Underwhelming appearance by Principal Martin at Wilson HS Open House

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What exactly are you trying to accomplish by posting here? If you are so concerned why not set up a meeting with the principal to discuss your concerns or dig deeper to get more information?

This is what OP said:

I would like to know the impressions from others who have attended the open houses or visited the school recently. Are we missing something? Was it just a bad day for her?

Seems like a reasonable approach. Presumably this is not the only way OP is seeking information about the school.

+1. OP's post was more reasonable than 90% of the stuff I see here in DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Original poster here. In all honesty, I had not even noticed the ethnicity of the audience. After the open house ended , we exchanged comments with a few parents and they mentioned the fact that the fact that the mainly white audience might have played a role in her grey performance.

More than 30% of the threads in this Forum have something to do with race, as is DCPS and DC politics. Any forms I have had to compile for my three kids' enrollment in DCPS programs or DCPR programs (tennis and athletics) asked me to check a box with their ethnicity. Which by the way is arbitrary as they are half Caucasian and half Latino, so the girl prefers to be identified as Latina, the boys as Caucasian but after the summer with his granparents the youngest now wants to be classified as Latino, so now I am checking a different box for him .. just to tell you how little we care about these boxes.

I knew it was not a good idea to post in this Forum, as some readers are just hunting for hooks to exacerbate the debate.

My intention, again, was to try to share views about what I thought was a very disappointing first encounter, and about a Principal replacement which does not make any sense to me, with a gap between the two Principals which now looks so wide to me to suggest a plan or plot behind this process.

[Anonymous]

This is principal is clearly out of depth and that has been apparent since her hire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Original poster here. In all honesty, I had not even noticed the ethnicity of the audience. After the open house ended , we exchanged comments with a few parents and they mentioned the fact that the fact that the mainly white audience might have played a role in her grey performance.

More than 30% of the threads in this Forum have something to do with race, as is DCPS and DC politics. Any forms I have had to compile for my three kids' enrollment in DCPS programs or DCPR programs (tennis and athletics) asked me to check a box with their ethnicity. Which by the way is arbitrary as they are half Caucasian and half Latino, so the girl prefers to be identified as Latina, the boys as Caucasian but after the summer with his granparents the youngest now wants to be classified as Latino, so now I am checking a different box for him .. just to tell you how little we care about these boxes.

I knew it was not a good idea to post in this Forum, as some readers are just hunting for hooks to exacerbate the debate.

My intention, again, was to try to share views about what I thought was a very disappointing first encounter, and about a Principal replacement which does not make any sense to me, with a gap between the two Principals which now looks so wide to me to suggest a plan or plot behind this process.

OP, THANK YOU for sharing your impressions and opening this thread. Ignore the crazies -- we know they exist, but let's just agree to ignore them

[Anonymous]

I'm a Wilson parent, and have not been impressed at all by Principal Martin. She seems out of her depth. But, who knows, maybe she'll get better once she figures out Wilson and DCPS a bit.

I'm willing to cut her some slack and see if she improves. And if she doesn't, what can I do about it anyway? Even with a weak Principal, I think my child and my child's peers will still do fine at Wilson. The teacher quality, physical space, extracurriculars, etc. all exist regardless of whether the Principal is good or bad.

[Anonymous]

Because inquiring minds want to know...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/new-wilson-principal-has-experience-and-passion-for-urban-education/2015/06/10/e995443a-0f84-11e5-adec-e82f8395c032_story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's move away from race. I have a question for the original poster.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish by posting here? If you are so concerned why not set up a meeting with the principal to discuss your concerns or dig deeper to get more information?

Trying to elicit a group response against the principal on an anonymous board is hardly the way to go about things.

I was actually thinking about asking a follow-up meeting with her if her schedule allows and with one of the Assistant Principals, but at the end I will not. I deeply believe that Principals and school administrators should spend their time administering the school and students rather than sitting with prospective parents in private meetings. Parents have the chance to ask questions at open houses (and the meeting at Wilson was not closed until ALL questions had been asked and answered) and, unless kids have special needs or situations (which is not our case) I believe that parents should refrain from asking private time with school administrators.

I plan to attend also the next open house, this time with my son, maybe it really was just a bad day.

For your information, in the past have gathered soooo much information from this forum regarding school specific issues of my interest . That's why I am still here, and I guess you are here for the same reason too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Wilson parent, and have not been impressed at all by Principal Martin. She seems out of her depth. But, who knows, maybe she'll get better once she figures out Wilson and DCPS a bit.

I'm willing to cut her some slack and see if she improves. And if she doesn't, what can I do about it anyway? Even with a weak Principal, I think my child and my child's peers will still do fine at Wilson. The teacher quality, physical space, extracurriculars, etc. all exist regardless of whether the Principal is good or bad.

Well, not entirely true. The call for action before the summer to reinstate the cancelled funding was led by the outstanding interim Principal (current Assistant Principal) . Would she be such a driving and leading force should this happen again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think open is leading us...she writes principal's name, which. Clearly sounds black and she mentions audience is mostly white.

I'm laughing out loud as I grew up with a Kimmy Martin who was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white kid. The name Kimberly Martin does not "clearly sound black" to me at least.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You referenced race and that seems to be your focus. Wilson, is the 2015 version of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is so sad what DC has become.

actually OP wrote a long post describing reasons she feels the principal may be weak and except for the reference to the almost white audience (which I agree was unnecessary, even if it was a fact) there is no mention of race. she said that the principal was the least articulate speaker, she gave examples of unsatisfying answers or answers that puzzled the parents. it does not seem to me that race was the focus of OP's post at all. it seems to me that you are focusing on an unnecessary detail of OP's post to avoid facing the focus of OP's post, which is that the principal did not performed well at the open house. with a 5th grader in a Wilson feeder, we are not at the school yet but watching closely and seriously hope that whoever is in charge at Wilson is the right person (regardless of race/gender/sexual orientation/religion and what else)

OP can speak for herself, but I've often heard "white demanding parents" to describe a certain, well, stereotype in DC. However, if accurate, I would be concerned about why hardly anyone from 50% of the parent body demographics showed up at Wilson back to school night. That is very concerning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You referenced race and that seems to be your focus. Wilson, is the 2015 version of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is so sad what DC has become.

This is beside the kind of feedback you are looking for OP, but wish you hadn't mentioned the crowd was almost all white. It makes no difference to your post, what professional is leading Wilson, or anything related to the operation of the school.

I agree, you kind of lost me when I read that sentence. Black parent with a 7th grader at Deal who is still not sold on Wilson. You lost are credibility when you mentioned race so now I am wondering if you are being truly honest in your feedback. Would love to hear from other parents who were there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You referenced race and that seems to be your focus. Wilson, is the 2015 version of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is so sad what DC has become.

actually OP wrote a long post describing reasons she feels the principal may be weak and except for the reference to the almost white audience (which I agree was unnecessary, even if it was a fact) there is no mention of race. she said that the principal was the least articulate speaker, she gave examples of unsatisfying answers or answers that puzzled the parents. it does not seem to me that race was the focus of OP's post at all. it seems to me that you are focusing on an unnecessary detail of OP's post to avoid facing the focus of OP's post, which is that the principal did not performed well at the open house. with a 5th grader in a Wilson feeder, we are not at the school yet but watching closely and seriously hope that whoever is in charge at Wilson is the right person (regardless of race/gender/sexual orientation/religion and what else)

OP can speak for herself, but I've often heard "white demanding parents" to describe a certain, well, stereotype in DC. However, if accurate, I would be concerned about why hardly anyone from 50% of the parent body demographics showed up at Wilson back to school night. That is very concerning.

NP - it wasn't back to school night. It was an open house for prospective parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You referenced race and that seems to be your focus. Wilson, is the 2015 version of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is so sad what DC has become.

This is beside the kind of feedback you are looking for OP, but wish you hadn't mentioned the crowd was almost all white. It makes no difference to your post, what professional is leading Wilson, or anything related to the operation of the school.

I agree, you kind of lost me when I read that sentence. Black parent with a 7th grader at Deal who is still not sold on Wilson. You lost are credibility when you mentioned race so now I am wondering if you are being truly honest in your feedback. Would love to hear from other parents who were there.

Blah blah blah. OP wrote a thoughtful and long post, and here come some whiners to whine. Add something substantial, such as, why did you NOT attend the Wilson meeting, if you care about your kid's future?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You referenced race and that seems to be your focus. Wilson, is the 2015 version of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is so sad what DC has become.

This is beside the kind of feedback you are looking for OP, but wish you hadn't mentioned the crowd was almost all white. It makes no difference to your post, what professional is leading Wilson, or anything related to the operation of the school.

I agree, you kind of lost me when I read that sentence. Black parent with a 7th grader at Deal who is still not sold on Wilson. You lost are credibility when you mentioned race so now I am wondering if you are being truly honest in your feedback. Would love to hear from other parents who were there.

Blah blah blah. OP wrote a thoughtful and long post, and here come some whiners to whine. Add something substantial, such as, why did you NOT attend the Wilson meeting, if you care about your kid's future?

... because she is in 7th grade ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK. I have kept this for myself for almost one week. Though I am an on and off DCUM user (normally I am in during the year before a new school cycle of one of my kids), I know how incendiary this Forum can be…

So last Wednesday I attended the Wilson HS open house. Great to see again families from our ex ES who are re-considering DCPS after charter or private middles schools!!
Everything went very well, the school infrastructure is always impressive, the school choir looked and sounded beautiful, the students were inspiring and the Assistant Principals sounded solid, dedicated and in control. So, all went well until… the new Principal Ms Kimberly Martin took the microphone (believe me when I say that I feel uncomfortable and sad in sharing my negative views about a professional who’s been entrusted with the task of steering the HS education of almost 2,000 students/year of the largest HS in the District of Columbia…).

She sounded by far the least articulated speaker of the group (including students). She sounded hesitant and non-articulated. She babbled at tract , with no words coming to her… Her answers to the parents' questions were no answers (Parent: “What about the discipline and crime inside the school?” Principal “Oh, it’s so much better than where I come from… Plus my son is here and he’s very happy”… Is this an answer? ). She looked uncomfortable. Regarding the overcrowding, she gave very wrong answers (“One hypothesis is that I think DCPS might consider withdrawing the feeder rights”) , which made some parents very concerned, and disoriented others. If she has insights from DCPS on this matter, well, that was not the arena to disclose them..If it was her personal guess, again, do not share it openly. That was wrong and stupid.

My impression is that she made parents puzzled and disoriented. Some got very nervous for the lack of content in her answers… I understand the pressure she was feeling from a large audience of (almost all white) demanding parents…and I also understand that she is new. However we felt that her performance was too much sub-standard and below everyone’s expectations.

I would like to know the impressions from others who have attended the open houses or visited the school recently. Are we missing something? Was it just a bad day for her?

More concerning: what are DCPS plan about the school? After having met her, I cannot but think that there must be a plan behind the removal of a strong and respected Principal to be replaced by such a weaker figure. I do not get it. And HS choice for us is just a few months away.

Thank you for reading and for your feedback.

Maybe a weaker principal at Wilson is precisely what DCPS wants. It seems to be a problem they've had at other schools - i.e., finding strong leaders who will only do as they're told. Who knows the deciding factors in choosing Kimberly Martin, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they wanted someone experienced in dealing with gaping wealth and achievement disparities. Obviously, a lot of the pull and pressure comes from higher SES parents, which takes attention away from poorer, underachieving kids - the source of pressure from DCPS. They want someone who will be more responsive to those lower end needs.

All of which likely makes a room full of white parents somewhat stressful, especially following the public stomping she got on this forum before she'd even moved to town.