ITDS parents - has anyone gotten the ILO update for today?

[Anonymous]

"It's not duplicative, because it's for a different audience. And no, I don't speak this way to the administration. They only listen if you couch it in submissiveness and praise, and even then they don't really care what parents think so it doesn't matter."

That's the same as at DC Bilingual. If you're not praising the teachers and school leadership, they want nothing to do with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And now that the parent lists are being monitored by the administration and we're being scolded for what we talk about, a public anonymous forum seems a perfectly fine way to go. I wonder if the administration is ever going to respond to the parent letter. It would be a great way to show how much they value direct communication, wouldn't it?

I do really think new and incoming parents are better off for learning that some parents at ITS are dissatisfied with the administration. It's fine for people to learn the truth, which is that parent opinion varies. You can tell them what you think too. They're adults and they can form their own conclusions. There's really no benefit to deluding people that everything's great and everyone's happy. It'll be a rude shock when they find out that isn't true. Better for them to have their eyes open from the start.

Is that the litmus test for schools then? 100% of the parent population is 100% satisfied with the school administration? 😂 GOOD LUCK AT YOUR NEW SCHOOL!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We are new to ITDS this year. Based on the emails today - are parents always like this at this school?

We've been at the school for several years. I have been very happy with almost every single teacher, but these parent emails of late are having me hoping we get in somewhere else through the lottery.

See, it has me hoping the whiny parents will move on. If they're so unhappy, then let them find that better situation out there.

There's nothing really better in the area. But that doesn't mean we have to tolerate ITS' poor performance.

Actually, you do. You can make the rest of us annoyed, and drive away some parents who haven't experienced ITDS parents in person (see several posts in this thread). But if you actually think you're going to change how ITDS operates, you're quite mistaken. All you've accomplished is irritating teachers, parents, and administrators.

On the contrary, I think calling the administration out on its poor performance has been well worth it and I shudder to think how badly they would be treating parents had the leadership of the IFA not been willing to take that step. You're welcome.

The IFA expressing concerns they've heard from parents directly to the leadership is how it should go. Another constructive option: talk to (or e-mail with) administrators directly.

Not helpful or constructive: constantly making the same point on a public message board and getting newer parents concerned and upset. There's a difference. It's a shame you can't hear the difference and won't listen when it's explicitly explained to you (multiple times.)

There's more than one person posting. And I think it's fine for newer parents to hear the range of parent opinion. Newer parents and incoming parents are not fragile, delicate flowers that need to be protected from the oh so scary knowledge that not everyone thinks ITS is perfect.

I'm aware that there's more than one parent posting. I'm also making the assumption that all parents posting actively on this thread and board have read all the threads about their childs' school from the last week. It seems like a reasonable assumption to me. We're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I think that taking concerns to a public message board rather than directly to the stakeholders who have welcomed your direct communication is passive-aggressive and childish. You think that course of action is fine.

What makes you think people aren't also taking their concerns directly to stakeholders? And they say they welcome direct communication, but actually they seem to resent it and deal with it in a cold and hostile manner.

If you're taking it directly to stakeholders, then I find it duplicative and unhelpful for you to post it on a public forum. And, if your tone here is any indication of the way you speak to school administrators, I suspect that may be the reason you're getting a cold and hostile response. Delivery and respect matter.

Good lord who the hell do you think you are? You want to police everyone on dcum? Have you been here before? This is what this board is for. Everyone’s perfectly free to speak up any way they choose. Being shamed into staying quiet isn’t going to build you a strong community. We all air our dirty laundry in here, you’re clearly just not used to it at your precious school.

- parent at another charter which has many threads complaining about pretty much anything that happens there