Updates on Langdon

[Anonymous]

My child just got into Langdon. I’m hoping to hear some updates on the school from current families or teachers. He would be in Kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

We have 2 kindergarten teachers who are awesome (and no, I’m not one of them).
They are both always being mentioned by admin in terms of their test scores, partnership, and classroom environments.
One of them, I’m not sure if I can say her name is particularly wonderful. She’s such a positive person even when she is stressed herself.

They will both be returning next year, what specifically did you want to hear about? I can talk about the great things as well as the things I think our school needs to work on. Despite me loving my school, we are not perfect and I’d never sell that to a parent.

-I’m a teacher

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much. That’s great to hear. My child loves all things hands on, especially science and art. Those would be two areas I’d love to hear more about. Also, is there a Spanish special? Also- what grades does the Montessori track work with? I don’t see much on the website. To be honest, I don’t know much about the school. I just know it would be a convenient location. So any info would be helpful. Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

I’d also appreciate thoughts on areas for improvement of the school. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

We have an art special and our art teacher recently moved but we always seem to find the most amazing one. Also for all the grades I always see students projects, in and out of classrooms. I do think science projects become more robust in the 1st/2nd grade though.
Yes, we have a Spanish special.

Montessori is officially PK-K, that’s accredited by AMI. We have Montessori based from 1st-5th. I believe the breakdown is 1-3rd and then 3rd-5th. Although Montessori based those 2 teachers are amazing (as are they regular track).

Did you go on our tour? It’s always interesting when I realize my school is not super popular because we have had to do so many trainings for other schools and the superintendent is always coming to learn from us.

Anyway our grows I think are in the SEL realm, I think PBIS is a little out dated and though I think the reward of our BOOM (behaving and operating in an outstanding manner) room is great, not all students are motivated by that.

I’d like us to focus more on emotional regulation and less PBIS and restorative justice.
But this is elementary school and we have only a small handful of students who need tier 3 support. The majority like getting their points and going to the BOOM room each week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have 2 kindergarten teachers who are awesome (and no, I’m not one of them).
They are both always being mentioned by admin in terms of their test scores, partnership, and classroom environments.
One of them, I’m not sure if I can say her name is particularly wonderful. She’s such a positive person even when she is stressed herself.

They will both be returning next year, what specifically did you want to hear about? I can talk about the great things as well as the things I think our school needs to work on. Despite me loving my school, we are not perfect and I’d never sell that to a parent.

-I’m a teacher

The kindergarten kids take standardized tests?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2 kindergarten teachers who are awesome (and no, I’m not one of them).
They are both always being mentioned by admin in terms of their test scores, partnership, and classroom environments.
One of them, I’m not sure if I can say her name is particularly wonderful. She’s such a positive person even when she is stressed herself.

They will both be returning next year, what specifically did you want to hear about? I can talk about the great things as well as the things I think our school needs to work on. Despite me loving my school, we are not perfect and I’d never sell that to a parent.

-I’m a teacher

The kindergarten kids take standardized tests?

Yes, DIBELS and we use iReady reading and math. We also test every 6 weeks (I think the standard for iReady is 16 weeks) to help ensure every student is making progress whether they are below, average, or above average.

Some parents may worry that’s a lot of testing but I’ve seen very few students who feel stressed, especially at the K level and given iReady and DIBELS tests are not long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have an art special and our art teacher recently moved but we always seem to find the most amazing one. Also for all the grades I always see students projects, in and out of classrooms. I do think science projects become more robust in the 1st/2nd grade though.
Yes, we have a Spanish special.

Montessori is officially PK-K, that’s accredited by AMI. We have Montessori based from 1st-5th. I believe the breakdown is 1-3rd and then 3rd-5th. Although Montessori based those 2 teachers are amazing (as are they regular track).

Did you go on our tour? It’s always interesting when I realize my school is not super popular because we have had to do so many trainings for other schools and the superintendent is always coming to learn from us.

Anyway our grows I think are in the SEL realm, I think PBIS is a little out dated and though I think the reward of our BOOM (behaving and operating in an outstanding manner) room is great, not all students are motivated by that.

I’d like us to focus more on emotional regulation and less PBIS and restorative justice.
But this is elementary school and we have only a small handful of students who need tier 3 support. The majority like getting their points and going to the BOOM room each week.

Great info!! Thanks! Seems like a wonderful place! Overall, is there much bullying between the students? I have accepted the spot and am really hoping to keep my child there for the whole stretch of ES and am also curious about the upper grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2 kindergarten teachers who are awesome (and no, I’m not one of them).
They are both always being mentioned by admin in terms of their test scores, partnership, and classroom environments.
One of them, I’m not sure if I can say her name is particularly wonderful. She’s such a positive person even when she is stressed herself.

They will both be returning next year, what specifically did you want to hear about? I can talk about the great things as well as the things I think our school needs to work on. Despite me loving my school, we are not perfect and I’d never sell that to a parent.

-I’m a teacher

The kindergarten kids take standardized tests?

Yes, DIBELS and we use iReady reading and math. We also test every 6 weeks (I think the standard for iReady is 16 weeks) to help ensure every student is making progress whether they are below, average, or above average.

Some parents may worry that’s a lot of testing but I’ve seen very few students who feel stressed, especially at the K level and given iReady and DIBELS tests are not long.

Way too much testing and not developmentally appropriate for K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have an art special and our art teacher recently moved but we always seem to find the most amazing one. Also for all the grades I always see students projects, in and out of classrooms. I do think science projects become more robust in the 1st/2nd grade though.
Yes, we have a Spanish special.

Montessori is officially PK-K, that’s accredited by AMI. We have Montessori based from 1st-5th. I believe the breakdown is 1-3rd and then 3rd-5th. Although Montessori based those 2 teachers are amazing (as are they regular track).

Did you go on our tour? It’s always interesting when I realize my school is not super popular because we have had to do so many trainings for other schools and the superintendent is always coming to learn from us.

Anyway our grows I think are in the SEL realm, I think PBIS is a little out dated and though I think the reward of our BOOM (behaving and operating in an outstanding manner) room is great, not all students are motivated by that.

I’d like us to focus more on emotional regulation and less PBIS and restorative justice.
But this is elementary school and we have only a small handful of students who need tier 3 support. The majority like getting their points and going to the BOOM room each week.

Great info!! Thanks! Seems like a wonderful place! Overall, is there much bullying between the students? I have accepted the spot and am really hoping to keep my child there for the whole stretch of ES and am also curious about the upper grades.

No, the majority of our students are really kind and caring. I have seen how they have treated some of the students in our communication, education, and support classroom for example who were non-speaking (they are no longer non-speaking). They had questions for the teacher and after they replied the students made attempts to talk to those students. We like to foster curiosity in our students, questions are ok but they should be respectful.

When I have seen instances of a student not having scholarly conduct, it’s taken care of immediately. We are very much aware of how kids can be and have taught our students (especially in upper grades) what bullying means and how it’s not tolerated. We also try to get kids to think of it in a lens of ‘how would they like to be treated.’

I will say we’ve had maybe 2-3 students who are outliers but rather than just a student issue, I view it as a parental one as well. Most parents are very lovely but of course there’s a handful who certainly are not pleasant…

Glad I could help, I really like our school and want more families to consider coming here. I think sometimes people look at the demographics and get ‘scared’ but really it’s a great school. We are one of the few schools actually starting to close the achievement gap and I think admin really care about our students. It’s definitely more than a job to them and many teachers too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2 kindergarten teachers who are awesome (and no, I’m not one of them).
They are both always being mentioned by admin in terms of their test scores, partnership, and classroom environments.
One of them, I’m not sure if I can say her name is particularly wonderful. She’s such a positive person even when she is stressed herself.

They will both be returning next year, what specifically did you want to hear about? I can talk about the great things as well as the things I think our school needs to work on. Despite me loving my school, we are not perfect and I’d never sell that to a parent.

-I’m a teacher

The kindergarten kids take standardized tests?

Yes, DIBELS and we use iReady reading and math. We also test every 6 weeks (I think the standard for iReady is 16 weeks) to help ensure every student is making progress whether they are below, average, or above average.

Some parents may worry that’s a lot of testing but I’ve seen very few students who feel stressed, especially at the K level and given iReady and DIBELS tests are not long.

Way too much testing and not developmentally appropriate for K.

Are you a parent or a teacher?

I will say as a teacher I think it’s a lot but it does give us great results.
And like I said these tests are short, maybe 15 minutes for K. The 6 weeks is also for iReady only, iReady also gives ‘brain breaks’ so students don’t feel overwhelmed. Of course we also provide accommodations for students who need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have an art special and our art teacher recently moved but we always seem to find the most amazing one. Also for all the grades I always see students projects, in and out of classrooms. I do think science projects become more robust in the 1st/2nd grade though.
Yes, we have a Spanish special.

Montessori is officially PK-K, that’s accredited by AMI. We have Montessori based from 1st-5th. I believe the breakdown is 1-3rd and then 3rd-5th. Although Montessori based those 2 teachers are amazing (as are they regular track).

Did you go on our tour? It’s always interesting when I realize my school is not super popular because we have had to do so many trainings for other schools and the superintendent is always coming to learn from us.

Anyway our grows I think are in the SEL realm, I think PBIS is a little out dated and though I think the reward of our BOOM (behaving and operating in an outstanding manner) room is great, not all students are motivated by that.

I’d like us to focus more on emotional regulation and less PBIS and restorative justice.
But this is elementary school and we have only a small handful of students who need tier 3 support. The majority like getting their points and going to the BOOM room each week.

Great info!! Thanks! Seems like a wonderful place! Overall, is there much bullying between the students? I have accepted the spot and am really hoping to keep my child there for the whole stretch of ES and am also curious about the upper grades.

No, the majority of our students are really kind and caring. I have seen how they have treated some of the students in our communication, education, and support classroom for example who were non-speaking (they are no longer non-speaking). They had questions for the teacher and after they replied the students made attempts to talk to those students. We like to foster curiosity in our students, questions are ok but they should be respectful.

When I have seen instances of a student not having scholarly conduct, it’s taken care of immediately. We are very much aware of how kids can be and have taught our students (especially in upper grades) what bullying means and how it’s not tolerated. We also try to get kids to think of it in a lens of ‘how would they like to be treated.’

I will say we’ve had maybe 2-3 students who are outliers but rather than just a student issue, I view it as a parental one as well. Most parents are very lovely but of course there’s a handful who certainly are not pleasant…

Glad I could help, I really like our school and want more families to consider coming here. I think sometimes people look at the demographics and get ‘scared’ but really it’s a great school. We are one of the few schools actually starting to close the achievement gap and I think admin really care about our students. It’s definitely more than a job to them and many teachers too.

I have a friend that is interested in applying to work at Langdon. Can you speak about the workplace environment? He has about fifteen years of experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have an art special and our art teacher recently moved but we always seem to find the most amazing one. Also for all the grades I always see students projects, in and out of classrooms. I do think science projects become more robust in the 1st/2nd grade though.
Yes, we have a Spanish special.

Montessori is officially PK-K, that’s accredited by AMI. We have Montessori based from 1st-5th. I believe the breakdown is 1-3rd and then 3rd-5th. Although Montessori based those 2 teachers are amazing (as are they regular track).

Did you go on our tour? It’s always interesting when I realize my school is not super popular because we have had to do so many trainings for other schools and the superintendent is always coming to learn from us.

Anyway our grows I think are in the SEL realm, I think PBIS is a little out dated and though I think the reward of our BOOM (behaving and operating in an outstanding manner) room is great, not all students are motivated by that.

I’d like us to focus more on emotional regulation and less PBIS and restorative justice.
But this is elementary school and we have only a small handful of students who need tier 3 support. The majority like getting their points and going to the BOOM room each week.

Great info!! Thanks! Seems like a wonderful place! Overall, is there much bullying between the students? I have accepted the spot and am really hoping to keep my child there for the whole stretch of ES and am also curious about the upper grades.

No, the majority of our students are really kind and caring. I have seen how they have treated some of the students in our communication, education, and support classroom for example who were non-speaking (they are no longer non-speaking). They had questions for the teacher and after they replied the students made attempts to talk to those students. We like to foster curiosity in our students, questions are ok but they should be respectful.

When I have seen instances of a student not having scholarly conduct, it’s taken care of immediately. We are very much aware of how kids can be and have taught our students (especially in upper grades) what bullying means and how it’s not tolerated. We also try to get kids to think of it in a lens of ‘how would they like to be treated.’

I will say we’ve had maybe 2-3 students who are outliers but rather than just a student issue, I view it as a parental one as well. Most parents are very lovely but of course there’s a handful who certainly are not pleasant…

Glad I could help, I really like our school and want more families to consider coming here. I think sometimes people look at the demographics and get ‘scared’ but really it’s a great school. We are one of the few schools actually starting to close the achievement gap and I think admin really care about our students. It’s definitely more than a job to them and many teachers too.

I have a friend that is interested in applying to work at Langdon. Can you speak about the workplace environment? He has about fifteen years of experience.

Well first thing, (since most are worried about impact) our admin are fair - fair meaning they go by the rubric but will sit down and work with you BUT you have to ask for the help if you need it. Our instructional coach is also a very hard worker and will help you.
They absolutely prefer teachers with experience, so it’s good your friend has plenty.

I’d say all the teachers are very friendly towards each other and if someone sees you in the staff lounge looking drained they will likely ask if you’d like to talk or try to cheer you up in some small way (get your headphones or look mad if you want people to leave you be, jk). Lol we even have a sunshine committee who do nice things for us from time to time.

Grows-
-Overall the environment is positive but I will say I think especially this year with all the quarantines and such, specials, sped, IC, etc. have been required to cover more classes than usual. No one likes that and we have 2-3 subs but it’s still not enough.

-Sometimes admin is too focused on academics and growth, I think it lets the SEL aspect slide a bit. As they will certainly tell your friend in the interview or invite we have won quite a few awards and continuously asked to do PDs for other schools.

Would you like to know anything specific? I think the grows are different depending on the department as well.