Scientology link at Montessori school alarms parents

Scientology link at Montessori school alarms parents

Some parents are upset with a study method introduced by a Montessori school in northwest Toronto, which they say has its roots in the Church of Scientology.

Parents said the owner of the Bambolino Montessori Academy, a private school, told parents last week that it was introducing a new learning method called applied scholastics.

Janice Blundon said parents like her weren’t given a choice when the dean at her son’s school told them they’d be implementing the study technique.

Consumer Alert: Scientology vs. Education

“Applied Scholastics claims that it is wholly independent of the Church of Scientology. Its chief executive officer Bennetta Slaughter says that “they are separate organizations … We are strictly an educational organization. We are not part of the church.” (St Louis Post-Despatch, July 27, 2003). Taken literally, this is true. Applied Scholastics is indeed a legally separate corporation. However, it has so many ties to the Church of Scientology and its corporate alter ego, the Church of Spiritual Technology, that it cannot be regarded as being anything other than a Scientology subsidiary.”
– Scientology vs. Education

“I let him know I wasn’t familiar with that, and [asked] who was teaching that, and what was it based on. He said it was based on L. Ron Hubbard,” she said.

When Blundon found out Hubbard was the founder of the Church of Scientology, she pulled her son out of the school.

“If the sign says Montessori, parents [are] expecting Montessori, then they should be provided a Montessori education. And if they’re not, that’s fine, but they should be made aware of the situation,” said Blundon.
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Applied scholastics is also known as study technology.
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Critics say it suppresses freedom of thought, a charge the head of Applied Scholastics Canada calls ridiculous.

According to the story, both Julia Simon, the owner and principal of Bambolino, and the school’s new dean are Scientologists.

L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, was a consistent liar who parlayed his science fiction fantasies into a commercial enterprise eventually marketed as a ‘religion.’

The Church of Scientology uses a number of front groups in its efforts to spread Hubbard’s ideas — targeting schools and children through such programs as Narconon and Applied Scholastics, as well as leeching on to issues such human rights