Oyster Adams - give me the dirt!!!!

[Anonymous]

Having 3 AP is a waste of money. I fully agree with this. Moving kids to a campus with middle schoolers in 4th grade isn't ideal. My experience is that the 4th graders are almost treated as middle schoolers, and there are unspoken expectations of them growing up a little too fast. But it is true that Oyster campus cannot hold that many people. So, I am not sure what the solution is. I also agree that by the time you get to middle school, most parents are tired, and they don't want to engage that much. Teachers cannot be that mad at that. It's logical that it would happen. Also, for a school admin that is quite disorganized, lacks transparency, and asks a lot of parents, it is a lot to expect from parents. If they want more engagement, then they need to figure out how to engage us more. Back to School night in person may help. Being better a communicating with parents may help. Being a little bit nicer may help. Some parents felt that some of the middle school teachers weren’t very welcoming. So many things to work on. Hopefully, the new principal will be the right fit to fix some of these issues. Not like Pineda. He was absolutely the worst person for the job. I believe that he made the already existing divide even wider. His methods (intimidation, lies, threats, putting people against each other, inefficiency, lack of care, etc. etc.) only made things worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will add that from what I see a lot of the divisive talk was coming from the principal’s handling of the situation. Instead if using numbers and data, he would make it an argument of one campus vs another, which is not a sentiment I have heard from any parents. Many of us have kids at both schools and don’t feel that way. So there is an issue, and we need to talk about it and address it, but the (now former) principal was making the situation much worse.

+1 on this. I've got kids in both places and don't see a divide as much as I see normal differences / needs from students at different times in their academic journey. Pineda was divisive and seemed to want to pit campuses against each other. A huge issue for me is somehow I am overcommunicated with, but I never seem to know what's going on. It's very frustrating. The comms from the school and parent group are pretty confusing and not great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having 3 AP is a waste of money. I fully agree with this. Moving kids to a campus with middle schoolers in 4th grade isn't ideal. My experience is that the 4th graders are almost treated as middle schoolers, and there are unspoken expectations of them growing up a little too fast. But it is true that Oyster campus cannot hold that many people. So, I am not sure what the solution is. I also agree that by the time you get to middle school, most parents are tired, and they don't want to engage that much. Teachers cannot be that mad at that. It's logical that it would happen. Also, for a school admin that is quite disorganized, lacks transparency, and asks a lot of parents, it is a lot to expect from parents. If they want more engagement, then they need to figure out how to engage us more. Back to School night in person may help. Being better a communicating with parents may help. Being a little bit nicer may help. Some parents felt that some of the middle school teachers weren’t very welcoming. So many things to work on. Hopefully, the new principal will be the right fit to fix some of these issues. Not like Pineda. He was absolutely the worst person for the job. I believe that he made the already existing divide even wider. His methods (intimidation, lies, threats, putting people against each other, inefficiency, lack of care, etc. etc.) only made things worse.

My take: an outsider principal stepped on the toes of a group of entitled teachers, primarily from Oyster Campus. These teachers, backed by a clique of entitled parents (lawyers!), orchestrated a coup d'état. The truth of the matter is that Adams needs full attention from the principal, given its demographic composition. In my opinion, the previous principal focused way more on Oyster, an already well-endowed campus.

[Anonymous]

That's an interesting take but I think it's a bit too simplistic. Or least one sided. Many teachers and parents at the Adams campus wanted him gone, many are not lawyers, many are from that demographic you mention, and definitely did not orchestrate a coup d'etat, but had terrible experience with him and thought him to be a terrible Principal who care zero about the kids and was dismissive of teachers and their needs. In fact, some were not even fans of the previous Principal but admitted this one was way worse.

Agree that Adams deserves attention, but I think Pineda used whatever existing tension was there to get teachers on his side, given that he had many against him, and for fair reasons. My family, and other families I know, have gone to him to ask for help many times (at Adams) and he was very unhelpful and quite aggressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's an interesting take but I think it's a bit too simplistic. Or least one sided. Many teachers and parents at the Adams campus wanted him gone, many are not lawyers, many are from that demographic you mention, and definitely did not orchestrate a coup d'etat, but had terrible experience with him and thought him to be a terrible Principal who care zero about the kids and was dismissive of teachers and their needs. In fact, some were not even fans of the previous Principal but admitted this one was way worse.

Agree that Adams deserves attention, but I think Pineda used whatever existing tension was there to get teachers on his side, given that he had many against him, and for fair reasons. My family, and other families I know, have gone to him to ask for help many times (at Adams) and he was very unhelpful and quite aggressive.

How many are "many"? The few outspoken English dominant ones? What type of special accommodation you demanded for your special one that was not attended?

[Anonymous]

A solution would be to take middle school out altogether. Make oyster pk3-1 or 2 and Adams gets the upper elementary grades. Go to MacFarland like the other bilingual schools (Bancroft should go there too). Current families would hate it but there would be more ece spots and kids would get to kindergarten better prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having 3 AP is a waste of money. I fully agree with this. Moving kids to a campus with middle schoolers in 4th grade isn't ideal. My experience is that the 4th graders are almost treated as middle schoolers, and there are unspoken expectations of them growing up a little too fast. But it is true that Oyster campus cannot hold that many people. So, I am not sure what the solution is. I also agree that by the time you get to middle school, most parents are tired, and they don't want to engage that much. Teachers cannot be that mad at that. It's logical that it would happen. Also, for a school admin that is quite disorganized, lacks transparency, and asks a lot of parents, it is a lot to expect from parents. If they want more engagement, then they need to figure out how to engage us more. Back to School night in person may help. Being better a communicating with parents may help. Being a little bit nicer may help. Some parents felt that some of the middle school teachers weren’t very welcoming. So many things to work on. Hopefully, the new principal will be the right fit to fix some of these issues. Not like Pineda. He was absolutely the worst person for the job. I believe that he made the already existing divide even wider. His methods (intimidation, lies, threats, putting people against each other, inefficiency, lack of care, etc. etc.) only made things worse.

My take: an outsider principal stepped on the toes of a group of entitled teachers, primarily from Oyster Campus. These teachers, backed by a clique of entitled parents (lawyers!), orchestrated a coup d'état. The truth of the matter is that Adams needs full attention from the principal, given its demographic composition. In my opinion, the previous principal focused way more on Oyster, an already well-endowed campus.

Or perhaps his very public meltdown in front of his boss was what got him on the watch list?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having 3 AP is a waste of money. I fully agree with this. Moving kids to a campus with middle schoolers in 4th grade isn't ideal. My experience is that the 4th graders are almost treated as middle schoolers, and there are unspoken expectations of them growing up a little too fast. But it is true that Oyster campus cannot hold that many people. So, I am not sure what the solution is. I also agree that by the time you get to middle school, most parents are tired, and they don't want to engage that much. Teachers cannot be that mad at that. It's logical that it would happen. Also, for a school admin that is quite disorganized, lacks transparency, and asks a lot of parents, it is a lot to expect from parents. If they want more engagement, then they need to figure out how to engage us more. Back to School night in person may help. Being better a communicating with parents may help. Being a little bit nicer may help. Some parents felt that some of the middle school teachers weren’t very welcoming. So many things to work on. Hopefully, the new principal will be the right fit to fix some of these issues. Not like Pineda. He was absolutely the worst person for the job. I believe that he made the already existing divide even wider. His methods (intimidation, lies, threats, putting people against each other, inefficiency, lack of care, etc. etc.) only made things worse.

My take: an outsider principal stepped on the toes of a group of entitled teachers, primarily from Oyster Campus. These teachers, backed by a clique of entitled parents (lawyers!), orchestrated a coup d'état. The truth of the matter is that Adams needs full attention from the principal, given its demographic composition. In my opinion, the previous principal focused way more on Oyster, an already well-endowed campus.

Aren’t you cute? Mayra adored Adams, it was her crown jewel. Why do you think most of the Adams staff left under Pineda?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A solution would be to take middle school out altogether. Make oyster pk3-1 or 2 and Adams gets the upper elementary grades. Go to MacFarland like the other bilingual schools (Bancroft should go there too). Current families would hate it but there would be more ece spots and kids would get to kindergarten better prepared.

+1. It makes zero sense for only O-A out of all of the bilingual schools to have their own middle school. If DCPS wants a successful pre-K-12 immersion program, all schools should feed into a designated middle and high school immersion pathway. Maybe two middle schools for geographic reasons. Adams, maybe sometimes CHEC, and then JR unless you want Roosevelt (ha, right) just means that high SES stop immersion in middle school and sets MacFarland and Roosevelt up to fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's an interesting take but I think it's a bit too simplistic. Or least one sided. Many teachers and parents at the Adams campus wanted him gone, many are not lawyers, many are from that demographic you mention, and definitely did not orchestrate a coup d'etat, but had terrible experience with him and thought him to be a terrible Principal who care zero about the kids and was dismissive of teachers and their needs. In fact, some were not even fans of the previous Principal but admitted this one was way worse.

Agree that Adams deserves attention, but I think Pineda used whatever existing tension was there to get teachers on his side, given that he had many against him, and for fair reasons. My family, and other families I know, have gone to him to ask for help many times (at Adams) and he was very unhelpful and quite aggressive.

How many are "many"? The few outspoken English dominant ones? What type of special accommodation you demanded for your special one that was not attended?

Actually, many Spanish dominant parents who aren't outspoken despise Pineda, some are terrified of him. Also, we didn't demand any special attention for our child, just that they do something about bullying, which they didn't. They denied anything was happening and tried to sweep it under the rug.

So, you tell me. What was good about Pineda?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's an interesting take but I think it's a bit too simplistic. Or least one sided. Many teachers and parents at the Adams campus wanted him gone, many are not lawyers, many are from that demographic you mention, and definitely did not orchestrate a coup d'etat, but had terrible experience with him and thought him to be a terrible Principal who care zero about the kids and was dismissive of teachers and their needs. In fact, some were not even fans of the previous Principal but admitted this one was way worse.

Agree that Adams deserves attention, but I think Pineda used whatever existing tension was there to get teachers on his side, given that he had many against him, and for fair reasons. My family, and other families I know, have gone to him to ask for help many times (at Adams) and he was very unhelpful and quite aggressive.

How many are "many"? The few outspoken English dominant ones? What type of special accommodation you demanded for your special one that was not attended?

Actually, many Spanish dominant parents who aren't outspoken despise Pineda, some are terrified of him. Also, we didn't demand any special attention for our child, just that they do something about bullying, which they didn't. They denied anything was happening and tried to sweep it under the rug.

So, you tell me. What was good about Pineda?

What was good about Pineda? The only thing I can think of is that he kept central office happy. He was their lackey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's an interesting take but I think it's a bit too simplistic. Or least one sided. Many teachers and parents at the Adams campus wanted him gone, many are not lawyers, many are from that demographic you mention, and definitely did not orchestrate a coup d'etat, but had terrible experience with him and thought him to be a terrible Principal who care zero about the kids and was dismissive of teachers and their needs. In fact, some were not even fans of the previous Principal but admitted this one was way worse.

Agree that Adams deserves attention, but I think Pineda used whatever existing tension was there to get teachers on his side, given that he had many against him, and for fair reasons. My family, and other families I know, have gone to him to ask for help many times (at Adams) and he was very unhelpful and quite aggressive.

How many are "many"? The few outspoken English dominant ones? What type of special accommodation you demanded for your special one that was not attended?

Is this PP so ignorant that they believe legally mandated accommodations (like 504 and IEP accommodations) are somehow optional? If so, they know nothing about education and should STFU.

[Anonymous]

Parent of two here. Bullying at O-A is a very rare event... First time I hear of it in 6 years!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's an interesting take but I think it's a bit too simplistic. Or least one sided. Many teachers and parents at the Adams campus wanted him gone, many are not lawyers, many are from that demographic you mention, and definitely did not orchestrate a coup d'etat, but had terrible experience with him and thought him to be a terrible Principal who care zero about the kids and was dismissive of teachers and their needs. In fact, some were not even fans of the previous Principal but admitted this one was way worse.

Agree that Adams deserves attention, but I think Pineda used whatever existing tension was there to get teachers on his side, given that he had many against him, and for fair reasons. My family, and other families I know, have gone to him to ask for help many times (at Adams) and he was very unhelpful and quite aggressive.

How many are "many"? The few outspoken English dominant ones? What type of special accommodation you demanded for your special one that was not attended?

Is this PP so ignorant that they believe legally mandated accommodations (like 504 and IEP accommodations) are somehow optional? If so, they know nothing about education and should STFU.

I'm not the original PP but surprisingly the major complain my sons have is precisely when they are mixed in classrooms with those getting these mandated accommodations... Clearly this is a "cost" they have to share given the multiple interruptions during class aggravated by the absence of extra personal to take care of these cases. We never complain btw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parent of two here. Bullying at O-A is a very rare event... First time I hear of it in 6 years!

Just because you haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. It’s not too strange that there would be bullying (many schools deal with that). The complaint is the lack of action and denial by the school administrators.