Woods Academy HOS departure?

[Anonymous]

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They had better explain this choice to parents asap- seeing as it’s acceptance season. Poor choice and poor timing as far as I can see.

This is the thing. Parents choose a K-8 in part for good outplacement. The private school connects don't appear to be there and no real improvement at Rolling Terrace. Don't see how this will better for Woods. Very different type of parent at Woods than at Rolling Terrace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Upper school parent here and I expect we'll hear more from the search committee and/or board in the coming days. I'm also very enthusiastic about the new head and understand many parents will start having the opportunity to meet her in person very soon - I expect that will allay any concerns quickly.

She’ll probably be at Woods auction. I’m sure she’s a very nice person, but not exactly right fit for Woods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very happy about this pick. Not cookie cutter at all. Woods needs to strengthen its academic program and teacher support and she has the expertise and experience to do that.

Not sure why you would think she can enhance the academic program. Rolling terrace has always been one of the worst performing ES in MCPS. . The most recent math proficiency is 8% at rolling terrace…

8%? elementary school math? Shocked

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very happy about this pick. Not cookie cutter at all. Woods needs to strengthen its academic program and teacher support and she has the expertise and experience to do that.

Not sure why you would think she can enhance the academic program. Rolling terrace has always been one of the worst performing ES in MCPS. . The most recent math proficiency is 8% at rolling terrace…

8%? elementary school math? Shocked

Sad!

[Anonymous]

I'm kind of disappointed in the Woods community (a few of you at least). I thought we were better than this, pre-judging someone you have never met (or maybe met briefly when she was at the school), already deciding she is a "poor choice" and "bad fit." Look at the search committee. Look at the board members. They are Woods parents who want the same things we want for our children and our school. If you are a Woods parents, you know at least some of them and know they are good and thoughtful people. Do you have so little faith and trust in them? I agree that the announcement could and should have contained more information on why this choice was made, but we hold ourselves out to be a warm and welcoming community. It's not feeling that way reading some of these comments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm kind of disappointed in the Woods community (a few of you at least). I thought we were better than this, pre-judging someone you have never met (or maybe met briefly when she was at the school), already deciding she is a "poor choice" and "bad fit." Look at the search committee. Look at the board members. They are Woods parents who want the same things we want for our children and our school. If you are a Woods parents, you know at least some of them and know they are good and thoughtful people. Do you have so little faith and trust in them? I agree that the announcement could and should have contained more information on why this choice was made, but we hold ourselves out to be a warm and welcoming community. It's not feeling that way reading some of these comments.

It’s not that I don’t trust the board members. Sadly, I think that this was the best candidate from the pool of applicants. And that is sad.

[Anonymous]

There's no telling how she will be before she's started, but I do think it's fair to judge on whether or not she was able to make improvements where she was. I also think that there isn't a lot more for us to go off of (given the thin bio in the announcement). If there is something else we should be judging on, it would've been awesome to get that data in the announcement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very happy about this pick. Not cookie cutter at all. Woods needs to strengthen its academic program and teacher support and she has the expertise and experience to do that.

Not sure why you would think she can enhance the academic program. Rolling terrace has always been one of the worst performing ES in MCPS. . The most recent math proficiency is 8% at rolling terrace…

8%? elementary school math? Shocked

Sad!

What is the FARMS rate there though? Isn’t it a pretty lower SES group?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm very happy about this pick. Not cookie cutter at all. Woods needs to strengthen its academic program and teacher support and she has the expertise and experience to do that.

Not sure why you would think she can enhance the academic program. Rolling terrace has always been one of the worst performing ES in MCPS. . The most recent math proficiency is 8% at rolling terrace…

8%? elementary school math? Shocked

Sad!

What is the FARMS rate there though? Isn’t it a pretty lower SES group?

Found data from 5 year ago… FARMS at Rolling Terrace was 74.3%! That’s huge.

It’s great that the new HOS obviously has experience with certain kinds of challenges. I am not sure whether that experience translates. If she’s a hard worker hopefully she’ll rise to the occasion.

I worry that she went the public school route to begin with because she might have been a true believer in that model (the type to dismiss private school parents as elitists or whatever else), but maybe even if she started out that way the pandemic experience prompted a change of heart!

[Anonymous]

I wonder if the process was rushed. I have a friend with a child at the McLean School, and their school also announced a HoS search around the same time as Woods, but they aren’t planning to fill the position until summer 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if the process was rushed. I have a friend with a child at the McLean School, and their school also announced a HoS search around the same time as Woods, but they aren’t planning to fill the position until summer 2024.

I do wonder why, if this was the best available candidate, they didn’t just go with an interim HoS and prolong the search process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if the process was rushed. I have a friend with a child at the McLean School, and their school also announced a HoS search around the same time as Woods, but they aren’t planning to fill the position until summer 2024.

I do wonder why, if this was the best available candidate, they didn’t just go with an interim HoS and prolong the search process.

Seriously doubt that. There are a lot of qualified candidates in this area. Looks like they wanted something specific. Woods is not a "think outside the box" or progressive school in any way. Loved our time there and I hope it works. But I was hoping for a lot more based on the survey and constantly seeking present and past parents input.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm kind of disappointed in the Woods community (a few of you at least). I thought we were better than this, pre-judging someone you have never met (or maybe met briefly when she was at the school), already deciding she is a "poor choice" and "bad fit." Look at the search committee. Look at the board members. They are Woods parents who want the same things we want for our children and our school. If you are a Woods parents, you know at least some of them and know they are good and thoughtful people. Do you have so little faith and trust in them? I agree that the announcement could and should have contained more information on why this choice was made, but we hold ourselves out to be a warm and welcoming community. It's not feeling that way reading some of these comments.

This is clearly written by someone on the search committee- the same ones that used most of the announcement to pat themselves on the back for having done the work. (They deserve thanks, for sure, but that notice was very self-servingly done.)

Look, I DON'T know these parents or the board. Why? Because having joined the school within the last 3 years, I haven't been invited to any functions where I might meet them-- I assume in the pre-covid era things were different. The only parents I have met have been on the sidelines of the sports field. That's not the committee's fault, but it is the reality of the situation. The fact that all the posters in this thread had a similar reaction suggests that the committee isn't prioritizing the same things as the parents. And if the problem is simply the announcement, then there has already been plenty of time to further explain...but only silence from the committee and school.

This person may be a wonderful addition to Woods, but so far all I see and hear is that she's a public-school admin which is exactly the kind of leadership most Woods parents turned AWAY from when choosing woods over public, or leaving public to come to Woods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if the process was rushed. I have a friend with a child at the McLean School, and their school also announced a HoS search around the same time as Woods, but they aren’t planning to fill the position until summer 2024.

I was also surprised with the speed of the announcement and the timing right around admissions acceptances.