Churchill Getting a New Principal

[Anonymous]

I think it’s time that the Churchill cluster gets vocal with the Board of Education. At some point the books and the movies have gone too far. Have an open discussion as to what the agenda is and the values being taught children in schools. There should be a mechanism for getting crap out of the curriculum or at least opting out for an alternative assignment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s time that the Churchill cluster gets vocal with the Board of Education. At some point the books and the movies have gone too far. Have an open discussion as to what the agenda is and the values being taught children in schools. There should be a mechanism for getting crap out of the curriculum or at least opting out for an alternative assignment.

What, specifically, should kids be excused from?

[Anonymous]

Right, because this Board in particular really cares about any W school concerns.


Yes, that was meant to be sarcasm. This Board only cares about equity and the opportunity gap. They believe the Ws have too much of everything as it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s time that the Churchill cluster gets vocal with the Board of Education. At some point the books and the movies have gone too far. Have an open discussion as to what the agenda is and the values being taught children in schools. There should be a mechanism for getting crap out of the curriculum or at least opting out for an alternative assignment.

What, specifically, should kids be excused from?

They should be excused from being taught material that has graphic violence, nudity, sex, drugs, and foul offensive language. Inform parents and let parents decide what is appropriate for their child. I would think a definite line should be with not showing R rated movies in high school, nothing over PG in middle school, and nothing over G in elementary school. Children should be reading anyway, especially in a year with so much screen time.

Then as far as reading, let parents have a list of books at the beginning of the year that the teacher may assign in class. Usually there are multiple books for students to choose from for a unit. Let parents decide if books with masturbation, sex, drugs, foul language, or critical race theory are appropriate for their child.

All parents want is transparency with the curriculum. Enough is enough with the trash. I don’t even know if the Board of Education knows how bad the material MCPS is exposing young minds to has gotten. If they do know, shame on them. If the Board doesn’t know, then why don’t they know.

[Anonymous]

I am curious, what do staff members want if they could choose the new Principal? Are they happy with the school climate and if not, what would make them happy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s time that the Churchill cluster gets vocal with the Board of Education. At some point the books and the movies have gone too far. Have an open discussion as to what the agenda is and the values being taught children in schools. There should be a mechanism for getting crap out of the curriculum or at least opting out for an alternative assignment.

What, specifically, should kids be excused from?

They should be excused from being taught material that has graphic violence, nudity, sex, drugs, and foul offensive language. Inform parents and let parents decide what is appropriate for their child. I would think a definite line should be with not showing R rated movies in high school, nothing over PG in middle school, and nothing over G in elementary school. Children should be reading anyway, especially in a year with so much screen time.

Then as far as reading, let parents have a list of books at the beginning of the year that the teacher may assign in class. Usually there are multiple books for students to choose from for a unit. Let parents decide if books with masturbation, sex, drugs, foul language, or critical race theory are appropriate for their child.

All parents want is transparency with the curriculum. Enough is enough with the trash. I don’t even know if the Board of Education knows how bad the material MCPS is exposing young minds to has gotten. If they do know, shame on them. If the Board doesn’t know, then why don’t they know.

Shall we burn those trashy books, too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s time that the Churchill cluster gets vocal with the Board of Education. At some point the books and the movies have gone too far. Have an open discussion as to what the agenda is and the values being taught children in schools. There should be a mechanism for getting crap out of the curriculum or at least opting out for an alternative assignment.

What, specifically, should kids be excused from?

They should be excused from being taught material that has graphic violence, nudity, sex, drugs, and foul offensive language. Inform parents and let parents decide what is appropriate for their child. I would think a definite line should be with not showing R rated movies in high school, nothing over PG in middle school, and nothing over G in elementary school. Children should be reading anyway, especially in a year with so much screen time.

Then as far as reading, let parents have a list of books at the beginning of the year that the teacher may assign in class. Usually there are multiple books for students to choose from for a unit. Let parents decide if books with masturbation, sex, drugs, foul language, or critical race theory are appropriate for their child.

All parents want is transparency with the curriculum. Enough is enough with the trash. I don’t even know if the Board of Education knows how bad the material MCPS is exposing young minds to has gotten. If they do know, shame on them. If the Board doesn’t know, then why don’t they know.

I don't care one way or the other on the sex content. (My gut is to respect parents' preferences to exclude it but it seems like that might exclude some real classics (e.g., the Scarlet Letter). Really, I'm fine either way.) But parents should NOT get to decide whether their kid learns about systemic racism in schools. The reason we have so many racist incidents is that kids (and parents) haven't had enough education on the subject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am curious, what do staff members want if they could choose the new Principal? Are they happy with the school climate and if not, what would make them happy?

According to the 2018-19 staff climate survey for Churchill, not so much.

Only 34% agreed with the statement "Staff morale is positive in this school." The average for all high MCPS high schools is 61%

49.5% agreed with the statement "My school leadership team fosters a collaborative work environment." Average for MCPS 69.6%

26.5% agreed with the statement "The school leadership involves me in decisions affecting my work." Average for MCPS 51.1%


https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php?l=0&sch=602&survey=2019SSE&type=Staff&comparison=2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am curious, what do staff members want if they could choose the new Principal? Are they happy with the school climate and if not, what would make them happy?

According to the 2018-19 staff climate survey for Churchill, not so much.

Only 34% agreed with the statement "Staff morale is positive in this school." The average for all high MCPS high schools is 61%

49.5% agreed with the statement "My school leadership team fosters a collaborative work environment." Average for MCPS 69.6%

26.5% agreed with the statement "The school leadership involves me in decisions affecting my work." Average for MCPS 51.1%


https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php?l=0&sch=602&survey=2019SSE&type=Staff&comparison=2

Well then Dr. Howard should not be the permanent hire for Churchill. She was part of the school leadership team.

Why did MCPS stop doing the climate surveys? Was it because of the Pandemic closures at the end of last year? They couldn’t do online surveys?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s time that the Churchill cluster gets vocal with the Board of Education. At some point the books and the movies have gone too far. Have an open discussion as to what the agenda is and the values being taught children in schools. There should be a mechanism for getting crap out of the curriculum or at least opting out for an alternative assignment.

What, specifically, should kids be excused from?

They should be excused from being taught material that has graphic violence, nudity, sex, drugs, and foul offensive language. Inform parents and let parents decide what is appropriate for their child. I would think a definite line should be with not showing R rated movies in high school, nothing over PG in middle school, and nothing over G in elementary school. Children should be reading anyway, especially in a year with so much screen time.

Then as far as reading, let parents have a list of books at the beginning of the year that the teacher may assign in class. Usually there are multiple books for students to choose from for a unit. Let parents decide if books with masturbation, sex, drugs, foul language, or critical race theory are appropriate for their child.

All parents want is transparency with the curriculum. Enough is enough with the trash. I don’t even know if the Board of Education knows how bad the material MCPS is exposing young minds to has gotten. If they do know, shame on them. If the Board doesn’t know, then why don’t they know.

I don't care one way or the other on the sex content. (My gut is to respect parents' preferences to exclude it but it seems like that might exclude some real classics (e.g., the Scarlet Letter). Really, I'm fine either way.) But parents should NOT get to decide whether their kid learns about systemic racism in schools. The reason we have so many racist incidents is that kids (and parents) haven't had enough education on the subject.

How about teaching respect for everyone? Be inclusive. Blacks, LGTBQ, students with disabilities, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Jewish, Hindu, Budist, Agnostic, Christians, women, men, etc. Systemic discrimination and hate affects more than just black people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s time that the Churchill cluster gets vocal with the Board of Education. At some point the books and the movies have gone too far. Have an open discussion as to what the agenda is and the values being taught children in schools. There should be a mechanism for getting crap out of the curriculum or at least opting out for an alternative assignment.

What, specifically, should kids be excused from?

They should be excused from being taught material that has graphic violence, nudity, sex, drugs, and foul offensive language. Inform parents and let parents decide what is appropriate for their child. I would think a definite line should be with not showing R rated movies in high school, nothing over PG in middle school, and nothing over G in elementary school. Children should be reading anyway, especially in a year with so much screen time.

Then as far as reading, let parents have a list of books at the beginning of the year that the teacher may assign in class. Usually there are multiple books for students to choose from for a unit. Let parents decide if books with masturbation, sex, drugs, foul language, or critical race theory are appropriate for their child.



All parents want is transparency with the curriculum. Enough is enough with the trash. I don’t even know if the Board of Education knows how bad the material MCPS is exposing young minds to has gotten. If they do know, shame on them. If the Board doesn’t know, then why don’t they know.[/quote

I’m also a parent of a high schooler and totally disagree with you. You think you’re sheltering your child but you’re not. The opposite, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s time that the Churchill cluster gets vocal with the Board of Education. At some point the books and the movies have gone too far. Have an open discussion as to what the agenda is and the values being taught children in schools. There should be a mechanism for getting crap out of the curriculum or at least opting out for an alternative assignment.

What, specifically, should kids be excused from?

They should be excused from being taught material that has graphic violence, nudity, sex, drugs, and foul offensive language. Inform parents and let parents decide what is appropriate for their child. I would think a definite line should be with not showing R rated movies in high school, nothing over PG in middle school, and nothing over G in elementary school. Children should be reading anyway, especially in a year with so much screen time.

Then as far as reading, let parents have a list of books at the beginning of the year that the teacher may assign in class. Usually there are multiple books for students to choose from for a unit. Let parents decide if books with masturbation, sex, drugs, foul language, or critical race theory are appropriate for their child.



All parents want is transparency with the curriculum. Enough is enough with the trash. I don’t even know if the Board of Education knows how bad the material MCPS is exposing young minds to has gotten. If they do know, shame on them. If the Board doesn’t know, then why don’t they know.[/quote

I’m also a parent of a high schooler and totally disagree with you. You think you’re sheltering your child but you’re not. The opposite, actually.

It’s a sad state of affairs if MCPS needs R rated movies to teach the curriculum. There’s no textbooks so they have turned to Hollywood for help. I’m surprised that Hollywood’s interpretation aligns with the AP test. Parents should have the option to opt out of a R rated movie for their child no matter what material it reviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right, because this Board in particular really cares about any W school concerns.

Yes, that was meant to be sarcasm. This Board only cares about equity and the opportunity gap. They believe the Ws have too much of everything as it is.

NP - now this is an interesting illogical comment. This is what is known as "false attribution error" where the poster is trying to make the reader believe this statement is true?

Fact check #1 - the W's don't have "too much of everything". The Magnet is at Blair / Poolesville, Special Ed at non-W's, and/or Title I's get the majority of funding.
Fact check #2 - the difference in the W's are the student and parent body. There is a known cycle where parents will sometimes choose a school district with "good academics". This is the majority of the case at the "W" schools. This fuels a cycle whereby parents that care about academics compete for housing and programs, thereby driving up demand (and housing prices). This cycle, over a number of years, gives the impression that certain schools "have too much" which this poster is hoping to make his/her point - albeit flawed.
Fact check #3 - the poster believes that the "equity and the opportunity gap" can be solved by the school. This is partially true. If the student embraces academics and applies themselves, they can increase their educational and academic opportunities. However, there is a known correlation between students and their parental influences. MCPS Superintendent of Schools and Board of Education has made little to no effort upon parent outreach. As such, their proposed policies are a failure before they even start.
Fact check #4 - the poster is provincial in thinking, not accounting for a significant portion of the population that works or is dependent upon the jobs in Washington D.C. and the Federal Government. This group of parent is (a) generally less likely to get involved into local politics due to time, bother, etc. and (b) is more likely to just move (to VA, DC or a different County altogether) - taking their taxpaying salaries with them - if their children can't get a descent education and relative level of safety guaranteed for their children.
Fact check #5 - the poster seems to think the "equity and opportunity gap" is somehow the fault of or caused by the "W" schools? Perhaps class-struggle'ish? (It's a bit unclear since the logic doesn't follow.) This is very old-Soviet communist in thinking - and we all saw how well that turned out, and how it's just getting worse and worse over there. Not the model to follow, folks! . The fact is that parents can either encourage their children's academics, spend time helping them on homework, etc. or not. There are several non-W schools that do well, just not enough of them - but for a different reason altogether.

Having lived the longest portion of my adult life in a MCPS Title I school assignment (e.g. formerly known as a "red zone"), having dealt with gang activity to the point of worrying if I could get to my car in the parking lot without getting assaulted, having lived near one neighbor knifed and another shot, having lived next to a home with a registered sex-offender, having the police come to my house telling me they confiscated weapons from the neighbor I filed charges against, having seen a neighborhood stand up to the (literally) drug dealers and gangs - and once under control, followed by ES kids never playing in the playground towards kids playing until 10 or 11 PM at night (believe it or not, an improvement..), a gradual decrease in ES incidents and (almost tripling) housing prices from 100k to 300k.., I have to ask myself how well do they do academically at school and whether any of this "opportunity gap" will be affected by MCPS? the issue is not that the kids don't have the academic opportunities - MCPS provides those - the issue is with the parents don't care about academics and education!!.

If MCPS was serious about turning things around to impact the "equity and opportunity gap" they'd pour money into Social Outreach of the at-risk parents; then offer commensurate educational programs earlier (ex. at the ES-level). However, most of the blogs I see have to do with bussing and redrawing school boundaries. Instead of more teachers or social program workers; MCPS spends six-figures on Superintendent of School positions or silly studies (that those six-figure Superintendent of School hires can't seem to do themselves?) or flying someone around to recruit "better" teachers? Not sure about you, but it makes no sense to me.

[Anonymous]

The principal of Hoover sucks yet they push out the Churchill one who folks liked. Politics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The principal of Hoover sucks yet they push out the Churchill one who folks liked. Politics

Staff didn’t like her because she tried fixing science and math departments that had major staff problems. Bad teachers still on board. Heckert out.