproduced in its entirety and posted where
appropriate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The above was written in response to this email sent to many homeschool
egroups...
On Mon, 29 Apr 2002 15:53:16 -0000 "mimi_rothschild"
<mimi@...> writes:
> Dear Fellow Homeschoolers,"I'll See You On The Dance Floor!"
>
> My name is Mimi and I have been homeschooling my 7 kids for the
> past 14 years way back when people did not even know what it was.
>
> In 1997 every parents nightmare came true for my husband (of 23
> years) and I lost our beloved Andrew to an unnecessary and
> preventable death. Rather than become debilitated by our devastating
>
> loss, the Lord gave me the hope that He would use this tragedy for
> His glory. Immediately following Andrew's death, another son, Riley
>
> Josiah, became critically ill and required life support, 24 hour
> nursing, and 26 operations in 2.5 years. During this time of
> mourning our loss, caring for our sick child I was caring for a
> newborn and homeschooling 4 other kids. The Lord taught me two
> invaluable lessons - not all loving parents are able to homeschool
> by themselves and that there was an enormous need for a
> homeschooling help to come to parents when they cannot do it all.
>
> To fulfill this need and God's promise that our loss would be used
> for good, my husband and I founded The Grace Academy, an online
> school (pending licensing) that delivers world class curriculum to
> children throughout the world.
>
> Many have called The Grace Academy the "best of both world-
> homeschooling and Christian private school." Grace provides a
> comprehensive, world class Christian K-12 curriculum, daily Bible
> studies, devotions, and dedicated Christian teachers - all while
> your child(ren) learn in your safe and nurturing home.. Grace's
> curriculum uses many of the leading Christian publishers like Bob
> Jones,Alpha Omega, and Saxon Math. Choose from over 150 courses that
>
> all have a balanced Christian world view.
>
> The Grace Academy provides everything you need to provide your
> child
> (ren) with a thorough and standards based education. Our interactive
>
> technology allows student and teacher to communicate directly in
> real time. Our faculty will mentor each student individually through
>
> out Live Tutor technology.
>
> Information about Grace can be found just a click away at
> www.thegraceacademy.org.
> Demo our courses, browse through our course catalogue, read our
> mission statement and sign up for a free library of over 1300 etexts
>
> on CD that we will send to your home as a blessing to you for
> visiting our website.
>
> The Grace Academy provides outstanding curriculum where students can
>
> learn at their own pace, anytime, anywhere, any path.
>
> Leave your children in the hands of Grace.
>
> Abundant Blessings in Him,
>
> Mimi and Howard Mandel
>
>
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>
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>
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>
>
>
--Christy
"And we should consider every day lost on which we
have not danced at least once." --Freidrich Nietzche 1844-1900
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]