Lafayette- the good, the great, the bad, the ugly

[Anonymous]

We just bought a house in bounds for Lafayette. Our eldest goes to a private school in DC and we’d planned the same for our second child who will be entering kindergarten in the fall. But we know Lafayette is a wonderful school, beloved by many and we are going to give it a serious look before the deadline to enroll in the private school in 2 weeks. I would be so grateful to hear from current parents who could share experiences! What do you like? What is not so great? I understand every school (including great schools, whether public or private) has tradeoffs and it’s about choosing what’s most important to us. Your input will help me sort through my thinking. Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

Popping popcorn. Clearly a troll stirring the pot.

[Anonymous]

Lafayette would be an amazing school if it weren't for the obnoxious parents.

[Anonymous]

It is a large school with many good teachers and students who come to school every day ready to learn (for the most part, not hungry, not worried about their safety, knowing where they will sleep that night). It is still limited by dcps bureaucracy. In particular, that limits options for non-average kids -- special ed is not great and there is little available for kids significantly ahead of Lafayette-defined grade level.

[Anonymous]

The parent, student and teacher communities at Lafayette are wonderful. The teachers are top notch and the parents are welcoming, warm and passionate in all the right ways. It's a close knit community and that makes it really special.

There is a new principal this year - Katie Prall - and she is not well suited for the job nor does she seem to be driven by what is in the best interests of the students. That opinion is shared widely by parents and teachers. Many concerns have been raised for DCPS. She is a sub-par communicator - she doesn't provide transparency in her decision making and it's clear she has come in with that attitude that she will rule with an iron fist. Her primary constituent seems to be the DCPS administration not the children nor teachers. The teachers have had a terrible time with her - being emotionally abusive and disrespectful. It may sound like these concerns as coming from overbearing and entitled parents and teachers but they are coming from a legitimate place of concern and we are already hearing of teachers applying to other schools because of her (lack) of leadership.

This is such a shame because Lafayette is a wonderful school and community. I am hopeful we will see some change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The parent, student and teacher communities at Lafayette are wonderful. The teachers are top notch and the parents are welcoming, warm and passionate in all the right ways. It's a close knit community and that makes it really special.

There is a new principal this year - Katie Prall - and she is not well suited for the job nor does she seem to be driven by what is in the best interests of the students. That opinion is shared widely by parents and teachers. Many concerns have been raised for DCPS. She is a sub-par communicator - she doesn't provide transparency in her decision making and it's clear she has come in with that attitude that she will rule with an iron fist. Her primary constituent seems to be the DCPS administration not the children nor teachers. The teachers have had a terrible time with her - being emotionally abusive and disrespectful. It may sound like these concerns as coming from overbearing and entitled parents and teachers but they are coming from a legitimate place of concern and we are already hearing of teachers applying to other schools because of her (lack) of leadership.

This is such a shame because Lafayette is a wonderful school and community. I am hopeful we will see some change.

Never change, Lafayette parents. OP, this is the type of people you'll have to deal with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The parent, student and teacher communities at Lafayette are wonderful. The teachers are top notch and the parents are welcoming, warm and passionate in all the right ways. It's a close knit community and that makes it really special.

There is a new principal this year - Katie Prall - and she is not well suited for the job nor does she seem to be driven by what is in the best interests of the students. That opinion is shared widely by parents and teachers. Many concerns have been raised for DCPS. She is a sub-par communicator - she doesn't provide transparency in her decision making and it's clear she has come in with that attitude that she will rule with an iron fist. Her primary constituent seems to be the DCPS administration not the children nor teachers. The teachers have had a terrible time with her - being emotionally abusive and disrespectful. It may sound like these concerns as coming from overbearing and entitled parents and teachers but they are coming from a legitimate place of concern and we are already hearing of teachers applying to other schools because of her (lack) of leadership.

This is such a shame because Lafayette is a wonderful school and community. I am hopeful we will see some change.

Dude, this isn’t true. But way to prove that we’re the a**holes DCUM loves to claim we are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The parent, student and teacher communities at Lafayette are wonderful. The teachers are top notch and the parents are welcoming, warm and passionate in all the right ways. It's a close knit community and that makes it really special.

There is a new principal this year - Katie Prall - and she is not well suited for the job nor does she seem to be driven by what is in the best interests of the students. That opinion is shared widely by parents and teachers. Many concerns have been raised for DCPS. She is a sub-par communicator - she doesn't provide transparency in her decision making and it's clear she has come in with that attitude that she will rule with an iron fist. Her primary constituent seems to be the DCPS administration not the children nor teachers. The teachers have had a terrible time with her - being emotionally abusive and disrespectful. It may sound like these concerns as coming from overbearing and entitled parents and teachers but they are coming from a legitimate place of concern and we are already hearing of teachers applying to other schools because of her (lack) of leadership.

This is such a shame because Lafayette is a wonderful school and community. I am hopeful we will see some change.

Wow. What a mean comments. And not true. If a community is a sum of its parts, then I worry for Lafayette -- comments like this, by folks who seems to be upset that they don't get their way -- say a lot about what the principal has to deal with each day.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure the school's supporters will be around soon with their usual defense: "It's a big school, and it's only a small subset of parents who are difficult." Unfortunately, the second part is completely untrue. A massive percentage of Lafayette parents will throw an infantile tantrum if the school and DCPS do not cater to their every whim.

[Anonymous]

Wow—crossing Lafayette off my list.

[Anonymous]

I encourage anyone considering Lafayette to take a tour, chat with the principal, talk to neighbors. I have no doubt the person posting above is a Lafayette parent, and the new principal has really brought out the intense parents. But IMO she’s green but fine, and the teachers I’ve spoken with prefer her to her predecessor. I have a lot of confidence that she will grow into the role as she makes the school her own and figures out where she can be less rigid. We’ve had a decent experience at Lafayette. I agree with the poster above. It’s very much still a public school beholden to DCPS policies. But in our experience, the kids are nice, the cohort is high-performing, and we’ve had some fantastic teachers. We (and many others) just ignore the whiny parents. Hopefully the principal does too.

[Anonymous]

Are y’all just mad she didn’t let your kids play on an icy, slippery playground? lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I encourage anyone considering Lafayette to take a tour, chat with the principal, talk to neighbors. I have no doubt the person posting above is a Lafayette parent, and the new principal has really brought out the intense parents. But IMO she’s green but fine, and the teachers I’ve spoken with prefer her to her predecessor. I have a lot of confidence that she will grow into the role as she makes the school her own and figures out where she can be less rigid. We’ve had a decent experience at Lafayette. I agree with the poster above. It’s very much still a public school beholden to DCPS policies. But in our experience, the kids are nice, the cohort is high-performing, and we’ve had some fantastic teachers. We (and many others) just ignore the whiny parents. Hopefully the principal does too.

The old principal really brought out the intense parents, too. At what point do people realize that the intense parents are the problem and not the principal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I encourage anyone considering Lafayette to take a tour, chat with the principal, talk to neighbors. I have no doubt the person posting above is a Lafayette parent, and the new principal has really brought out the intense parents. But IMO she’s green but fine, and the teachers I’ve spoken with prefer her to her predecessor. I have a lot of confidence that she will grow into the role as she makes the school her own and figures out where she can be less rigid. We’ve had a decent experience at Lafayette. I agree with the poster above. It’s very much still a public school beholden to DCPS policies. But in our experience, the kids are nice, the cohort is high-performing, and we’ve had some fantastic teachers. We (and many others) just ignore the whiny parents. Hopefully the principal does too.

The old principal really brought out the intense parents, too. At what point do people realize that the intense parents are the problem and not the principal?

I suppose that’s true. But the complaining this year is much worse and about stupider stuff (ie., “she won’t break the rules for me like Dr. B did”).

[Anonymous]

Honestly, OP, the parent entitlement at Lafayette is about the same as you will find at the various highly-sought privates. In fact, many of those parents end up sending their kids to those same privates eventually. The difference is that DCPS doesn’t cater to them as readily as a private would.

We have found the academics to be great. I know some parents complain there is no gifted program, but my kid got lots of special assignments and other opportunities which is plenty fine for us. My kid loves their classmates, loves their teachers, loves going to school, tests in highest percentiles on exams, excels in sports…I’m not sure there is a thing I could point to where I would say, “if this is important, you better pay $50k to go somewhere else.” Maybe if you have a child with a lot of special needs? Otherwise, I think Lafayette is a good choice.