Thoughts on the new Churchill principal?

[Anonymous]

There's also a form called Complaint from the Public. If you fike that, she is required to respond.

[Anonymous]

If you have a problem with a teacher, here is the correct chain of command before the principal:

1.) the teacher
2.) the resource teacher/dept chair
3.) the assistant principal who oversees the teacher's department
4.) the principal
5.) the director
6.) the associate superintendent
7.) the superintendent

If it's something the counselor can help with, i.e. the kid needs support or help talking to the teacher, contact them too. Counselors don't supervise or evaluate teachers, and they have no authority. They're an additional resource for problem-solving, not for complaints about teaching quality. They can flag an issue but that's about it. This also is true for the PTA--they can maybe exert pressure on people to respond, but they don't have any decision making authority.

--Signed, MCPS counselor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a problem with a teacher, here is the correct chain of command before the principal:

1.) the teacher
2.) the resource teacher/dept chair
3.) the assistant principal who oversees the teacher's department
4.) the principal
5.) the director
6.) the associate superintendent
7.) the superintendent

If it's something the counselor can help with, i.e. the kid needs support or help talking to the teacher, contact them too. Counselors don't supervise or evaluate teachers, and they have no authority. They're an additional resource for problem-solving, not for complaints about teaching quality. They can flag an issue but that's about it. This also is true for the PTA--they can maybe exert pressure on people to respond, but they don't have any decision making authority.

--Signed, MCPS counselor

The system is designed to make parents frustrated to the point of giving up. This is why problems never get resolved. If it is a serious issue, and you have already reached out to the principal, you don't need to circle back and restart several notches lower. Take it to the director and let him know Mrs. Heckert did not respond so you would like to set up a meeting with him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First world problems. Have any of you met with the Principal (wasn't a small turnout at the PTA meeting reported on DCUM)? Or do you just like to complain?

I'm not sure it's reasonable to think that she would have time to meet with very many individual parents.

Communications is another problem. She doesn't respond to emails. She probably gets a ton of emails. Maybe she can't answer them all quickly. She could at least have staff acknowledge emails. Instead, parents send even more emails trying to get a response.

The PTA meeting where she was scheduled to talk was on Yom Kippur of all days. After a lot of parents complained, she cancelled at the last minute. I was at another PTA meeting she attended but there was no opportunity to talk with her one-on-one.

I'm not a fan, but I don't fault her for not having personal conversations with parents. It's a big job and there are a lot of parents. I do fault her for her bad decisions and poor communication. There wouldn't be so many comments on this site unless a lot of parents were unhappy. It is hard to make that many people that upset in such a short period of time.

It appears to me that most parents are upset about a traffic situation that predated her. They are angry that she couldnt waive a magic wand and make the roads wider and parking lot bigger. She tried to fix it and she doesn't even get credit for that. She's apparently not responding to emails as people would like but neither did Benz. You people didn't even give her a minute! You are all spoiled, spoiled children. Grow the EFF up!

[Anonymous]

Really? A different poster but groe the Eff up seems like a immature sentiment.

Communication is a basic skill for a principal. She should have a meeting with parents to talk about problems in the school or have someone respond to a parent's concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? A different poster but groe the Eff up seems like a immature sentiment.

Communication is a basic skill for a principal. She should have a meeting with parents to talk about problems in the school or have someone respond to a parent's concerns.

Why don't you all plan a group protest, I mean temper tantrum in front of the school then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? A different poster but groe the Eff up seems like a immature sentiment.

Communication is a basic skill for a principal. She should have a meeting with parents to talk about problems in the school or have someone respond to a parent's concerns.

You behave like children I will talk to you as if you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really? A different poster but groe the Eff up seems like a immature sentiment.

Communication is a basic skill for a principal. She should have a meeting with parents to talk about problems in the school or have someone respond to a parent's concerns.

You behave like children I will talk to you as if you are.

[Anonymous]

Says the principal who turned off the stadium lights on children and ordered them to go home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Says the principal who turned off the stadium lights on children and ordered them to go home.

Powder puff Mom is back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Says the principal who turned off the stadium lights on children and ordered them to go home.

Powder puff Mom is back.

Yes, as someone who sees plenty of real problems with MCPS, can you please stop piling onto Brandice Heckert. She’s so small potatoes and you’re distracting from much bigger issues and weakening those cases by seeming petty and whiny. She’s not going to be the one to solve most of your issues, principals are more or less neutered in MCPS. You’re wasting your time worrying about unreturned emails and powder puff football. Plus it’s getting old. We get it. You don’t like the new traffic pattern. You want her to pay closer attention to you and your emails, and you’re ticked off about how she disciplines.. I think you’re a different person than the one or ones posting about abusive coaches. Even those people recognize that Heckert isn’t going to take care of business. Half of that is because central ties her hands. Also principals don’t like to make too many waves until they have the lay of the land. Those decisions will have to be directed from higher up. I’m not criticizing you for disliking her and I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying you’re misdirecting your attention. While you’re on here, she’s on twitter celebrating those same coaches and buddying up to central people. If you really want to engage the MCPS people, you have to go to twitter. That’s where they all are, chitchatting with each other and signing off eith #raise and all that stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Says the principal who turned off the stadium lights on children and ordered them to go home.

Powder puff Mom is back.

Yes, as someone who sees plenty of real problems with MCPS, can you please stop piling onto Brandice Heckert. She’s so small potatoes and you’re distracting from much bigger issues and weakening those cases by seeming petty and whiny. She’s not going to be the one to solve most of your issues, principals are more or less neutered in MCPS. You’re wasting your time worrying about unreturned emails and powder puff football. Plus it’s getting old. We get it. You don’t like the new traffic pattern. You want her to pay closer attention to you and your emails, and you’re ticked off about how she disciplines.. I think you’re a different person than the one or ones posting about abusive coaches. Even those people recognize that Heckert isn’t going to take care of business. Half of that is because central ties her hands. Also principals don’t like to make too many waves until they have the lay of the land. Those decisions will have to be directed from higher up. I’m not criticizing you for disliking her and I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying you’re misdirecting your attention. While you’re on here, she’s on twitter celebrating those same coaches and buddying up to central people. If you really want to engage the MCPS people, you have to go to twitter. That’s where they all are, chitchatting with each other and signing off eith #raise and all that stuff.

Agreed that Mrs. Heckert is "small potatoes." She has a big say over the fate of 2,000 students. She was brought in to address known issues. Instead of doing that, she is creating more problems.

Parents point to the traffic problem because it's something they have to deal with every day. But the way that she dealt with that is typical of how she has dealt with other things. She didn't show any sign of being neutered. She didn't see any reason to consult with traffic engineers. Instead, by principal edict she changed the traffic problem on her own and made it worse and more dangerous.

The issue with powderpuff football isn't (at least not for me) the game, itself, but how she handled it. She didn't set expectations in advance. Instead, after kids had planned for the event, she announced it wasn't going to happen. Then, maybe realizing how unfair that was, she said the game could go forward. Then, after it started, she decided the kids couldn't have the game after all. To make it all worse, instead of letting the kids leave the stadium in an order fashion, she turned off the lights. Once again, she didn't think ahead. Students were stumbling around in the dark trying to leave. It wasn't safe for the kids. Once again, not neutered. She made the decision and took a stand several times all on her own.

As one writer said, the traffic issue shows arrogance. The powderpuff football one shows poor communication, poor planning, and arbitrary behavior. Focusing on the broken pipe instead of racism and antisemitism shows poor priorities. Taking credit for what others do is an unattractive trait and is unlikely to endear her to families or staff.

Perhaps these are minor issues. There are 2,000+ students at that school, and there are lots of minor issues.

There also are big ones, such as racism and antisemitism and drug use. Yes, coach abuse is a huge issue. She hasn't addressed it. Her idea of taking care of drug use is sending parent emails about the dangers of juuling. There was what Mrs. Heckert characterized as a hate crime at Churchill. She called the police, but her immediate focus in parent communications was a broken pipe in the school. I'm told she didn't do anything about the issues with race and antisemitism at the school until the PTA pushed her into bringing in outside experts to help.

If the principal consistently show poor judgment, arrogance, and arbitrariness on small things, I have no confidence in her ability to deal with big things, and she has shown too arrogant to bring in experts to help unless she is pressured by parents to do so. Churchill kids at least have parents who are mostly present in their lives and can advocate for both big and small issues. It's scary that those 2,000 kids are dependent on the parents doing so because the principal is ineffective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Says the principal who turned off the stadium lights on children and ordered them to go home.

Powder puff Mom is back.

Yes, as someone who sees plenty of real problems with MCPS, can you please stop piling onto Brandice Heckert. She’s so small potatoes and you’re distracting from much bigger issues and weakening those cases by seeming petty and whiny. She’s not going to be the one to solve most of your issues, principals are more or less neutered in MCPS. You’re wasting your time worrying about unreturned emails and powder puff football. Plus it’s getting old. We get it. You don’t like the new traffic pattern. You want her to pay closer attention to you and your emails, and you’re ticked off about how she disciplines.. I think you’re a different person than the one or ones posting about abusive coaches. Even those people recognize that Heckert isn’t going to take care of business. Half of that is because central ties her hands. Also principals don’t like to make too many waves until they have the lay of the land. Those decisions will have to be directed from higher up. I’m not criticizing you for disliking her and I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying you’re misdirecting your attention. While you’re on here, she’s on twitter celebrating those same coaches and buddying up to central people. If you really want to engage the MCPS people, you have to go to twitter. That’s where they all are, chitchatting with each other and signing off eith #raise and all that stuff.

Twitter isn't anonymous. Ms. Heckert could retaliate if she knew who was complaining. The staff know this and recommend that parents go above her head or make anonymous complaints. #badnews

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Says the principal who turned off the stadium lights on children and ordered them to go home.

Powder puff Mom is back.

Yes, as someone who sees plenty of real problems with MCPS, can you please stop piling onto Brandice Heckert. She’s so small potatoes and you’re distracting from much bigger issues and weakening those cases by seeming petty and whiny. She’s not going to be the one to solve most of your issues, principals are more or less neutered in MCPS. You’re wasting your time worrying about unreturned emails and powder puff football. Plus it’s getting old. We get it. You don’t like the new traffic pattern. You want her to pay closer attention to you and your emails, and you’re ticked off about how she disciplines.. I think you’re a different person than the one or ones posting about abusive coaches. Even those people recognize that Heckert isn’t going to take care of business. Half of that is because central ties her hands. Also principals don’t like to make too many waves until they have the lay of the land. Those decisions will have to be directed from higher up. I’m not criticizing you for disliking her and I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying you’re misdirecting your attention. While you’re on here, she’s on twitter celebrating those same coaches and buddying up to central people. If you really want to engage the MCPS people, you have to go to twitter. That’s where they all are, chitchatting with each other and signing off eith #raise and all that stuff.

Agreed that Mrs. Heckert is "small potatoes." She has a big say over the fate of 2,000 students. She was brought in to address known issues. Instead of doing that, she is creating more problems.

Parents point to the traffic problem because it's something they have to deal with every day. But the way that she dealt with that is typical of how she has dealt with other things. She didn't show any sign of being neutered. She didn't see any reason to consult with traffic engineers. Instead, by principal edict she changed the traffic problem on her own and made it worse and more dangerous.

The issue with powderpuff football isn't (at least not for me) the game, itself, but how she handled it. She didn't set expectations in advance. Instead, after kids had planned for the event, she announced it wasn't going to happen. Then, maybe realizing how unfair that was, she said the game could go forward. Then, after it started, she decided the kids couldn't have the game after all. To make it all worse, instead of letting the kids leave the stadium in an order fashion, she turned off the lights. Once again, she didn't think ahead. Students were stumbling around in the dark trying to leave. It wasn't safe for the kids. Once again, not neutered. She made the decision and took a stand several times all on her own.

As one writer said, the traffic issue shows arrogance. The powderpuff football one shows poor communication, poor planning, and arbitrary behavior. Focusing on the broken pipe instead of racism and antisemitism shows poor priorities. Taking credit for what others do is an unattractive trait and is unlikely to endear her to families or staff.

Perhaps these are minor issues. There are 2,000+ students at that school, and there are lots of minor issues.

There also are big ones, such as racism and antisemitism and drug use. Yes, coach abuse is a huge issue. She hasn't addressed it. Her idea of taking care of drug use is sending parent emails about the dangers of juuling. There was what Mrs. Heckert characterized as a hate crime at Churchill. She called the police, but her immediate focus in parent communications was a broken pipe in the school. I'm told she didn't do anything about the issues with race and antisemitism at the school until the PTA pushed her into bringing in outside experts to help.

If the principal consistently show poor judgment, arrogance, and arbitrariness on small things, I have no confidence in her ability to deal with big things, and she has shown too arrogant to bring in experts to help unless she is pressured by parents to do so. Churchill kids at least have parents who are mostly present in their lives and can advocate for both big and small issues. It's scary that those 2,000 kids are dependent on the parents doing so because the principal is ineffective.

+10000 Great summary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Says the principal who turned off the stadium lights on children and ordered them to go home.

Powder puff Mom is back.

Yes, as someone who sees plenty of real problems with MCPS, can you please stop piling onto Brandice Heckert. She’s so small potatoes and you’re distracting from much bigger issues and weakening those cases by seeming petty and whiny. She’s not going to be the one to solve most of your issues, principals are more or less neutered in MCPS. You’re wasting your time worrying about unreturned emails and powder puff football. Plus it’s getting old. We get it. You don’t like the new traffic pattern. You want her to pay closer attention to you and your emails, and you’re ticked off about how she disciplines.. I think you’re a different person than the one or ones posting about abusive coaches. Even those people recognize that Heckert isn’t going to take care of business. Half of that is because central ties her hands. Also principals don’t like to make too many waves until they have the lay of the land. Those decisions will have to be directed from higher up. I’m not criticizing you for disliking her and I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying you’re misdirecting your attention. While you’re on here, she’s on twitter celebrating those same coaches and buddying up to central people. If you really want to engage the MCPS people, you have to go to twitter. That’s where they all are, chitchatting with each other and signing off eith #raise and all that stuff.

Twitter isn't anonymous. Ms. Heckert could retaliate if she knew who was complaining. The staff know this and recommend that parents go above her head or make anonymous complaints. #badnews

The reason MCPS is so broken, who do you go to that is above Mrs. Heckert's head? No one wants to address known problems.

Using athletics as an example, the System-Wide Athletics Director keeps Tweeting #weRAISE during a time when a serious hazing incident at Seneca Valley in September (which is only now coming forward in the media) and the unfortunate rape of 4 JV football players during another hazing incident at Damascus High School. MCPS Athletics including problems at Churchill is in the toilet and all MCPS cares about is creating a false image of respect & sportsmanship, academic excellence, integrity & character, spirited & safe competition, and equity & access - the RAISE core values. When tweets don't match up with reality, the credibility of the person tweeting is damaged.

My suggestion is for parents to come to Cabin John MS and let Marc Elrich know of the problems at Churchill. We probably are not unique with many of the issues including a huge population increase which is the underlying reason for the traffic situation and the additional buses this year. The County Council has the power of funding for schools and Erlrich specifically has been concerned about student mental health and wellbeing as well as student safety as it relates to the poor practice of progressive discipline in MCPS schools. Progressive discipline is the MCPS terminology for giving bad staff members multiple chances to stop their bad behavior including predatory grooming traits prior to firing them. This common practice in MCPS leaves child predators in place for years to continue hurting children until there is enough evidence and multiple victims for the police to make the arrest.

Thursday, Nov. 15 from 7-8:30 p.m. at Cabin John Middle School, 10701 Gainsborough Rd. in Potomac.