Lafayette Principal

[Anonymous]

The point is that there are so few SN kids that it's hard to judge a principal on how she is accommodating and meeting the needs of children with special needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point is that there are so few SN kids that it's hard to judge a principal on how she is accommodating and meeting the needs of children with special needs.

Next year will be more illuminating then, I guess.

My guess is that all these schools have parents who can afford to send their kids with special needs to private schools that specialize in those areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, that's really low -- is there a reason for that? Doesn't Murch have close to 20%?

Disturbingly low. The statistical average is 10%-13% nationwide. A school that's far outside that range is doing something to exclude those students or refuse to serve them as the law requires.

Mom of kid with IEP at Lafayette here. I don't think they are doing something intentionally to exclude those kids. What I've noticed is that the kids I know who have disabilities and live in this neighborhood almost always go private, either b/c their parents can either afford tuition, or the legal team to get DCPS to pay for it. It may also reflect the fact that there are no self-contained classes, which will change beginning next year.

[Anonymous]

There are countless stories of how both Dr B and her predecessor had a "not in my backyard" approach to SN kids. Just go ask some of the ed advocates and lawyers in town about how many Lafayette parents they hear from about the refusal to provide appropriate services. Murch and Janney are supposed to be better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are countless stories of how both Dr B and her predecessor had a "not in my backyard" approach to SN kids. Just go ask some of the ed advocates and lawyers in town about how many Lafayette parents they hear from about the refusal to provide appropriate services. Murch and Janney are supposed to be better.

Janney not better. Frankly most schools are bad from this perspective

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From an inquiring new parent -- it sounds like from the posts above that Lafayette doesn't differentiate in classrooms (or doesn't do it effectively) -- is this true? I had heard (3rd hand) that they do differentiate, and do it well. Are there any current parents who know more?

I have one high performer and one low performer, and I've been disappointed on both ends. My high performer reached (and exceeded) his grade's reading benchmarks in February. At that point, all of reading time was free reading, while the teacher focused on those who were not yet at grade level. In math, there are leveled groups, but they aren't very leveled; for example, in my high performer's class, there are only two math groups, which isn't much.

On the schedule, there is 30 minutes of WIN ("what I need") time each day in math and another 30 minutes in ELA. This is supposed to be time when the reading and math specialists pull out kids for either enrichment or remediation. In reality, because there is only one reading specialist and two math specialists and 7 grades (and almost 800 kids), each grade is only served (at least for enrichment) once a week. They do computer-based instruction (ST Math) during WIN time the other days.

My other child is below grade level in writing, yet she was never pulled for remediation during WIN time.

Thanks for sharing - what a drag. Sounds like the PTA needs to hire teacher partners, or at least more teacher partners, to get more instructors in the classroom. I know that some of the other schools with similar demographics do this. The Lafayette PTA raises mega dough - why isn't this happening?

[Anonymous]

Thought about transitioning a SN child to Lafayette. Individual teachers very oppositional to idea. Deer in headlights look. They seemed unprepared to deal with a child outside the main steam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thought about transitioning a SN child to Lafayette. Individual teachers very oppositional to idea. Deer in headlights look. They seemed unprepared to deal with a child outside the main steam.

That sucks. But it isn't unique to Lafayette. Most teachers get very little training in learning differences and how to teach kids with disabilities. Most just aren't dumb enough to admit it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the majority of unhappy parents aren't looking for her to get fired, but just want to see some small changes.

Can we flip this issue on its head-- what can we do as a community to:
1) heal this parent discontent
2) help this principal respond to the community more productively?

This lady holds office hours for all parents to come in. That's unheard of.
It's the community that needs fixed.

It's not unheard of if a primary motivation is protecting a reputation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How does the new principal address kids with IEPs, and kids who need a bit extra social support? Wasn't that something Lafayette specialized in?

Only 6% of Lafayette students have IEPs. Really low compared to most DCPS schools.

That is because the students who need help get RtI from the reading and math specialists. Only the ones not showing growth go through the evaluation process. Some teachers diffeentiate well and others do not. The Special Ed team is good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, that's really low -- is there a reason for that? Doesn't Murch have close to 20%?

Disturbingly low. The statistical average is 10%-13% nationwide. A school that's far outside that range is doing something to exclude those students or refuse to serve them as the law requires.

Mom of kid with IEP at Lafayette here. I don't think they are doing something intentionally to exclude those kids. What I've noticed is that the kids I know who have disabilities and live in this neighborhood almost always go private, either b/c their parents can either afford tuition, or the legal team to get DCPS to pay for it. It may also reflect the fact that there are no self-contained classes, which will change beginning next year.

How is it going for your child with an IEP?

[Anonymous]

Lafayette needs its own listserv. This is nuts!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are countless stories of how both Dr B and her predecessor had a "not in my backyard" approach to SN kids. Just go ask some of the ed advocates and lawyers in town about how many Lafayette parents they hear from about the refusal to provide appropriate services. Murch and Janney are supposed to be better.

Quoting from today's Lafayette Tuesday Bulletin on this subject, verbatim from Dr B:

'As we look forward to August, we are excited to share that we will be opening up two new special education classrooms that will serve students with a variety of disabilities. The K-2 classroom (Early Learning Support or ELS) will be taught by Jasmine Rogers. The 3rd - 5th grade classroom (Specialized Learning Support or SLS) will be taught by Ashley Swartz. We are also adding a new special education coordinator, Monica Arce and a new social worker, Sophia Carre. We are ecstatic to welcome these incredibly talented women to our team. Over the course of the summer, we will be sharing more information about the new students and families that will be joining us. It excites me to think that Lafayette is continuing to expand our inclusivity and working to educate and involve all students in the amazing things we do.'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are countless stories of how both Dr B and her predecessor had a "not in my backyard" approach to SN kids. Just go ask some of the ed advocates and lawyers in town about how many Lafayette parents they hear from about the refusal to provide appropriate services. Murch and Janney are supposed to be better.

Quoting from today's Lafayette Tuesday Bulletin on this subject, verbatim from Dr B:

'As we look forward to August, we are excited to share that we will be opening up two new special education classrooms that will serve students with a variety of disabilities. The K-2 classroom (Early Learning Support or ELS) will be taught by Jasmine Rogers. The 3rd - 5th grade classroom (Specialized Learning Support or SLS) will be taught by Ashley Swartz. We are also adding a new special education coordinator, Monica Arce and a new social worker, Sophia Carre. We are ecstatic to welcome these incredibly talented women to our team. Over the course of the summer, we will be sharing more information about the new students and families that will be joining us. It excites me to think that Lafayette is continuing to expand our inclusivity and working to educate and involve all students in the amazing things we do.'

You can read descriptions of the ELS (page 13) and SLS (page 17) programs in this DCPS document https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/Family%20Programs%20and%20Resources%20Guide%2016-17.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are countless stories of how both Dr B and her predecessor had a "not in my backyard" approach to SN kids. Just go ask some of the ed advocates and lawyers in town about how many Lafayette parents they hear from about the refusal to provide appropriate services. Murch and Janney are supposed to be better.

Quoting from today's Lafayette Tuesday Bulletin on this subject, verbatim from Dr B:

'As we look forward to August, we are excited to share that we will be opening up two new special education classrooms that will serve students with a variety of disabilities. The K-2 classroom (Early Learning Support or ELS) will be taught by Jasmine Rogers. The 3rd - 5th grade classroom (Specialized Learning Support or SLS) will be taught by Ashley Swartz. We are also adding a new special education coordinator, Monica Arce and a new social worker, Sophia Carre. We are ecstatic to welcome these incredibly talented women to our team. Over the course of the summer, we will be sharing more information about the new students and families that will be joining us. It excites me to think that Lafayette is continuing to expand our inclusivity and working to educate and involve all students in the amazing things we do.'

Having a classroom (or two) for kids placed by DCPS because they need full time support does not suggest anything about how Lafayette treats the overwhelming majority of its kids with disabilities who are found eligible (or not) and provided services (or not) solely by school staff.

My experience as a parent of a child with an IEP is that Dr. B is actually pretty good with such things. But she clearly has not directed her staff about the need to follow the law consistently, not just when parents make a big fuss.