Feedback on Bridges PCS?

[Anonymous]

Bridges hires a lot of young teachers with very little prior teaching experience - they have low pay so don't have a lot of other options. But I would rather have a young inexperienced teacher than the seasoned teacher we had last year, who was awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 11 current job openings at Bridges, only 2 for next year specifically. Are there that many vacancies?

https://bridges.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx

I'm surprised there's not more. Bridges has had about a 40% staff turnover rate this school year!

[Anonymous]

I'm horrified reading this. We almost accepted a slot for this year for my child with minor special needs. We turned it down because they made it so difficult for us to see a classroom/tour the school while it was in session. Sounds like we dodged a bullet!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 11 current job openings at Bridges, only 2 for next year specifically. Are there that many vacancies?

https://bridges.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx

I'm surprised there's not more. Bridges has had about a 40% staff turnover rate this school year!

Oh for pete's sake, while I think there are issues this year, let's not spread complete misinformation - we can be a little more responsible than that, even on DCUM. They didn't have a 40% staff turnover. They've had about a 15% staff turnover rate. Which is higher than usual for them - certainly during the year - but lower than the standard departures. They believe 90% of their staff are returning next year - I would have expected higher turnover given the location move, but thus far it seems that's not happening (who knows what will materialize next year). They're also growing another grade, which adds some positions. So 11 sounds about right for anticipated departures and new grade. The 40% figures quote above were 40% of departures located in one building (or slightly more), not 40% of staff. It was total some thing like 15 departures, combo of teaching and admin (that is, the AP and other non-teaching staff), for a staff of over 100.

[Anonymous]

To the PP at 23:00, I'm sorry to hear that you've had such an unfortunate experience this year. I would be very frustrated if I were in your shoes. That said, our experience in the past two years at the school couldn't be more different than what you describe, nor have I spoken with anyone in a different classroom who has had an experience like yours. I don't doubt what you say -- but I do want to be clear that it is not representative of what is going on generally in the early childhood program. We love our child's teachers, the units are fun and well thought out, they go on interesting field trips, and our child is learning to read. We feel a sense of community both in the classroom and in the wider school.

There have clearly been some problems this year in the early childhood program, but I believe that these problems now have the administration's full attention and that that they are working to address them. A strong new assistant principal and the move to a single building will be a good start. For what it's worth, it sounds like things are going pretty well in the older elementary grades. The families with kids at Sharpe seem much less affected by the current issues.

Seems like this should go without saying, but I sincerely hope that anyone who is considering Bridges (or any school) for their preschooler doesn't rely too heavily on what they read here, because this site can present a skewed picture. If you get a spot in the lottery and have concerns, talk to the principal about them and ask to talk with current parents about their experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can tell you that in my child's classroom, the two teachers both appear quite inexperienced for what they're dealing with on a day to day basis. A third of the class is barely to completely non-verbal. Nearly as many are not potty trained. They do not have kids who come in and out of the classroom during the day (as I have heard about the inclusion model in another class); rather, all the kids are in there all day.

The pros: my child is getting a richer, more diverse experience with other children than I think is available in just about any other public school. Learning to communicate and socialize with children who are non-verbal or have other profound special needs is really lovely to watch with kids this young, and there is a lot of compassion among the children. At the preschool level, so much of what they need at this age is about socialization, and in that way, there are some terrific lessons for the kids to learn.

On the flip side, we have no way to communicate with other parents, having never received a class list (despite multiple requests), so we have not been able to help our child foster any friendships outside of school. The parents we've met don't seem interested in connecting as a class, so there's no sense of community. I don't even know the names of all the kids in my child's class.

So, the cons: just about everything else when it comes to educating my kid. The teachers appear to be overwhelmed and under qualified for the challenge. At least one is out of the room much of the time to handle toileting or give one-on-one attention to the children with more serious needs. The typically developing kids seem to fend for themselves, which, while understandable given the circumstances, is not optimal. The classroom is messy, often dirty, and disorganized. The promise of doing child-driven units on different themes is pretty much a joke. Communication from our teacher is sporadic and limited to a paragraph long "newsletter" once every other week at best, although I was told by the assistant principal (who has since left) that it's supposed to be sent by email and hard copy a minimum of once a week. We've never received an all-class email all year. Our child, who entered school knowing all the letters and their sounds, does not appear to have had any support to go further in early literacy, as the class works on one letter at a time, and they are maybe halfway through the alphabet at this point.

I admit we are majorly disappointed. Our experience does not match what we were told about the school before choosing it, or even what seems to happen in the handful of classrooms with stronger teachers. When I met with the assistant principal about a handful of issues with our teacher, she seemed well aware of her weaknesses but nothing changed as a result--even the more concrete, easy fixes we discussed.

I think the school excelled in the past because it was small and focused exclusively on early childhood. Now I think they are stretched too thin, and have hired teachers just to have warm bodies in the classroom, despite the rigors of the job. Would I say you should take a chance on it if your child gets in? If you have no other choices, maybe so; you could luck into being in one of the classrooms with a good teacher. But definitely go in with your eyes open.

Just to help you salvage your year here - have you asked for a conference with your kids teacher directly? My child is in a class like you describe, my guess would be the same one, but maybe not. I know precisely what they're doing academically - yes, like all preschool classrooms they do a letter a week in large group, that's pretty standard, but they also have individualized small group time for both reading and math where they differentiate. The teacher has always been willing to sit down with me to review what they're doing, address any issues etc - and I can never make those specific conference days. And responds promptly to email. You might try one or both of those options. Sometimes some requests take some follow up, sometimes frustrating, but fairly standard I think, given demands on people's time. If that doesn't work, then absolutely raise the issue to Ms. Kristine and insist again. The kids names are all over the place, in the room, cubbies etc. They don't generally give out contact information for families - though I could see them being willing to poll parents for their willingness to be on an email list, but for each classroom there are mailboxes for each kid/parent - if you want to connect, you could try putting a note in all or some of those boxes, as an option. Form a class email list that way - or email the parent list serve and say, hey, I'm an X class parent, I'd like to create such a list please reach out to me if you'd like to be on it. Yep, some of the kids aren't potty trained. You realize the whole class goes to the bathroom at the same time right? And thus the vast majority of pottying - trained or not - happens at the same time? I don't think it's the time suck it might appear to be from the outside and with a class with 3 year olds (even typical 3 year olds!) it's just what happens. But definitely something you should ask about to get some more info. Ask too about how they work with/integrate the non-verbal kids. In our class, they use a variety of options - assistive devices, sign, visuals for choice. And sometimes those verbal kids might need to wait a beat to give another kid extra time to respond via their method. My kid happens to tend to need that extra time to, despite being quite verbal, in a larger group setting. I don't see the non verbal or potty trained piece as being the derailing factor you do, in part because I've seen how they do it (they welcomed me to come and spend some time) and met with the teacher or emailed as needed, though again, maybe different classes.

On our side I do think the communication could be improved in terms of what's going on weekly, though I typically know the units they're doing. And I'm also concerned about the departures as a general matter. But I do wonder if expectations for people who haven't been at other schools might be a bit out of the norm? We came from a generally recommended DCPS, in a similar class, which was rather chaotic. With absolutely zero communication - well less than we get now - and meeting with a teacher was like pulling teeth. They didn't give out contact info there either, class lists were parent led. I'm pretty sure our old daycare wasn't sending out much communication wise at this age either with any sort of substance. And teachers are teaching, sending out constant emails with plans is tough. Are there better operations, no doubt. And certainly promises not matching follow through is an issue. But I wonder what's realistic.

[Anonymous]

Apparently Kristine decided to put all the special needs kids together in the same inclusion classroom this year, so the PPs are probably in the same class, since there shouldn't be more than one class per grade with that many non-verbal kids. Her idea was to place a lead special ed teacher full-time in that classroom, along with the lead general education teacher, so that the special ed teacher wouldn't have to run around campus doing pull-outs and push-ins in various classrooms. It turns out that she made some poor staffing decisions for these classrooms and now realizes that this model does not work where the teachers are inexperienced and don't get support from their coaches and administrative staff. So while I agree that this experience is not typical of Bridges and certainly has not been our experience, it still totally sucks for parents and kids in those classes that are not adequately resourced for the students they are serving. I just hope that Kristine has learned from this year and will not make the same mistake next year.

[Anonymous]

To piggyback on the above comment, there was also not follow through on the part of the administration to actually place the Special Ed teacher in that classroom full time. The special Ed teacher is still in fact a floating special Ed teacher so that needs to be taken into consideration as to another reason that model hasn't worked. Blame does not lie solely on the teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apparently Kristine decided to put all the special needs kids together in the same inclusion classroom this year, so the PPs are probably in the same class, since there shouldn't be more than one class per grade with that many non-verbal kids. Her idea was to place a lead special ed teacher full-time in that classroom, along with the lead general education teacher, so that the special ed teacher wouldn't have to run around campus doing pull-outs and push-ins in various classrooms. It turns out that she made some poor staffing decisions for these classrooms and now realizes that this model does not work where the teachers are inexperienced and don't get support from their coaches and administrative staff. So while I agree that this experience is not typical of Bridges and certainly has not been our experience, it still totally sucks for parents and kids in those classes that are not adequately resourced for the students they are serving. I just hope that Kristine has learned from this year and will not make the same mistake next year.

This is a pretty standard model (in her defense, at least on the initial thought). It's basically the ONLY model DCPS uses for kids who need more than a few hours of gen ed support but whose parents want/kids are judged to be eligible for an inclusion setting. DCPS sucks at it too and tends to be even more poorly staffed. But interesting the different perspectives from the same class. Goes to show I guess, one can't generalize (in either direction).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently Kristine decided to put all the special needs kids together in the same inclusion classroom this year, so the PPs are probably in the same class, since there shouldn't be more than one class per grade with that many non-verbal kids. Her idea was to place a lead special ed teacher full-time in that classroom, along with the lead general education teacher, so that the special ed teacher wouldn't have to run around campus doing pull-outs and push-ins in various classrooms. It turns out that she made some poor staffing decisions for these classrooms and now realizes that this model does not work where the teachers are inexperienced and don't get support from their coaches and administrative staff. So while I agree that this experience is not typical of Bridges and certainly has not been our experience, it still totally sucks for parents and kids in those classes that are not adequately resourced for the students they are serving. I just hope that Kristine has learned from this year and will not make the same mistake next year.

This is a pretty standard model (in her defense, at least on the initial thought). It's basically the ONLY model DCPS uses for kids who need more than a few hours of gen ed support but whose parents want/kids are judged to be eligible for an inclusion setting. DCPS sucks at it too and tends to be even more poorly staffed. But interesting the different perspectives from the same class. Goes to show I guess, one can't generalize (in either direction).

If it doesn't work in DCPS why would they even try it? If they thought their ideas would be better then they should have taken the proper steps to make sure everything was in place and ready before the school year stared. I feel so bad for the kids in that class, but I feel even worse for those teachers because their credibility as educators are breaking compromised. If they are returning teachers then they must have done something right last year to be asked to come back for another year. Seems like that entire class was doomed to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently Kristine decided to put all the special needs kids together in the same inclusion classroom this year, so the PPs are probably in the same class, since there shouldn't be more than one class per grade with that many non-verbal kids. Her idea was to place a lead special ed teacher full-time in that classroom, along with the lead general education teacher, so that the special ed teacher wouldn't have to run around campus doing pull-outs and push-ins in various classrooms. It turns out that she made some poor staffing decisions for these classrooms and now realizes that this model does not work where the teachers are inexperienced and don't get support from their coaches and administrative staff. So while I agree that this experience is not typical of Bridges and certainly has not been our experience, it still totally sucks for parents and kids in those classes that are not adequately resourced for the students they are serving. I just hope that Kristine has learned from this year and will not make the same mistake next year.

This is a pretty standard model (in her defense, at least on the initial thought). It's basically the ONLY model DCPS uses for kids who need more than a few hours of gen ed support but whose parents want/kids are judged to be eligible for an inclusion setting. DCPS sucks at it too and tends to be even more poorly staffed. But interesting the different perspectives from the same class. Goes to show I guess, one can't generalize (in either direction).

If it doesn't work in DCPS why would they even try it? If they thought their ideas would be better then they should have taken the proper steps to make sure everything was in place and ready before the school year started. I feel so bad for the kids in that class, but I feel even worse for those teachers because their credibility as educators are being compromised. If they are returning teachers then they must have done something right last year to be asked to come back for another year. Seems like that entire class was doomed to begin with.

[Anonymous]

It sounds to me like the problem is only with special needs kids. My pk3 girl loves her teacher (who is there for first year) and I am very happy how much she has learnt so far

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds to me like the problem is only with special needs kids. My pk3 girl loves her teacher (who is there for first year) and I am very happy how much she has learnt so far

Except children with special needs are 30%of the population.

[Anonymous]

My child is in an inclusion classroom in the Elementary grades. There are a minimum of 4 adults in the room at all times for 22 elementary aged kids. Kids are learning and succeeding at standards, no parent revolt I know of. And at the APT meetings comparing across classrooms there is no achievement gap. I'm not dismissing concerns from others, but, from my perspective, this does not seem like as school-wide problem as far as providing services appropriately.

From my limited experience and perspective, juggling the services/needs of children and expectations of parents is a huge challenge at all public schools especially in the PK3-4 age groups.

[Anonymous]

At the end of the day the schools reputation shouldn't go down the line because of ONE bad year! The school has a high reputation, heck maybe this year all they had apply were inexperienced teachers. And yes, they are at fault for hiring new young teachers as a PP mentioned, but with the school building and all its expenses, who wouldn't want to save money?!

That being said, the school has a nutty year, but I do not think this should outweigh the positive things this school has done. I picked this school because of everything.

As for staff turnover rate goes- maybe a lot of staff just picked this job to get them by until another came up! How many of you guys haven't left a job? (For whatever the reason may be)

As parents I feel like we expect this perfect school with the best teachers ever, you all are forgetting this is a PUBLIC school, if you want something to cry about and have the teachers cater to you, go to a private school! Then you can complain all you want because you're paying for it.

Sometimes our needs and expectations are too high and forget these are humans too. A teacher can leave in the middle of the school year, is it ideal- no! But as a PP mentioned, I would rather them leave than take it out on the children!

On that note, I wonder who else will be the one to quit?