Huge turnover at Churchill

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure how people know who is leaving unless you work in the school. The only announcement by Mrs. Heckert was the RT for Special Education.

I follow her on Twitter - she has "announced" tons of people leaving there...

I guess I should follow twitter instead of the Winston Weekly. She announced in.the Winston Weekly the change in the RT for Special Education but not the other changes.

the new RTSE coming from Sherwood? That was announced?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an issue at every school in MCPS. MCPS is really difficult to work for.

I’d say new teachers last about 5 years or so and then have to move on.

MCPS expects too much and doesn’t support teachers well. So they try to move on in the hopes that it will improve.

Could you imaging working for MCPS? With its abysmal leadership and horrible policies?

As an an MCPS teacher, I can say this is hyperbole. Is working for MCPS tough? Yes, it can be depending on the situation. Leaving a position after 5 years in a school is quite normal. It looks like most of the staff leaving either had a promotion or want to work closer to home for various reasons.

I think parents have to understand that working in a school can be very similar to working in the private sector. You can get people that don't get along, new/bad managers, promotions, pregnancies, home purchases, etc. all leading to changing assignments. In my experience it is very rare for teachers to live in the school zone where they teach, so teachers may not have loyalty to the community, and it should not be expected. Most staff don't stay at the same school until retirement. I can think of only a few teachers who are "lifers" at a one school most of their career.

I disagree. You don't leave a decent paying position after 5 years if you're happy and have good leadership. Not in the private sector and not in the public sector.

I think people who say this don’t understand how teaching positions work in MCPS. I was at a school where advancement in my department was not possible because of the age of the RT and the fact he had no desire to become an admin. He had 15 more years minimum before he could retire and lived 10 min from the school. There was no incentive for him to leave his position, so none of us could move up if we stayed. So one by one, we left. It had nothing to do with the leadership being poor and the pay isn’t determined by the school site. So leaving a non-ILT position at Churchill for an ILT position at Einstein makes career sense even if commuting is not a factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure how people know who is leaving unless you work in the school. The only announcement by Mrs. Heckert was the RT for Special Education.

I follow her on Twitter - she has "announced" tons of people leaving there...

I guess I should follow twitter instead of the Winston Weekly. She announced in.the Winston Weekly the change in the RT for Special Education but not the other changes.

the new RTSE coming from Sherwood? That was announced?

Yes. In the last edition of the Winston Weekly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an issue at every school in MCPS. MCPS is really difficult to work for.

I’d say new teachers last about 5 years or so and then have to move on.

MCPS expects too much and doesn’t support teachers well. So they try to move on in the hopes that it will improve.

Could you imaging working for MCPS? With its abysmal leadership and horrible policies?

As an an MCPS teacher, I can say this is hyperbole. Is working for MCPS tough? Yes, it can be depending on the situation. Leaving a position after 5 years in a school is quite normal. It looks like most of the staff leaving either had a promotion or want to work closer to home for various reasons.

I think parents have to understand that working in a school can be very similar to working in the private sector. You can get people that don't get along, new/bad managers, promotions, pregnancies, home purchases, etc. all leading to changing assignments. In my experience it is very rare for teachers to live in the school zone where they teach, so teachers may not have loyalty to the community, and it should not be expected. Most staff don't stay at the same school until retirement. I can think of only a few teachers who are "lifers" at a one school most of their career.

I disagree. You don't leave a decent paying position after 5 years if you're happy and have good leadership. Not in the private sector and not in the public sector.

I think people who say this don’t understand how teaching positions work in MCPS. I was at a school where advancement in my department was not possible because of the age of the RT and the fact he had no desire to become an admin. He had 15 more years minimum before he could retire and lived 10 min from the school. There was no incentive for him to leave his position, so none of us could move up if we stayed. So one by one, we left. It had nothing to do with the leadership being poor and the pay isn’t determined by the school site. So leaving a non-ILT position at Churchill for an ILT position at Einstein makes career sense even if commuting is not a factor.

But isn’t that a problem in and of itself? It would be beneficial to the kids to have more experienced teachers (teachers who have experience in the classroom, but also in that particular school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an issue at every school in MCPS. MCPS is really difficult to work for.

I’d say new teachers last about 5 years or so and then have to move on.

MCPS expects too much and doesn’t support teachers well. So they try to move on in the hopes that it will improve.

Could you imaging working for MCPS? With its abysmal leadership and horrible policies?

As an an MCPS teacher, I can say this is hyperbole. Is working for MCPS tough? Yes, it can be depending on the situation. Leaving a position after 5 years in a school is quite normal. It looks like most of the staff leaving either had a promotion or want to work closer to home for various reasons.

I think parents have to understand that working in a school can be very similar to working in the private sector. You can get people that don't get along, new/bad managers, promotions, pregnancies, home purchases, etc. all leading to changing assignments. In my experience it is very rare for teachers to live in the school zone where they teach, so teachers may not have loyalty to the community, and it should not be expected. Most staff don't stay at the same school until retirement. I can think of only a few teachers who are "lifers" at a one school most of their career.

Also new teachers want to get in to the system and take the job where there are openings. Then they wait to get to school that is closer to their home or has a program they are interested in whatever. Maybe they got married and bought a new home. Maybe they had a baby a need a different spot to accommodate daycare. Very standard.

I disagree. You don't leave a decent paying position after 5 years if you're happy and have good leadership. Not in the private sector and not in the public sector.

I think people who say this don’t understand how teaching positions work in MCPS. I was at a school where advancement in my department was not possible because of the age of the RT and the fact he had no desire to become an admin. He had 15 more years minimum before he could retire and lived 10 min from the school. There was no incentive for him to leave his position, so none of us could move up if we stayed. So one by one, we left. It had nothing to do with the leadership being poor and the pay isn’t determined by the school site. So leaving a non-ILT position at Churchill for an ILT position at Einstein makes career sense even if commuting is not a factor.

[Anonymous]

Also new teachers want to get in to the system and take the job where there are openings. Then they wait to get to school that is closer to their home or has a program they are interested in whatever. Maybe they got married and bought a new home. Maybe they had a baby a need a different spot to accommodate daycare. Very standard.

[Anonymous]

Thé counselors won’t be missed. My Junior has never even had a conversation with her’s. Couldn’t even tell you her/his name. Glad we can afford private college counseling. Feel bad for the people who can’t.

[Anonymous]

One of the accounts of the kissing science teacher was that there was no kiss. It was an awkward exchange that shouldn't have happened but I heard no kiss (from a kid in the classroom at the time it happened).

Too bad about Mr. Fugal-- I like him...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the accounts of the kissing science teacher was that there was no kiss. It was an awkward exchange that shouldn't have happened but I heard no kiss (from a kid in the classroom at the time it happened).

Too bad about Mr. Fugal-- I like him...

I heard otherwise from a student in the class. Kiss was on the top of head. Female students felt uncomfortable with this teacher even before the incident.

Perhaps a solution would be to have him in a cotaught class so another adult could observe him for a year?

My DD who had Mr. Fugal also said he would be missed. He was one of the few good teachers in the department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thé counselors won’t be missed. My Junior has never even had a conversation with her’s. Couldn’t even tell you her/his name. Glad we can afford private college counseling. Feel bad for the people who can’t.

Who are the new counselors they hired? Also, parents, you do realize that counselors have no college admissions training, correct? Not a single course. Anything counselors know is self-taught or from personal experience. There is zero PD on this stuff too. You ALL should be hiring private college counselors or at least be reading extensively on the topic unless you or your child is well-informed.

[Anonymous]

The guidance counselors only write letters of recommendation for the college application process. There's a separate college and career counselor who helps with the search process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an issue at every school in MCPS. MCPS is really difficult to work for.

I’d say new teachers last about 5 years or so and then have to move on.

MCPS expects too much and doesn’t support teachers well. So they try to move on in the hopes that it will improve.

Could you imaging working for MCPS? With its abysmal leadership and horrible policies?

As an an MCPS teacher, I can say this is hyperbole. Is working for MCPS tough? Yes, it can be depending on the situation. Leaving a position after 5 years in a school is quite normal. It looks like most of the staff leaving either had a promotion or want to work closer to home for various reasons.

I think parents have to understand that working in a school can be very similar to working in the private sector. You can get people that don't get along, new/bad managers, promotions, pregnancies, home purchases, etc. all leading to changing assignments. In my experience it is very rare for teachers to live in the school zone where they teach, so teachers may not have loyalty to the community, and it should not be expected. Most staff don't stay at the same school until retirement. I can think of only a few teachers who are "lifers" at a one school most of their career.

I disagree. You don't leave a decent paying position after 5 years if you're happy and have good leadership. Not in the private sector and not in the public sector.

I think people who say this don’t understand how teaching positions work in MCPS. I was at a school where advancement in my department was not possible because of the age of the RT and the fact he had no desire to become an admin. He had 15 more years minimum before he could retire and lived 10 min from the school. There was no incentive for him to leave his position, so none of us could move up if we stayed. So one by one, we left. It had nothing to do with the leadership being poor and the pay isn’t determined by the school site. So leaving a non-ILT position at Churchill for an ILT position at Einstein makes career sense even if commuting is not a factor.

Not everyone is looking for advancement in their department. The majority of teachers I know aren’t looking for advancement. They just want to teach in a school with a strong climate with strong leadership and where morale is high. So your opinion is not necessarily “how teaching positions work in MCPS”.

As far as I’m concerned I have no desired to have an ILT position and I actually can’t stand that people are coerced into being on the ILT. I have way more than enough to do for my actual job, and don’t need to spend my time being a pawn in admin’s game of “let’s pretend you’re actually the ones making these decisions so we can tell the staff it comes from their peers but actually it was 100% decided before anyone on the ILT walked into the room”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thé counselors won’t be missed. My Junior has never even had a conversation with her’s. Couldn’t even tell you her/his name. Glad we can afford private college counseling. Feel bad for the people who can’t.

Who are the new counselors they hired? Also, parents, you do realize that counselors have no college admissions training, correct? Not a single course. Anything counselors know is self-taught or from personal experience. There is zero PD on this stuff too. You ALL should be hiring private college counselors or at least be reading extensively on the topic unless you or your child is well-informed.

Applying to college is not rocket science. I would give the College and Career counselor at Churchill high marks for the parent meetings to explain the process. There's Naviance (a computer program ) to find colleges that are good fit for your child. The rest is work a high school senior should be able to manage on his/her own such as planning out the deadlines, writing essays, and submitting authorization to release test scores and school transcript.

The College and Career counselor is available to meet individually with students and parents if you have questions. For a large public school, she does a wonderful job and is highly experienced.

The Guidance Counselors have other responsibilities. Can you imagine the time it takes for them to write about 100 letters of recommendation on top of everything else they are responsible for?

[Anonymous]

No surprise that so many people in the Special Education department are leaving. Churchill is currently being sued by the parent of an autistic student. There's been problems in the department for years. Hopefully their replacements will be better educated and have the personal skills necessary to work with Special Needs students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thé counselors won’t be missed. My Junior has never even had a conversation with her’s. Couldn’t even tell you her/his name. Glad we can afford private college counseling. Feel bad for the people who can’t.

Who are the new counselors they hired? Also, parents, you do realize that counselors have no college admissions training, correct? Not a single course. Anything counselors know is self-taught or from personal experience. There is zero PD on this stuff too. You ALL should be hiring private college counselors or at least be reading extensively on the topic unless you or your child is well-informed.

Applying to college is not rocket science. I would give the College and Career counselor at Churchill high marks for the parent meetings to explain the process. There's Naviance (a computer program ) to find colleges that are good fit for your child. The rest is work a high school senior should be able to manage on his/her own such as planning out the deadlines, writing essays, and submitting authorization to release test scores and school transcript.

The College and Career counselor is available to meet individually with students and parents if you have questions. For a large public school, she does a wonderful job and is highly experienced.

The Guidance Counselors have other responsibilities. Can you imagine the time it takes for them to write about 100 letters of recommendation on top of everything else they are responsible for?

Yeah 100 letters of recommendation for 90 kids they don't know at all. Meaningful letters for sure. Naviance is just data points and no substitute for a properly trained and available and knowledgeable counselor. I'm not blaming them - they have too much on their plates. But if your kid doesn't have an IEP and isn't a troublemaker then they are in no way a resource for you. They serve like 10% of the population.