Shake Up at SSMA?

[Anonymous]

The nap room issue was that program assistants were forcing three year olds who didn’t fall asleep to stand and press their faces against the wall as punishment (for not sleeping, I guess). There was also something about a parent witnessing a PA yanking a sleeping child up by the arms and dangling her in the air before dumping her on the floor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nap room issue was that program assistants were forcing three year olds who didn’t fall asleep to stand and press their faces against the wall as punishment (for not sleeping, I guess). There was also something about a parent witnessing a PA yanking a sleeping child up by the arms and dangling her in the air before dumping her on the floor.

Gosh! what are current parents doing? staying for the next school year or looking for new schools? We waitlisted for K at SSMA.....needles to say will rather stay at our inbound.

And thanks for these updates!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nap room issue was that program assistants were forcing three year olds who didn’t fall asleep to stand and press their faces against the wall as punishment (for not sleeping, I guess). There was also something about a parent witnessing a PA yanking a sleeping child up by the arms and dangling her in the air before dumping her on the floor.

Gosh! what are current parents doing? staying for the next school year or looking for new schools? We waitlisted for K at SSMA.....needles to say will rather stay at our inbound.

And thanks for these updates!

Us too. Thank you to everyone who does the broader community a service by sharing true and accurate information!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nap room issue was that program assistants were forcing three year olds who didn’t fall asleep to stand and press their faces against the wall as punishment (for not sleeping, I guess). There was also something about a parent witnessing a PA yanking a sleeping child up by the arms and dangling her in the air before dumping her on the floor.

Gosh! what are current parents doing? staying for the next school year or looking for new schools? We waitlisted for K at SSMA.....needles to say will rather stay at our inbound.

And thanks for these updates!

Us too. Thank you to everyone who does the broader community a service by sharing true and accurate information!

It's definitely helpful to know what's going on behind the scenes. But, unfortunately, many other schools also have a lot of dirty laundry you may find out about only when you attend. Best thing to do is always talk to at least 2 experienced parents before you enroll at a new school (if you have other options).

[Anonymous]

Obviously I know it’s not as easy as snapping your fingers to find a new spot at a different school, but seeing as how our pk4 waitlist number (originally ten) is now “just” to 8 and by this time last year SSMA had made quite a lot more offers than that, it seems like some parents must continue to be happy with their child’s experience. Or are previous posters betting on a mass exodus in August.

(FWIW we assumed there was something up about them even offering seats as they became available since we’ve seen such little movement of the lot)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The latest at SSMA: most parents don't know this yet but there is a mass exodus of teachers and administrators coming. The way this situation with the principal was handled has had a massively negative impact on retention.


If you have a good relationship with your child's guide, ask your guide if he or she is coming back next year.

I’m a parent of an incoming Pk3 and I’m so nervous after reading this thread, I’ve put our IB school back on our lottery list. My child is in the 30s on other waitlists, but I don’t know we’ll get any other offers by fall.

Besides the mass exodus of great teachers, what’s the worst case scenario of what could happen at SSMA by the time classes begin in the fall?

This is a response to you and to a few other resent posters.

SSMA has the makings of a really good school. It has dedicated guides, a diverse student body and a strong parent community. What's more is it provides a free quality Montessori education. Those are huge positives. I have nothing negative to say about the quality of instruction.

But, of course, the school also has some huge negatives. And that's why there are people on DCUM stirring the pot. SSMA has a Facebook group and a lot of private discussions occur there for people in the SSMA community. These back and forths can be heated but they're private. Not everyone uses Facebook though. So I suspect some people have taken to DCUM to express their concerns for that reason and as a way of warning people outside the SSMA community of the issues at play.

The heating, air conditioning and turnover issues are all symptomatic of the core issue at SSMA which is admin. The ED really does care about education. There's no question about that. She has dedicated her life to it. And this is her third attempt at setting up or leading a PCS in the DC school system. But unfortunately she is a disaster as an administrator: unorganized, thin-skinned, and sometimes downright rude and nasty. The reason guides are leaving en masse is the same reason that the school has had 4 principals in five years: when people see how the ED operates up close, they become alarmed. She operates first and foremost by instilling fear. Ask anyone who works there. Seriously.Just ask, "Does Shining Stars have a culture of fear?" And see what response you get. Anyone not loyal to her -- and she has brought in a few people from her personal life like friends, Uber driver, babysitter, friend's personal trainer, etc, etc -- had better show loyalty to her or she will tear them apart. And either she ejects them or they leave of their own accord. This year will be particularly bad. Think about how the principal left: mid-year, mid-day, 5 weeks before school ended. Why? It goes to the ED's character. This was shockingly mean-spirited.

When the next year begins, it's basic organization that will be the problem. The worst case scenario is chaos on the organizational level: not enough teachers, classes out of ratio because they have no subs, classrooms not ready for students, air conditioning breaking again, no one at carpool to take children into the classrooms, school supplies not ordered. The ED is disorganized and the principal masked that disorganization. With her gone, the chaos has already started. And so some very good people are going to not be there next year. And when those people leave, other people will leave too - because that's how organizations work; people stay because of other people and leave because of other people.

So the worst case scenario is not just disorganization but also a loss of qualified teachers. And it's all so disappointing, heartbreaking even. Shining Stars is a great school in so many ways. But the ED is her own worst enemy.

P.S. - She did lose a son this year and she lost her mother last year too. I can't say if that has affected her behavior.

SURPRISE: It's the last day of school and NOBODY got paid. Payroll didn't go through. This school is so freaking disorganized.

[Anonymous]

The latest at SSMA: The Dean of Students' position has been eliminated. He was such a good role model for the kids and someone who dealt well with discipline issues.

Why was his job eliminated? This is such a disappointment.

[Anonymous]

Director of Enrollment and Family Support has also resigned...

[Anonymous]

They didn't make payroll? Are they financially insolvent also?

[Anonymous]

Not making payroll is the stuff that geta dcpcsb involved

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nap room issue was that program assistants were forcing three year olds who didn’t fall asleep to stand and press their faces against the wall as punishment (for not sleeping, I guess). There was also something about a parent witnessing a PA yanking a sleeping child up by the arms and dangling her in the air before dumping her on the floor.

I'm not defending how the Director of Compliance handled nap here, but it has to be said: the nap room setup is not conducive to a good nap time. I mean what do you expect when you put 45 3-year olds in the same room and expect them to fall asleep? It's not going to happen. Some of the kids will wake up the others. And then they will start running around.

If you haven't been trained properly, that's really stressful. So people end up doing bad things: yelling at kids, yanking them up by their arms, making them stand against the wall, face to the wall.

What SSMA needs to do is train the Director of Compliance or re-assign her and get someone with daycare experience who knows how to deal with nappers. It needs to train the PAs too so they aren't constantly yelling at kids to be quiet and go to sleep. That's not going to work...EVER. And they need to split the nappers up into two or three different rooms. 45 kids in one room is where the problems start.

As a daycare, Shining Stars would fail.

Just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

Ok seriously, is the charter board asleep at the switch here? Aren't they supposed to have some role in ensuring minimum financial health?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not making payroll is the stuff that geta dcpcsb involved

I can't believe Shining Stars isn't making payroll on the last day of school. That's scandalous. Who in admin is responsible for payroll?

[Anonymous]

Wow. Since the Principal left, it seems like the wheels are really coming off at this school. Shake up at SSMA indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The latest at SSMA: The Dean of Students' position has been eliminated. He was such a good role model for the kids and someone who dealt well with discipline issues.

Why was his job eliminated? This is such a disappointment.

I think the ED hired "another" friend for the position after saying the position was eliminated.