Serious problem with the administration at Magruder

[Anonymous]

This is the second time this school year that the school had to be put on hold status because of fights breaking out throughout the building. The administration of this school is ill prepared to run this school. High turnover and MCEA might as well have an office in the building they are there so often to support teachers in complaints against the admin. Add an office for DCI and a police satellite office too. I know teachers at this school and it’s a mess-2 current lawsuits. Magruder is a disaster and the kids and staff are suffering under the current admin. https://www.nbcwashington.com/video/news/local/fights-magruder-high-rockville/4019422/

[Anonymous]

I work there. It’s not really that bad. We have multiple groups of students who wander the hallways and refuse to go class. They often get involved with drama and this lead to a few fights. They ignore teachers, security and admin. MCPS policies and state laws have tied our hands on what we can do with them. They usually just keep to themselves and the vast majority of students just completely ignore them.

They obviously have mental health, education and poverty issues that schools are not designed to solve.

The real issue is the updated grading policy. A lot of these kids have below a 20% 1st quarter or certainly below 50% so it makes it almost impossible for them to pass a course now. So, they don’t bother going to class. MCPS had no plan to deal with this.

[Anonymous]

Not that bad? You are delusional or you are one of the administrators. This is not normal it’s horrendous and it’s not because of the new grading policy. It’s because the principal and his team are incompetent fools.

[Anonymous]

Who is responsible for creating and tolerating this horrible culture? Kick these kids out of the school and, if appropriate, deport them. Schools should be places of learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work there. It’s not really that bad. We have multiple groups of students who wander the hallways and refuse to go class. They often get involved with drama and this lead to a few fights. They ignore teachers, security and admin. MCPS policies and state laws have tied our hands on what we can do with them. They usually just keep to themselves and the vast majority of students just completely ignore them.

They obviously have mental health, education and poverty issues that schools are not designed to solve.

The real issue is the updated grading policy. A lot of these kids have below a 20% 1st quarter or certainly below 50% so it makes it almost impossible for them to pass a course now. So, they don’t bother going to class. MCPS had no plan to deal with this.

Administration is never powerless. They just choose to blameshift to make it appear that way.

[Anonymous]

The real issue is the updated grading policy. A lot of these kids have below a 20% 1st quarter or certainly below 50% so it makes it almost impossible for them to pass a course now. So, they don’t bother going to class. MCPS had no plan to deal with this.

Last MCPS kid of mine graduated last year but I have a bunch of friends who teach at MCPS. I was wondering how the new grading was going to affect behavior. Students roaming the halls, being loud, refusing to follow directions and the like has been a problem for kids at many (all?) HSs and getting worse over the years. And fights are nothing new or even special in HS. There really hasn’t been sufficient tools to handle the wandering. And the grading policy seems to have taken away any little bit of incentive. I hope MCPS finds an answer. I feel like it’s got to include
Discipline and consequences as well as finding program options that will make all kids successful in HS.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps there are adjustments that need to be made, but I certainly hope MCPS doesn’t go back to the old grading policy. Having a guarantee that you can pass regardless of effort isn’t a good incentive either. For the students who are already failing in Nov, there should be alternative classes or schools where they can catch up to grade level skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps there are adjustments that need to be made, but I certainly hope MCPS doesn’t go back to the old grading policy. Having a guarantee that you can pass regardless of effort isn’t a good incentive either. For the students who are already failing in Nov, there should be alternative classes or schools where they can catch up to grade level skills.

There was never a guarantee of passing...50% is not a passing grade.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who works there. Teachers have been begging admin for help. Begging. It had just started changing (admin actually in hallways & conducting hall sweeps). But sadly it was too late, too late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps there are adjustments that need to be made, but I certainly hope MCPS doesn’t go back to the old grading policy. Having a guarantee that you can pass regardless of effort isn’t a good incentive either. For the students who are already failing in Nov, there should be alternative classes or schools where they can catch up to grade level skills.

We Need our schools to catch up to the reality of its total population. I’ve seen so much work put into developing programs for really gifted kids (as it should be). But I feel like this group of kids is ignored. I am not in the field but f education. But it seems obvious that what is being done isn’t working. And it’s not a small group of kids. It’s like someone needs to reimagine education for this group of students butntnisnt happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps there are adjustments that need to be made, but I certainly hope MCPS doesn’t go back to the old grading policy. Having a guarantee that you can pass regardless of effort isn’t a good incentive either. For the students who are already failing in Nov, there should be alternative classes or schools where they can catch up to grade level skills.

We Need our schools to catch up to the reality of its total population. I’ve seen so much work put into developing programs for really gifted kids (as it should be). But I feel like this group of kids is ignored. I am not in the field but f education. But it seems obvious that what is being done isn’t working. And it’s not a small group of kids. It’s like someone needs to reimagine education for this group of students butntnisnt happening.

+1
I’ve been thinking about this a lot with the UCSD math story. If high schoolers haven’t yet learned fractions, it doesn’t do them any good to be passed along and put in classes called algebra and pre-calc. They need to be taught fractions.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised no one is blaming this on parents, to some degree. If the students are not applying themselves why blame MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised no one is blaming this on parents, to some degree. If the students are not applying themselves why blame MCPS?

I know it is so absurd to blame schools for poorly educating kids. Blaming parents will fix the problem! s/

[Anonymous]

OP,

That sort of stuff happens in most public schools of the region. My kid is at Bethesda-Chevy-Chase and last year they went on lockdown for a gunshot during a fight close to the school, and for a bomb threat called in that turned out to be a hoax (why go on lockdown for a bomb threat is something I still have not understood!). There have also been fights, including one in which both a security guard and the former Principal got hit by a kid. The Principal resigned last year and now we have an acting Principal.

Violence in public schools has been discussed at length on DCUM. For Montgomery County, part of the discussion centers around the need for a larger (or multiple) special school to educate aggressive students. Currently, I believe the existing structure does not have nearly enough spaces, and thus violent students are let out after a while to attend a mainstream school. Some of these students end up attending multiple schools in MCPS, because they are recidivists.

There are already plenty of systems in place to evaluate kids for mental health issues, and offer them services and accommodations. But MCPS cannot be a medicalized institution for minors with aggressive behaviors. At some point, what do you do with kids who instigate such violence? There comes a point when restorative justice is insufficient and the safety of the majority must be prioritized over the educational needs of these kids.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have more details from Magruder’s admin as to what the response will be? Restating expectations on Dec 2nd is fine… but what will consequences be for those involved?