Principal Change at Herndon High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Herndon HS having 3 admins leave all of a sudden seems like somewhere the higher ups have something brewing.
Where is the stability for the students?! Aren’t schools student centered?! Students will go back to school after a 4 day weekend to HUGE changes. Once again people have been involuntarily moved before a long break and given ZERO time to say goodbye. 1 day to pack up and go… where is the humanity?! Middle of the year changes, complete nonsense! Students, staff, and families have zero time to process, but are expected to act like this is “normal”!!!!! This is definitely a choice.

Yes, this is the part that seems suspicious. Tochterman is going to Madison to fill a vacancy, but why are they swapping an administrator from South Lakes with one from Herndon High School? What is the reasoning behind that decision? Is the goal to give Gatehouse more influence over how Herndon is run, or is it to make it easier to destaff Herndon staff by bringing in someone without the same relationships or emotional investment that current administrators have built with staff?

Herndon has lost 270 kids over the past three years. How could they not de-staff with that declining enrollment, unless there's enough regular teacher attrition to keep everyone there who wants to stay there?

That type of decline isn't unique to Herndon, by the way. Over the same period, Centreville has lost over 400 students.

Enrollment numbers sure have declined but what is bothersome in this situation is how a school is losing 3 major pillars- the principal and two assistant principals- in the middle of the school year. Yes, de-staffing happens but the timing is bizarre. I’m not sure the dynamics behind with the principal leaving mid-year but the 2 AP’s moving is involuntary- they didn’t choose to leave mid year- they were told. Also! Why would you flip flop a South Lakes AP to Herndon and vice versa? Cronin is going to SL and the SL AP is coming to HHS… make it make sense.

Cronin is an absolute nightmare. They were probably just looking for a chance to get rid of him. Good riddance.

[Anonymous]

They are playing musical high schools in FCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe FCPS is finally getting around to reading the teachers and parents complaints from 2023 when the admin ruined the school with flipping the grading system to solve for “attendance issues” .

Doubt that. McNair Upper has the worst principal in FCPS history. She’s been there about 15 years without being moved.

If the system isn’t moving her, they don’t care about complaints or moving a principal based on performance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Herndon HS having 3 admins leave all of a sudden seems like somewhere the higher ups have something brewing.
Where is the stability for the students?! Aren’t schools student centered?! Students will go back to school after a 4 day weekend to HUGE changes. Once again people have been involuntarily moved before a long break and given ZERO time to say goodbye. 1 day to pack up and go… where is the humanity?! Middle of the year changes, complete nonsense! Students, staff, and families have zero time to process, but are expected to act like this is “normal”!!!!! This is definitely a choice.

Yes, this is the part that seems suspicious. Tochterman is going to Madison to fill a vacancy, but why are they swapping an administrator from South Lakes with one from Herndon High School? What is the reasoning behind that decision? Is the goal to give Gatehouse more influence over how Herndon is run, or is it to make it easier to destaff Herndon staff by bringing in someone without the same relationships or emotional investment that current administrators have built with staff?

Herndon has lost 270 kids over the past three years. How could they not de-staff with that declining enrollment, unless there's enough regular teacher attrition to keep everyone there who wants to stay there?

That type of decline isn't unique to Herndon, by the way. Over the same period, Centreville has lost over 400 students.

Enrollment numbers sure have declined but what is bothersome in this situation is how a school is losing 3 major pillars- the principal and two assistant principals- in the middle of the school year. Yes, de-staffing happens but the timing is bizarre. I’m not sure the dynamics behind with the principal leaving mid-year but the 2 AP’s moving is involuntary- they didn’t choose to leave mid year- they were told. Also! Why would you flip flop a South Lakes AP to Herndon and vice versa? Cronin is going to SL and the SL AP is coming to HHS… make it make sense.

Cronin is an absolute nightmare. They were probably just looking for a chance to get rid of him. Good riddance.

It’s pretty awful when anonymous posters attack APs. They aren’t the face of the school and don’t deserve to get dragged like this just because someone has a personal vendetta of some sort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Herndon HS having 3 admins leave all of a sudden seems like somewhere the higher ups have something brewing.
Where is the stability for the students?! Aren’t schools student centered?! Students will go back to school after a 4 day weekend to HUGE changes. Once again people have been involuntarily moved before a long break and given ZERO time to say goodbye. 1 day to pack up and go… where is the humanity?! Middle of the year changes, complete nonsense! Students, staff, and families have zero time to process, but are expected to act like this is “normal”!!!!! This is definitely a choice.

Yes, this is the part that seems suspicious. Tochterman is going to Madison to fill a vacancy, but why are they swapping an administrator from South Lakes with one from Herndon High School? What is the reasoning behind that decision? Is the goal to give Gatehouse more influence over how Herndon is run, or is it to make it easier to destaff Herndon staff by bringing in someone without the same relationships or emotional investment that current administrators have built with staff?

Herndon has lost 270 kids over the past three years. How could they not de-staff with that declining enrollment, unless there's enough regular teacher attrition to keep everyone there who wants to stay there?

That type of decline isn't unique to Herndon, by the way. Over the same period, Centreville has lost over 400 students.

Enrollment numbers sure have declined but what is bothersome in this situation is how a school is losing 3 major pillars- the principal and two assistant principals- in the middle of the school year. Yes, de-staffing happens but the timing is bizarre. I’m not sure the dynamics behind with the principal leaving mid-year but the 2 AP’s moving is involuntary- they didn’t choose to leave mid year- they were told. Also! Why would you flip flop a South Lakes AP to Herndon and vice versa? Cronin is going to SL and the SL AP is coming to HHS… make it make sense.

Cronin is an absolute nightmare. They were probably just looking for a chance to get rid of him. Good riddance.

It’s pretty awful when anonymous posters attack APs. They aren’t the face of the school and don’t deserve to get dragged like this just because someone has a personal vendetta of some sort.

Interesting that everyone that has been mentioned as being moved has someone who tells us how awful they are. I've seen complaints from several high schools on here about administrators and they are all like this with no details about why. Probably just troublemakers.

[Anonymous]

I’m some of these incidents, FCPS needs to just provide more transparency rather than obfuscation. And not just “trust us.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Herndon HS having 3 admins leave all of a sudden seems like somewhere the higher ups have something brewing.
Where is the stability for the students?! Aren’t schools student centered?! Students will go back to school after a 4 day weekend to HUGE changes. Once again people have been involuntarily moved before a long break and given ZERO time to say goodbye. 1 day to pack up and go… where is the humanity?! Middle of the year changes, complete nonsense! Students, staff, and families have zero time to process, but are expected to act like this is “normal”!!!!! This is definitely a choice.

Yes, this is the part that seems suspicious. Tochterman is going to Madison to fill a vacancy, but why are they swapping an administrator from South Lakes with one from Herndon High School? What is the reasoning behind that decision? Is the goal to give Gatehouse more influence over how Herndon is run, or is it to make it easier to destaff Herndon staff by bringing in someone without the same relationships or emotional investment that current administrators have built with staff?

Herndon has lost 270 kids over the past three years. How could they not de-staff with that declining enrollment, unless there's enough regular teacher attrition to keep everyone there who wants to stay there?

That type of decline isn't unique to Herndon, by the way. Over the same period, Centreville has lost over 400 students.

Enrollment numbers sure have declined but what is bothersome in this situation is how a school is losing 3 major pillars- the principal and two assistant principals- in the middle of the school year. Yes, de-staffing happens but the timing is bizarre. I’m not sure the dynamics behind with the principal leaving mid-year but the 2 AP’s moving is involuntary- they didn’t choose to leave mid year- they were told. Also! Why would you flip flop a South Lakes AP to Herndon and vice versa? Cronin is going to SL and the SL AP is coming to HHS… make it make sense.

Cronin is an absolute nightmare. They were probably just looking for a chance to get rid of him. Good riddance.

It’s pretty awful when anonymous posters attack APs. They aren’t the face of the school and don’t deserve to get dragged like this just because someone has a personal vendetta of some sort.

Interesting that everyone that has been mentioned as being moved has someone who tells us how awful they are. I've seen complaints from several high schools on here about administrators and they are all like this with no details about why. Probably just troublemakers.

Idk. There have been posts about some of these administrators before. Some of the posts get removed and some don’t mention names. Many of these administrators are legitimately bad.

[Anonymous]

There is a long standing thread about the "Failed Principal to Central Office Pipeline".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m some of these incidents, FCPS needs to just provide more transparency rather than obfuscation. And not just “trust us.”

Well you can’t trust em.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m some of these incidents, FCPS needs to just provide more transparency rather than obfuscation. And not just “trust us.”

The staff agrees this is how administrators behave with teachers and staff. So much gaslighting-don't believe your eyes and ears.....just believe the story we are selling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m some of these incidents, FCPS needs to just provide more transparency rather than obfuscation. And not just “trust us.”

The staff agrees this is how administrators behave with teachers and staff. So much gaslighting-don't believe your eyes and ears.....just believe the story we are selling.

Examples at Herndon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m some of these incidents, FCPS needs to just provide more transparency rather than obfuscation. And not just “trust us.”

The staff agrees this is how administrators behave with teachers and staff. So much gaslighting-don't believe your eyes and ears.....just believe the story we are selling.

Examples at Herndon?

Yes, the lie they're selling is that South Lakes didn't have a male administrator so they gave them Cronin. They also said that Madison did not have an admin with a background in SPED, so they took Tochertman. Doesn't make sense, because now Herndon doesn't have a male administrator.

The main complaint that staff has is the speed at which these decisions are made. Before winter break a teacher was destaffed and was given two days to pack up his things and head to elementary school. It means that he had to pause grading, planning, etc. in the middle of a unit. This does not promote stability and certainly doesn't lead to positive outcomes for student achievement. It is definitely a choice to move people quickly with no time to close out grades or tie up loose ends. It is definitely not how you treat teachers or admin and does not make staff feel valued or respected.