Pete Cahall is out as Principal of Wilson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading the title, I thought "that's old news, OP--that happened last year." Of course you didn't say "came out." What is the reaction to this among parents? Seems really early in the year to be deciding this.

Me too. Or a play on words. Out principal is out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cahill was not doing anything to make Wilson stronger academically.
He was nice to the students and very interested in sports but did not seem
interested in bumping Wilson to the next level intellectually.

Agree with this.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, where are you?

I've actually been at Wilson all afternoon, but didn't hear about this until just now when I check DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Shame but I always lose a bit of respect for people who write these kinds of letters. Down the road he will be remembered for this letter first.

[Anonymous]

So the letters have already been mailed out, I wonder who else is in or out at DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shame but I always lose a bit of respect for people who write these kinds of letters. Down the road he will be remembered for this letter first.

He's out and proud and gonna' shout and be loud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shame but I always lose a bit of respect for people who write these kinds of letters. Down the road he will be remembered for this letter first.

He's out and proud and gonna' shout and be loud.

It makes him look bad. He should have gone quietly. I'm sure his next potential employer will keep it in mind.

[jsteele]

This is a very big risk for DCPS and the decision is going to be severely second-guessed if Cahall's replacement is not an overwhelming success. Wilson is a big place with a lot of challenges and it's not going to be easy for whomever comes in. It's a long time for Cahall to be a lame duck (and a disgruntled one at that). I can't say that I see this as the best decision that DCPS has ever made. However, I do agree that the way the recent robbery episode was handled left a bit to be desired.

[Anonymous]

I was at today's open house and there was no sign of anything amiss so I was shocked. I was more shocked, however, to find out that DCPS only funds one part time college counsellor for the entire school! What the heck? There was an article in the school paper about how hard it is for wilson students to apply to colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shame but I always lose a bit of respect for people who write these kinds of letters. Down the road he will be remembered for this letter first.

He was always one to push back against DCPS. So the letter is not surprising. He said as much at our orientation.

[Anonymous]

He's just another Pete Cahall casualty.

[Anonymous]

I think it is retribution for being seen at his coming out with David Catania

[Anonymous]

I guess Ward 3 isn't completely inoculated from bone-headed DCPS decisions. Welcome to public school in Washington, folks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cahill was not doing anything to make Wilson stronger academically.
He was nice to the students and very interested in sports but did not seem
interested in bumping Wilson to the next level intellectually.

I wondered about this. He seems to be loved by all. Yet on paper, Wilson seems to have some issues, especially compared with Deal. There are demographic differences which may explain it. But you could hardly say that Wilson is a screaming success overall, looking at the stats.

[Anonymous]

So does an assistant principal get a promotion? Do they find someone new to DCPS?
Where is Melissa Kim? Wouldn't that be awesome?

I am a Wilson parent, happy overall. My kid does well academically and is really happy and busy with sports and activities.

Cahill's letter was very poorly written. Was he ever an actual teacher? If so, definitely not an English teacher.