Feel so sad hearing this today!
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Anonymous
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I was talking to a friend who works at a great NW public school. He works in the after school
Program. He told me that he was looking for another job because he can't stand how the after school care "teachers" treat children. He said he works with some women from the inner city parts who have been at this job for years and may be burnt out. He mentioned they scold the kids, shout at them and don't care about treating them with respect. He said, " You would be shocked if you knew what goes on in some public schools. My dc who is very young was standing at the fence once at John Eaton and I heard the after care person shout at the kids a couple times. I put it down to a bad day So when my friend told me about this school which is a sought after public school my stomach turned. Dc will go to public school in two years and we may choose after care. My question is can we stop this treatment of children. Is there a way to get the principle involved to ask them to not shout at kids. It'a not because of my dc I ask, it's for all kids. If my friend who is this big guy who thinks children should not be wrapped in cotton wool feels the way he does, that gives me reason to pause. |
Anonymous
| It's obvious you have spent little time in DCPS. This is a long-standing problem. These teachers/aides think this is how they are supposed to do their job and woe be to you, you uppity outsider, to say anything to them. I have put my children in DCPS, but I never put them in the aftercare programs. |
Anonymous
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After care is not the same as the school. They're often run by different, for-profit, programs.
We love our neighborhood school. But after having witnessed aftercare and the poor ratios, inappropriate mixing of ages, lack of supervision and inattention of staff, and the fact that they were letting 3 year olds play on big kid playground equipment and allowing 8 year olds to run over them, I was horrified and would never choose it. |
Anonymous
| Longstanding problem that will likely require litigation and media coverage to change. |
Anonymous
| Yeah, long standing problem all right. My kids left DCPS after 6th, and many years ago I was part of all hopeful discussions with the new chancellor & co. One of their requested top priorities was addressing the critical hours between 3 and 6 pm. Nada. |
Anonymous
| If you witness abuse, physical or verbal, film it. Post it. Let it go viral and then things will change. |
Anonymous
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While the lack of oversight in the afterschool realm is a notorious problem (private or public, here or elsewhere), what you describe is no longer the norm in DC. See something, say something! It's a good time to act and make a crucial difference. For better and for worse, the (public) DCPS afterschool program has been squeezed really hard with fewer resources working many more sites and hours. But they also had all coordinators reapply for their jobs last year and their applications took performance and parent satisfaction into account. If you're seeing this at a Title I school, where there is a public DCPS afterschool care, ask for that school's afterschool (also called out-of-school time) coordinator (she/he may be on site or at a nearby site) and flag what you witnessed. Their names and contact information can be found in the PDF at the bottom of this page: http://dc.gov/DCPS/Beyond+the+Classroom/Afterschool+Programs. If you can't get through, then the principal is who you need to address.
Now, if this is an incident at a non Title I school, without a public afterschool program (such as Eaton), the principal is the person you should address. Besides flagging what you see, ask them to give you the contact information of the non or for-profit who operates the afterschool program. It also never hurts to locate someone at DCPS's Out-of-School-Time office and flag it there as well. |
Anonymous
| Thank you for these responses. I will ask my friend to try and record some of this ( if he is able). I am wondering if kids actually complain or if they have become so used to this. I will also take advice of pp and start complaining if I see and advise my friend to do the same especially since he may be leaving. |
Anonymous
| 19:55 -- very righteous of you. Do you work for the admin? The fact is this is a long-standing problem and at one time (under Rhee/Kaya) it was called "out of school time" and people like Ximena Hartsock at Ross began moving in the right direction with an enviable out-of school program - resources that paid the sort of low level management described by OP was diverted to fund hand-picked motivated counselors. How hard is that to figure out? This practice should have been emulated elsewhere, and then --as in so many of Rhee's wise "KIDS FIRST" moves -- she sucked Hartsock into her expanding bureaucracy rather than allow her to outshine her with actual experience in schools. So glad Catania is leading the renewed Ed. Cmte. at DCPS. Hopefully he'll return "out-of-school time" to the priority it is for so many DCPS students. Parents -- review the budgets of your school's after school programs and ask why the money cannot staff counselors that are selected based upon their being a good fit for that school. |
Anonymous
| My kid's NW public school is not considered desirable so I know you're not talking about our school. But I've observed the aftercare quite a bit and have had many interactions with them, and I've always been pleased. My kid also says she has fun and likes all her teachers. |
Anonymous
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Couple thoughts-
You have never yelled at your kid? Either you or your kid is a saint. Can't say most of us have not had a cross moment Most staff that works for aftercare programs- make crap wages, even if those of us that pay for the programs struggle. Try living in DC on less than $20 or 30 thousand a year. You might feel a bit cross about life also. Sometimes you need to yell to get through to a kid that is ignoring you. Hate to say it, but there are times it is necessary. Yes I know there is a cultural difference between upper class my poor child/ lower class deal with it attitudes in DC, but a little empathy both ways may be a good idea. |
Anonymous
This attitude is why nothing changes |
Anonymous
That's what people used to say about the day care workers in my kids old downtown GSA/Bright Horizons day care. You know what? That's actually not true. I guess it's no surprise that it's the same cohort for the afterschool programs at DCPS. |
Anonymous
19:55 - No righteousness, just considering that - as far as I can tell - Eaton being the example here, there actually isn't a DCPS afterschool care program site, with whom you're having a beef here. However it happened, and whether Rhee is to be credited or chastised here, the fact is that DCPS aferschool care (where it exists!) does a much improved job compared to just a few years ago and all of that with dwindling resources. I totally get it, it's nowhere near where you'd like a high quality afterschool program to be, but private providers aren't doing a better job either and it's not like you get to see their budgets, ever. Agreed, the cuts that were decided last year regarding afterschool are a disgrace, IMHO more so than making librarians optional. |
Anonymous
Yikes, when did your kid go there? Ours did and we never heard about any mistreatment. |