Thoughts on the new Churchill principal?

[Anonymous]

Did I miss the community notice as to why Mrs. Heckert canceled the Powder Puff football game today? This is normally a longstanding tradition for Seniors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I drive my kid to Churchill because teenagers need more sleep than a 7:45 AM school start allows (as discussed many times on this forum). He gets almost an extra 30 minutes of sleep by being driven to school instead of taking the bus (with its multiple stops and roundabout route). I have not encountered traffic problems at Churchill when we arrive at 7:25 AM. The new traffic patterns are certainly an improvement from last year.

My kid always takes the bus home.

Just curious - which loop are you using to drop off? Trying to see if I changed routes if that makes a difference.

I actually prefer the Victory Lane entrance even though I come from south of Tuckerman Lane. I think the separate entrances for the two lanes on Victory Lane has really speeded things up. One still has to be prepared to see students crossing the street anywhere and at anytime. And as others noted in this thread, students going to Seniors parking have to make an awkward crossing of the incoming dropoff traffic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I drive my kid to Churchill because teenagers need more sleep than a 7:45 AM school start allows (as discussed many times on this forum). He gets almost an extra 30 minutes of sleep by being driven to school instead of taking the bus (with its multiple stops and roundabout route). I have not encountered traffic problems at Churchill when we arrive at 7:25 AM. The new traffic patterns are certainly an improvement from last year.

My kid always takes the bus home.

Just curious - which loop are you using to drop off? Trying to see if I changed routes if that makes a difference.

I actually prefer the Victory Lane entrance even though I come from south of Tuckerman Lane. I think the separate entrances for the two lanes on Victory Lane has really speeded things up. One still has to be prepared to see students crossing the street anywhere and at anytime. And as others noted in this thread, students going to Seniors parking have to make an awkward crossing of the incoming dropoff traffic

+1 Any other time of day, I go on Gainsborough, driving up Postoak to Victory and then right into the lot is much better for drop off/pick up times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did I miss the community notice as to why Mrs. Heckert canceled the Powder Puff football game today? This is normally a longstanding tradition for Seniors.

This is an extremely sexist inappropriate activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did I miss the community notice as to why Mrs. Heckert canceled the Powder Puff football game today? This is normally a longstanding tradition for Seniors.

This is an extremely sexist inappropriate activity.

What exactly is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did I miss the community notice as to why Mrs. Heckert canceled the Powder Puff football game today? This is normally a longstanding tradition for Seniors.

This is an extremely sexist inappropriate activity.

What exactly is this?

Powderpuff football is usually when girls (inexperienced in football) play a game kind of as a joke/funny game. (Sometimes boys take the roles of cheerleaders/poms.)

Is it true that it was canceled? My dd didn’t attend but said she.assumed it happened.

[Anonymous]

My child went to Churchill but came home early because it was cancelled. This event was preadvertised. I saw the announcement on the video announcement board at Tuckerman Lane. I never thought of the event as sexist. If that was the principal's decision as to why it was cancelled then why no message to the community?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child went to Churchill but came home early because it was cancelled. This event was preadvertised. I saw the announcement on the video announcement board at Tuckerman Lane. I never thought of the event as sexist. If that was the principal's decision as to why it was cancelled then why no message to the community?

The game wasn’t cancelled by Mrs. Heckert. A lot of Seniors decided to take yesterday off as a senior skip day. Per MCPS policy, if a student misses school, they cannot participate in any extra curricular activities that day. Many senior girls who signed up to play in the Powder Puff game skipped school, so they were not permitted to play. The seniors therefore couldn’t field a team, and no game was played.

Mrs. Heckert, as opposed to her predecessor, actually believes in consequences for poor decision making. The seniors know the rules. For once the rules were followed by the Principal. So no, Mrs. Heckert didn’t cancel the game. Poor decisions by students were the culprit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child went to Churchill but came home early because it was cancelled. This event was preadvertised. I saw the announcement on the video announcement board at Tuckerman Lane. I never thought of the event as sexist. If that was the principal's decision as to why it was cancelled then why no message to the community?

The game wasn’t cancelled by Mrs. Heckert. A lot of Seniors decided to take yesterday off as a senior skip day. Per MCPS policy, if a student misses school, they cannot participate in any extra curricular activities that day. Many senior girls who signed up to play in the Powder Puff game skipped school, so they were not permitted to play. The seniors therefore couldn’t field a team, and no game was played.

Mrs. Heckert, as opposed to her predecessor, actually believes in consequences for poor decision making. The seniors know the rules. For once the rules were followed by the Principal. So no, Mrs. Heckert didn’t cancel the game. Poor decisions by students were the culprit.

Athletes are reminded of the attendance rule before every sports season. Some thoughts that would have been proactive to help the seniors make the right choices on Thursday that perhaps could be implemented in the future:

1) I'm not sure if every senior who signed up to participate is an athlete at the school and knew about the rule before Thursday. Also, as you mentioned, this rule has not been equally enforced in the past. A message at the time of sign-up about the rule would have been appropriate. An email reminder to the community would have helped parents remind their child of the attendance rule. Perhaps even now, communicate the rationale the game was cancelled so all students and parents will know this rule is being strictly enforced in the future.

2) The rule has allowance for if a student has a pre-scheduled appointment and provides a note 24 hours in advance. Obviously, that only applies for an appointment, not a whole day of being absent. Some of the students may have fallen into this category where they had a legitimate absence from a class but did not know to get the pre-approval. Again, pre-event communication would have been proactive and supported compliance by students.

3) Perhaps reschedule the game? It seems unfair that some participants who did the right thing and went to school were denied the opportunity to play.

4) A PP posted that the "Powder Puff" game is sexist. It has caused me to consider an alternative perspective that deserves consideration. Should this tradition continue at Churchill? Is it good for the community? What about the Mr. Churchill event - very popular with the student body but there has been some controversial jokes in the past. Should Mr. Churchill continue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child went to Churchill but came home early because it was cancelled. This event was preadvertised. I saw the announcement on the video announcement board at Tuckerman Lane. I never thought of the event as sexist. If that was the principal's decision as to why it was cancelled then why no message to the community?

The game wasn’t cancelled by Mrs. Heckert. A lot of Seniors decided to take yesterday off as a senior skip day. Per MCPS policy, if a student misses school, they cannot participate in any extra curricular activities that day. Many senior girls who signed up to play in the Powder Puff game skipped school, so they were not permitted to play. The seniors therefore couldn’t field a team, and no game was played.

Mrs. Heckert, as opposed to her predecessor, actually believes in consequences for poor decision making. The seniors know the rules. For once the rules were followed by the Principal. So no, Mrs. Heckert didn’t cancel the game. Poor decisions by students were the culprit.

Athletes are reminded of the attendance rule before every sports season. Some thoughts that would have been proactive to help the seniors make the right choices on Thursday that perhaps could be implemented in the future:

1) I'm not sure if every senior who signed up to participate is an athlete at the school and knew about the rule before Thursday. Also, as you mentioned, this rule has not been equally enforced in the past. A message at the time of sign-up about the rule would have been appropriate. An email reminder to the community would have helped parents remind their child of the attendance rule. Perhaps even now, communicate the rationale the game was cancelled so all students and parents will know this rule is being strictly enforced in the future.

2) The rule has allowance for if a student has a pre-scheduled appointment and provides a note 24 hours in advance. Obviously, that only applies for an appointment, not a whole day of being absent. Some of the students may have fallen into this category where they had a legitimate absence from a class but did not know to get the pre-approval. Again, pre-event communication would have been proactive and supported compliance by students.

3) Perhaps reschedule the game? It seems unfair that some participants who did the right thing and went to school were denied the opportunity to play.

4) A PP posted that the "Powder Puff" game is sexist. It has caused me to consider an alternative perspective that deserves consideration. Should this tradition continue at Churchill? Is it good for the community? What about the Mr. Churchill event - very popular with the student body but there has been some controversial jokes in the past. Should Mr. Churchill continue?

It is not just a rule for athletics but for any extracurricular activity.

Just because Dr. Benz ran the school poorly doesn't mean that the new principal has to bend over backwards to accommodate Seniors that have been in the school for 4 years to do the right thing. The kids that did the right thing should be angry at their fellow students, not the principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child went to Churchill but came home early because it was cancelled. This event was preadvertised. I saw the announcement on the video announcement board at Tuckerman Lane. I never thought of the event as sexist. If that was the principal's decision as to why it was cancelled then why no message to the community?

The game wasn’t cancelled by Mrs. Heckert. A lot of Seniors decided to take yesterday off as a senior skip day. Per MCPS policy, if a student misses school, they cannot participate in any extra curricular activities that day. Many senior girls who signed up to play in the Powder Puff game skipped school, so they were not permitted to play. The seniors therefore couldn’t field a team, and no game was played.

Mrs. Heckert, as opposed to her predecessor, actually believes in consequences for poor decision making. The seniors know the rules. For once the rules were followed by the Principal. So no, Mrs. Heckert didn’t cancel the game. Poor decisions by students were the culprit.

Athletes are reminded of the attendance rule before every sports season. Some thoughts that would have been proactive to help the seniors make the right choices on Thursday that perhaps could be implemented in the future:

1) I'm not sure if every senior who signed up to participate is an athlete at the school and knew about the rule before Thursday. Also, as you mentioned, this rule has not been equally enforced in the past. A message at the time of sign-up about the rule would have been appropriate. An email reminder to the community would have helped parents remind their child of the attendance rule. Perhaps even now, communicate the rationale the game was cancelled so all students and parents will know this rule is being strictly enforced in the future.

2) The rule has allowance for if a student has a pre-scheduled appointment and provides a note 24 hours in advance. Obviously, that only applies for an appointment, not a whole day of being absent. Some of the students may have fallen into this category where they had a legitimate absence from a class but did not know to get the pre-approval. Again, pre-event communication would have been proactive and supported compliance by students.

3) Perhaps reschedule the game? It seems unfair that some participants who did the right thing and went to school were denied the opportunity to play.

4) A PP posted that the "Powder Puff" game is sexist. It has caused me to consider an alternative perspective that deserves consideration. Should this tradition continue at Churchill? Is it good for the community? What about the Mr. Churchill event - very popular with the student body but there has been some controversial jokes in the past. Should Mr. Churchill continue?

It is not just a rule for athletics but for any extracurricular activity.

Just because Dr. Benz ran the school poorly doesn't mean that the new principal has to bend over backwards to accommodate Seniors that have been in the school for 4 years to do the right thing. The kids that did the right thing should be angry at their fellow students, not the principal.

These are teenagers who were used to the school operating under a different standard under the old principal. A helpful reminder as a positive reinforcement technique is considered a best practice in education. Positive reinforcements have been shown in academic studies to be much better strategies with teenagers than punishment as negative reinforcement. It also goes to establish what type of school climate the principal wants to set for the school - positive or negative. Teachers and staff follow her lead.

[Anonymous]

For the 6 years our family has had students at Churchill, I only heard about the attendance rule in regard to athletics. My children have enjoyed many other non-extracurricular activities at school and these activities never stressed or enforced the attendance policy so I just assumed it was an athletic policy. My children do not skip school so the only time the rule became relevant was for a medical appointment that had to be pre approved to keep their athletic eligibility.

It would be nice to reschedule the game but perhaps the students can organize their own game on the Hoover field.

[Anonymous]

You crazy Churchill parents are fretting over the most comical things!! Why don't you get a job and use the extra money to send your kids to a decent school. So glad we pulled out DS before he had to be a part of this horrendous entitled environment with nutty entitled parents.

[Anonymous]

LOVE it that she enforced the rule even when it had implications for the game. She didn’t bow to pressure, which is great. Wish the students knew the full story (mine doesn’t) so it can serve a broader lesson. (What are seniors doing skipping in early fall, anyway? I get it at the end of the year, but in October??)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You crazy Churchill parents are fretting over the most comical things!! Why don't you get a job and use the extra money to send your kids to a decent school. So glad we pulled out DS before he had to be a part of this horrendous entitled environment with nutty entitled parents.

You live in Potomac. Your not excluded from the entitled environment.

Private school parents have lots of other nuttiness. don't be so smug. It's not like the private school environment has a lot to crow about with all the lovely articles that have come out about the Kavanaugh episode.