LAMB AP's contract not renewed

[Anonymous]

I think the majority of the staff at LAMB speak Spanish. At worst, some staff speak "broken" Spanish but can still carry a conversation. Charis is learning. It takes time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the majority of the staff at LAMB speak Spanish. At worst, some staff speak "broken" Spanish but can still carry a conversation. Charis is learning. It takes time.

At a recent Charla Charis proudly said she didn’t speak Spanish and was not learning.

I wish her minions would stop posting lies on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We absolutely loved the warm and fuzzy Montessori feeling from PK-3 through second grade. But then you watch your 5th grader trying to learn algebra using rainbow colored blocks. That's when you realize the Montessori ideologues have pushed it too far.

Is algebra even in the 5th grade curriculum? I didn’t learn algebra until 8th grade.

- LAMB parent still feeling warm and fuzzy, so far having a good experience with the school, except for the parents that are making me worried.

It's pretty easy to avoid those parents. There is an ever-present toxic set of them, to be clear. But they are a tiny minority, and if you don't engage, then it's very very easy to not know they exist.

This is false. I have kids in upper el, lower el, and primary. Nearly all the upper el parents are really concerned. Spanish is almost totally absent in upper el. There is almost no Spanish writing at all, no speaking even during Spanish days, and many teachers are monolingual.

Lower el is a mixed bag. By the time your kid hits 2nd grade they should reach certain milestones. Yet over half of third graders are below level on English reading. Some classrooms have no requirement to speak Spanish while some do. About half the parents are really worried.

Primary? Everyone is happy. Primary is great at lamb. Only a few parents are concerned here.

If you want a clear perspective on how things have gotten, I urge you to tour the school, with an emphasis on upper elementary. The principal is good with excellent ideas and the vice principal was excellent. The reality is that at lamb you it kids education is almost totally dependent on what teacher you get as administrators cannot give any feedback to teachers without getting written up by HR. How HR is more important than our children I do not know or understand. Right now we are having major problems in my child’s upper el class since they’re doing 1-3 works tops a day, speaking no spanish, and aren’t preparing for the parcc at all. My kids don’t know how to do basic fractions! In 5th grade! This is a major problem but his teacher isn’t concerned.

So I get it is easy to marginalize some parents as being “toxic” but the reality is that we are seriously concerned. The exec director is openly hostile and never in the building.

I am for one really really worried. I don’t recommend lamb to anyone past pk4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We absolutely loved the warm and fuzzy Montessori feeling from PK-3 through second grade. But then you watch your 5th grader trying to learn algebra using rainbow colored blocks. That's when you realize the Montessori ideologues have pushed it too far.

Is algebra even in the 5th grade curriculum? I didn’t learn algebra until 8th grade.

- LAMB parent still feeling warm and fuzzy, so far having a good experience with the school, except for the parents that are making me worried.

It's pretty easy to avoid those parents. There is an ever-present toxic set of them, to be clear. But they are a tiny minority, and if you don't engage, then it's very very easy to not know they exist.

This is false. I have kids in upper el, lower el, and primary. Nearly all the upper el parents are really concerned. Spanish is almost totally absent in upper el. There is almost no Spanish writing at all, no speaking even during Spanish days, and many teachers are monolingual.

Lower el is a mixed bag. By the time your kid hits 2nd grade they should reach certain milestones. Yet over half of third graders are below level on English reading. Some classrooms have no requirement to speak Spanish while some do. About half the parents are really worried.

Primary? Everyone is happy. Primary is great at lamb. Only a few parents are concerned here.

If you want a clear perspective on how things have gotten, I urge you to tour the school, with an emphasis on upper elementary. The principal is good with excellent ideas and the vice principal was excellent. The reality is that at lamb you it kids education is almost totally dependent on what teacher you get as administrators cannot give any feedback to teachers without getting written up by HR. How HR is more important than our children I do not know or understand. Right now we are having major problems in my child’s upper el class since they’re doing 1-3 works tops a day, speaking no spanish, and aren’t preparing for the parcc at all. My kids don’t know how to do basic fractions! In 5th grade! This is a major problem but his teacher isn’t concerned.

So I get it is easy to marginalize some parents as being “toxic” but the reality is that we are seriously concerned. The exec director is openly hostile and never in the building.

I am for one really really worried. I don’t recommend lamb to anyone past pk4

I doubt your claim that half of parents are worried. Everyone I talk to has no idea what's going on, as they see no impact on their kids. Heck, there are PS posts where people are asking what's the deal, again suggesting that your issues are not really making an impact on others. At any rate, I can guarantee there won't be some noticeable exodus from the school based on recent AP changes.

I'm not a huge rah-rah-for-LAMB person. I've found it a fine environment for my kids thus far. I think Charis is bad at handling conflicts at school (as has been shown through the pandemic, and the bus issues, etc). The board is basically useless and will do whatever Charis says. They aren't going to be swayed by parents. LAMB will continue to have a waitlist a mile long. (Recall that even after the events-that-shall-not-be-named, LAMB still had a waitlist a mile long. An AP change is going to have far less of an impact.)

[Anonymous]

I don’t care about the AP, but I care about (1) spanish and (2) academic standards.

As I said above, some people are doing great and are fine. But the vast majority of parents in upper grades can see how the academic standards are falling. They can see how poor the spanish has gotten.

Every other school has plenty of aftercare spots. For the third year in a row, lamb will have insufficient aftercare. This is directly due to the COO Maria Jose Carrasco and Charis.

People are worried about being open with this because Charis retaliates against kids whose parents complain.

[Anonymous]

Lamb won’t have a waitlist a mile long if they don’t have aftercare spots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care about the AP, but I care about (1) spanish and (2) academic standards.

As I said above, some people are doing great and are fine. But the vast majority of parents in upper grades can see how the academic standards are falling. They can see how poor the spanish has gotten.

Every other school has plenty of aftercare spots. For the third year in a row, lamb will have insufficient aftercare. This is directly due to the COO Maria Jose Carrasco and Charis.

People are worried about being open with this because Charis retaliates against kids whose parents complain.

What do you mean by retaliate? How do they do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care about the AP, but I care about (1) spanish and (2) academic standards.

As I said above, some people are doing great and are fine. But the vast majority of parents in upper grades can see how the academic standards are falling. They can see how poor the spanish has gotten.

Every other school has plenty of aftercare spots. For the third year in a row, lamb will have insufficient aftercare. This is directly due to the COO Maria Jose Carrasco and Charis.

People are worried about being open with this because Charis retaliates against kids whose parents complain.

What are they doing/not doing that results in not finding enough aftercare teachers? It’s certainly in the school’s interest to hire more aftercare teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We absolutely loved the warm and fuzzy Montessori feeling from PK-3 through second grade. But then you watch your 5th grader trying to learn algebra using rainbow colored blocks. That's when you realize the Montessori ideologues have pushed it too far.

Is algebra even in the 5th grade curriculum? I didn’t learn algebra until 8th grade.

- LAMB parent still feeling warm and fuzzy, so far having a good experience with the school, except for the parents that are making me worried.

It's pretty easy to avoid those parents. There is an ever-present toxic set of them, to be clear. But they are a tiny minority, and if you don't engage, then it's very very easy to not know they exist.

This is false. I have kids in upper el, lower el, and primary. Nearly all the upper el parents are really concerned. Spanish is almost totally absent in upper el. There is almost no Spanish writing at all, no speaking even during Spanish days, and many teachers are monolingual.

Lower el is a mixed bag. By the time your kid hits 2nd grade they should reach certain milestones. Yet over half of third graders are below level on English reading. Some classrooms have no requirement to speak Spanish while some do. About half the parents are really worried.

Primary? Everyone is happy. Primary is great at lamb. Only a few parents are concerned here.

If you want a clear perspective on how things have gotten, I urge you to tour the school, with an emphasis on upper elementary. The principal is good with excellent ideas and the vice principal was excellent. The reality is that at lamb you it kids education is almost totally dependent on what teacher you get as administrators cannot give any feedback to teachers without getting written up by HR. How HR is more important than our children I do not know or understand. Right now we are having major problems in my child’s upper el class since they’re doing 1-3 works tops a day, speaking no spanish, and aren’t preparing for the parcc at all. My kids don’t know how to do basic fractions! In 5th grade! This is a major problem but his teacher isn’t concerned.

So I get it is easy to marginalize some parents as being “toxic” but the reality is that we are seriously concerned. The exec director is openly hostile and never in the building.

I am for one really really worried. I don’t recommend lamb to anyone past pk4

I doubt your claim that half of parents are worried. Everyone I talk to has no idea what's going on, as they see no impact on their kids. Heck, there are PS posts where people are asking what's the deal, again suggesting that your issues are not really making an impact on others. At any rate, I can guarantee there won't be some noticeable exodus from the school based on recent AP changes.

I'm not a huge rah-rah-for-LAMB person. I've found it a fine environment for my kids thus far. I think Charis is bad at handling conflicts at school (as has been shown through the pandemic, and the bus issues, etc). The board is basically useless and will do whatever Charis says. They aren't going to be swayed by parents. LAMB will continue to have a waitlist a mile long. (Recall that even after the events-that-shall-not-be-named, LAMB still had a waitlist a mile long. An AP change is going to have far less of an impact.)

Hi, mostly new to this thread. Been at the school for some time and I think something that got lost since COVID was the informal chats parents would have with other classroom parents and just the general population of new-to-LAMB parents. Sure, there have been some in-person events for parents this year but largely we are attending meetings online. I remember fondly the years we were at Missouri and walked our kid to the classroom. We would have so many impromptu discussions in the halls or at pickup our kids would play for a few minutes on the playground. PTO meetings held monthly in the basement or the whole building Peace Ceremonies were also a chance to connect. I probably met every family that was at Missouri. So I can understand when in a mostly PS virtual environment, grievances can seem like an overreaction. I'm not friends of the parents most vocal on PS myself but I am willing to give them some grace as they are using the only forum to reach out available right now. FWIW, I do recognize some of the names as parents who may be very vocal but are also some of the first to volunteer to help out with any school events. Whether it be with their time or in donated goods.

Our experience at LAMB has been mostly issue-free but some things have come up to cause me to see many of the things the more vocal parents have complained about. For me, it's the cumulative effect of a few things never getting completely resolved and now the one person who has been both fully competent and eager to help leaving, that has certainly solidified the desire to leave before 5th grade. But I also can appreciate (and I know) some parents with a different experience. My ask of everyone is to withhold judgment until you have gone through some challenges yourself to come to final conclusions about the school environment. Let's face it - with only 7% at risk, many parents have the means to supplement their children's academic needs or hire help with aftercare independent of the school so that they can dodge major issues for the most part.

I don't want to see Charis leave (would like to see the Board flex a bit here and work with staff though to see what is going on with the toxic environment claims). I sat in on the interviews and she was by far the best candidate. I also don't have a lot of faith in finding someone better given the struggle the education system everywhere is experiencing. But I think it is ok to challenge her to do better. I give the more vocal parents credit for finally getting some action ie holding the unplanned charla, showing an org chart. I will say, she missed a huge opportunity by being so opaque about an exact plan (and Greg did the same). At some points it was so hazy, Maria Jose was translating what Charis and Greg were saying even though Charis and Greg were speaking English. I was really looking for Charis to show some leadership and set fears aside about the departure of Michelle and Ms Alex (never heard her fate).

One more thing, while the waitlist will continue to be long for primary. All current parents should be worried about Upper El even if your child is still in primary. Academically for sure there are concerns, but if large amounts of 4th graders or rising 4th graders decide to leave, those spots are not backfilled and the school will lose funds it desperately needs to support things needed by the entire school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who reads this LAMB thread and thinks, "Holy hell, LAMB parents seem like a bunch of middle school children who seem to feed off of drama!"? Seriously, how do you all have time and energy for this nonsense.

To be fair, there seem to be drama parents like that at every school that comes up here. BASIS comes to mind. For a while, the Janney parents were a trip.

That feels like a false equivalence. BASIS parents seem to be pretty aggressive at defending a constant barrage from a small and vocal group that really, really hates that school. The LAMB drama seems to be coming from inside the building. It feels like a bunch of bored parents who thrive on drama and palace intrigue.

Honestly, the fact that you are stuck on this seems like you also enjoy drama. It's very easy to avoid this drama if you are at the school, which you don't seem to be.

Oh, I very much am! I am soooooooo here for it. Watching the circular firing squad of a small number of very silly people who seem incredibly invested in inside baseball and admin cliques is incredibly amusing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care about the AP, but I care about (1) spanish and (2) academic standards.

As I said above, some people are doing great and are fine. But the vast majority of parents in upper grades can see how the academic standards are falling. They can see how poor the spanish has gotten.

Every other school has plenty of aftercare spots. For the third year in a row, lamb will have insufficient aftercare. This is directly due to the COO Maria Jose Carrasco and Charis.

People are worried about being open with this because Charis retaliates against kids whose parents complain.

What are they doing/not doing that results in not finding enough aftercare teachers? It’s certainly in the school’s interest to hire more aftercare teachers.

Not the person you quoted but the school has never answered the question of pay for the aftercare staff. How much do they pay and is it competitive with other schools?
Also, when parents suggested that the school bring in some additional help via a non-LAMB provider, Charis immediately shot that down. Parents were suggesting all sorts of creative things to help which may not have worked but also weren't received with openness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the majority of the staff at LAMB speak Spanish. At worst, some staff speak "broken" Spanish but can still carry a conversation. Charis is learning. It takes time.

At a recent Charla Charis proudly said she didn’t speak Spanish and was not learning.

I wish her minions would stop posting lies on here.

Which Charla? I’ve watched most of them and didn’t hear her say this.

[Anonymous]

If there really is the exodus from upper elementary as is being claimed, I’d expect admin to change their stance on backfilling as soon as it starts hurting the budget. Easy to be principled when you don’t have empty seats staring you in the wallet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the majority of the staff at LAMB speak Spanish. At worst, some staff speak "broken" Spanish but can still carry a conversation. Charis is learning. It takes time.

At a recent Charla Charis proudly said she didn’t speak Spanish and was not learning.

I wish her minions would stop posting lies on here.

Which Charla? I’ve watched most of them and didn’t hear her say this.

It was the Charla on November 3, 2022. She doesn’t speak Spanish and has no plans to learn despite promising to do so when she got hired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care about the AP, but I care about (1) spanish and (2) academic standards.

As I said above, some people are doing great and are fine. But the vast majority of parents in upper grades can see how the academic standards are falling. They can see how poor the spanish has gotten.

Every other school has plenty of aftercare spots. For the third year in a row, lamb will have insufficient aftercare. This is directly due to the COO Maria Jose Carrasco and Charis.

People are worried about being open with this because Charis retaliates against kids whose parents complain.

I have neighbors at Yu Ying who didn't get a spot in aftercare and friends at DC Prep whose kids are on the aftercare waitlisted. I guess it is easy to come up with bold statements like every other school has plenty of aftercare. What is hard is to accept reality. I am no happy with the aftercare situation. Though, I don't think it is fair to make such bold and false accusations.