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So, um, how did things go for you at Murch this am?
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Anonymous
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oops, should have been one "that" above.
Anyone who has witnessed the body language when the principal is in a room with teachers knows that there are problems bigger than not making enough robocalls. Parents understand overcrowding, they don't appreciate unnecessary chaos being visited upon their kids, who reenrolled for Murch last spring IIRC. |
Anonymous
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We are in-boundary for Murch but do not attend at this time. This has been in interesting thread but there's one thing I don't get: Why, exactly, is it so devastating to have your child's class assignment switched at the last minute, or to not know exactly who Teacher will be?
I get that if you expect one thing but get another, that can be a disappointment or momentarily unnerving. But the way most of the PPs talk about the "chaos" and "crying," it makes it sound as the aftermath of Katrina or something, where families can't find each other, your school has been destroyed and your teacher is ... dead. Or is the rhetoric warranted? |
Anonymous
There are always folks who feel incomplete unless they're complaining. You should have heard the voices of outrage when DCPS announced that preschoolers would have a staggered start this year (with some kids starting M-T, and others starting W-Th, and everyone going F). Sometimes in life, a certain flexibility is called for. It's not the end of the world. I wonder how many of these comments slagging off the principal are the same person (or same small group of people)? |
Anonymous
I was wondering the same thing... |
Anonymous
| Because they are people who are used to having their type-A, white way in all things. Those of us in non- Ward 3 schools learned to live with change and surprises a long time ago. I feel sorry for the kids who are watching their parents model outrage at these minor bumps in the road-- gives them a nice boost of anxiety at the start of a year. Imagine instead that they just smile and say, "oh, it'll be a great year anyway! Run along to your new class!" |
Anonymous
Hey! Thanks for gratuitously injecting race into the issue! Stellar work. |
Anonymous
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I have to agree with 16:12. The whole thing smells a bit of white privilege and the sentiment that "we raise the funds and write the checks so we get to call the shots" has already been voiced earlier in the thread.
Where is this principal from? Probably the suburbs where parents aren't raising $250k-$500K to supplement the budget, I'd guess. She probably thinks she runs the show and that's just not the way things work in Upper NW. Yeah, as a parent in a school that is considered "up and coming" I'm with the 16:29. Welcome to to the tiniest taste of our Title I world Murch parents! |
Anonymous
| Principal retired from MC. |
Anonymous
| 14:36 Are YOU a Murch parent? Why such a defender? |
Anonymous
Nope. Never even been there. But I am a DCPS parent. And heard a lot of sniping from a vocal few because every thing wasn't just as they'd imagined. This is the start of a school year, not a royal wedding. |
Anonymous
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Well, since I'm not white it's hard for it to smell of white priviledge.
18:00 you sound like so much fun, so very sorry that you won't be joining us at Murch! |
Anonymous
| Those of us in Title I schools are used to it. We had a big improvement this year because the teachers called us the night before. Much better than last years' "cattle call" with teachers with rosters trying to find their students. I agree that last-minute changes are difficult, but I attitude is everything. Roll with it and teach your kids that change can be fun. |
Anonymous
| We are at Murch and the thing I haven't got a clue about is actually how many kids had their classes changed at the last minute. One poster said it was a few enough that calls could have easily been made and others make it sound as if it was total chaos which it wasn't. |
Anonymous
No idea about hard numbers. I think some grades were more affected than others, maybe your kid(s) weren't in those. Also, I think that many kids who had the teacher who became the split teacher were told that they would move with her to second (I was told by several folks that was the plan last spring) so when the split was done at the very last minute at least half of the class did not get to be with their beloved teacher and classmates, most if not all found out on Monday. I think that any communication would have been helpful, even that things were being shuffled up to and during the weekend. Murch's first day has always been orderly since we've been there, so that was the expectation. Many people were given info at midweek that was no longer correct as of Monday. Since there was no robocall or email from the school it came as a surprise that it had changed. Parents are pretty heavily invested in Murch working for their kids, I think that a prinicpal who prefers to communicate little of substance (the call of 8/19 didn't even mention why the packets mentioned in the call from 8/12 hadn't arrived) is frustrating, I think people would have been happier to roll with changes if they had gotten a heads up. |
Anonymous
| Shout out to Brent ES on Cap Hill where my kids started this week. None of these kinds of problems, got our teacher assignments 2 weeks ago, everything went quite smoothly. Tons of staff members around with easy to spot nametags so it was super easy to just turn to someone and ask a question to help find the way. I work in a private school and the first day always has bumps, even when you're paying $, but Brent really had it's act together. Also, smaller class sizes than are being mentioned above. Glad we turned down Janney! |