Mark, Margot, Maggie and Michael Gaines last November and Margot Gaines in September.
T/E is in the news again and not for its test scores.
The school district is grappling with its response to a family whose kindergartner with Down Syndrome was reported to Tredyffrin police.
The six-year-old’s offense? Pointing her finger and saying, “I shoot you” to her special ed teacher at Valley Forge Elementary.
Maggie Gaines says her daughter Margot has trouble with transitions, not unusual for kids with intellectual disabilities. Margot simply didn’t want to leave her morning classroom.
But the district had retooled its threat-assessment policy in 2018 after widely publicized anti-Semitic threats at T/E Middle School and a rash of school shootings nationwide. The new policy required a “consult” with police, the district says.
And so, police were called. Even though the principal and the teacher agreed that Margot “didn’t know what she was saying and said she didn’t want to hurt her teacher,” Gaines says. “I shoot mommy, I shoot Daddy, I shoot my brother,” the little girl reportedly told them, oblivious.
They were called even after T/E’s threat assessment team, brought in after the incident, deemed it a “transient threat” and “recommended no disciplinary action, no change to her IEP, no behavioral analysis,” according to Gaines. Her daughter is no troublemaker, she says. “She doesn’t have a positive behavior plan in place because she hasn’t needed one.”
Gaines tells SAVVY she even admired how VFE Principal Becky Wills handled the situation – showing Margot how “peace signs, high fives and thumbs up were fine but the gun gesture was not OK.”
But then Wills told her she was required to call the police, and Gaines was aghast.
To be clear, Margot does not have a criminal record. The incident report, which contains Margot’s family name, address, age and disability, is “not releasable,” police chief Mike Beatty tells SAVVY.
Still, Margot is now in the Tredyffrin PD’s internal database.
“I don’t know how that information will be used,” Maggie Gaines says. “When I’m having a disagreement with the school about Margot’s placement, will they bring it up? What if there’s a school shooter and there’s a call out to see the records of anyone in the community that made threats?” And what if, Gaines wonders, there’s a “next time” and police are notified. “And they say: ‘Oh, that’s right. She made a threat in kindergarten.’”
The district “picked the wrong people” to tangle with, Gaines says.
Her husband, Mark, is a data security analyst for a multinational company. He writes threat assessment policy and has carefully reviewed T/E policy and determined “it doesn’t make sense,” his wife says.
Gaines herself is a tech reporter for CNET and says she’s well versed on data issues. “It’s very dangerous to have people collecting data on us,” she says. “I’m going to do everything in my power to see that my 6-year old, who’s in a vulnerable population, doesn’t have something about her in the police record attached to a threat.”
Gaines is also a co-leader of B.U.I.L.D., a support group for parents of children with learning differences in T/E.
And she’s a natural advocate. She knows her daughter’s Down Syndrome makes this a “sympathetic situation … I can speak up for families that can’t, for families with special-needs kids that people would judge and label.”
Since Margot’s Nov. 19 incident, Gaines has been a mom on a mission.
She hired an attorney who has already fired off a letter to the district, demanding a policy change and expungement of the incident.
She wrote a detailed letter to the school board.
She appealed to her state senator, Andy Dinniman.
She aired her views at the last two T/E School Board Policy Committee meetings, which B.U.I.L.D. now videotapes.
She rallied other parents to the cause.
At Tuesday’s meeting, more than a dozen parents called out the policy and shared their own stories.
A recurring theme: uneven enforcement. One parent, Sharon Humble, an attorney who was just elected to the Tredyffrin Board of Supervisors, wondered why the police were called on a 6-year-old and not on the student who beat up her middle-school age son, causing a concussion. Who was the bigger threat? she wanted to know.
Upset parent Sharon Humble leaves the microphone at Tuesday night’s T/E School Board’s policy committee meeting.
Kate Mayer talked about her daughter’s disciplinary experience at Beaumont Elementary, when the old policy was still in place.
Her daughter, then a first-grader, “did something pretty naughty,” Mayer tells SAVVY.
After three days of interrogation that Mayer knew nothing about, her daughter was suspended and the police were called, she says. But “the threat was never validated. It was hearsay from one little kid. No adult heard it.” The teacher, who was never consulted, “was flabbergasted.”
Another B.U.I.L.D leader tells SAVVY that, just a few weeks ago, her third-grader at Valley Forge Elementary, who has a disability, wrote a note that said, “You’re dead,” after a girl tattled on him for swearing. The two are good friends and the mom says her son was teasing.
But that note, too, prompted a call from the principal and a police report – even after her son apologized and repeatedly called it “an expression.” the mother says “it was determined to not be a threat, just an expression of frustration, similar to Margot. He also now has a report at the police department.”
Two former school board members who helped draft the revised policy – Kate Murphy and Ed Sweeney – have told the committee that they never intended for it to be enforced this way.
“I didn’t think it would apply to a six-year-old with Down Syndrome,” said Ed Sweeney, who talked about discretion when “all factors,” i.e. age and disability, were “in favor of not notifying police.”
The policy committee took it all in – everyone had a chance to speak Tuesday night – and began discussing potential revisions.
Gaines tells us she left the meeting feeling “a little disheartened … I came away recognizing that this was not a mistake on the school district’s part. It was intentional. The policy worked as it was intended to. That should really frighten people.”
Kate Mayer told us she felt the meeting “was a dog-and-pony show … I felt like they were doubling down and making it more of a zero-tolerance policy … There’s tons of research into why zero tolerance is not effective, especially in communities of color and children with special needs.”
Another B.U.I.L.D advocate, Jamie Lynch left with questions, too. “If the district was looking to ensure safety in the school, they could engage experts, data and research to guide the board and craft solid policies on student discipline,” Lynch says. “Unfortunately, the board only has the district solicitor guiding the conversation, which makes me believe they are focused on liability and the safety of students is not the priority.”
PA Senator Andy Dinniman, minority chair of the Senate Education Committee, sent an pointed letter to the school board and posted it on his Facebook page, writing that he was “alarmed at what appears to be a lack of judgement and accountability when applying policies.”
The T/E School District issued a statement Tuesday night, affirming that it had worked “collaboratively with parents, law enforcement and private safety/mental health agencies and legal consultants” to develop the “current practice.” And while it can’t comment on the Gaines case for student-privacy reasons, TESD “agreed to review its school safety practices” … after the “individual parent concern” was brought to its attention two weeks ago.
School Board President Michele Burger tells SAVVY the board welcomes continued public input as it mulls over potential policy clarifications. “No language has been drafted yet,” she says. And after it is, the public will have multiple chances to weigh in at future meetings.
“We’re at the beginning of a policy review process. We’re taking this very seriously,” Burger says.
Meanwhile, Gaines continues her crusade. “I’m not going to let it go,” she vows.
Getting her daughter’s police report expunged is “the main thing,” although she’s learning that may require a court order. “They can try for it, but it’s not easily done,” Chief Beatty affirms.
And while Gaines says she’s confident she can “make this right for my child,” she’s also in this fight for others, for vulnerable kids in T/E and beyond.
“I want to educate the community … This is a nationwide problem. Everyone is scared of the next school shooter so we’re adopting policies that I think are going too far. We’re not using common sense.”
Margot Gaines in spring of 2019.
Muscling into the Main Line next to the Target: Edge Fitness Club
Devon Edge Fitness General Manager Chris Bartas and sales manager Brandon Tran at the gym’s Preview Center in Wayne.
In what can’t be good news for local gyms, Edge Fitness is edging toward an early spring opening in Devon Square.
It’s the Connecticut-based chain’s first dive into the Main Line. And, after our visit to the Preview Center, we’re thinking it will find the water here warm and welcoming.
Why?
Because Edge is a full-service club with cutting-edge equipment, thoughtful amenities and tons of classes.
AND it’s a fraction of the cost of Life Time.
No, there isn’t a pool, a water slide or onsite salon. But this isn’t your basic big-box gym either.
(Above) The check-in desk/Edge Café (smoothie/shakes/snacks) at a typical club and the fitness floor (below). Small group and functional training are in separate areas.
If you don’t mind sharing the place with thousands (the new Edge in Media has 9,000 members), there’s plenty here to get pumped about:
- Edge Kids (babysitting). Like summer camp but indoors and year-round. Think climbing wall, hoops court & rotating athletic themes with no electronic devices allowed. $20/month upcharge for unlimited use for ages 12 weeks to 12 years.
- Edge Cinema (below): First-run films while you sweat. Work out on treadmills, ellipticals and recumbent bikes while you watch new and classic movies. Who says machines have to be boring?
- A large turf area for functional training. 40-yard dash anyone?
- Women’s Only section for those whose creeds or cultures forbid coed workouts and anyone seeking a quieter, just-us-girls environment.
- Edge Strong: small-group training, a la carte or $50/month extra for unlimited sessions. Although small groups here – 15 to 20 in each – aren’t all that small.
- Science-backed strength-training that’s goal oriented with regular, state-of-the-art InBody scans to track muscle mass/visceral fat and basal metabolic rates.
- Nicely appointed locker rooms, showers, saunas, massage chair and hydrotherapy massage and two tanning beds. (Wait, tanning? Isn’t this a a health club?)
Memberships come in three levels: from $10 to $20 to $28 monthly. ($10 only allows access to fitness floor; no classes.) Edge Kids, Edge Strong sessions and $50 enhancement fee are all add-ons.
Construction should wrap up in March and the club plans to open in April. Look for a Saturday Grand Opening hoop-dee-doo. Can’t wait that long? The Preview Center in the old Wayne state store at 209 W. Lancaster Ave. is open daily.
Berwyn physician pleads guilty to fraud and drug-related charges that fueled the opioid crisis, investigators say
The feds are throwing the book at rheumatologist Thomas Whalen, 65, of Meadow Lane in Berwyn. Whalen has pleaded guilty to health-care fraud, illegal importation and distributions of a controlled substance and is slated to be sentenced April 1.
According to the U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of PA, Dr. Whalen imported cheaper, non-FDA approved versions of pricey injectable medications from abroad, falsely billed federal health care programs nearly $2.3 million, and pocketed $1.1 million. Whalen also prescribed oxycodone to patients actively using illicit drugs like heroin and cocaine, says the office of U.S. Attorney William McSwain.
Whalen faces up to 70 years in prison and a $2.5 million fine.
“Doctors take an oath to do no harm,” added William Walker, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia, in the feds Dec. 17 announcement. “This oath was clearly betrayed by not only committing healthcare fraud for his own personal gain, but by contributing to the nation’s opioid crisis.”
An alphabet soup of federal agencies – FBI, DHS, DEA, HHS and the FDA – collaborated on the investigation.
Whalen completed his residency at Bryn Mawr Hospital. His rheumatology practice lists offices in Havertown, Exton and Wilmington.
SPONSORED
Carefree living comes to central Berwyn
Stonehaven’s John McGrath at the former Armstrong home that sits on two tracts he’s redeveloping near the Berwyn train station.
How’s this for a housing trifecta: the privacy of a single-family home, the convenience of a condo, and a walk-to-train location?
That’s the trio now on offer at the new Berwyn Village.
Wayne-based Stonehaven Homes has taken the 85-year-old Mack Oil site and spun it into residential gold.
The new community targets “move down” buyers with luxury amenities, zero exterior maintenance, and a price tag well below $1 million, says Stonehaven principal John McGrath.
So down-sizers can say yes to Bosch gourmet kitchens, quartz countertops and job-finished wood floors – all standard – and say adios forever to shoveling, raking, mulching and mowing. (Doesn’t your back feel better already?)
A rendering of one of the exteriors at Berwyn Village.
A $390/month HOA fee has all that stuff covered. It’s fee-simple ownership: your yard is for your exclusive use, but it’s someone else’s chore. Other pluses: covered front porches and attached two-car garages.
Priced from the $700,000s and with optional first-floor master bedrooms, Berwyn Village likely won’t last long. Six of the community’s 18 home sites have sold by word of mouth alone.
“This is something neighbors are actually excited about,” McGrath says, referring to some villagers’ concerns about current blueprints for Berwyn Square. “We’re bringing people into town in lower density,” he says. “Downtown merchants will get high-end foot traffic.”
McGrath named the development Berwyn Village because it’s an extension of the town’s traditional village, he says. Sidewalks will link residents to the train station and town. He thought about building 40 twin homes but nixed that plan after township officials hinted that a major zoning exemption might not be in the cards. They’d just spent a lot of time and money formulating a comprehensive plan. McGrath settled on by-right plan of single homes targeted to empty nesters, although at least one Village buyer is younger.
And while he markets the carefree lifestyle of Berwyn Village, he’s also developing land next door.
The seven-acre Armstrong property is now Hamlet Circle: seven $1 million home sites, four of which are already sold.
The centerpiece is the century-old Armstrong homestead – #4 in the rendering above.
After her brother passed, Mary Amstrong agreed to sell to McGrath as long as he promised to keep her family’s farmhouse standing for the rest of her lifetime plus ten years.
Stonehaven has since carted away seven dumpsters with debris and took the place down to its studs. Blueprints include a front porch and rear garage. The 4,000 sq. ft. property is getting “lots of interest” so far, McGrath says.
A rendering of the redeveloped Armstrong farmhouse, currently for sale.
Sidewalks surrounding Hamlet Circle will link to Berwyn Village’s sidewalks. So far, at least three Hamlet Circle buyers are coming from Center City, McGrath says. “They want the suburbs but they want to be able to walk somewhere.”
Stonehaven Homes, 354 W. Lancaster Ave. Suite 205, Wayne, 484.580.6344, [email protected].
SPONSORED
Main Line mother and daughter recast Bittersweet Farm as Mason Grey Interiors
Co-owner Maureen Block, perched in the shoppable living room at Mason Grey interiors in Newtown Square.
By Rebecca Adler
Want to punch up your pillow scheme? Impress with a unique hostess gift? Score a spill-proof sofa? Take a detour off the Main Line and pop into Mason Grey Interiors, an inviting full-service design studio near Gentile’s in Newtown Square.
Villanova’s Maureen Block scooped up the space from former occupant Bittersweet Farm, a country-cozy interiors outpost in its day. The impetus? An impending empty nest and a house-proud lineage that runs deep.
With the help of her mother, interior designer and co-owner Claire Sautter, Block transformed the charming 3-bedroom home – rumored to have been purchased from the Sears catalog in 1920 – from its gingham- and rooster-dotted roots into a Mecca for timeless style at approachable prices.
“I used to come here and buy a candle every Christmas,” says Block, who jumped at the chance to take over the old Bittersweet Farm. The 1920s home is now stocked with Block’s timeless picks, including Caspari napkins and Alixx candles (right). The painting is by local artist Jeanne Wolfington.
Another reason to love Mason Grey? With a “mock” kitchen, living room, dining room and foyer, you can visualize how a product will look when you bring it home. A showroom in a real house, complete with fireplace, beats buying online every time.
Buy a neutral sofa and swap out the pillows when your tastes change, suggests Mason Grey owner Maureen Block. Look for lots of green accents popping up this spring.
“[Decorating] isn’t easy; it’s not cheap. I want women to do it right,” says Block, who welcomes clients with a range of budgets and proudly offers three pillow price points, red-wine repelling Crypton fabrics, CR Laine sofas, Bungalow5 case goods and Addison Ross enamel frames, among other goodies.
Looking to tackle a bigger project? Mason Grey also offers construction services via Sautter Custom Homes, her father’s building firm. (Both parents recently collaborated on Chapel Hill and Village Square in Paoli). “I grew up going to model homes,” Maureen Block laughs. “Now I’m on my third house. Give us the ugliest house on the block and we’ll turn it into something.”
Block is banking on the construction boom in Newtown Square and the dearth of décor and gift stores in the area to drive traffic.
“I want you to … make a good investment,” she adds, emphasizing classic design that doesn’t rely on trends. “We can help you avoid the mistakes you’ll regret in five years.”
Mason Grey Interiors, 8 Reese Avenue, Newtown Square, 484-422-8835, is open Monday by appointment, Tues. – Sat. 10 to 4. Instagram: @masongreyinteriors.
Sparkling startup: Lauren Peck Fine Jewelry
Just in time for Valentine’s Day: a new, Main Line concierge jewelry business from a Conestoga ’06 alum.
Graduate gemologist and jewelry appraiser Lauren Peck (above), who works by appointment only, provides wedding bands, refashions heirloom pieces and designs her own.
Her latest creation: The Kindness Bracelet, with 10 percent of the $165 purchase price going to an anti-bullying initiative, Kind Campaign.
“As a female-owned and operated company, I am so proud to be able to give to this cause that helps girls across the country learn how to support each other, rather than tear each other down,” Peck tells SAVVY.
Kinda nice, right?
World-class laser physician saving skin in Ardmore
Dermatologist Eric Bernstein pages through a thick binder of reprints of his scholarly articles in his Ardmore office.
“I’m all about light – protecting us from light and using light to heal us,” explains dermatologist Eric Bernstein in his airy office in Suburban Square.
Most derms and plastic surgeons have a few lasers in their aesthetic arsenals – to go with Botox, fillers and medical-grade chemical peels.
But, safe to say, no one has the artillery of Ardmore’s Eric Bernstein.
Because Bernstein’s practice IS lasers. He’s built his career and a world-class reputation on them. His Main Line Center for Laser Surgery was the first in the world to offer the Candela Picoway for skin rejuvenation and the Vbeam Prima for rosacea and vascular lesions.
And that’s just for starters.
If there’s a laser for it – scars, tattoos, fine lines, spider veins, hair removal, acne, belly fat – you can bet Bernstein’s got it. In fact, he probably pioneered it, if not in the world, then in the U.S.
A physician/scientist who helps develop and test new lasers, Bernstein has some 20 patents, issued and pending.
When NPR, CNN, 20/20 need an expert on energy-based aesthetic medicine, they call on him. He’s trained thousands of providers and presented at scientific symposia around the globe. A binder at the reception desk bulges with the nearly 100 scholarly articles he’s authored. Framed magazine covers of issues he’s appeared in – hello, Oprah – fill the walls of his office.
Naturally, his credentials are impeccable: summa cum laude at Duke, president of his medical school class at Yale, an MSE in Management of Technology from UPenn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and Wharton.
With his resumé and reputation, Bernstein has been on this writer’s radar for a while. So I thought I’d give him a little road test. Could one of his lasers reduce rosacea?
Indeed, it could.
After two treatments with the Vbeam Prima, my chin and nose-area redness faded to near nothing.
Bonus: Bernstein brought out a second gun – surprise! – the fine-line reducing Picoway. He often “layers” lasers. Upper lip lines were noticeably, well, less noticeable.
Sure, both lasers briefly stung a bit. Alas, no pain, no gain.
Another huge plus: there was no need to hibernate, not even for a day.
(Full disclosure: Bernstein discounted my fee, although I didn’t ask him to. I didn’t plan to write this story – until I saw all those magazine covers.)
A few minutes with ice packs, then off I went.
Bernstein’s as bullish on prevention as he is one lasers. First thing he tells patients who come in for aging and discolored skin: tint your car windows with clear, UV-blocking film. Everyone gets a list of recommended installers. On the same sun-protection handout, in bold face, he advises: “Always wear sunglasses with brown lenses.” (Who knew?)
His other main avenues of prevention: sunscreen – he’ll guide you to the best brands – and his skincare products. He didn’t just slap his name on Topix formulations, as many do. Instead, physician/scientist Bernstein raised just under $1 million and developed his trademarked LaseResults line, sold in his office and online. Of course he did.
Main Line Center for Laser Surgery, The Times Building, Suite 200, 32 Parking Plaza, Suburban Square, Ardmore, 610-645-5551.
SPONSORED
Get your “someday home” today with RenoFi
RenoFi co-founder and CEO Justin Goldman reviews blueprints with a client. After launching his first company as a Penn State student, Goldman has created and sold a social-betting e-game and a food delivery service, acquired by Grubhub.
By Dawn Warden
Fixing up a home is exciting. It’s also expensive.
Qualifying for a home-equity loan large enough to pay for that new kitchen can be tough – especially for newer homeowners who haven’t built up enough equity.
Enter RenoFi, a unique renovation loan marketplace co-founded by tech innovator Justin Goldman, who lives in Devon.
“This is a game changer, “ Goldman says. “Unlike home equity loans or lines of credit, [RenoFi] loan amounts consider the post-renovation value, not the current value.”
Partnering with reputable lenders like Ardent Credit Union, RenoFi loans range from $25,000 to more than $250,000, so homeowners can tackle all their renovation projects at once. Banks pay RenoFi’s fees; homeowners pay nothing. RenoFi serves as connector and concierge, working with homeowners to identify contractors, analyze bids, and draft realistic budgets and timelines.
Risk for all parties is minimized because there are no surprises. Loan applications aren’t accepted until contractor bids have been procured and reviewed and a realistic budget has been set. This last piece is critical, Goldman says, because homeowners don’t always get a full picture of costs. They often choose the lowest bid, not realizing that the full scope of work might not have been properly laid out.
“Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur or the foreman of your kitchen renovation, you need to pre-think all the risks and have a solution thought out in advance before moving forward,” Goldman says.
Goldman’s own home renovation was a revelation. He, his wife, Megan, and three kids had outgrown their Devon home and its circa-1960 kitchen.
Justin Goldman’s Devon kitchen before (above) and after it was overhauled with a RenoFi loan (below). Renovation by Buono Construction Group, interiors by Design Manifest, After photo by Raquel Langworthy.
But he couldn’t get a loan that gave him credit for the increased home value up front. And he didn’t want to refinance his mortgage because he had a low rate locked in.
“We knew there had a to be a better way and RenoFi was born,” Goldman says. Using his tech and logistics training, he sifted through funding challenges and renovation risks. Soon, he was meeting with seasoned contractors and lenders and designing a virtual renovation line-of-credit marketplace.
He’s also convinced that marketplace is growing. Home renovations are on the rise, fueled by folks who want to stay in their neighborhoods and schools.
“Families today don’t want to wait for that updated kitchen or bathroom, extra bedroom, finished basement or open floor plan,” Goldman says.
With RenoFi, they don’t have to.
For more details, visit RenoFi. Follow on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
The Goldman’s new great room, also by Design Manifest and made possible by a RenoFi loan. Photo by Raquel Langworthy.
‘Such a fun’ night: two red-hot writers in Wayne (BOOK CLUB ALERT!)
Such a Fun Night author Kiley Reid signs books for Cassie Bartelme, Kirsten Baritz and Jackie Robins at Wayne’s Main Point Books on Jan. 30. At press time, her Philly-based debut novel was #4 on the NY Times Hardcover Fiction best sellers list.
So good to see indie retailer Main Point Books bursting with booklovers last week for Kiley Reid, author of Reese Witherspoon’s hot new book pick in conversation with best-selling novelist Claire Lombardo.
Lucky for us, both Reid (Such a Fun Age) and Lombardo (The Most Fun We Ever Had) live in Fishtown, making it easier to lure them to the Main Line.
Both of their debut novels became New York Times bestsellers, both have film deals, and both have ‘fun’ in their titles. And the two are best buds and …. We could go on and on about these two bookends.
But we won’t.
We will, however, offer a few takeaways from Reid about her engaging and provocative novel, Such a Fun Age.
- It’s not “autofiction.” Reid is nothing like her protagonist Emira, although both were nannies.
- Yes, it’s set in Philly and Emira is a Temple grad, but the book is not a “love letter to the city.” Reid said she made sure she got the Philly references right, however.
- “I like it when books make me zoom out,” Reid said. If you come away questioning domestic labor, motherhood, racism and classism – and your own “wokeness,” Reid will have done her job.
Such a Fun Age is, in Reid’s words, accessible, smart fiction. We suggest you put it on your book-club list, pronto.
Gender-specific events get the heave-ho in T/E
Friday night’s Father-Daughter Dinner Dance at Beaumont Elementary will be its last. Gender-specific events are now verboten in Tredyffrin-Easttown schools.
The school board, with administration support, has unanimously approved a new practice that allows only all-inclusive PTO events.
While some parents fought the change, others, like Hillside Elementary’s Natalie Hoffmann, have been pushing for it for years.
“For me, it’s always been difficult to understand who loses when we include all the kids,” Hoffman tells SAVVY. “More kids are happy, more parents are happy, our events generate more income, and we set a strong example for our kids that our public schools belong equally to everyone.”
Last year, T/E changed its gender-specific graduation robes to one-color-for-all: garnet and gray.
Special delivery: from the Main Line to the mainland of Australia
Orphaned baby kangaroos in Australia are feeling warm and secure thanks, in part, to marsupial pouches stitched at The Handwork Studio in Narberth (above).
A call went out for sling-like fabric pouches that human volunteers could wear as they care for joeys who lost their moms in Autralia’s bushfires and the good folks at Handwork answered it.
Main Line mainstays no more: Yangming and Ruby’s Diner
CBS3 news anchor Jessica Kartalija spoke at the last Tasty Talk at Yangming two weeks ago. Former Governor Ed Rendell was in the house along with owner Michael Wei.
Cutting-edge concepts in their heydays – Asian Fusion! Retro malt shop! –Yangming and retro-Ruby’s Diner have both closed. Yangming left Bryn Mawr after 29 years. Ruby’s had a 25-year run in Suburban Square.
Yangming will stay Asian. New owners, the couple behind the China Gourmet in Philly, will call the place Jin Dang, reports the Inky’s Michael Klein. Look for dim sum and live seafood starting in April. Kitchen renovations and the addition of private dining upstairs come first.
Yangming proprietor Michael Wei, 77, cashed out because neither of his two kids – a doctor and a lawyer – were interested in taking over, a source tells SAVVY.
Yangming never full bounced back from its temporary closure five years ago after multiple sanitation violations, our source reports.
Ruby’s successor on the Square is TBD. The operator let the place go when his lease expired. Only one Philly-area Ruby’s is still standing – in Glen Mills.
Dinniman not running for re-election; T/E School Board Director aims to take his place
Kyle Boyer left his job teaching social studies at Valley Forge Middle School when he ran for the T/E School Board. He now teaches in the Norristown Area School District.
Andy Dinniman, 75, who’s represented Chester County in PA’s 19th district for 14 years, will not seek re-election due to his wife’s health issues.
“This was a very tough decision, especially knowing just how many of you have faithfully and tirelessly supported my work over the years,” Dinniman announced on Friday, Feb. 7. “However, as I sit at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center with my wife, Margo, who is now recovering from surgery, we both came to the sudden realization this was not the time to run again.”
Ambitious Conestoga ’06 alum Kyle Boyer has thrown his hat in the ring for Democratic nomination for Dinniman’s PA Senate.
Elected to the T/E School Board in 2017 at age 29, Boyer now chairs the board’s policy committee, which has been rather busy of late (see our first story above).
Boyer has quite the resumé: dual master’s degrees from Penn, VP of the student body at George Washington University, an ordained minister and youth pastor, former teacher with Teach for America, and president of the West Chester NAACP.
“My passion is public education, Boyer tells SAVVY. “That’s why I’m in this race.”
Time to give your two cents to Tredyffrin Township
A summer yoga class in Wilson Farm Park.
Busy times in Tredyffrin. The township’s working on a new comprehensive plan. AND it’s eyeing changes at Wilson Farm Park.
Causing much consternation: a plan to replace Wilson’s putting green with pickle ball courts. Folks who paid a premium for Chesterbrook townhomes with park views says they don’t want the, er, racket.
Weigh in on potential Wilson Park improvements here and the township as a whole here.
Closing sale at Jacques Ferber Furs in Wayne
Jacques Ferber Furs in Eagle Village will close for good next Saturday, Feb. 15, but not for lack of business.
“This has been a very good store for us; this was a hard decision,” says Pam Ferber whose lease is up after eight years in Wayne.
Ferber tells us one of the three owners wants to step back from operations so they’re slimming down to two stores: the Center City flagship and their no-tax location in Greenville, DE. But not going anywhere: Free pickup and delivery of furs for storage on the Main Line and beyond. Alas, no takers yet for the Ferber space near Vivi G. Shoes, Menagerie and ELLIE Main Line.
Bradley bows out of Verge Yoga
Author Cara Bradley signs copies of her book, On the Verge, for Allyson Hotz and Jean Kane, both Verge clients, at Barnes & Noble in Devon.
In a transition she calls “seamless,” yogi Cara Bradley has sold her popular Wayne studio to one of her longtime teachers, Emily Forté. “It was time,” Bradley says. “My work at Verge Yoga was complete.”
At age 55, Bradley is hardly retiring. She’ll be shifting focus to her podcast, public speaking, online courses, “deep coaching,” and other projects TBD.
Lioness of the Main Line, laid to rest
Among her many honors, Betty Moran was awarded the Gesu Spirit Medal in 2014. (Gesu School photo)
A thousand mourners packed St. David’s Church in Wayne last week to celebrate the life of Elizabeth “Betty” Moran.
“Betty wanted a three-hour service and though this wasn’t close to that, there were a lot of hymns and some robust singing,” the Rev. Frank Allen tells SAVVY.
Grandchildren Max Abbott and Ranney Moran and daughter Caroline Moran gave “fabulous remembrances of this great lady who made differences in thousands of people’s lives here and around the world,” Allen recalls.
Betty Moran was many things in her 89 years: gentlewoman farmer, horse breeder, wife, mother, grandmother. In truth, with bottomless generosity, she mothered us all: abused women at Home of the Sparrow, riders with disabilities at Thorncroft, struggling immigrants at Community Volunteers in Medicine and so many more.
“I’ve lost track of the number of times she would just turn up at my house with a check in hand because she heard of a need in Uganda,” says Nereida Gordon, co-founder of ECHOES Around the World, a Main Line nonprofit that supports schools and a hospital in Uganda and St. James School in Philadelphia. “Betty showed me how to see a need, no matter the size, and help solve it.”
This and That
Ugh. The closures just keep on coming. Let’s see. After Yangming and Ruby’s, there’s Green Papaya in Ardmore, Mad Mex in Wynnewood, Pretzel Factory in Bryn Mawr and Bryn + Dane’s in Malvern. Slated to close: Pier One in Paoli and King of Prussia (closing half its 450 stores), Papyrus in King of Prussia (closing all 254 stores) and Bose in KOP (closing all 119 stores).
A Tuesday to talk about! QVC will broadcast “Barbara King Home & Garden Show” live from the Barn at Valley Forge Flowers Feb. 12, 2:30 to 4 p.m. Snag a seat by emailing [email protected] or calling 610-687-5566. Best jump on this one, like, yesterday, because seats are veeeeeeery limited.
Lower Merion School District is going to sleep on it. Any changes to school start times won’t take effect until the 2021-2022 school year at the earliest. Credit the “ALL LMSD STUDENTS NEED SLEEP” yard signs, speeches, petitions started by elementary school parents.
If you didn’t catch him on the Food Network’s Kids Baking Championship, you can catch teen baking sensation Avner Schwartz – or at least his amazing confections – at Ardmore Farmer’s Market this weekend. Schwartz, 13, is partnering with DiBruno Bros. on a popup sweet shop to benefit Simon’s Heart. Pick up Valentine’s themed cookies – Salted Caramel, yes! – and tubs of dough from noon to 4, Saturday, Feb. 8. Can’t get there? Drool over his @Gingee_says Instagram feed instead.
Hats off to ELLIE Main Line in Eagle Village for donating $47K in clothes and accessories to the Chesco nonprofit, Wings for Success. “So rewarding to help women,” says owner Diane Oliva. You said it, sister.
And finally, no words … except, perhaps, these:
Caroline, thanks again for covering all the goings on. The T-E story makes me want to get back into administration. Talking to the parents first can do a lot to resolve many situations. Got to love the parents of this six-year-old who clearly care deeply and appropriately about their daughter.
You have always had a special gift for speaking to parents AND children, Kathy. A large part of the issue here, I think, is public-school policy that staff was obligated to follow and how blanket enforcement can lead to intended consequences. Somehow the policy as written does not appear to allow the professionals and parents who KNOW these special-needs children to exercise discretion.
The problem in TE is a culture of intimidation and bullying created at the highest levels that punishes parents for speaking out and protects and shields employees from responsibility. It’s a self sustaining force. It makes parents feel powerless. They feel like they can do nothing so they become part of the problem that only grows bigger. The Gaines’s are hardly the only family with little children in the police database. Not this time:
As Mrs. Gaines states above:
The district “picked the wrong people” to tangle with
Her husband, Mark, is a data security analyst for a multinational company. He writes threat assessment policy and has carefully reviewed T/E policy and determined “it doesn’t make sense,” his wife says.
There should have been NO consult with the Police. Flexibility is already written in the Policy and in the UVA model in the form of the “memo of understanding” created by the Supt. Of Schools and the Police Chief.
There is discretion, it states:
The school may consider the following factors in the discussion on whether to involve law enforcement::
The seriousness of the situation.
The schools ability to diffuse or resolve the situation.
The child’s intent.
The child’s age.
Whether the student has a disability.
Type of disability.
Impact of disability on students behavior.
And other relevant factors.
If the Policy already in place were followed, this would have never happened.
So the discussion should be about the Administration and the real reason they chose to call the Police on a 6 year old kindergartner with Down Syndrome.
I’m the mother in this story. I just want to say that I think Caroline did an amazing job with this story. She is absolutely right that this is not about the teacher or the principal taking inappropriate action or not understanding my child or her behavior. They were amazing. And honestly they handled the situation perfectly. They knew this was not a real threat. They addressed the behavior, and they tried to teach her not to do it again. But the policy REQUIRED that they also call the police. That is what I find problematic and dangerous and quite frankly ridiculous. I wanted the community to know about it. I also knew some families who have been in similar situations wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about it publicly. So I wanted to shine a light on this practice so that we could get the administration and the school board to change the policy so that it doesn’t happen again to my daughter or anyone else’s child. Thank you again for covering this story and for taking the time to really understand what this story is about.
Thanks, Maggie. I appreciate your sharing this important story with me. I’ll be watching what comes of it. When I asked for comment, both the school board and the administration told me how many parents – more than 100 participated in focus groups – had input during the policy’s initial drafting in 2018. And still it was crafted in a way that allowed this to happen. And the policy followed the UVA model so what was lost in translation???
It’s the way the Administration chooses to interpret the Policy/Model.
The moms, whose young elementary schoolers who weren’t charged but now have a police record are B.U.I.L.D., officials. Build is a group of parents who build understanding in learning disabilities. They are a strong group of highly educated and professional women who hold the Administration and Board accountable at meetings and in the schools.
Interesting that many of these women’s children have records.
The school board, with administration support, has unanimously approved a new practice that allows only all-inclusive PTO events, so tonight is the last night for the Annual Father/Daughter dance at an elementary school but the Police are called on 6 year old children with Down Syndrome while middle schoolers are physically assaulted at school and the police are NOT called. Where is the uniformity and all inclusiveness with respect to police involvement? Why are the Police called in some situations but not others?
Does anyone know at what meeting the T/E school board voted on the new gender-specific event policy? There wasn’t a source/reference. I wholeheartedly agreed with the decision, I was just curious to read the minutes or watch the video from when the decision was made.
The T/E School Board member we asked to confirm this change said it was a change in “practice” not policy. It takes full effect next school year, allowing PTOs that had already planned events to hold them.
There are 2 commenters using the screen name TE Resident
As noted above:
“””Two former school board members who helped draft the revised policy – Kate Murphy and Ed Sweeney – have told the committee that they never intended for it to be enforced this way.
“I didn’t think it would apply to a six-year-old with Down Syndrome,” said Ed Sweeney, who talked about discretion when “all factors,” i.e. age and disability, were “in favor of not notifying police.”
When “all factors” were in favor of NOT notifying police.
The Mom called State Legislator Andrew Dinniman who stated above:
PA Senator Andy Dinniman, minority chair of the Senate Education Committee, sent an pointed letter to the school board and posted it on his Facebook page, writing that he was “alarmed at what appears to be a lack of judgement and accountability when applying policies.”
TESB Member And Chair of the Policy Committee Kyle Boyer is running for Andrew Dinnimans seat next November. Kyle resigned his position as a Valley Forge Middle School teacher to serve as a School Board Director. Kyle says he supports and represents teachers 100%. I have never once seen him challenge anything the Administration says or does even when their behavior and actions warrant a response and consequence. How do you think this will go?
Yes, we know there are two different people commenting as TE resident. Your gmail address doesn’t contain your name – I’m sure you have your reasons for staying anonymous. Hers does.
I appreciate your forum and I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to express my views.
I have no problem with commenters posting their comments under the same screen name as me.
Thank-you Caroline for reporting on the Police Records for Children with disabilities in TE story.
It has gained National and International attention.
This story is reported on CNN, The Washington Post, UK Daily News, local affiliates for CBS and Fox News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Pattye Benson’s blog. And many others.
“brouhaha over anti-Semitic threats at T/E Middle School “.
anti-Semitic threats are more than a ‘brouhaha’
Actually, we agree. We certainly didn’t mean to diminish the terrible pain caused by these threats. We took them so seriously that we made this family’s ordeal our lead story and we did a followup. And we have deleted the word “brouhaha”…
Regarding Kyle Boyer and his running for Andy Dinnamens seat in the 19th District. Kyle says above that his “passion is public education.” Those are just words.
If you look at Kyles actions, his passion is making sure already over paid teachers with outlandish salaries and benefits at tax payer expense get even more in every way including:
Teachers getting first consideration for setting the school calendar so they don’t have to work straight through March and April because “they are long months”
going against policy that says citizens can speak by muzzling them and not allowing them to speak.
Kyle is very transparent about telling citizens that he is a TESD Board Member to represent and fight for teachers, and his actions demonstrate that he is true to his word.
If you want to pay higher and higher taxes so teachers and Administrators in TE, LM, Radnor, etc. who already rake in 2 to 3x’s what their counterparts in the private sector get, and who get 16+ weeks off a year with gold standard health care they pay a fraction of what tax payers pay for our health care, then you should vote for Kyle.