Current Ludlow families… what say you?

[Anonymous]

Seconding the poster above saying that the PTO takes all comers. We are not one of the most visible families in the school, but feel at home in the parent community and have a good time chatting up other families because we see them often... by just showing up to things. Sometimes it's a birthday, sometimes it's a school event. And if you have energy to contribute, there are always volunteering needs. (Again, there are people who do way more than we do.)

They are also right that the principal does not communicate well, and sometimes not at all. I will add that she has gaslighting tendencies, that she seems guided by the goals of evading responsibility and patting herself on the back, and also that she puts energy into weird ideas. But tbh I don't feel the impact of her flawed leadership in my kids' education (yet).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the poster above saying that the PTO takes all comers. We are not one of the most visible families in the school, but feel at home in the parent community and have a good time chatting up other families because we see them often... by just showing up to things. Sometimes it's a birthday, sometimes it's a school event. And if you have energy to contribute, there are always volunteering needs. (Again, there are people who do way more than we do.)

They are also right that the principal does not communicate well, and sometimes not at all. I will add that she has gaslighting tendencies, that she seems guided by the goals of evading responsibility and patting herself on the back, and also that she puts energy into weird ideas. But tbh I don't feel the impact of her flawed leadership in my kids' education (yet).

Ummm I’m sorry WHAT? That’s the sort of thing that would be a dealbreaker for me. I have a low tolerance for poor communication from adults who are entrusted with my child’s care. And it seems this is a consistent theme in comments from several posters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the poster above saying that the PTO takes all comers. We are not one of the most visible families in the school, but feel at home in the parent community and have a good time chatting up other families because we see them often... by just showing up to things. Sometimes it's a birthday, sometimes it's a school event. And if you have energy to contribute, there are always volunteering needs. (Again, there are people who do way more than we do.)

They are also right that the principal does not communicate well, and sometimes not at all. I will add that she has gaslighting tendencies, that she seems guided by the goals of evading responsibility and patting herself on the back, and also that she puts energy into weird ideas. But tbh I don't feel the impact of her flawed leadership in my kids' education (yet).

Ummm I’m sorry WHAT? That’s the sort of thing that would be a dealbreaker for me. I have a low tolerance for poor communication from adults who are entrusted with my child’s care. And it seems this is a consistent theme in comments from several posters.

I think the truth is that she's just not that large a presence at the school. Is this ideal? No. But when you have a large number of teachers who have been at the school for 10 years or more, very active teacher commitees, and a very involved parent population/PTO with a good relationship with teachers, it just doesn't matter that much for most families. I have not had negative interactions with the principal and she says the right things in person, but I don't go to her when I need things done either. I think if you come from a dysfunctional school or one with lots of teacher turnover or where poverty, etc mean that lots of kids need lots of support to succeed, then having a great principal seems -- and probably is -- really important for righting the ship. But if you're at a generally functional school where parents and teachers can pick up the slack, that person isn't nearly as important unless they are actively working to undermine those efforts. My experience with the LT principal is that she's just OK but also doesn't really get in the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the poster above saying that the PTO takes all comers. We are not one of the most visible families in the school, but feel at home in the parent community and have a good time chatting up other families because we see them often... by just showing up to things. Sometimes it's a birthday, sometimes it's a school event. And if you have energy to contribute, there are always volunteering needs. (Again, there are people who do way more than we do.)

They are also right that the principal does not communicate well, and sometimes not at all. I will add that she has gaslighting tendencies, that she seems guided by the goals of evading responsibility and patting herself on the back, and also that she puts energy into weird ideas. But tbh I don't feel the impact of her flawed leadership in my kids' education (yet).

Ummm I’m sorry WHAT? That’s the sort of thing that would be a dealbreaker for me. I have a low tolerance for poor communication from adults who are entrusted with my child’s care. And it seems this is a consistent theme in comments from several posters.

Your kids must be very young if you think the principal has that much impact on your child's day to day experience at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the poster above saying that the PTO takes all comers. We are not one of the most visible families in the school, but feel at home in the parent community and have a good time chatting up other families because we see them often... by just showing up to things. Sometimes it's a birthday, sometimes it's a school event. And if you have energy to contribute, there are always volunteering needs. (Again, there are people who do way more than we do.)

They are also right that the principal does not communicate well, and sometimes not at all. I will add that she has gaslighting tendencies, that she seems guided by the goals of evading responsibility and patting herself on the back, and also that she puts energy into weird ideas. But tbh I don't feel the impact of her flawed leadership in my kids' education (yet).

Ummm I’m sorry WHAT? That’s the sort of thing that would be a dealbreaker for me. I have a low tolerance for poor communication from adults who are entrusted with my child’s care. And it seems this is a consistent theme in comments from several posters.

Are you a current DCPS parent? I've never heard anyone say a DCPS school has good communication. Its a huge complaint among parents at every school I've looked into.

[Anonymous]

Communication from teachers is way more important than communication from the principal. In fact, lack of communication form the principal generally only becomes an issue if a teacher is not communicating well because that's when you might turn to the administration. That's why you get different perspectives on the L-T principal. If you've been happy with the teachers and your kid hasn't had issues, there's not really any reason you'd need to communicate with her. It's not like L-T has a renovation coming up or is in the midst of changing after school programming or some other situation in which whole-school communication would be important.

But for parents who have needed administrative support, for instance for those who have been dealing with the staffing shortages for IEPs or had a kid in a class with no teacher at some point, that lack of communication is glaring because it's a failure at a time when you are in real need of help and have no other avenue. And that's when it becomes a problem.

So it makes sense people would have different perspectives on this, and that's something to consider if looking at the school. If you think administrative support is something that might be critical to your experience (like if your child has special needs or might need specific support), it's definitely something to consider. If your kid doesn't have special needs, it might never be an issue.

It's true that many DCPS schools have mediocre administration, though I will note that our experience at a Title 1 school was really positive in terms of getting access to services and support for a child who needed it, because Title 1 schools have extra staffing and funding for those issues. L-T isn't Title 1 anymore so that might be impacting this too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Communication from teachers is way more important than communication from the principal. In fact, lack of communication form the principal generally only becomes an issue if a teacher is not communicating well because that's when you might turn to the administration. That's why you get different perspectives on the L-T principal. If you've been happy with the teachers and your kid hasn't had issues, there's not really any reason you'd need to communicate with her. It's not like L-T has a renovation coming up or is in the midst of changing after school programming or some other situation in which whole-school communication would be important.

But for parents who have needed administrative support, for instance for those who have been dealing with the staffing shortages for IEPs or had a kid in a class with no teacher at some point, that lack of communication is glaring because it's a failure at a time when you are in real need of help and have no other avenue. And that's when it becomes a problem.

So it makes sense people would have different perspectives on this, and that's something to consider if looking at the school. If you think administrative support is something that might be critical to your experience (like if your child has special needs or might need specific support), it's definitely something to consider. If your kid doesn't have special needs, it might never be an issue.

It's true that many DCPS schools have mediocre administration, though I will note that our experience at a Title 1 school was really positive in terms of getting access to services and support for a child who needed it, because Title 1 schools have extra staffing and funding for those issues. L-T isn't Title 1 anymore so that might be impacting this too.

I think this is spot on. I will also say that I think L-T's whole school communication is actually pretty good because the PTO communicates a lot. They do a weekly email update with all sorts of news from around the school (including from teachers and from the after school program, who clearly funnel those messages through the PTO rather than the admin) and a montly calendar so that you can plan ahead. So I think the principal's lack of communication/responsiveness really only becomes an issue if your kid has a specific problem that your teacher can't solve or, of course, if your teacher is the problem. Luckily because most L-T teachers are (at worst) solid, this doesn't happen a ton. But it definitely happens sometimes, especially if your kid has particular challenges of some kind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the poster above saying that the PTO takes all comers. We are not one of the most visible families in the school, but feel at home in the parent community and have a good time chatting up other families because we see them often... by just showing up to things. Sometimes it's a birthday, sometimes it's a school event. And if you have energy to contribute, there are always volunteering needs. (Again, there are people who do way more than we do.)

They are also right that the principal does not communicate well, and sometimes not at all. I will add that she has gaslighting tendencies, that she seems guided by the goals of evading responsibility and patting herself on the back, and also that she puts energy into weird ideas. But tbh I don't feel the impact of her flawed leadership in my kids' education (yet).

Ummm I’m sorry WHAT? That’s the sort of thing that would be a dealbreaker for me. I have a low tolerance for poor communication from adults who are entrusted with my child’s care. And it seems this is a consistent theme in comments from several posters.

Your kids must be very young if you think the principal has that much impact on your child's day to day experience at school.

My children are young but they are also Black - so I have a different orientation to life, and especially school environment, then other posters. And I always have a call directly/texting relationship with the leaders of my children's schools and their teachers, so hearing that a principal outright ignores parents and/or lies to them is a flag for me that might not be for you. But thanks for your input!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the poster above saying that the PTO takes all comers. We are not one of the most visible families in the school, but feel at home in the parent community and have a good time chatting up other families because we see them often... by just showing up to things. Sometimes it's a birthday, sometimes it's a school event. And if you have energy to contribute, there are always volunteering needs. (Again, there are people who do way more than we do.)

They are also right that the principal does not communicate well, and sometimes not at all. I will add that she has gaslighting tendencies, that she seems guided by the goals of evading responsibility and patting herself on the back, and also that she puts energy into weird ideas. But tbh I don't feel the impact of her flawed leadership in my kids' education (yet).

Ummm I’m sorry WHAT? That’s the sort of thing that would be a dealbreaker for me. I have a low tolerance for poor communication from adults who are entrusted with my child’s care. And it seems this is a consistent theme in comments from several posters.

Are you a current DCPS parent? I've never heard anyone say a DCPS school has good communication. Its a huge complaint among parents at every school I've looked into.

I am. And I have a direct line of communication with a very responsive principal and teacher (cell phones, personal greetings when they see me in person, relevant updates, etc)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the poster above saying that the PTO takes all comers. We are not one of the most visible families in the school, but feel at home in the parent community and have a good time chatting up other families because we see them often... by just showing up to things. Sometimes it's a birthday, sometimes it's a school event. And if you have energy to contribute, there are always volunteering needs. (Again, there are people who do way more than we do.)

They are also right that the principal does not communicate well, and sometimes not at all. I will add that she has gaslighting tendencies, that she seems guided by the goals of evading responsibility and patting herself on the back, and also that she puts energy into weird ideas. But tbh I don't feel the impact of her flawed leadership in my kids' education (yet).

Ummm I’m sorry WHAT? That’s the sort of thing that would be a dealbreaker for me. I have a low tolerance for poor communication from adults who are entrusted with my child’s care. And it seems this is a consistent theme in comments from several posters.

Tell me you have a 2 year old without telling me.

[Anonymous]

I do not now nor will I ever have a kid at LT (too old and OOB). Just wanted to chime in here to say the LT community comes across very positively here on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

we have two kids at LT without any particular special needs who are absolutely thriving. we have to drag them home at the end of the day because they love it so much. the aftercare situation is amazing and the teachers have been great throughout. i was pretty down on the situation after the leadership turmoil during COVID but between the teachers and the PTO they've been able to accomplish amazing things. the international night they had last week was a highlight of the year - tons of families throughout the school teaching kids about their cultures, great food, well-organized. i can't speak to what folks are dealing with in terms of IEPs, etc, but for our neurotypical kids this past year has been phenomenal. we're also very busy and don't help as much as we should but can vouch that the parent community is super warm and welcoming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the poster above saying that the PTO takes all comers. We are not one of the most visible families in the school, but feel at home in the parent community and have a good time chatting up other families because we see them often... by just showing up to things. Sometimes it's a birthday, sometimes it's a school event. And if you have energy to contribute, there are always volunteering needs. (Again, there are people who do way more than we do.)

They are also right that the principal does not communicate well, and sometimes not at all. I will add that she has gaslighting tendencies, that she seems guided by the goals of evading responsibility and patting herself on the back, and also that she puts energy into weird ideas. But tbh I don't feel the impact of her flawed leadership in my kids' education (yet).

Ummm I’m sorry WHAT? That’s the sort of thing that would be a dealbreaker for me. I have a low tolerance for poor communication from adults who are entrusted with my child’s care. And it seems this is a consistent theme in comments from several posters.

Tell me you have a 2 year old without telling me.

How could I be referring to a 2-year-old if I am a CURRENT DCPS parent? If you are indicative of the LTES parent community, you should stop commenting because other matched/interested families are reading these comments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we have two kids at LT without any particular special needs who are absolutely thriving. we have to drag them home at the end of the day because they love it so much. the aftercare situation is amazing and the teachers have been great throughout. i was pretty down on the situation after the leadership turmoil during COVID but between the teachers and the PTO they've been able to accomplish amazing things. the international night they had last week was a highlight of the year - tons of families throughout the school teaching kids about their cultures, great food, well-organized. i can't speak to what folks are dealing with in terms of IEPs, etc, but for our neurotypical kids this past year has been phenomenal. we're also very busy and don't help as much as we should but can vouch that the parent community is super warm and welcoming.

This is great to hear! I attended the matched families tour this morning and got good vibes. I got to speak to a few PTO leaders and saw multiple classes in action (who weren't on the field trips).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the poster above saying that the PTO takes all comers. We are not one of the most visible families in the school, but feel at home in the parent community and have a good time chatting up other families because we see them often... by just showing up to things. Sometimes it's a birthday, sometimes it's a school event. And if you have energy to contribute, there are always volunteering needs. (Again, there are people who do way more than we do.)

They are also right that the principal does not communicate well, and sometimes not at all. I will add that she has gaslighting tendencies, that she seems guided by the goals of evading responsibility and patting herself on the back, and also that she puts energy into weird ideas. But tbh I don't feel the impact of her flawed leadership in my kids' education (yet).

Ummm I’m sorry WHAT? That’s the sort of thing that would be a dealbreaker for me. I have a low tolerance for poor communication from adults who are entrusted with my child’s care. And it seems this is a consistent theme in comments from several posters.

Your kids must be very young if you think the principal has that much impact on your child's day to day experience at school.

You must have never sent you kids to a DCPS school if you think that a principal doesn't impact a kid's day to day experience. I've seen principals ruin a school and drive teachers out because they are so bad. If this LT principal is mainly staying out of everyone's way, then that is good. But that isn't always the case. I've had direct experience with this.