New W-L Principal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I too would like some hot tea, this line of thinking that somehow this is union busting - seems a bit conspiracy-theory-ish.

1.) Very few teachers and staff, by percentage actually belong to the AEA. While they are doing some good things for teachers in general, they are a loud minority and take up a lot of space. They listen to their group, not necessarily to other teacher concerns outside of their circle.

2.) The rumor is that Hall left because of health issues. I do not know him personally, but multiple people at W-L have told me this.

3.) I agree that it would have been preferable to keep Willmore for continuity. Maybe Duncan just aced his interview with Duran. Who knows. All of this speculation is kind of ridiculous.

Duncan is patently less qualified than Willmore, doesn’t have experience with APS, and shows a willingness to job hop (he is leaving ACHS after just 3 years after all).

Just because he INTERVIEWED well? They bonded over equity initiatives? I fear Durans roots as an equity officer are still showing; rather than addressing the broader student bodies needs, he is obsessed with closing the testing gaps, even if it means with lowering the top.

I can tell you that is not the case.

OP again. My point is that we will NEVER know why Duncan was picked over Willmore. While we're wildly speculating, maybe Willmore was offered the job first and declined, choosing the MS administrator role instead. Who the F knows? We won't.

It’s clear that this is a principle was selected to promote equity. This is not rocket science.

WL is rated a level one by Virginia, it has the lowest ratings for the achievement app. I.e. it is doing well. That is not something the school need to focus on.

I can see why he left.

https://www.alxnow.com/2024/12/18/just-in-alexandria-city-high-school-placed-on-hold-status-after-multiple-fights-at-the-school/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I too would like some hot tea, this line of thinking that somehow this is union busting - seems a bit conspiracy-theory-ish.

1.) Very few teachers and staff, by percentage actually belong to the AEA. While they are doing some good things for teachers in general, they are a loud minority and take up a lot of space. They listen to their group, not necessarily to other teacher concerns outside of their circle.

2.) The rumor is that Hall left because of health issues. I do not know him personally, but multiple people at W-L have told me this.

3.) I agree that it would have been preferable to keep Willmore for continuity. Maybe Duncan just aced his interview with Duran. Who knows. All of this speculation is kind of ridiculous.

Duncan is patently less qualified than Willmore, doesn’t have experience with APS, and shows a willingness to job hop (he is leaving ACHS after just 3 years after all).

Just because he INTERVIEWED well? They bonded over equity initiatives? I fear Durans roots as an equity officer are still showing; rather than addressing the broader student bodies needs, he is obsessed with closing the testing gaps, even if it means with lowering the top.

I can tell you that is not the case.

OP again. My point is that we will NEVER know why Duncan was picked over Willmore. While we're wildly speculating, maybe Willmore was offered the job first and declined, choosing the MS administrator role instead. Who the F knows? We won't.

It’s clear that this is a principle was selected to promote equity. This is not rocket science.

WL is rated a level one by Virginia, it has the lowest ratings for the achievement app. I.e. it is doing well. That is not something the school need to focus on.

I can see why he left.

https://www.alxnow.com/2024/12/18/just-in-alexandria-city-high-school-placed-on-hold-status-after-multiple-fights-at-the-school/

WL doesn’t have fights, this won’t be an issue.

[Teacherof2025]

Anonymous wrote:He comes from Alexandria City High School. ACPS people, what can you tell us?

You all asked to hear from someone at ACHS / ACPS. Here you go.

Duncan has been steadily moving up the ranks from teacher to admin to top high school admin. He was a principal at Minnie Howard for two years (focusing on high school years) & executive principal over all four high schools for two years. Prior to being an administrator, he was a STEM English teacher for years.

You gotta take the good lumps with the bad. He’s passionate. He listens. He’s visible (or was before executive principal became his role). He’s fiery when he needs to be & has no tolerance for physical violence. He works closely with his APs & exudes a lot of self confidence. He made it a point not to have an office that he hid in, supposedly visiting the campuses (King Street, Minnie Howard, Chance for Change, & Satellite) on a regular basis.
That said, the bad. He does have a buddy system of folks he prefers to work with. When one of them was caught in an illicit affair with a teacher (of which he was a direct supervisor!!!), Duncan was not dismayed from attempting to keep that admin in his role. When a position opened up that would have been a vertical move for that individual in their respective career ladder, someone notified the superintendent; only then was it stopped. (That relationship is still ongoing even though the admin in question is at a different school within the district). Duncan also does not discourage cliques. When he was a STEM teacher (in the STEM hallway), he spoke as if the students belonged to two different populations: STEM kids & the other Minnie kids. This also generally translates to staff, as well. Last year, he was part of the move to fire every single dean and assistant principal, regardless of years of service or levels of belovedness. All were forced to reapply for their jobs (that had been nationally advertised) with no internal process for those who had served the community for literal decades. Teachers who protested were put on leave. The administration shake up has contributed to the difficult year that we have just completed.
Duncan had wonderful ideas of his own about how things could improve. In many ways, he was greatly limited by the bureaucracy that ACPS is notorious for. I had hoped the next year would be far more stable than this year was. Please also know that he did not tell ACHS / ACPS staff that he was leaving. The rumor mill was left to notify us, followed by an impromptu Zoom meeting with the remaining administration the next day. He allowed staff to leave for the summer thinking he would be there when we returned. I will miss him as a person, but not as an administrator.

[Anonymous]

Teacherof2025 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He comes from Alexandria City High School. ACPS people, what can you tell us?

You all asked to hear from someone at ACHS / ACPS. Here you go.

Duncan has been steadily moving up the ranks from teacher to admin to top high school admin. He was a principal at Minnie Howard for two years (focusing on high school years) & executive principal over all four high schools for two years. Prior to being an administrator, he was a STEM English teacher for years.

You gotta take the good lumps with the bad. He’s passionate. He listens. He’s visible (or was before executive principal became his role). He’s fiery when he needs to be & has no tolerance for physical violence. He works closely with his APs & exudes a lot of self confidence. He made it a point not to have an office that he hid in, supposedly visiting the campuses (King Street, Minnie Howard, Chance for Change, & Satellite) on a regular basis.
That said, the bad. He does have a buddy system of folks he prefers to work with. When one of them was caught in an illicit affair with a teacher (of which he was a direct supervisor!!!), Duncan was not dismayed from attempting to keep that admin in his role. When a position opened up that would have been a vertical move for that individual in their respective career ladder, someone notified the superintendent; only then was it stopped. (That relationship is still ongoing even though the admin in question is at a different school within the district). Duncan also does not discourage cliques. When he was a STEM teacher (in the STEM hallway), he spoke as if the students belonged to two different populations: STEM kids & the other Minnie kids. This also generally translates to staff, as well. Last year, he was part of the move to fire every single dean and assistant principal, regardless of years of service or levels of belovedness. All were forced to reapply for their jobs (that had been nationally advertised) with no internal process for those who had served the community for literal decades. Teachers who protested were put on leave. The administration shake up has contributed to the difficult year that we have just completed.
Duncan had wonderful ideas of his own about how things could improve. In many ways, he was greatly limited by the bureaucracy that ACPS is notorious for. I had hoped the next year would be far more stable than this year was. Please also know that he did not tell ACHS / ACPS staff that he was leaving. The rumor mill was left to notify us, followed by an impromptu Zoom meeting with the remaining administration the next day. He allowed staff to leave for the summer thinking he would be there when we returned. I will miss him as a person, but not as an administrator.

Thanks for your candor.

What exactly is STEM English? STEMS STANDARD READING IS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH, SO LIKE IS THIS ENGLISH IN THE SERVICE OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING?

I’m sorry I have no idea why ALLCAPS SIRI did that

[Anonymous]

Teacherof2025 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He comes from Alexandria City High School. ACPS people, what can you tell us?

You all asked to hear from someone at ACHS / ACPS. Here you go.

Duncan has been steadily moving up the ranks from teacher to admin to top high school admin. He was a principal at Minnie Howard for two years (focusing on high school years) & executive principal over all four high schools for two years. Prior to being an administrator, he was a STEM English teacher for years.

You gotta take the good lumps with the bad. He’s passionate. He listens. He’s visible (or was before executive principal became his role). He’s fiery when he needs to be & has no tolerance for physical violence. He works closely with his APs & exudes a lot of self confidence. He made it a point not to have an office that he hid in, supposedly visiting the campuses (King Street, Minnie Howard, Chance for Change, & Satellite) on a regular basis.
That said, the bad. He does have a buddy system of folks he prefers to work with. When one of them was caught in an illicit affair with a teacher (of which he was a direct supervisor!!!), Duncan was not dismayed from attempting to keep that admin in his role. When a position opened up that would have been a vertical move for that individual in their respective career ladder, someone notified the superintendent; only then was it stopped. (That relationship is still ongoing even though the admin in question is at a different school within the district). Duncan also does not discourage cliques. When he was a STEM teacher (in the STEM hallway), he spoke as if the students belonged to two different populations: STEM kids & the other Minnie kids. This also generally translates to staff, as well. Last year, he was part of the move to fire every single dean and assistant principal, regardless of years of service or levels of belovedness. All were forced to reapply for their jobs (that had been nationally advertised) with no internal process for those who had served the community for literal decades. Teachers who protested were put on leave. The administration shake up has contributed to the difficult year that we have just completed.
Duncan had wonderful ideas of his own about how things could improve. In many ways, he was greatly limited by the bureaucracy that ACPS is notorious for. I had hoped the next year would be far more stable than this year was. Please also know that he did not tell ACHS / ACPS staff that he was leaving. The rumor mill was left to notify us, followed by an impromptu Zoom meeting with the remaining administration the next day. He allowed staff to leave for the summer thinking he would be there when we returned. I will miss him as a person, but not as an administrator.

So Duncan is here for jobs for his friends and family? And they come first?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your candor.

What exactly is STEM English? STEMS STANDARD READING IS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH, SO LIKE IS THIS ENGLISH IN THE SERVICE OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING?

I’m sorry I have no idea why ALLCAPS SIRI did that

STEM was a cohort at Minnie that was tightly cross-curricular in nature. Students were involved in more than just scientific writing. They did research into a given issue or research topic, wrote up their findings, reflected on both personal explorations & big picture concepts, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for your candor.

What exactly is STEM English? STEMS STANDARD READING IS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH, SO LIKE IS THIS ENGLISH IN THE SERVICE OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING?

I’m sorry I have no idea why ALLCAPS SIRI did that

STEM was a cohort at Minnie that was tightly cross-curricular in nature. Students were involved in more than just scientific writing. They did research into a given issue or research topic, wrote up their findings, reflected on both personal explorations & big picture concepts, etc.

So it was a further dilution of STEM into STEAM into just calling everything STEM?

[Anonymous]

STEM is science, technology, engineering, & math. STEAM is science, technology, engineering, art, & math. They kept some of the art component as literature is considered to be part of the humanities. They did include extracurriculars (ie: field trips) & whatnot. But the actual cohort itself was focused on the core content + the coursework specific to engineering, science, & engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I too would like some hot tea, this line of thinking that somehow this is union busting - seems a bit conspiracy-theory-ish.

1.) Very few teachers and staff, by percentage actually belong to the AEA. While they are doing some good things for teachers in general, they are a loud minority and take up a lot of space. They listen to their group, not necessarily to other teacher concerns outside of their circle.

2.) The rumor is that Hall left because of health issues. I do not know him personally, but multiple people at W-L have told me this.

3.) I agree that it would have been preferable to keep Willmore for continuity. Maybe Duncan just aced his interview with Duran. Who knows. All of this speculation is kind of ridiculous.

Duncan is patently less qualified than Willmore, doesn’t have experience with APS, and shows a willingness to job hop (he is leaving ACHS after just 3 years after all).

Just because he INTERVIEWED well? They bonded over equity initiatives? I fear Durans roots as an equity officer are still showing; rather than addressing the broader student bodies needs, he is obsessed with closing the testing gaps, even if it means with lowering the top.

I can tell you that is not the case.

OP again. My point is that we will NEVER know why Duncan was picked over Willmore. While we're wildly speculating, maybe Willmore was offered the job first and declined, choosing the MS administrator role instead. Who the F knows? We won't.

Anonymous person telling other anonymous people what happened because shrug.

We can make up all sorts of nonsense in our heads. In the end, we will never know why Duncan was picked over Willmore. I hope Duncan succeeds at W-L with or without his buddies. I don't even think that APS principals have the same firing power as ACPS seems to. Otherwise many APs would already be gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I too would like some hot tea, this line of thinking that somehow this is union busting - seems a bit conspiracy-theory-ish.

1.) Very few teachers and staff, by percentage actually belong to the AEA. While they are doing some good things for teachers in general, they are a loud minority and take up a lot of space. They listen to their group, not necessarily to other teacher concerns outside of their circle.

2.) The rumor is that Hall left because of health issues. I do not know him personally, but multiple people at W-L have told me this.

3.) I agree that it would have been preferable to keep Willmore for continuity. Maybe Duncan just aced his interview with Duran. Who knows. All of this speculation is kind of ridiculous.

Duncan is patently less qualified than Willmore, doesn’t have experience with APS, and shows a willingness to job hop (he is leaving ACHS after just 3 years after all).

Just because he INTERVIEWED well? They bonded over equity initiatives? I fear Durans roots as an equity officer are still showing; rather than addressing the broader student bodies needs, he is obsessed with closing the testing gaps, even if it means with lowering the top.

I can tell you that is not the case.

OP again. My point is that we will NEVER know why Duncan was picked over Willmore. While we're wildly speculating, maybe Willmore was offered the job first and declined, choosing the MS administrator role instead. Who the F knows? We won't.

Anonymous person telling other anonymous people what happened because shrug.

We can make up all sorts of nonsense in our heads. In the end, we will never know why Duncan was picked over Willmore. I hope Duncan succeeds at W-L with or without his buddies. I don't even think that APS principals have the same firing power as ACPS seems to. Otherwise many APs would already be gone.

Obviously, the APs at WO will not be fired, they will be transferred to Syphax. That is the standard MO. And with a raise.

Don’t worry Duncan will get his buddies in place.

Can anyone speak to positive things that happened that ACPS that warrant his higher? Less than 6 months ago ache shut down because of fights; I mean, maybe that is an improvement?