Head of School at National Child Research Center (NCRC) - Arrest warrant issued

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, they told me our son should see an OT because of the way he used the swings?! I didn’t follow their advice.

lol. Yeah that’s how the kind of “early intervention” rosy success story comes about. Meanwhile those of us with kids with significant delay are like … right. I mean OT did do a lot for my kid but he’s still going to be challenged, forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But does the OT at NCRC do anything to correct the problem? I heard they just diagnose as opposed to providing occupational therapy. They then refer you to an external person that costs $500+ per week! At least this is what I have heard. Maybe I am wrong and they themselves provide regular individualized help to each child that needs it.

Yes, they provide help and advice at school. They mainly work with students in the programs for students with disabilities or learning differences. But they are involved in the standard classes, too -- more providing lessons for the class as a whole than individual therapy sessions. But the OT gave me specific and useful advice about each of my kids and motor skills (no referral to an outside therapist; they just needed mild interventions).

And, sure, sometimes people get referred to an outside therapist and then told the issue is not significant. And more people get referred to an outside therapist and get critical help. Isn't that how it is supposed to work?

Yes—they believe in early intervention—it’s the benefit of having their expertise in the classroom. It’s not a negative thing. I’m thankful for the support my daughter received from the OT with some gross motor delays. I feel like they addressed several areas in the early years that left her fully ready for kindergarten and beyond.

This sounds like an employee or owner trying to convince us their school is still viable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But does the OT at NCRC do anything to correct the problem? I heard they just diagnose as opposed to providing occupational therapy. They then refer you to an external person that costs $500+ per week! At least this is what I have heard. Maybe I am wrong and they themselves provide regular individualized help to each child that needs it.

Yes, they provide help and advice at school. They mainly work with students in the programs for students with disabilities or learning differences. But they are involved in the standard classes, too -- more providing lessons for the class as a whole than individual therapy sessions. But the OT gave me specific and useful advice about each of my kids and motor skills (no referral to an outside therapist; they just needed mild interventions).

And, sure, sometimes people get referred to an outside therapist and then told the issue is not significant. And more people get referred to an outside therapist and get critical help. Isn't that how it is supposed to work?

Yes—they believe in early intervention—it’s the benefit of having their expertise in the classroom. It’s not a negative thing. I’m thankful for the support my daughter received from the OT with some gross motor delays. I feel like they addressed several areas in the early years that left her fully ready for kindergarten and beyond.

Your child would have been fine without the OT.

[Anonymous]

Beyond the OT conversation, any word on what’s going on with this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scary. In a short span we have been aware of 3 cases of pedophiles in schools. The preschool at Wash Heb, NCRC, and BVR. All reputable places we trust. Guess the bottom line is, be vigilant.

Scary. Didn’t know about BVR.

Read this thread - plenty of references to Toth in it. The focus of this thread also used to teach at BVR, at same time and same grade as Toth, ALSO discussed in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know the latest on the court case?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, they told me our son should see an OT because of the way he used the swings?! I didn’t follow their advice.

Yes, gross motor and fine motor skills are interrelated.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know the latest on the court case?

[Anonymous]

I believe there is a hearing on May 7. I’m sure many NCRC families, past and present, will attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe there is a hearing on May 7. I’m sure many NCRC families, past and present, will attend.

Where?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally don’t understand who the new parent would be sending their kid there as a 2-year old. I mean you’re choosing presumably between ncrc and 5-7 other preschools. How does anyone decide to go there given what happened (and presumably prospective parents factor in some odds that this part of a broader toxic culture). The school only has three year groups, so it would shock be if it doesn’t end up needing to downsize (if it were a K-12 the incoming year group would be a much smaller proportion of the whole school, so you could weather the storm). Plus I would guess morale among teachers gets severely impacted - and in general teacher turnover everywhere is already high (even without an event like this). So presumably you end up with parents who don’t get into other preschools, and eventually with teachers who can’t get jobs elsewhere. Speaking theoretically here - perhaps there are elements I am missing that make it different in practice.

They have a full time Occupational therapist and a speech language pathologist which no other preschool has. I went to a playground event with prospective and current families and the vibe was very happy and that of a tight knit community. All the teachers at the play session were really lovely and happy. There are a lot of reasons to choose ncrc. They have been around for almost 100 years. One bad person doesn’t change the depth of their knowledge about early childhood development. BVR is still around. NCRC will be too.

What I am saying is that this stuff can be a rapid downward spiral. There is a big shift that could happen - many prospective parents and many existing teachers who have options could go elsewhere - so a downward shift in teacher quality and declines in new enrollment. Simply because there are so many other good school options in the area.
If a restaurant has a salmonella outbreak, people avoid it for a while (they don’t look at the 100 year history) - it is human nature to run from perceived danger. Sure, some people still go - but they are super hungry, and couldn’t get a reservation elsewhere. The problem in this case is that the new prospective intake is one third of the entire school. If there were no other good preschools it would be different, but there are. And I doubt most people go there because there is an OT (most OT’s at preschools diagnose but then you still have to pay for an external OT to actually help).
As for “one bad person”….. bad leadership in any organization has so many knock on effects (quality of recruitment, culture, etc.). The reality is brands decline and reputations wither - and my worry if I were a prospective parent would be that this is the beginning of a major decline that could sadly be a self fulfilling cycle.

The decision to stay at NCRC is the rational one. The ones that stay are the rational people. The pedophile is gone. The school is being watched closely for anything and everything. Other schools are right now much more dangerous than NCRC. The families that leave are the irrational ones… not the ones with other options. NCRC is probably the best preschool in DC.

What EXACTLY is the “anything and everything” that NCRC is now being “so closely watched for”?

You INSISTED throughout this ENTIRE thread that there were NO RED FLAGS.

This is PRECISELY why NCRC has NO FUTURE. EITHER you were ALL so POORLY trained that you didn’t see one single red flag, OR there were no red flags. Can’t have it both ways.

If you continue to insist there were no red flags, the next pedophile might already be there. HOW would you know?

If the last pedophile fooled you so easily, why can’t the next, especially now that you’ve established yourselves as EASILY FOOLED??

Perhaps you all need a “come to Jesus (Allah, or whomever) moment”. Beg the many victims (and their families) for forgiveness. Admit to them and the community that you FAILED to PROTECT the children entrusted in your care.

Fire those who SHOULD have recognized the red flags, because they won’t see the red flags next time either.

My heart breaks for the countless children and families you betrayed. Their agonizing work to recover from this horrific sex abuse will be lifelong and incredibly costly. Some of YOU should be held accountable. Your complete denial of any responsibility is egregious. Your negligence has brutal consequences for the future of NCRC.

[Anonymous]

Do we know where on May 7?

[Anonymous]

For the legal eagles on this board, what typically happens here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent, I’m not hung up on prior auction items or the like. What concerns me is the lack of transparency and communication with current parents about the status of the case, investigation, current remedial measures, etc. Yes, people want to move on but the school acting as if nothing happened is infuriating and, unfortunately, classic NCRC.

You seriously think the police and prosecutors are going to provide the Board with updates on the status of their investigation and the case so that they can update parents?

I am sure she is referring, in part, to the investigation the school is doing with an outside firm. My understanding is that the findings of this investigation will not be widely available for parents to review, and will only be made available to the board.

I have been quite appalled by the lack of press coverage since November. Just feels that no one cares for the hundreds of families waiting. There have also been zero new charges filed and zero new information since the initial filing in November - perhaps I will admit the lack of news coverage overall is bc there is quite frankly nothing new to report on. The same DA team has been also been completely overwhelmed by J6 and that complete mess - just wish some focus could be put back on the safety and well being of the hundreds of families in DC impacted.

I just wish there was at least one article about James, the history of his tenure at all the schools including BVR and the Toth connection. Press could apply pressure to everyone and at least push for some clarity that is needed

I can assure you, that if the abuser was a pastor, priest, or rabbi, it’d be continuous front page news. But this evil criminal is just a MAP at a rich school where no adult noticed anything out of sorts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a current parent, I’m not hung up on prior auction items or the like. What concerns me is the lack of transparency and communication with current parents about the status of the case, investigation, current remedial measures, etc. Yes, people want to move on but the school acting as if nothing happened is infuriating and, unfortunately, classic NCRC.

You seriously think the police and prosecutors are going to provide the Board with updates on the status of their investigation and the case so that they can update parents?

I am sure she is referring, in part, to the investigation the school is doing with an outside firm. My understanding is that the findings of this investigation will not be widely available for parents to review, and will only be made available to the board.

I have been quite appalled by the lack of press coverage since November. Just feels that no one cares for the hundreds of families waiting. There have also been zero new charges filed and zero new information since the initial filing in November - perhaps I will admit the lack of news coverage overall is bc there is quite frankly nothing new to report on. The same DA team has been also been completely overwhelmed by J6 and that complete mess - just wish some focus could be put back on the safety and well being of the hundreds of families in DC impacted.

I just wish there was at least one article about James, the history of his tenure at all the schools including BVR and the Toth connection. Press could apply pressure to everyone and at least push for some clarity that is needed

I can assure you, that if the abuser was a pastor, priest, or rabbi, it’d be continuous front page news. But this evil criminal is just a MAP at a rich school where no adult noticed anything out of sorts.

I think there was initially going to be one. There was a Washington post reporter posting on here asking for people to get in touch but the posts were deleted. I personally am guessing that there is an expert crisis management and PR firm ensuring none of these articles get written.