That Takoma Principal Part 2

[Anonymous]

Lower school parent here. We’ve had a fantastic experience at the school, largely due to amazing teachers that I could go on and on about. I also agree with the earlier assessment of Clayton. He’s a human - not a monster or a saint. My kids are extremely proud to be Falcons and love their principal, and honestly that’s mostly what I care about.

BUT - he lost his cool last night and I’m not happy with what I saw. He needs to know he’s not always going to get applause, and he really disrespected the PTO president when he pointed/shouted at her like that. Not impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clayton is a nice guy. Don’t believe these stories.

Are you saying it didn't happen? Did he say that or did he not?

DP. He absolutely did say it. And also, in some ways, he really is a nice guy. I truly believe he cares deeply about each and every kid at Takoma - he has a heart for them and it's a warm environment in that regard. But he's not a good manager or administrator, he has a tendency to be extremely defensive and prickly and he gives out favors to friends vs nurturing talent wherever it is found. He treats teachers like his pawns instead of colleagues. And he is -- I cannot stress this enough -- an abysmal communicator. He rambles, he digresses, he backtracks, he alludes, he repeats, and in the end: he has conveyed no information.

He's a human person, not a monster or a saint. But I don't think his personality is right for a principal position and I don't think he's doing a good job.

This is a pretty good summation of Clayton. I would just add, he also lies incessantly. Whatever he tells you to your face will be the complete opposite he shares with someone else. Whatever is the easiest answer for him to let you leave thinking he is a "nice guy", so I can see why people are easily fooled by that

Not at Takoma, but this is interesting because we are at a school people love but I have similar feelings about our principal. He plays favorites (teachers and families) and deflects problems. Some communication is good, some not. He does many good things and people think there is no bad. He is a human person, not a monster or a saint. But if you view any principal as one or the other, there can be issues down the road in ignoring real problems or creating fake problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clayton is a nice guy. Don’t believe these stories.

Are you saying it didn't happen? Did he say that or did he not?

DP. He absolutely did say it. And also, in some ways, he really is a nice guy. I truly believe he cares deeply about each and every kid at Takoma - he has a heart for them and it's a warm environment in that regard. But he's not a good manager or administrator, he has a tendency to be extremely defensive and prickly and he gives out favors to friends vs nurturing talent wherever it is found. He treats teachers like his pawns instead of colleagues. And he is -- I cannot stress this enough -- an abysmal communicator. He rambles, he digresses, he backtracks, he alludes, he repeats, and in the end: he has conveyed no information.

He's a human person, not a monster or a saint. But I don't think his personality is right for a principal position and I don't think he's doing a good job.

This is a pretty good summation of Clayton. I would just add, he also lies incessantly. Whatever he tells you to your face will be the complete opposite he shares with someone else. Whatever is the easiest answer for him to let you leave thinking he is a "nice guy", so I can see why people are easily fooled by that

Not at Takoma, but this is interesting because we are at a school people love but I have similar feelings about our principal. He plays favorites (teachers and families) and deflects problems. Some communication is good, some not. He does many good things and people think there is no bad. He is a human person, not a monster or a saint. But if you view any principal as one or the other, there can be issues down the road in ignoring real problems or creating fake problems.

This is a classic “fine-time” leadership problem. A principal who genuinely cares about students but struggles to take negative feedback and address problems constructively. Their good intentions to protect friends and reward loyalty end up creating divisions, lowering morale, and pushing talented teachers outside the inner circle to quietly leave. Over time, the school is left with mostly loyal yes people rather than high performing staff, which hurts the quality of education and ultimately affects students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clayton is a nice guy. Don’t believe these stories.

Are you saying it didn't happen? Did he say that or did he not?

DP. He absolutely did say it. And also, in some ways, he really is a nice guy. I truly believe he cares deeply about each and every kid at Takoma - he has a heart for them and it's a warm environment in that regard. But he's not a good manager or administrator, he has a tendency to be extremely defensive and prickly and he gives out favors to friends vs nurturing talent wherever it is found. He treats teachers like his pawns instead of colleagues. And he is -- I cannot stress this enough -- an abysmal communicator. He rambles, he digresses, he backtracks, he alludes, he repeats, and in the end: he has conveyed no information.

He's a human person, not a monster or a saint. But I don't think his personality is right for a principal position and I don't think he's doing a good job.

This is a pretty good summation of Clayton. I would just add, he also lies incessantly. Whatever he tells you to your face will be the complete opposite he shares with someone else. Whatever is the easiest answer for him to let you leave thinking he is a "nice guy", so I can see why people are easily fooled by that

OMG this describes our principal (Hill ES) too! Like down to the horrible communicator who tells everyone what they want to hear in the moment, but not follow through. Drives amazing teachers away as horrible administrator. Nice enough person. Tears when confronted.

[Anonymous]

Why are you going on about how he's just a human?

He needs to be fired. He was hired to communicate and manage. He's not doing either.

This isn't personal. It's business. Running a school requires a certain set of capabilities, which he does not have. End of story.

Take the personal out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you going on about how he's just a human?

He needs to be fired. He was hired to communicate and manage. He's not doing either.

This isn't personal. It's business. Running a school requires a certain set of capabilities, which he does not have. End of story.

Take the personal out of it.

I'm the PP who said he's a human and not a monster or a saint. I was responding to a poster who said "he's a nice guy" so therefore everyone must be making it up that he crashed out in a wild and unprofessional manner.

The point is yes, he's nice. He's also wildly unprofessional and not suited for the role. You can't veto any negative reports with "can't be true, he's nice," because all of us are many things. One of the things Clayton is, is nice. Another thing is, bad at this job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clayton is a nice guy. Don’t believe these stories.

Are you saying it didn't happen? Did he say that or did he not?

DP. He absolutely did say it. And also, in some ways, he really is a nice guy. I truly believe he cares deeply about each and every kid at Takoma - he has a heart for them and it's a warm environment in that regard. But he's not a good manager or administrator, he has a tendency to be extremely defensive and prickly and he gives out favors to friends vs nurturing talent wherever it is found. He treats teachers like his pawns instead of colleagues. And he is -- I cannot stress this enough -- an abysmal communicator. He rambles, he digresses, he backtracks, he alludes, he repeats, and in the end: he has conveyed no information.

He's a human person, not a monster or a saint. But I don't think his personality is right for a principal position and I don't think he's doing a good job.

This is a pretty good summation of Clayton. I would just add, he also lies incessantly. Whatever he tells you to your face will be the complete opposite he shares with someone else. Whatever is the easiest answer for him to let you leave thinking he is a "nice guy", so I can see why people are easily fooled by that

Not at Takoma, but this is interesting because we are at a school people love but I have similar feelings about our principal. He plays favorites (teachers and families) and deflects problems. Some communication is good, some not. He does many good things and people think there is no bad. He is a human person, not a monster or a saint. But if you view any principal as one or the other, there can be issues down the road in ignoring real problems or creating fake problems.

This is a classic “fine-time” leadership problem. A principal who genuinely cares about students but struggles to take negative feedback and address problems constructively. Their good intentions to protect friends and reward loyalty end up creating divisions, lowering morale, and pushing talented teachers outside the inner circle to quietly leave. Over time, the school is left with mostly loyal yes people rather than high performing staff, which hurts the quality of education and ultimately affects students.

This is literally the personality DCPS selects for when hiring principals - they want yes-people who will do whatever central office says and not bring them problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just had an insane crash out on a PTO call. Among the highlights:

Told the parents they were lucky to have someone as great as him and he could move himself and his family anywhere

That they were the most disrespectful PTO he had ever met

Nobody in the world has a harder job than him and how dare families ask hard questions of him, a black male

Yep, I saw the writing on the wall when he told staff ‘he does this kind of job because his wife is a lawyer and so we need to do a better job because now he deserves highly effective, he doesn’t care about DC politics blah, blah.’ He’s insane.

He has screamed at staff and has been an ineffective leader.

I should have realized there’d flag when in the interview a question was: ‘How do you feel about a leader who wants something right when he wants it, every time?’

I am glad he showed a glimpse of what he is like towards staff to parents.
People always talk about holding teachers accountable but truly many school ‘leaders’ are the worst.
Their union also moves in total anonymity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just had an insane crash out on a PTO call. Among the highlights:

Told the parents they were lucky to have someone as great as him and he could move himself and his family anywhere

That they were the most disrespectful PTO he had ever met

Nobody in the world has a harder job than him and how dare families ask hard questions of him, a black male

I would pay real $$ to hear the recording of that. As my kids would say, this level of "self-glaze" would be epic.
I sincerely hope this is a dramatic parent and that did not come out of his mouth.

I am laughing so hard I had to walk away from my desk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clayton is a nice guy. Don’t believe these stories.

Are you saying it didn't happen? Did he say that or did he not?

DP. He absolutely did say it. And also, in some ways, he really is a nice guy. I truly believe he cares deeply about each and every kid at Takoma - he has a heart for them and it's a warm environment in that regard. But he's not a good manager or administrator, he has a tendency to be extremely defensive and prickly and he gives out favors to friends vs nurturing talent wherever it is found. He treats teachers like his pawns instead of colleagues. And he is -- I cannot stress this enough -- an abysmal communicator. He rambles, he digresses, he backtracks, he alludes, he repeats, and in the end: he has conveyed no information.

He's a human person, not a monster or a saint. But I don't think his personality is right for a principal position and I don't think he's doing a good job.

This is a pretty good summation of Clayton. I would just add, he also lies incessantly. Whatever he tells you to your face will be the complete opposite he shares with someone else. Whatever is the easiest answer for him to let you leave thinking he is a "nice guy", so I can see why people are easily fooled by that

Not at Takoma, but this is interesting because we are at a school people love but I have similar feelings about our principal. He plays favorites (teachers and families) and deflects problems. Some communication is good, some not. He does many good things and people think there is no bad. He is a human person, not a monster or a saint. But if you view any principal as one or the other, there can be issues down the road in ignoring real problems or creating fake problems.

This is a classic “fine-time” leadership problem. A principal who genuinely cares about students but struggles to take negative feedback and address problems constructively. Their good intentions to protect friends and reward loyalty end up creating divisions, lowering morale, and pushing talented teachers outside the inner circle to quietly leave. Over time, the school is left with mostly loyal yes people rather than high performing staff, which hurts the quality of education and ultimately affects students.

This is literally the personality DCPS selects for when hiring principals - they want yes-people who will do whatever central office says and not bring them problems.

Well that clearly failed here as he spent last night trying to defend protecting a teacher who has been verbally and emotionally abusing children for two years and blamed the parents for it all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just had an insane crash out on a PTO call. Among the highlights:

Told the parents they were lucky to have someone as great as him and he could move himself and his family anywhere

That they were the most disrespectful PTO he had ever met

Nobody in the world has a harder job than him and how dare families ask hard questions of him, a black male

I would pay real $$ to hear the recording of that. As my kids would say, this level of "self-glaze" would be epic.
I sincerely hope this is a dramatic parent and that did not come out of his mouth.

I am laughing so hard I had to walk away from my desk.

I was on the call, the direct quote may be slightly skewed but he talked about how he is so talented that he could do this job anywhere and he could pack up his family anytime if he's not wanted there

[Anonymous]

Yes I think the direct quote was “I can take my talents anywhere.” Many of us came because we weren’t aware of what was happening in 4th grade and wanted some clarity on the process. What we got was… not that. I’m still in shock about what transpired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes I think the direct quote was “I can take my talents anywhere.” Many of us came because we weren’t aware of what was happening in 4th grade and wanted some clarity on the process. What we got was… not that. I’m still in shock about what transpired.

16 years since Lebron took his talents to South Beach and this doofus has learned nothing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clayton is a nice guy. Don’t believe these stories.

Are you saying it didn't happen? Did he say that or did he not?

DP. He absolutely did say it. And also, in some ways, he really is a nice guy. I truly believe he cares deeply about each and every kid at Takoma - he has a heart for them and it's a warm environment in that regard. But he's not a good manager or administrator, he has a tendency to be extremely defensive and prickly and he gives out favors to friends vs nurturing talent wherever it is found. He treats teachers like his pawns instead of colleagues. And he is -- I cannot stress this enough -- an abysmal communicator. He rambles, he digresses, he backtracks, he alludes, he repeats, and in the end: he has conveyed no information.

He's a human person, not a monster or a saint. But I don't think his personality is right for a principal position and I don't think he's doing a good job.

This is a pretty good summation of Clayton. I would just add, he also lies incessantly. Whatever he tells you to your face will be the complete opposite he shares with someone else. Whatever is the easiest answer for him to let you leave thinking he is a "nice guy", so I can see why people are easily fooled by that

Not at Takoma, but this is interesting because we are at a school people love but I have similar feelings about our principal. He plays favorites (teachers and families) and deflects problems. Some communication is good, some not. He does many good things and people think there is no bad. He is a human person, not a monster or a saint. But if you view any principal as one or the other, there can be issues down the road in ignoring real problems or creating fake problems.

This is a classic “fine-time” leadership problem. A principal who genuinely cares about students but struggles to take negative feedback and address problems constructively. Their good intentions to protect friends and reward loyalty end up creating divisions, lowering morale, and pushing talented teachers outside the inner circle to quietly leave. Over time, the school is left with mostly loyal yes people rather than high performing staff, which hurts the quality of education and ultimately affects students.

This is literally the personality DCPS selects for when hiring principals - they want yes-people who will do whatever central office says and not bring them problems.

Well that clearly failed here as he spent last night trying to defend protecting a teacher who has been verbally and emotionally abusing children for two years and blamed the parents for it all

Wow. If you’re not all for protecting the students that’s not OK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clayton is a nice guy. Don’t believe these stories.

Are you saying it didn't happen? Did he say that or did he not?

DP. He absolutely did say it. And also, in some ways, he really is a nice guy. I truly believe he cares deeply about each and every kid at Takoma - he has a heart for them and it's a warm environment in that regard. But he's not a good manager or administrator, he has a tendency to be extremely defensive and prickly and he gives out favors to friends vs nurturing talent wherever it is found. He treats teachers like his pawns instead of colleagues. And he is -- I cannot stress this enough -- an abysmal communicator. He rambles, he digresses, he backtracks, he alludes, he repeats, and in the end: he has conveyed no information.

He's a human person, not a monster or a saint. But I don't think his personality is right for a principal position and I don't think he's doing a good job.

This is a pretty good summation of Clayton. I would just add, he also lies incessantly. Whatever he tells you to your face will be the complete opposite he shares with someone else. Whatever is the easiest answer for him to let you leave thinking he is a "nice guy", so I can see why people are easily fooled by that

Not at Takoma, but this is interesting because we are at a school people love but I have similar feelings about our principal. He plays favorites (teachers and families) and deflects problems. Some communication is good, some not. He does many good things and people think there is no bad. He is a human person, not a monster or a saint. But if you view any principal as one or the other, there can be issues down the road in ignoring real problems or creating fake problems.

This is a classic “fine-time” leadership problem. A principal who genuinely cares about students but struggles to take negative feedback and address problems constructively. Their good intentions to protect friends and reward loyalty end up creating divisions, lowering morale, and pushing talented teachers outside the inner circle to quietly leave. Over time, the school is left with mostly loyal yes people rather than high performing staff, which hurts the quality of education and ultimately affects students.

This is literally the personality DCPS selects for when hiring principals - they want yes-people who will do whatever central office says and not bring them problems.

Well that clearly failed here as he spent last night trying to defend protecting a teacher who has been verbally and emotionally abusing children for two years and blamed the parents for it all

DP,
No that’s not what a ‘yes person’ is to DCPS. Following DCPS initiatives, of course they’d rather not be sued but since you can easily blame just the teacher for the abuse -DCPS will not care.

And that incident isn’t widely known or proven (from my understanding). So it doesn’t change the school from seeming like a good choice.