Vern Williams Leaving Longfellow?

[Anonymous]

I remember Vern! I don't know if he's thee greatest there ever was, but his reputation is very very solid. The guy's a legend. Never heard a single bad thing about him as a teacher. I'm shocked he's leaving! He IS Longfellow!

[Anonymous]

Just looked at his pic. WOW! Is it recent??? He looks absolutely yummy! I'd hate to go here but what's the deal with this guy? Married? Single? Cats?

[Anonymous]

DC will be going to LMS this fall and we are bummed to hear this news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just looked at his pic. WOW! Is it recent??? He looks absolutely yummy! I'd hate to go here but what's the deal with this guy? Married? Single? Cats?

Girlfriend? Boyfriend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the loss of the Cooper students will have a huge impact on the school. Combine it with the departure of Mr. Williams and it really will change the quality of the AAP program -- instruction and peer group -- at Longfellow.

You sell the school and it's remaining teachers short. It will survive and be better than you seem to think. The program is still a robust program with the students that will remain and one teacher just does not make a program. My two children had fabulous teachers in Algebra Honors and Geometry Honors atLongfellow and they were not Mr. Williams.

Agree. Mine is currently in 7th. Not in VW's class. Great math teacher. The teachers at Math Dept. work as a team.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Mr. Williams is a fabulous math teacher and Longfellow will miss him! (The inference that he is old and tired is just ridiculous--he has more energy and passion than teachers half his age.) But he designed the Longfellow curriculum and helped to train all of its math teachers, so his influence will be felt for years to come. The math program will remain strong with a strong curriculum and strong faculty even in his absence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the loss of the Cooper students will have a huge impact on the school. Combine it with the departure of Mr. Williams and it really will change the quality of the AAP program -- instruction and peer group -- at Longfellow.

Cooper could end up being the powerhouse school. That's where the kids with the really high SES are (and SES is correlated with achievement).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the loss of the Cooper students will have a huge impact on the school. Combine it with the departure of Mr. Williams and it really will change the quality of the AAP program -- instruction and peer group -- at Longfellow.

Cooper could end up being the powerhouse school. That's where the kids with the really high SES are (and SES is correlated with achievement).

Quelle horreur!

[Anonymous]

I had Vern Williams for math in 1988. It was terrible. He only taught to the "genius" kids. If you didn't have an IQ of 140 or above, he basically let you flunk out. Made no attempt at working with kids who needed clarification.

Never understood why everyone made such a fuss over him. I have 100% more respect for the teachers that don't let students fall between the cracks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the loss of the Cooper students will have a huge impact on the school. Combine it with the departure of Mr. Williams and it really will change the quality of the AAP program -- instruction and peer group -- at Longfellow.

Cooper could end up being the powerhouse school. That's where the kids with the really high SES are (and SES is correlated with achievement).

Maybe so. On the other hand, McLean had 28 National Merit Semifinalists over the past two years, while Langley had 16, and there were only slightly more kids from the Langley area going to TJ than from the McLean area (172 vs. 161). Seems they are both very strong pyramids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's an old guy now.

I saw at his picture; he looks great for an "old guy".

It's not a recent picture. He has been a teacher over 40 years.

It could be a recent picture. I was in Mr. Williams' class in 1988-89 and like many others have kept up with him over the years, a testament to how beloved he is and treasured as a role model by his pupils and charges. I saw him earlier this year at a small reunion arranged by a few other classmates. He looks exactly the same now as he did then and is in equally fine fettle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had Vern Williams for math in 1988. It was terrible. He only taught to the "genius" kids. If you didn't have an IQ of 140 or above, he basically let you flunk out. Made no attempt at working with kids who needed clarification.

Never understood why everyone made such a fuss over him. I have 100% more respect for the teachers that don't let students fall between the cracks.

I had him in 1988-89 and was not in the super-smart group that took Algebra/Geo in 8th grade. He made time for me whenever I asked. Admittedly I didn't often ask for help with math but he would stay after school to play basketball with a group of us, drove us home. I'm sure that he would have stayed late or made some arrangement to help if asked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had Vern Williams for math in 1988. It was terrible. He only taught to the "genius" kids. If you didn't have an IQ of 140 or above, he basically let you flunk out. Made no attempt at working with kids who needed clarification.

Never understood why everyone made such a fuss over him. I have 100% more respect for the teachers that don't let students fall between the cracks.

Nearly 30 years later and you're still blaming the teacher for your failure. It must stuck to be pushing 50 and still have the maturity level of a 16 year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had Vern Williams for math in 1988. It was terrible. He only taught to the "genius" kids. If you didn't have an IQ of 140 or above, he basically let you flunk out. Made no attempt at working with kids who needed clarification.

Never understood why everyone made such a fuss over him. I have 100% more respect for the teachers that don't let students fall between the cracks.

Nearly 30 years later and you're still blaming the teacher for your failure. It must stuck to be pushing 50 and still have the maturity level of a 16 year old.

NP here. Someone who had Vern Williams in middle school in 1988 would be closer to 40 than 50. Just thought I'd point that out since this is a math-related thread.

[Anonymous]

I think he is at BASIS School in McLean now