DCPS cuts - Murch might lose school counselor position?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of her personal feelings about the counselor, it is disturbing how determined she is to poke her thumb in the eye of the parents.

There have been other postings from parents with kids with minor special needs who have had the same experience with her, unless you have had direct dealings people may not have realized that this is how she does business. I would hate to be the counselor working under these conditions and a lot of the teachers are very upset. I can't see that there is an enforcement mechanism to force her to follow though. The HSA can't punish her without hurting the kids. Murch is the kind of community where people would love to be involved in raising funds to offset cuts. Not her style at all.

[Anonymous]

http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Budget+and+Finance/FY12+Fiscal+Report+Card/Submitted+Budgets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes there are cuts but the bigger issue at Murch is that the current principal has alienated many excellent teachers by how she speaks to them , how she speaks about them... Have you been to a meeting where she rolls her eyes and speaks to the teacher making a presentation like a baby? She is not professional in her dealings with them. I've been a Murch parent for 4 principals and I have never felt do worried that so many excellent teachers will leave . The school - pre-counselor, was a very different place and teachers had a hard time without a cohesive discipline plan . The counselor has brougt on responsive classroom (RC) the school strategic planning meetings last year identified RC as a key need and the HSA has spent tens of thousands of dollars training teachers and staff this year in RC. Why the principal does not think it's important to keep the counselor is beyond me.

Different Murch parent poster, I have seen how disrespectfully she speaks to staff and have heard how disrespectfully she speaks of parents. She's not super professional in her direct dealings with parents either. Lots of the same "dominating" dismissive behavior, eye rolls and such.

Is it this counselor she wants to be rid of or the position? Anyone at a school able to work around a "personality" like this? The HSA has the $ for the salary, I'm unclear on how the benefits work with parent funded staff. Not sure how the parents can restore something to a budget that the principal has omitted.

I am a Murch staff, a Murch parent AND and a Murch LSAT member and all this anonymous mudslinging is NOT helping Murch, NOT helping the staff, and most importantly, NOT helping the kids. So, if you care about Murch, please, please, please check with more than one source on your 'facts' before posting information. Assuming what you hear from one 'trusty' source may still not apply to everyone; we are all individuals and any one person does not represent the entire community.

BUT, most importantly, putting all this ridiculously childish, negative gossip and half-truths on this type of forum will be connected to our community FOREVER....let me say it again, FOREVER!; searchable by anyone with the most basic computer skills and curiousity; this is NOT okay.

I am ready to see an end to the frantic gossip and drama and envision a Murch where what unites us IS the children and not who we dislike. In other words, when what unites us is someone TO dislike, a prerequisite for unity will always require someone TO dislike. Yet, when what unites us is the children, we are then more willing to work with each others' different ways of being to get the job done.

I am ready,
Anyone else with me?

Miriam Cutelis
Murch Art teacher/ Murch parent to Luke in Welsh's class (K) and Nora (PK next year)

[Anonymous]

I will just add, as a parent who is considering whether to have a child attend Murch next year, that I have been majorly turned off.by this.discussion. I have read it, but wondered again and again why on earth you all are carrying on this discussion here rather than a school listserve or even in person at your pta meetings or lsat meetings.

It gives a very bad impression of how things are run over there. But maybe your purpose IS to keep potential families away to ease overcrowding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will just add, as a parent who is considering whether to have a child attend Murch next year, that I have been majorly turned off.by this.discussion. I have read it, but wondered again and again why on earth you all are carrying on this discussion here rather than a school listserve or even in person at your pta meetings or lsat meetings.

It gives a very bad impression of how things are run over there. But maybe your purpose IS to keep potential families away to ease overcrowding?

Sorry, no one cares if you enroll or not, it has nothing to do with you.

Current parents prefer to be anonymous for obvious reasons given tensions with the principal.

[Anonymous]

Lovely. More warmth and love at Murch, I see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will just add, as a parent who is considering whether to have a child attend Murch next year, that I have been majorly turned off.by this.discussion. I have read it, but wondered again and again why on earth you all are carrying on this discussion here rather than a school listserve or even in person at your pta meetings or lsat meetings.

It gives a very bad impression of how things are run over there. But maybe your purpose IS to keep potential families away to ease overcrowding?

Because it is anonymous, you have no idea how many individuals are posting in this thread. It could be the same person, taking on several personna, saying the same thing from different angles (I doubt it). This is a situation where I would visit the school, talk to several people who attend, and form my own impression. As I've read this thread, the most disturbing to me issue would be if teachers who are strong performers left the school. Good luck with your decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the meeting last night the principal put up obstacles to every solution presented. Interested that the 1/2time social worker already has a space.

The social worker is required by dcps

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will just add, as a parent who is considering whether to have a child attend Murch next year, that I have been majorly turned off.by this.discussion. I have read it, but wondered again and again why on earth you all are carrying on this discussion here rather than a school listserve or even in person at your pta meetings or lsat meetings.

It gives a very bad impression of how things are run over there. But maybe your purpose IS to keep potential families away to ease overcrowding?

Because it is anonymous, you have no idea how many individuals are posting in this thread. It could be the same person, taking on several personna, saying the same thing from different angles (I doubt it). This is a situation where I would visit the school, talk to several people who attend, and form my own impression. As I've read this thread, the most disturbing to me issue would be if teachers who are strong performers left the school. Good luck with your decision.

Obviously. I am not new at this. But using this hugely public forum ( literally THOUSANDS of readers ) to hash this out seems like a lapse in judgement by however many Murch parents are involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the meeting last night the principal put up obstacles to every solution presented. Interested that the 1/2time social worker already has a space.

The social worker is required by dcps

Trying to imagine why Murch needs a social worker. Plenty of schools I could see that at, but this is not one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am a Murch staff, a Murch parent AND and a Murch LSAT member and all this anonymous mudslinging is NOT helping Murch, NOT helping the staff, and most importantly, NOT helping the kids. So, if you care about Murch, please, please, please check with more than one source on your 'facts' before posting information. Assuming what you hear from one 'trusty' source may still not apply to everyone; we are all individuals and any one person does not represent the entire community.

BUT, most importantly, putting all this ridiculously childish, negative gossip and half-truths on this type of forum will be connected to our community FOREVER....let me say it again, FOREVER!; searchable by anyone with the most basic computer skills and curiousity; this is NOT okay.

I am ready to see an end to the frantic gossip and drama and envision a Murch where what unites us IS the children and not who we dislike. In other words, when what unites us is someone TO dislike, a prerequisite for unity will always require someone TO dislike. Yet, when what unites us is the children, we are then more willing to work with each others' different ways of being to get the job done.

I am ready,
Anyone else with me?
Miriam Cutelis

Murch Art teacher/ Murch parent to Luke in Welsh's class (K) and Nora (PK next year)

Somehow I think that if all of the commentary here were positive, you wouldn't mind it or try to shut it down based on lack of evidence. Sophisticated Murch parents understand that this board is anonymous opinion that should be checked for validity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will just add, as a parent who is considering whether to have a child attend Murch next year, that I have been majorly turned off.by this.discussion. I have read it, but wondered again and again why on earth you all are carrying on this discussion here rather than a school listserve or even in person at your pta meetings or lsat meetings.

It gives a very bad impression of how things are run over there. But maybe your purpose IS to keep potential families away to ease overcrowding?

Because it is anonymous, you have no idea how many individuals are posting in this thread. It could be the same person, taking on several personna, saying the same thing from different angles (I doubt it). This is a situation where I would visit the school, talk to several people who attend, and form my own impression. As I've read this thread, the most disturbing to me issue would be if teachers who are strong performers left the school. Good luck with your decision.

Obviously. I am not new at this. But using this hugely public forum ( literally THOUSANDS of readers ) to hash this out seems like a lapse in judgement by however many Murch parents are involved.

NP here (and a Murch parent), and I'm trying to figure out how this thread is different than any other thread on DCUM that deals with an issue of concern at a school. Truly, I've been on here a long time, and this thread does not stick out to me in any way (except that I'm following it more closely because of my connection to the school).

I have no dog in this particular Murch fight--I don't know the counselor, nor do I have a strong opinion about the principal. But I'm interested to see this information because it helps me understand differing perspectives on how decisions are being made at the school. I also understand that this thread offers the opinions of an infinitesimal percentage of parents at the school and thus isn't in any way representative. You strike me as an intelligent person who understands this, so if this thread is the reason you decide against Murch, it's likely that you weren't going to choose Murch anyway. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue is that the principal submitted budget against the recommendation of the LSAT. It is not that this ward 3 school is a "bad fit" fir a social worker. It's that she wants to get rid of this counselor who gives the teachers strength. the principal doesnot thinkthe social and emotional goals identified during the strategic planning process are even worth mentioning,never mind implementing. The issue is that she isso disrespectful andcondesending to teachers that weareatgreat risk of many of them leaving.

This is all simply NOT true. You must be getting your gossip from the wrong person at Murch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the meeting last night the principal put up obstacles to every solution presented.

Funny how you hear what you want to hear. I heard that she had no room to budge in the budget, those obstacles were very important obstacles, such as much larger class sizes and cutting out other necessities. She's not choosing to cut out the counselor, she was forced to prioritize on things that would have greater benefit for my child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the meeting last night the principal put up obstacles to every solution presented. Interested that the 1/2time social worker already has a space.

The social worker is required by dcps

Trying to imagine why Murch needs a social worker. Plenty of schools I could see that at, but this is not one of them.

Because there is more to helping kids succeed than just academics. You might be surprised at just how high the need is at schools like Murch. And the larger your school gets the more issues that surface.