Congressional School

[Anonymous]

update?

[Anonymous]

Meet the candidate sessions were last week. I found both candidates to be quality choices. In hands of committee/board now.

[Anonymous]

Question for PP: are you a parent or employee? I wonder the level of parent involvement in the search process especially at the point of bringing finalists to campus. Do you know if there were internal candidates?

[Anonymous]

Congressional school had some of their best, innovative and joyful teachers leave over the past few years, the Spanish teacher, the Art teacher, the Math teacher and now the English teacher is leaving.

I believe the head left the school due to vision differences.

I'd find another school that nurtures its star teachers and does not give way to the old guard, whose resentments poisoned all the efforts of the "new."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congressional school had some of their best, innovative and joyful teachers leave over the past few years, the Spanish teacher, the Art teacher, the Math teacher and now the English teacher is leaving.

I believe the head left the school due to vision differences.

I'd find another school that nurtures its star teachers and does not give way to the old guard, whose resentments poisoned all the efforts of the "new."

The head leaving was the day Congressional got its soul back.

[Anonymous]

Of course, the real picture is somewhere between the two above. Congressional has lost some great teachers, that happens for a variety of reasons. They still have tons of great teachers and are adding more. I'd rank the quality of the faculty as one of the top factors in our happiness as a Congressional family.

[Anonymous]

The problem with the school was not the ED, but IS the middle school director (he might be under a different title now) and his wife who is a teacher there as well. That school has a long-standing history of nepotism and favoritism within the teacher ranks and it trickles down to their treatment of students. I've seen and heard the teachers (if their children attend there) tell their own children to not play with certain kids, I've known of instances where several children who were all involved in a problem situation got different levels of treatment...of course, the child of the teacher got the least amount. I've heard of several situations involving the minority students that were not positive. The list goes on and on... I would try and take a look at just how many people are related in that school...it will shock you. They've even hired parents of other students who miraculously wound up being the best candidate for the job. There is a reason why that school constantly has openings.

That being said, with the exception of a mother/son duo in the upper school, most teachers who have ZERO familial ties to anyone else in the school tend to be absolutely wonderful teachers. One of the seasoned history teachers won a big award for being the best teacher in the area. The 6th-grade female science teacher (hopefully she is still there) is hands down the best teacher my child ever experienced there. A tenured 4th-grade teacher is just awesome. The "little school" back run by an amazing woman who used to be one of the elementary school teachers was doing a fantastic job there and the teachers whom they tended to hire down there were great. Her husband who runs the absolutely wonderful and highly rated summer camp program there. I would say if your children are very young, definitely look at this school because you will have an amazing experience. For sure send your kids to camp there. I would say if you do choose to send your kids there then be sure to keep your finger of the pulse of other schools in case you need to move quickly.

[Anonymous]

We strongly considered it for our kids. We were very impressed with the teachers including the woman who is now acting School Head. We ultimately chose a close a lot closer to our home but if we had lived closer, we would have selected Congressional. I realize there is a lot of change but generally, it seems like a place with a nice character and a vision for where it wants to be. To get there requires change but that is not definitely bad.

[Anonymous]

I read really disturbing info
about a lawsuit filed against Congressional school.
Something happened on a field trip in 2017.
Anyone with more knowledge about the incident?

[Anonymous]

Anyone with more knowledge about the incident?

It seems they are being very hush-hush about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read really disturbing info
about a lawsuit filed against Congressional school.
Something happened on a field trip in 2017.
Anyone with more knowledge about the incident?

You mean you read the email sent to parents today? Of which you clearly are one.

[Anonymous]

I read the email... sounds like it was an incident between two students on a field trip.

[Anonymous]

There's an article in WaPo about it. A sexual assault on a school returning from a field trip, and then ongoing bullying. Sounds like the victim who is bringing the suit is not the only girl assaulted by this boy.

[Anonymous]

A previous poster in March wrote about the previous head of middle school, now head of academics, not being the best individual to be in that position and how his leadership affects the whole school. They wrote about favoritism and other instances where he/they have made decisions against people whom they are not fond off. If you read this article you'll see similar behavior repeated once again in this lawsuit that has been filed. I completely believe that student and her mother and the administrations' behavior doesn't surprise me. I feel very sorry for what has occurred to her:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teen-and-mother-sue-northern-virginia-private-academy-over-handling-of-alleged-attack/2019/04/22/a335dd1a-6061-11e9-bfad-36a7eb36cb60_story.html?utm_term=.3efa97b3779b

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the OP and wanted to say thank you. I have a few follow-up questions...

The thread was deleted. Not sure I agree with the prior poster's view on the prior ED. In my view (with my kids having started before and continuing after the departed head), she improved the school in many ways and, obviously, some changes happened that were not universally positive. We are viewing the change as an opportunity for the school to bring in a new head who will add energy and improve on what can be improved on while maintaining what has worked.

This is good to hear. Any idea when the new head will be announced?

At many schools they have an A Team, B Team, etc.. That way everyone playng together is at a similar skill level.

That is reassuring. Do you know if they are required to be on a team every season or will just one suffice? I see the only winter sport is basketball - will everyone have to be on the basketball team or can you sit that season out?

Finally... the human sexuality teacher. Do you know anything about the curriculum? I am not sure why it would not be on the site. Mostly I just want to know what they are teaching and at what age. Birth control and abortion are things I thought we would be teaching her at home in junior high school. And then there is the current hot topic of gender - I have heard some horror stories about how this is handled at other schools.

Do they give parents the option to opt-out from the sexuality lessons?