For the 2010-11 school year, Applied Scholastics continue to be approved in 11 states, with reports of considerable questions being raised about the numbers of students actually attending AS classes. Several states who have dropped Applied Scholastics from the approved SES lists have stated that lack of utilization was one of the main reasons.

States that have dropped Applied Scholastics from 2008 through 2010 included California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Kansas. The following list is the States where Applied Scholastics was currently approved as of April 2011.

1. District of Columbia [pdf]. Contact info to file complaints here. (more contacts)

2. Illinois [doc]. Contact info to file complaints here. (more contacts)

3. Indiana. Contact info is on the same page. (more contacts)

4. Iowa [pdf]. Contact info to file complaints here. (more contacts)

5. Louisiana [doc]. Contact info to file complaints here. (more contacts)

6. Massachusetts. Contact info to file complaints here. (more contacts)

7. Missouri [pdf]. Contact info to file complaints here. (more contacts)

8. New Mexico [xls]. Contact info to file complaints here. (more contacts)

9. Tennessee [pdf]. Contact info to file complaints here. (more contacts)

10. Texas [xls]. Contact info to file complaints here. (more contacts)

11. Washington State [pdf]. Contact info to file complaints here. (more contacts)

For more information and additional ammunition for use with countering the cult infiltration disguised as SES tutors in the States listed above, check out the new Applied Scholastics Exposed Info Pack collection of documents on scribd compliments of whyweprotest.net.

Massachusetts. Contact info to complain here.

California. Contact info to complain here.

Indiana. Contact info is on the same page.

Missouri [pdf]. Contact info to complain here.

Kansas. Contact info is on the same page.

Texas. Contact info is at the bottom of the page.

Colorado. Contact info to complain here [pdf].

Tennessee [pdf]. Contact info to complain here.

Washington State [MS Word doc]. Contact info to complain here.

New Mexico. Contact info to complain here.

Louisiana [pdf]. Contact info is at the bottom of the page.

Florida is still in appeals and has not completed their list.

Educators are either ignorant to the fact that Applied Scholastics effectively is Scientology, or they’ve been assured that the two have no connection. Keep the following in mind when complaining or when speaking to educators: The Church of Scientology International (CSI) declared that Applied Scholastics is part of its “social betterment program” in its Form 1023 statement to the IRS, which was part of the 1993 agreement granting Scientology tax exempt status. The Agreement refers to Applied Scholastics as one of a number of “Scientology-related entities.” Its connection to Scientology is extensively documented on this site. Applied Scholastics exists for the purpose of covertly delivering Scientology to a broader section of society than would otherwise be receptive to it, including your school-age children.

Applied Scholastics International of St. Louis, MO was certified by the Colorado State Board of Education as a Supplemental Educational Services (SES) provider. Here is a copy of their application form (20 page PDF file).

by Chris Ayres

As hard as I’ve tried – and believe me, I’ve tried – I have never been able to get particularly upset about Scientology. Yes, it’s a hugely profitable supplier of dubiously scientific self-help techniques that also manages to enjoy the tax-exempt status of a religion. Yes, it has a long and dark history of trying to silence critics through intimidation, not to mention all those run-ins with the taxman and the FBI. Yes, it sometimes comes between cult members – sorry, Scientologists – and their families.

And yes, it sues over the copyright of its “religious” texts and sends internal troublemakers (Suppressive People) to an Orwellian-sounding Rehabilitation Project Force, where they perform manual labour to make up for their sins. And that’s before we get on to Tom Cruise’s thousand-yard stare (or alien overlords called Xenu, for that matter).

I suppose that the reason I’ve never been able to get upset about Scientology is that it has never seemed any crazier to me than any other religion.

As for the charge that Scientology rips people off by flogging them endless books, DVDs, and personal improvement courses – well, people buy all sorts of nonsense, don’t they?

Any time that I hear someone complaining that they spent 20 years of their life and the contents of their pension fund on Scientology but now believe that the organisation is a dangerous cult, I just think, more fool you – if hadn’t been Scientology, you’d have probably e-mailed your bank account details to a spammer posing as a Sudanese prince, who told you that he needed a safe place to put his billion-dollar oil holdings while plotting his escape to the Moon.

But what happens when an A-list celebrity with links to Scientology sets-up his own elementary school in a wealthy mountain-top suburb of Los Angeles, with 40-100 pupils and annual fees of up to $12,500 (most students will receive financial assistance)? Is that enough to get me worried?

Yes, it is.

The actor Will Smith – for whom I have a great deal of respect – claims through his spokespeople that the New Village Academy in Calabasas is a “secular” school that will merely use a teaching method developed by the late L. Ron Hubbard, who created Scientology in the 1950s. (“Faculty and staff do not promote their own religions at school,” Jacqueline Olivier, the school’s director, insists.)

Critics say that the method, known as “study tech”, is simply a way to indoctrinate children with Scientology jargon and establish Hubbard as an authority figure, leading them to the organisation later. The Scientologists deny this and argue that study tech has been used effectively in other secular schools around the world.

To which I say, prove it. As with all belief-systems, I imagine that there are some genuinely helpful elements of Scientology. But if the organisation wants people to take its methods seriously, and see them as benign educational aids, rather than brainwashing tools, it needs to come out of the closet.

If I were Will Smith, I would invite some independent researchers into the school and let them publish their findings in a leading educational journal. Unless he does, the school will always have the whiff of a Scientology front organisation, along with Applied Scholastics and (my favourite) the Cult Awareness Network. If Smith really wants to help the kids of LA – as he undoubtedly does – that would be a shame.

Original article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/chris_ayres/article4244531.ece

In Los Angeles’ rarefied world of private schools, where tuitions are high, academics are tough and educational philosophy is taken seriously, the newest member of the tribe is getting the kind of breathless attention reserved for a music or film star.

That may be because the founders of New Village Academy are themselves such stars: Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Entertainers have long flocked to private schools on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley, where campuses are comparatively small, offer a discreet environment and are close to studios.

The Smiths, however, will be among the few celebrities — Oprah Winfrey, Andre Agassi and Tiger Woods among them — to establish their own school or program.

It is one of several initiatives by the couple, including a new foundation that will give grants to young people in the arts and education. About 80% of New Village students will receive financial assistance in the fall.

But the school’s Sept. 3 opening, on the leased campus of a former school in Calabasas, will be accompanied by a whiff of controversy. Some of its teachers are members of the Church of Scientology, and it will use teaching methods developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

That has provoked a slew of headlines: On FOXNews.com, “Will Smith Funds Private Scientology School”; from Britain’s The Guardian, “Will Smith funds school teaching Scientology creator’s study method”; and on the religion blog of the Dallas Morning News, “Is Will Smith school a front for Scientology?”

Both Smiths have said they are not Scientologists.

In a statement, Will Smith said of the school: “About 10 years ago, Jada and I started dreaming about the possibility of creating an ideal educational environment, where children could feel happy, positive and excited about learning. . . .

“New Village Academy was born of a simple question, ‘Is it possible to create an educational environment in which children have fun learning?’ Jada and I believe the answer is ‘Yes.’ ”

New Village Academy began about three years ago as a home school for the Smiths’ youngest children — Jaden, 9 and Willow, 7 — and those of several other families. After an extensive search, Jacqueline Olivier, previously an administrator at private schools in Santa Monica and La Jolla, was hired to head the school.

Since joining the school a year ago, she has been responsible for hiring staff and preparing for the opening of the new campus.

Olivier responded to written questions about the school submitted through Will Smith’s publicist. She said some staff members are Scientologists and others are Muslim, Christian or Jewish. The school has no religious affiliation, she said.

“We are a secular school and just like all nonreligious independent schools, faculty and staff do not promote their own religions at school or pass on the beliefs of their particular faith to children,” Olivier said.

One teaching method the school uses is study technology, which was developed by Hubbard and focuses on students gaining hands-on experience, mastering subject matter before moving to the next level, and being taught not to read past words they don’t understand.

“People tend to think study technology is a subject, but it is really just the way the subject is taught,” Olivier said. “They then come to the conclusion that we are teaching Scientology when actually a methodology doesn’t have anything to do with content.”

The school, she said, will use many philosophies, including Montessori, Bruner and Gardner. Olivier said the Smiths would pay nearly $900,000 to lease the Indian Hills High School campus in the Las Virgenes Unified School District for three years. Fall enrollment is expected to be about 40 students and will eventually rise to about 100, she said. The school will include pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, with a top annual tuition of $12,500.

The school’s executive director is Jana Babatunde-Bey, who worked as general manager of Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment and is currently director of philanthropy and vice president of the Smith Holdings Group, according to the school’s website.

New Village plans to have nonprofit status, as well as accreditation from the California Assn. of Independent Schools, which demands strict accountability and an on-site visit by a team of educators.

The success of a new school is not guaranteed, noted association Executive Director Jim McManus. Many fail after a few years, and it remains to be seen how the Smith cachet will affect enrollment.

Olivier is a respected educator, McManus said. “I think she’s really energetic, hardworking and in tune with evolving research and responsible trends in education,” he said.

The New Village curriculum includes literacy and math, and subjects such as living skills, Spanish, karate, yoga, robotics, technology, etiquette and art. Parental involvement is encouraged, as is limited access to television and sugary foods.

But critics contend that the school is not being honest about its links to Scientology. David S. Touretzky, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, created a website that dissects study technology and asserts that it is Scientology religion disguised as education.

Touretzky said many phrases and concepts on the school’s website are specific to Scientology. For example, the school lists a “Director of Qualifications” and another teacher who is an assistant in the “Qual” department. The “Qual,” said Touretzky, is where people who have completed a Scientology counseling, or “auditing,” session or a course in the Church of Scientology are tested by a qualifications teacher.

“There is no reputable educator anywhere who endorses [study technology],” said Touretzky, a critic of Scientology. “What happens is that children are inculcated with Scientology jargon and are led to regard L.R. Hubbard as an authority figure. They are laying the groundwork for later bringing people into Scientology.”

A spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology, Karin Pouw, denied Touretzky’s assertions and said the teaching methods are not religious and are widely used in schools around the world.

Ron Reynolds, executive director of the California Assn. of Private School Organizations, which represents primarily independent religious schools, said all schools should strive for transparency.

“I know next to nothing about Scientology, but if you’re using some method or technology closely associated with Scientology and Scientology is characterized as a church or religious body, it raises a question if they proclaim themselves as other than religious,” Reynolds said. He has not seen the school’s website.

“I don’t want to insinuate the school is failing to disclose anything. But as a matter of good practice, if a school has an affiliation, it would behoove it to expose it.”

Original article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/valley/la-me-newvillage29-2008jun29,0,4956725.story

A Boston city councilor is raising concerns about a pilot school’s proposed curriculum and its ties to an arm of Scientology, while a prestigious Hub charitable foundation is taking a second look at its grant to help launch the controversial school.

“We’re reviewing the grant proposal in light of new materials,” Boston Foundation spokesman David Trueblood said of the organization’s $20,000 gift to the proposed “Cornerstone for Success Academy.”

The Herald reported yesterday that the proposed taxpayer-funded high school would base its curriculum on a model created by Applied Scholastics International — the educational arm of the Church of Scientology. Applied Scholastics officials, however, say the program is not religious and is run separately from the church.

The grant will be used as seed money by a group of Hub teachers pushing for the new pilot school, which needs approval of Boston school and union officials. Trueblood said the Boston Foundation did “no evaluation” and didn’t know of the Scientology link — despite references to Applied Scholastics in the group’s application.

Scientology is a federally recognized religion but has been widely criticized as a destructive, mind-controlling cult. A national anti-Scientology campaign was recently launched by Anonymous, a group of computer hackers and protesters who have blasted the church’s teachings.

Boston Teachers Union spokesman Richard Stutman criticized the Boston Foundation grant as “irresponsible,” in light of financial woes facing existing city schools.

“The $20,000 could be far better used in any of the 144 other schools,” Stutman said. “To them (the foundation), $20,000 is not a lot of money. Tell that to a school suffering hardships.”

City Councilor Sam Yoon has called a hearing on the plan, citing concerns about a taxpayer-funded school with a “hidden agenda.”

“It’s about full disclosure,” Yoon said. “I would want to know if a school I’m considering is basing its entire curriculum on something that comes out of the Church of Scientology and what that connection is.”

In a statement, Boston Church of Scientology spokesman Gerard Renna said the teaching methods pioneered by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard are “tremendously effective.” He added that the curriculum “is entirely secular and recognized throughout the world.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1087424

By Dave Wedge | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage

A proposed taxpayer-funded pilot school linked to an arm of the controversial Church of Scientology has scored a $20,000 grant from a blue-chip Hub charitable foundation, the Herald has learned.

The Boston Foundation recently awarded the planning grant to the proposed “Cornerstone for Success Academy,” a high school for at-risk students that would base its curriculum on a model created by Applied Scholastics International – the educational arm of the Church of Scientology.

The celebrity-backed religious organization is often criticized as a destructive, mind-controlling cult, and critics have blasted the educational curriculum as a back-door avenue to recruitment.

The Applied Scholastics Web site includes several testimonials from celebrity Scientologists, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

Still, Applied Scholastics spokeswoman Keri Lee said, “Our organization is a secular organization. It’s not religious.” In a statement, she added, “There is no religious mission nor religious material in our programs.”

Officials from Boston’s Church of Scientology did not return calls.

Documents pitching the proposal provided to the School Department by the Boston Foundation include a report about a Louisiana school that states Applied Scholastics is a creation of Scientology leader L. Ron Hubbard.

But Boston Foundation spokesman David Trueblood said the charity was unaware of the proposed school’s connection to the controversial religious sect.

“We give these planning grants to start the conversation,” Trueblood said. “Our interest here as a foundation is to get as many educators and as many schools as possible talking about pilot schools. We are unabashedly pro-pilot schools. We know many are funded and few become pilot schools.”

The proposed school is the brainchild of a group of city teachers, including many from Jeremiah Burke High School and Boston Latin. A bid by the same group to create a charter school was rejected by the state in 2000.

The group has no official headquarters, and individual members could not be reached last night.

The grant can be used as seed money to pay for members’ travel, training, a Web site and other expenses related to making the school a reality. Pilot schools are funded through the city’s school budget and require approval from the school superintendent and the Boston Teachers Union.

“The Boston Foundation obviously didn’t pay careful attention to who they gave the planning grants to,” said teachers union president Richard Stutman. “We respect the church of a Scientology as a church, but public dollars ought not to be spent on activities that borrow from church teachings and philosophy. There has to be a separation of church and state.”

Stutman called the grant a “waste,” predicting it would be overwhelmingly defeated by the union. School department spokesman Jonathan Palumbo said Superintendent Carol Johnson hadn’t yet seen the group’s application but would consider the Scientology ties in a review.

A school that uses Applied Scholastic’s curriculum is already operating in Milton. Delphi Academy was criticized a decade ago for interjecting Scientology into the classroom, a claim rejected by administrators.

But noted cult expert Steve Hassan said he considers Scientology to be a “destructive cult.”

“It is not an organization that promotes critical thinking and freedom of mind,” Hassan said.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1087188

Chartwell’s website, http://www.chartwelleducation.com/ [dead link] describes the company thusly:

“The firm expands access to the best innovations in products and services designed to accelerate student achievement, and provides strategic services to the private sector and the philanthropic community enhancing their ability to link their investments to education needs.”

One might ask then, why Chartwell is pushing the Study Tech. Surely a former Secretary of Education would have the discernment necessary to identify and utilize effective educational techniques. The funny thing about Americans though, is their mindless affinity toward celebrity. When Tom Cruise seeks out your company, maybe rational thought flies out the door.

For example, Dr. Paige was invited to a premiere screening of Cruise’s latest movie, ‘Lions For Lambs.” Other guests of Cruise were mainly high level Scientologists.

You might wonder where the former Bushite got his invitation from. Turns out, he and Danielson have been using Chartwell and their former positions to push Applied Scholastics on unsuspecting schools.

On Wikipedia, it is noted that, “A professor of educational administration who reviewed the Applied Scholastics text used at Prescott described the concepts as overly simplistic and called the activities ‘moronic.’”

The same article notes, “In October 2005, St. Louis Public Schools superintendent Creg Williams discovered the group’s Scientology connections and immediately put out the word to area principals to cease working with Applied Scholastics. Additionally, St. Louis’ Hazelwood School District superintendent Chris Wright discovered that CEO Bennetta Slaughter had been falsely claiming a “partnership” with Hazelwood. She admonished Mrs. Slaughter to cease and desist doing so.”

And:

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported on September 22 that the district’s superintendent of education has decided that teachers will no longer participate in training programs offered by Applied Scholastics International, a front group of the Church of Scientology. Teachers who had attended these programs were uncomfortable with what they saw there, and complained to their union. School Board member Bill Purdy called for an investigation of the program last week, and after visiting the center, expressed his own concerns about all the materials being labeled ‘based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard.’

Now, Paige is a great score, and a big win for Tom Cruise! Scientology often boasts about using Mr. Cruise to reach world leaders, and Paige and Danielson have credentials that Scientology would hustle for. Mr. Daniels was featured on an internal Scientology video in 2004, discussing education and “the drugging of children.” Former Chief of Staff Daniels is beginning to parrot Scientology propaganda. Scientology is clearly using Chartwell to promote Applied Scholastics. As we can see, it didn’t work in St. Louis. No matter how hard Scientology tries to distance itself, it always comes back to L. Ron Hubbard. And that is often the kiss of death to any program bearing his name. All it takes is a little web research to determine that Applied Scholastics, like all the other covert front groups, are simply a regurgitation of Scientology’s basic, flawed principals.

By RITA FARLOW, Times Staff Writer

A Clearwater private school that uses study methods created by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is planning to add a new campus in the Largo area.

Clearwater Academy International purchased the 2.8-acre lot at the corner of S Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Wyatt Street in August 2006 for $995,000. The school recently applied for a sewer permit on the site.

Headmaster Jim Zwers said the expansion, spurred by a steady increase in enrollment over the past several years, is still in the planning stage. Enrollment went from 150 students in 2002 to 270 in 2007, Zwers said. “We just have a lot of students,” he said. “So we’re kind of looking for now and looking toward the future.”

Plans for the corner lot include two wings of connected modular classroom buildings, an asphalt court for hockey or volleyball and a sports field. Three of six existing tennis courts on the lot will remain. The rest will be converted to parking spaces and a basketball court.

“We’ll make it look nice. There’s lots of vegetation and a big lake there,” Zwers said.

The new campus will hold a maximum of 100 students. Zwers said school officials are considering moving the upper grades to the new location, but that decision has not yet been made. Total enrollment at the two sites will not exceed 325, he said.

The school, which serves kids in grades pre-K through 12, was formed in 1997 with the merger of three small private schools: A to Be School, Jefferson Academy and Renaissance Academy.

The school is licensed by Applied Scholastics, a nonprofit organization founded by Scientologists in 1992.

In keeping with Hubbard’s “study technology,” students are taught using a system of “check sheets” that lay out the reading assignments, definitions and concepts required to master each subject. Students are schooled in a primary tenet of Hubbard’s “tech,” which is never to read past a word they don’t understand so they won’t miss the meaning of the text that follows.

Another tenet is that students learn better when they have “mass” in front of them to illustrate abstract concepts.

There are no letter grades.

Students advance to the next grade after successfully completing a check sheet for that grade.

Rita Farlow can be reached at farlow@sptimes.com or 727 445-4162.

Fast facts

Clearwater Academy International

The current campus is at 801 Drew St. in Clearwater. The school expansion will be at 1110 Wyatt St. near Largo in unincorporated Pinellas County. Tuition is $8,210 a year.

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/01/09/Northpinellas/School_using_Scientol.shtml

Here’s the connection between a tiny new school in Janesville and Scientology:

L. Ron Hubbard founded Scientology, a religion popular among some Hollywood types such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Hubbard wrote science fiction books, but he also wrote about education. His educational theories are the basis for something called Applied Scholastics.

Applied Scholastics is the method used by Sequoia Academy, a fledgling school that will open its doors Sept. 4 in the home of Christine Koth on the city’s northeast side.

Koth, who founded Sequoia Academy, is not a Scientologist, and neither are her teachers, she said.

Koth said she has read some of Hubbard’s writings, but she doesn’t know a lot about Scientology.

“We use his educational philosophy, not his religious philosophy,” Koth said Monday in a presentation to the Janesville Noon Rotary.

Applied Scholastics has nothing in it about Scientology, Koth said, and people who train in the A.S. must sign documents stating that they will not teach religion in their schools, Koth said.

Indeed, A.S. methods are used in some public schools around the country.

Koth and her head teacher, Caitlin Johnston, are certified in A.S. They took a series of courses at Applied Scholastics International in St. Louis, about three months’ worth over the course of a year. They also apprenticed at an A.S. school, Clearwater Academy in Clearwater, Fla., they said.

Koth has a master’s degree in physical therapy but has never been a schoolteacher. Johnston said she studied to be a teacher for three years at Edgewood College.

So far, the pair have four preschool children signed up. They have room for four more children, through third grade.

School is in the attractively finished basement in Koth’s home, a new house she shares with her husband and two small children.

Koth said she hopes to move out of the basement to a more permanent facility and expand the school. She is excited about the possibility of improving the community through helping children learn, she said.

Applied Scholastics can help children who have trouble learning, even those with ADHD and dyslexia, Koth believes.

Applied Scholastics teachers are trained to identify barriers to learning and then apply methods to overcome those barriers, Koth explained.

A student who is staring out the window might have a problem with a “misunderstood word,” one of the three barriers. The teacher diagnoses the problem and backtracks to teach that word to the student, Koth said.

Or, the student might not be grasping an idea because he is not getting enough concrete examples of what it is about. This is called “lack of mass.” In simple terms, it’s easier to teach what an apple is by using real apples than to try to describe one.

Or, the students may not be learning because the learning “gradient’ is too steep. In other words, the topic should be broken into more steps so that the topic is easier to grasp.

The method boasts “100 percent comprehension.”

Koth said no method is perfect, “but I do believe that if you really use these tools and you apply them in the way they’re meant to be applied, that gives you the best chance for success.”

Koth said Sequoia will be the first Applied Scholastics school in Wisconsin. She said her application to be a licensed home day-care center is being processed. She is aware of the state regulations for private schools and would comply with them if she begins teaching school-age children, she said.

And, while she understands people will have questions, she’d like to put this Scientology connection behind her because, she said, there really is no connection between what she does and the Church of Scientology.