LAMB AP's contract not renewed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why anyone is surprised by the fact that Charis isn't being clear. This is the modus operandi for years now.

I guess be glad that you've gone this long at LAMB without figuring this earlier.

Charis was hired based on promises of transparency and willingness to learn spanish and promote latin Culture.

I don’t see transparency right now. I see a leader who proudly says she isn’t and won’t learn spanish. Who doesn’t respond to parent requests to improve the spanish program.

She didn’t even record the Charla about terminating the vice principals contract despite promising to do so.

Why is she promoting some people- like our COO- after the debacle of BASE and base summer camp (which was horrendous and now canceled)?

I want to make it clear to the few parents on this board- it is NOT normal to have dozens and dozens of parents publicly complaining about the executive director, academic standards, Lack of spanish, no aftercare, no summer camp, etc. It is not normal to worry whether you’ll get a “good” teacher since the principal and vice principal have no authority to question decisions made by teachers. It is not normal to have an amazing primary experience and worry that your older kids won’t be on grade level or speak spanish.

I’m an old timer. My kids at DCI speak WAY better spanish than my younger kids. I can point to decisions made by this administration which have directly lead to the academics dropping, the lack of spanish in upper el, etc. I’m tired of this mess. I understand you might not have the same experience as a parent with one or two kids in primary or lower el, but that doesn’t invalidate the serious serious concerns of so many parents. I suggest you start asking hard questions.

I admit I'm new to the school, and it certainly seems like some of these concerns may (are likely?) genuine things I should worry about. But I actually think many of these things ARE normal - I don't think most schools offer summer camp, many public school teachers have tenure and are hard to discipline or fire, and even in the "best" schools you may wonder whether your kids are going to "get a good teacher." I understand the need for aftercare, but given the fact that only 7% of kids are at risk, I think most of us have options - Lala, Brillando, etc., which are nearby, Montesorri-inspired, and bilingual. I would gladly give up my aftercare spot at LAMB if I knew it was going to one of those students or a kid with a single parent, etc. that would have a harder time accessing other care, and I'm happy that they are thinking through how to make the allocation of spots most equitable for next year, i.e. a lottery. I would be surprised by any school that can 100% guarantee aftercare for 100% of students given teacher shortages and the difficulty filling part-time positions.

The hyperbole in some posts makes it really hard to decipher what I should be paying attention to.

[Anonymous]

The reality is that whatever is here now, is whatever is going to be. The school may change if there's some major drop in the length of the waitlist. That's it.

It's DC, people. You get what you get and you like it or move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why anyone is surprised by the fact that Charis isn't being clear. This is the modus operandi for years now.

I guess be glad that you've gone this long at LAMB without figuring this earlier.

Charis was hired based on promises of transparency and willingness to learn spanish and promote latin Culture.

I don’t see transparency right now. I see a leader who proudly says she isn’t and won’t learn spanish. Who doesn’t respond to parent requests to improve the spanish program.

She didn’t even record the Charla about terminating the vice principals contract despite promising to do so.

Why is she promoting some people- like our COO- after the debacle of BASE and base summer camp (which was horrendous and now canceled)?

I want to make it clear to the few parents on this board- it is NOT normal to have dozens and dozens of parents publicly complaining about the executive director, academic standards, Lack of spanish, no aftercare, no summer camp, etc. It is not normal to worry whether you’ll get a “good” teacher since the principal and vice principal have no authority to question decisions made by teachers. It is not normal to have an amazing primary experience and worry that your older kids won’t be on grade level or speak spanish.

I’m an old timer. My kids at DCI speak WAY better spanish than my younger kids. I can point to decisions made by this administration which have directly lead to the academics dropping, the lack of spanish in upper el, etc. I’m tired of this mess. I understand you might not have the same experience as a parent with one or two kids in primary or lower el, but that doesn’t invalidate the serious serious concerns of so many parents. I suggest you start asking hard questions.

have you not paid attention at all to how Charis treated parents over the pandemic? Or during the bus decisions? If you are an old timer, why didn't you care before that Admin doesn't care about parent input, and that the board doesn't care about parent input?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why anyone is surprised by the fact that Charis isn't being clear. This is the modus operandi for years now.

I guess be glad that you've gone this long at LAMB without figuring this earlier.

Charis was hired based on promises of transparency and willingness to learn spanish and promote latin Culture.

I don’t see transparency right now. I see a leader who proudly says she isn’t and won’t learn spanish. Who doesn’t respond to parent requests to improve the spanish program.

She didn’t even record the Charla about terminating the vice principals contract despite promising to do so.

Why is she promoting some people- like our COO- after the debacle of BASE and base summer camp (which was horrendous and now canceled)?

I want to make it clear to the few parents on this board- it is NOT normal to have dozens and dozens of parents publicly complaining about the executive director, academic standards, Lack of spanish, no aftercare, no summer camp, etc. It is not normal to worry whether you’ll get a “good” teacher since the principal and vice principal have no authority to question decisions made by teachers. It is not normal to have an amazing primary experience and worry that your older kids won’t be on grade level or speak spanish.

I’m an old timer. My kids at DCI speak WAY better spanish than my younger kids. I can point to decisions made by this administration which have directly lead to the academics dropping, the lack of spanish in upper el, etc. I’m tired of this mess. I understand you might not have the same experience as a parent with one or two kids in primary or lower el, but that doesn’t invalidate the serious serious concerns of so many parents. I suggest you start asking hard questions.

I admit I'm new to the school, and it certainly seems like some of these concerns may (are likely?) genuine things I should worry about. But I actually think many of these things ARE normal - I don't think most schools offer summer camp, many public school teachers have tenure and are hard to discipline or fire, and even in the "best" schools you may wonder whether your kids are going to "get a good teacher." I understand the need for aftercare, but given the fact that only 7% of kids are at risk, I think most of us have options - Lala, Brillando, etc., which are nearby, Montesorri-inspired, and bilingual. I would gladly give up my aftercare spot at LAMB if I knew it was going to one of those students or a kid with a single parent, etc. that would have a harder time accessing other care, and I'm happy that they are thinking through how to make the allocation of spots most equitable for next year, i.e. a lottery. I would be surprised by any school that can 100% guarantee aftercare for 100% of students given teacher shortages and the difficulty filling part-time positions.

The hyperbole in some posts makes it really hard to decipher what I should be paying attention to.

Most schools are able to offer aftercare to all families who want it now such as ours. This is the norm. LAMB is one of the the outliers who can’t. We are 3 years out after the pandemic started and they should have gotten their act together. It’s not like we are in 2020

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is crazy. How can you justify hiring teachers who don’t speak Spanish with the result that kids are getting no Spanish instruction in the upper grades?

I don’t understand even if you only have kids in lower grades how above would not be concerning for you as a parent.

Simply not true. There are 8 teachers in UE. 4 are Latino and their first language is Spanish. 2 are Americans and speak fluent Spanish. 2 are Americans and speak some Spanish.

Interesting how my post explaining that parents would not have access to this information was deleted. Interesting.

Since I am just a parent and don’t work in HR, I wouldn’t know how many teachers speak spanish. But the reality is that all of them should. Furthermore few if any enforce spanish days and push spanish writing. The kids have poor grammar and need it taught to them.

This is not a reasonable ask in the DC job market for bilingual teachers, let alone Montessori certified teachers. We've been at three bilingual schools in DC and the English teachers have ranged from being functionally fluent to knowing close to zero Spanish. It's a 50/50 bilingual model in DC schools, so English teachers do not need Spanish to do their jobs effectively. What you NEED is the Spanish teacher to do exactly what you said - enforce Spanish on Spanish days. We've had the experience as well where the Spanish teacher is a balanced bilingual and doesn't force Spanish only during Spanish time. That makes the Spanish instruction suffer terribly and I agree it's incredibly frustrating. More so in a Montessori environment where you're stuck with that weak Spanish teacher for 2-3 years. But regardless, the focus should be on making the Spanish teachers teach according to best practices, not making the English teacher supplement the Spanish instruction. That's just not how 50/50 immersion works.

This is totally reasonable ask. Lamb used to have a relationship with Montessori schools overseas and would find amazing teachers. Since charis doesn’t properly compensate teachers, valuing Montessori experience above spanish experience, those teachers left.

Also bilingual montessori teachers have options. They don’t need to go work somewhere where the exec director is allegedly making racist statements.

Woah.... You can't just make an unsubstantiated claim like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reality is that whatever is here now, is whatever is going to be. The school may change if there's some major drop in the length of the waitlist. That's it.

It's DC, people. You get what you get and you like it or move.

+1. Not sure why LAMB families think they should be exempt from administration drama, but LAMB isn’t the first nor the last to deal with an administration that has its own agenda and doesn’t care about families. Until there are still waitlists, there’s no reason to care if families are happy. That’s just how it goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why anyone is surprised by the fact that Charis isn't being clear. This is the modus operandi for years now.

I guess be glad that you've gone this long at LAMB without figuring this earlier.

Charis was hired based on promises of transparency and willingness to learn spanish and promote latin Culture.

I don’t see transparency right now. I see a leader who proudly says she isn’t and won’t learn spanish. Who doesn’t respond to parent requests to improve the spanish program.

She didn’t even record the Charla about terminating the vice principals contract despite promising to do so.

Why is she promoting some people- like our COO- after the debacle of BASE and base summer camp (which was horrendous and now canceled)?

I want to make it clear to the few parents on this board- it is NOT normal to have dozens and dozens of parents publicly complaining about the executive director, academic standards, Lack of spanish, no aftercare, no summer camp, etc. It is not normal to worry whether you’ll get a “good” teacher since the principal and vice principal have no authority to question decisions made by teachers. It is not normal to have an amazing primary experience and worry that your older kids won’t be on grade level or speak spanish.

I’m an old timer. My kids at DCI speak WAY better spanish than my younger kids. I can point to decisions made by this administration which have directly lead to the academics dropping, the lack of spanish in upper el, etc. I’m tired of this mess. I understand you might not have the same experience as a parent with one or two kids in primary or lower el, but that doesn’t invalidate the serious serious concerns of so many parents. I suggest you start asking hard questions.

I admit I'm new to the school, and it certainly seems like some of these concerns may (are likely?) genuine things I should worry about. But I actually think many of these things ARE normal - I don't think most schools offer summer camp, many public school teachers have tenure and are hard to discipline or fire, and even in the "best" schools you may wonder whether your kids are going to "get a good teacher." I understand the need for aftercare, but given the fact that only 7% of kids are at risk, I think most of us have options - Lala, Brillando, etc., which are nearby, Montesorri-inspired, and bilingual. I would gladly give up my aftercare spot at LAMB if I knew it was going to one of those students or a kid with a single parent, etc. that would have a harder time accessing other care, and I'm happy that they are thinking through how to make the allocation of spots most equitable for next year, i.e. a lottery. I would be surprised by any school that can 100% guarantee aftercare for 100% of students given teacher shortages and the difficulty filling part-time positions.

The hyperbole in some posts makes it really hard to decipher what I should be paying attention to.

Most schools are able to offer aftercare to all families who want it now such as ours. This is the norm. LAMB is one of the the outliers who can’t. We are 3 years out after the pandemic started and they should have gotten their act together. It’s not like we are in 2020

Question: Is aftercare at all connected to the AP, the original point of this thread? I don't think so, but maybe I'm missing something.

The aftercare issue is a big one, but I thought it was generally connected to the overarching problems that all schools were having with hiring educators and education-adjacent people. In particular, aftercare is a part-time gig. Is LAMB somehow special in that it should be able to overcome differently the issue that all schools are having?