Churchill Getting a New Principal

[Anonymous]

With a change in leadership of Churchill, are there changes in other staff positions? Or is current staffing locked on July 1st?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With a change in leadership of Churchill, are there changes in other staff positions? Or is current staffing locked on July 1st?

Teachers have until July 15 to resign without prejudice. There will be a new AP this coming year as Mrs. Gasaway went to a middle school so she could spend more time with her baby. AP positions at Churchill have been a revolving door for the past few years.

[Anonymous]

Can someone past the text of the letter they just sent? Can’t get it to open on my phone.

[JamesMN57]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone past the text of the letter they just sent? Can’t get it to open on my phone.

Here you go:

July 12, 2021

Dear Winston Churchill Community,

The purpose of this message is to provide you with an update regarding the principal selection process. On Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. the next principal of Winston Churchill High School will be recommended to the Board of Education (BOE) for appointment. Following the board meeting, you will receive an introductory message from this individual. In this message from your new principal, information will be provided with dates and times for meet and greets throughout the summer. These opportunities will be provided both in person and virtually to accommodate the needs of the community.

The feedback and input that has been provided by the school community throughout this process has been extremely valuable. Please continue to contact me with feedback, questions, or concerns at [e-mail]

Respectfully,



Peter Moran, Ed.D.
Director of Learning, Achievement, and Administration
Office of Teaching, Learning, and Schools

[JamesMN57]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know how MCAAP works, but with teachers there’s a timeline for PAR. You have to document and move them out within a specific window, or you lose the chance, or it at minimum becomes a much harder and longer process. This could have been going on for a long time, especially if Covid or a supervisor botched the documentation timeline.

It doesn’t make sense. Three years in a job with half of that time being an unprecedented switch to online learning? Mistakes happen. There’s supposed to be a process of support and retraining.

My thought is perhaps she decided to take a step back. She was a mom with a young child trying to do elementary school online. The pandemic has caused many women to reconsider their priorities and perhaps an AP position is a better fit for her personal situation.

I didn't love her, but at the same time I didn't think she was so terrible that she should be sent away like this. That said, I have no clue how the parents writ large felt about her and reading this board it's clear to me that there were a lot of hard feelings regarding her.

As for as "stepping back" - a HS AP has almost as many responsibilities as a principal, I wouldn't see taking on an AP position as much of a "step back", and I would think that the word would have gotten out in house that this was a "step back", it certainly did for Marie Gasaway who's going to an AP position at a middle school where the demands are less and she'll have extra time for her new child.

[Anonymous]

JamesMN57 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know how MCAAP works, but with teachers there’s a timeline for PAR. You have to document and move them out within a specific window, or you lose the chance, or it at minimum becomes a much harder and longer process. This could have been going on for a long time, especially if Covid or a supervisor botched the documentation timeline.

It doesn’t make sense. Three years in a job with half of that time being an unprecedented switch to online learning? Mistakes happen. There’s supposed to be a process of support and retraining.

My thought is perhaps she decided to take a step back. She was a mom with a young child trying to do elementary school online. The pandemic has caused many women to reconsider their priorities and perhaps an AP position is a better fit for her personal situation.

I didn't love her, but at the same time I didn't think she was so terrible that she should be sent away like this. That said, I have no clue how the parents writ large felt about her and reading this board it's clear to me that there were a lot of hard feelings regarding her.

As for as "stepping back" - a HS AP has almost as many responsibilities as a principal, I wouldn't see taking on an AP position as much of a "step back", and I would think that the word would have gotten out in house that this was a "step back", it certainly did for Marie Gasaway who's going to an AP position at a middle school where the demands are less and she'll have extra time for her new child.

If we assume that the level of parental attitude on DCUM is a proxy for the level of parental attitude in real life, I'd say that any administrative job at Paint Branch would be way less stressful than principal (or AP) at Churchill.

Not saying that's why she moved, but just saying that workload isn't the only contributor to stress.

[Anonymous]

JamesMN57 wrote:
I didn't love her, but at the same time I didn't think she was so terrible that she should be sent away like this. That said, I have no clue how the parents writ large felt about her and reading this board it's clear to me that there were a lot of hard feelings regarding her.

As for as "stepping back" - a HS AP has almost as many responsibilities as a principal, I wouldn't see taking on an AP position as much of a "step back", and I would think that the word would have gotten out in house that this was a "step back", it certainly did for Marie Gasaway who's going to an AP position at a middle school where the demands are less and she'll have extra time for her new child.

I agree with you. I didn't love Ms. Heckert but thought she was fine, and should have had more time. (I did love Ms. Gasaway, and will miss her.) But I wouldn't use DCUM to decide that there were a lot of hard feelings against Ms. Heckert. The complaints could be coming from a handful of people. Any Churchill principal is going to leave some parents unhappy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

JamesMN57 wrote:
I didn't love her, but at the same time I didn't think she was so terrible that she should be sent away like this. That said, I have no clue how the parents writ large felt about her and reading this board it's clear to me that there were a lot of hard feelings regarding her.

As for as "stepping back" - a HS AP has almost as many responsibilities as a principal, I wouldn't see taking on an AP position as much of a "step back", and I would think that the word would have gotten out in house that this was a "step back", it certainly did for Marie Gasaway who's going to an AP position at a middle school where the demands are less and she'll have extra time for her new child.

I agree with you. I didn't love Ms. Heckert but thought she was fine, and should have had more time. (I did love Ms. Gasaway, and will miss her.) But I wouldn't use DCUM to decide that there were a lot of hard feelings against Ms. Heckert. The complaints could be coming from a handful of people. Any Churchill principal is going to leave some parents unhappy.

The "Why" of this is a mystery, Heckert started off poorly, but I'd think your first year would be the year you got to make mistakes. So either something happened that we're not collectively aware of, or the criteria MCPS uses for a successful principal is more demanding than I'd have given them credit for.

And you're right about DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

JamesMN57 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know how MCAAP works, but with teachers there’s a timeline for PAR. You have to document and move them out within a specific window, or you lose the chance, or it at minimum becomes a much harder and longer process. This could have been going on for a long time, especially if Covid or a supervisor botched the documentation timeline.

It doesn’t make sense. Three years in a job with half of that time being an unprecedented switch to online learning? Mistakes happen. There’s supposed to be a process of support and retraining.

My thought is perhaps she decided to take a step back. She was a mom with a young child trying to do elementary school online. The pandemic has caused many women to reconsider their priorities and perhaps an AP position is a better fit for her personal situation.

I didn't love her, but at the same time I didn't think she was so terrible that she should be sent away like this. That said, I have no clue how the parents writ large felt about her and reading this board it's clear to me that there were a lot of hard feelings regarding her.

As for as "stepping back" - a HS AP has almost as many responsibilities as a principal, I wouldn't see taking on an AP position as much of a "step back", and I would think that the word would have gotten out in house that this was a "step back", it certainly did for Marie Gasaway who's going to an AP position at a middle school where the demands are less and she'll have extra time for her new child.

If we assume that the level of parental attitude on DCUM is a proxy for the level of parental attitude in real life, I'd say that any administrative job at Paint Branch would be way less stressful than principal (or AP) at Churchill.

Not saying that's why she moved, but just saying that workload isn't the only contributor to stress.

PB is not a school on the same level performancewise with Churchill, so that particular issue is VERY much a part of the job for an AP. You're dealing with more kids struggling, and their parents, more kids who are in situations that carry over into the school that create problems, you're very much more focused on issues that frankly at Churchill don't exist.

And here's the bottom line: Churchill parents, by and large, don't live in the real world. Both parents don't often work, one gets to stay home with the kids and to play on message boards and complain, and very often it doesn't take a whole lot for the complaints to flow.

You still have all the extracurriculars at PB that you have at Churchill, so that workload isn't reduced, so your time suck for dances, sports, plays, concerts, that's ALL there. Then you have the other issues that fall under behavior and discipline, and while Churchill kids are certainly not angels, take whatever problems you have at Churchill in this regard and increase that number by some factor, that all falls on APs to deal with.

And here's the bottom line point: EVERYONE at Churchill knew why Gasaway was leaving. Gasaway was well-liked and respected, and her leaving was very much felt to be a loss. No one I've talked to or read anything from here has a clue why, exactly, Heckert was sent packing, and she WAS sent packing. If this was a "I needed to spend time with my family" kinda thing, I'm pretty sure the word would have gone out about that as it did for Gasaway. The why for Hecket will eventually make itself known someway, somehow, but at the point of departure, which she announced at a Zoom staff meeting, she did so with tears and simply signing off at the end, not the usual case of her lingering until everyone was gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

JamesMN57 wrote:
I didn't love her, but at the same time I didn't think she was so terrible that she should be sent away like this. That said, I have no clue how the parents writ large felt about her and reading this board it's clear to me that there were a lot of hard feelings regarding her.

As for as "stepping back" - a HS AP has almost as many responsibilities as a principal, I wouldn't see taking on an AP position as much of a "step back", and I would think that the word would have gotten out in house that this was a "step back", it certainly did for Marie Gasaway who's going to an AP position at a middle school where the demands are less and she'll have extra time for her new child.

I agree with you. I didn't love Ms. Heckert but thought she was fine, and should have had more time. (I did love Ms. Gasaway, and will miss her.) But I wouldn't use DCUM to decide that there were a lot of hard feelings against Ms. Heckert. The complaints could be coming from a handful of people. Any Churchill principal is going to leave some parents unhappy.

My guess is the community is very demanding and has a lot of free time to complain when they feel they aren't getting sufficient attention paid. The people in charge probably just swapping out principals is easier than dealing with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

JamesMN57 wrote:
I didn't love her, but at the same time I didn't think she was so terrible that she should be sent away like this. That said, I have no clue how the parents writ large felt about her and reading this board it's clear to me that there were a lot of hard feelings regarding her.

As for as "stepping back" - a HS AP has almost as many responsibilities as a principal, I wouldn't see taking on an AP position as much of a "step back", and I would think that the word would have gotten out in house that this was a "step back", it certainly did for Marie Gasaway who's going to an AP position at a middle school where the demands are less and she'll have extra time for her new child.

I agree with you. I didn't love Ms. Heckert but thought she was fine, and should have had more time. (I did love Ms. Gasaway, and will miss her.) But I wouldn't use DCUM to decide that there were a lot of hard feelings against Ms. Heckert. The complaints could be coming from a handful of people. Any Churchill principal is going to leave some parents unhappy.

My guess is the community is very demanding and has a lot of free time to complain when they feel they aren't getting sufficient attention paid. The people in charge probably just swapping out principals is easier than dealing with it.

I'm sure this is an oversimplification of the situation. There were many parents that were not fans of Benz for many, many years, but that didn't stop the powers that be from not moving her to the central office and appointing a new principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

JamesMN57 wrote:
I didn't love her, but at the same time I didn't think she was so terrible that she should be sent away like this. That said, I have no clue how the parents writ large felt about her and reading this board it's clear to me that there were a lot of hard feelings regarding her.

As for as "stepping back" - a HS AP has almost as many responsibilities as a principal, I wouldn't see taking on an AP position as much of a "step back", and I would think that the word would have gotten out in house that this was a "step back", it certainly did for Marie Gasaway who's going to an AP position at a middle school where the demands are less and she'll have extra time for her new child.

I agree with you. I didn't love Ms. Heckert but thought she was fine, and should have had more time. (I did love Ms. Gasaway, and will miss her.) But I wouldn't use DCUM to decide that there were a lot of hard feelings against Ms. Heckert. The complaints could be coming from a handful of people. Any Churchill principal is going to leave some parents unhappy.

My guess is the community is very demanding and has a lot of free time to complain when they feel they aren't getting sufficient attention paid. The people in charge probably just swapping out principals is easier than dealing with it.

I'm sure this is an oversimplification of the situation. There were many parents that were not fans of Benz for many, many years, but that didn't stop the powers that be from not moving her to the central office and appointing a new principal.

+1 if it wasn’t Heckert’s choice to leave then some power at be higher than Moran caused the departure. Moran’s comment that it normally takes a principal 7 years to see their vision to fruition. He seemed stunned and not pleased.

MCPS has multi layers of politics and with a change at the Superintendent level and an interim Superintendent trying to prove her worth for the permanent appointment, there is a change in the vision up top. MCPS would not have taken action without covering their butts. Whether or not their action was fair, only the inside people know.

Let’s see who MCPS chooses for the next principal. Their choice will be telling of the politics being played out at Central Office and the change they think needed to occur.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

JamesMN57 wrote:
I didn't love her, but at the same time I didn't think she was so terrible that she should be sent away like this. That said, I have no clue how the parents writ large felt about her and reading this board it's clear to me that there were a lot of hard feelings regarding her.

As for as "stepping back" - a HS AP has almost as many responsibilities as a principal, I wouldn't see taking on an AP position as much of a "step back", and I would think that the word would have gotten out in house that this was a "step back", it certainly did for Marie Gasaway who's going to an AP position at a middle school where the demands are less and she'll have extra time for her new child.

I agree with you. I didn't love Ms. Heckert but thought she was fine, and should have had more time. (I did love Ms. Gasaway, and will miss her.) But I wouldn't use DCUM to decide that there were a lot of hard feelings against Ms. Heckert. The complaints could be coming from a handful of people. Any Churchill principal is going to leave some parents unhappy.

Lol. I didn’t know who Ms. Gasaway was and I’ve been at the school for more than one child. Unless you work in the school, who had a need to get to know Ms. Gasaway?

There’s also a difference in leaving some parents unhappy and taking a step down to an AP position. If you have been in the cluster, there have been principals at the elementary and middle school levels that aren’t beloved by the community but are kept in place by MCPS.

By tomorrow, Churchill should move forward and welcome the new Principal. Hopefully there will be renewed leadership and unity in the school.

[Anonymous]

Mr,. Taylor from Cabin Branch is the new principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mr,. Taylor from Cabin Branch is the new principal.

Sorry, typo--Cabin John!