Heidi McIndoo
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On the article Class Size to Increase; 2 Kindergarten Classes Created at Juniper Hill
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On the article What’s the Going Rate For a Lawn Service in Framingham?
Heidi McIndoo
7:40 am on Friday, May 17, 2013
ReplyI love the idea of this article series. Can't wait to read the results of this particular one as we are possibly going to need a lawn service (mowing, clean up) and I'm curious what that costs and what exactly the companies do
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On the article 80-Bed Treatment Center Proposed for Marist Property
Heidi McIndoo
7:45 am on Thursday, May 9, 2013
ReplyAgain, for those of you not concerned with the safety of our children. Consider this:
part of the beds will be for mood disorders, and with the revelation that Walden plans to move their HQ here, there will certainly be patients with a variety of issues. These mood disorders and other mental health issues include bipolar, mania, and schizophrenia. According to Walden's own website:"During a manic episode, individuals with bipolar disorder may show signs of euphoria, hostility and hyperactivity."
"The paranoid schizophrenic suffers from delusions and hallucinations."
These are the patients that are causing our concern for the safety of our children.
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On the article 80-Bed Treatment Center Proposed for Marist Property
Heidi McIndoo
7:45 am on Thursday, May 9, 2013
@Framingham citizen, you can see my comments about your understanding of the patients below after your next comment. But, with regards to traffic--if only staff is going in and out, how will the patients get food, laundry, facility maintenance. For that matter how will patients get there in the first place, and then to and from the hospital when needed, how about their visitors? All of these services/people will be traveling to and from the facility on a daily basis. That will impact traffic.
In addition, Perhaps I've missed it, but I've not read any comments from people not wanting a facility like this in Framingham, the concern and comments are simply about a facility like this being in a residential area and within a few minutes walk to 3 elementary schools. -
On the article 80-Bed Treatment Center Proposed for Marist Property
Heidi McIndoo
7:45 am on Thursday, May 9, 2013
@Framingham Citizen--you seem very focused on the 24 ED beds to the extent that you've missed the mention of the remaining beds. Per the article above there will be, in addition to ED residents: residential/inpatient treatment center, of which 24 beds for inpatient eating disorders, 24 beds for inpatient mood disorders, 16 beds for residential adolescents and 16 beds for residential obesity patients. The site would also house outpatient services.
I'm curious how much interaction you've had with adolescents struggling with mental health issues. My husband works with them daily and in the past I've worked with them in a facility such as this. While many do not present any dangers to others, the fact is many can at times be extremely dangerous to not just themselves but others. It its these patients, as well as those there for mood disorders such as bipolar and mania, to name a couple that we are concerned about. There are other places right here in Framingham that would make much more sense, perhaps the Perini building which is much closer to the hospital, and in an area zoned for this. -
On the article 80-Bed Treatment Center Proposed for Marist Property
Heidi McIndoo
11:28 am on Wednesday, May 8, 2013
ReplyFor those of you who are not at all concerned about such a facility being so close to multiple elementary schools think of this scenario: It's a weekday, at recess time during which 100 5-10 year olds are outside playing. An inpatient leaves the facility (I hope no one is naive enough to think because it will be a locked facility that patients will not get out--it does happen, and its the patients who don't want to or don't believe the need to be in such a place that will make the attempts to leave). Even in a well run place, accidents happen and mistakes are made that could lead to this. It may take the hard-working staff a bit of time, perhaps even 15 minutes or so to realize a patient is missing--well in would take patient who is trying to get away much less than 15 minutes to cover the 1/2 mile distance to where all of these children are playing outside. For those who are for this facility in THIS location, is that a risk you are willing to take?
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On the article 80-Bed Treatment Center Proposed for Marist Property
Heidi McIndoo
11:28 am on Wednesday, May 8, 2013
@Brad Evans From what I've read there will also be outpatient services which will impact traffic. And, even if it were just inpatient, in addition to staff, there will be traffic from food deliveries, laundry, maintenance, ambulances transporting patients at all hours of the day and night, and visitors. All of that could make quite an impact on traffic patterns
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On the article 80-Bed Treatment Center Proposed for Marist Property
Heidi McIndoo
7:15 am on Wednesday, May 8, 2013
ReplyYes, I am a parent of two children at Brophy, yes I live in the neighborhood. I'm also a registered dietitian who has worked in facilities such as this, one in fact that was in a residential area. My husband works daily with adolescents with mental health issues. We both agree that places such as this can do a great service and are much needed. But we also both agree a residential neighborhood is NOT the place for such a facility. I've seen first hand the hazards and problems of a facility in a residential area can cause. In addition to the Eating disorder and Obesity beds, there would be 40 beds for mood disorder patients (which include bipolar and mania) and residential adolescent. Framingham is a very large town, if a facility such as this is needed in this area find another place in town that's NOT down the road from 100s of young children and in a residential neighborhood.
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On the article Framingham Proposing 4, Not 3, Weeks of Vacation in 2013-14 School Year
Heidi McIndoo
5:40 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013
ReplyHas it ever been considered to start school after Labor Day, but have 2-3 PD before Labor Day? Most teachers I know are already in school setting up their class rooms anyway and that frees up some PD time during the school year.
In addition, Then don't have school 12/23 and 12/24 as not much happens those last two days anyways, and then return to school for Jan 2 and 3rd when many kids and parents who've been home are getting a bit stir crazy? That would only add 2 days to the Holiday Break instead of an entire extra week. And maybe those two days plus the less PD time in year could either balance out not starting school until after Labor Day. Our summer, especially this year, is so short already, it'd be nice to have just that last weekend of summer before diving into the school year.
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On the article Framingham Proposing 4, Not 3, Weeks of Vacation in 2013-14 School Year
Heidi McIndoo
10:01 am on Thursday, March 21, 2013
ReplyI work from home and therefore do not have the same child care issues as those who work out of the home. But, personally I appreciate the proposed change to the winter/holiday break. We have no family living in MA and therefore travel to multiple states over the holidays. Those extra 2 days on each end of the vacation can really make a difference for anyone who must travel. However, Like the teacher above I would like to be certain that in the quest to cut early release days (I agree there seems to be too many) that we are not cutting so much time from the Parent/Teacher conferences that we make them not as beneficial. If we currently have 5 days in each session (Fall/Spring) why not just eliminate 1 or 2 from each session?
Heidi McIndoo
7:36 am on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
As a Brophy parent, I too hope we can correct people's misconceptions about our school. We've been at the school for 3 years so far and I've not met a family yet that isn't happy to be at Brophy. In fact, I've spoken to many who'd heard negative things about Brophy and then came on the Kindergarten tours and were extremely impressed by the staff, current students, building, and the entire environment. In fact, this year I spoke to parents at the tours who were so interested in Brophy that their biggest concern was what were the chances they wouldn't get Brophy if they put it as their first choice.
Yes, I get that our test scores are lower, but if you were tested in a language foreign to that you are just learning, you probably wouldn't do very well either. When you combine test scores of English speaking and those for whom English is not their first language, it brings the average down of course, and those are the numbers everyone sees.
I just say for those of you who think and talk negatively about Brophy, please don't judge a book by it's cover (or test scores). You can't get a fair opinion of our school until you've been in our school, met our staff, seen our students--those are just a few of the factors that make our school a great place for our young children to begin their journey of learning.