Shepherd principal leaving after this year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see pros and cons to this.

She has seemed to have a good rapport with her teachers and staff and managed them effectively. A few toxic personnel at the school disappeared during her tenure, and I think she may have aided in their departure, so I'm grateful for that. I think the kids have nothing but admiration and respect for her, so there's a lot to be said for that as well.

Any issues we had were ultimately addressed or resolved - not always in the most timely fashion, and not always quite the way we wanted. But I will give some slack - a DCPS principal has a LOT to manage. She has/had no vice principal, which lots of DCPS have.

Her communication skills and responsiveness have always been a bit lacking. Not awful, just lacking. I'd give a B-. Will we get an A+ candidate? Hard to say. I think if the PTA is able to exert influence over the new candidate (and current PTA leadership is *amazing*, so I'm hopeful), we could get someone great. If the central office exerts their candidate over the parents' preferences, well, meh.

So, so true. And the Gala planning seems to be going wonderfully. Hoping there will be a good turnout this weekend (we won't be there, but are bidding online).

Rising PK3 parent and we are happily bidding online as well! Great selections!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

There are many Jewish families that have opted in to Shepherd. There are also many that I know of that go to nearby charters. Not all Jewish families go to Milton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

There are many Jewish families that have opted in to Shepherd. There are also many that I know of that go to nearby charters. Not all Jewish families go to Milton.

Maybe for PreK! But not 4th or 5th grades not a single one in DC’s class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

DP here. The stronger DCPS schools have better neighborhood buyin. Nothing against any current OOB families, but typically the schools that fill up with IB families are higher performing. It goes hand in hand with stronger parent advocacy for the school to improve, stronger commitment to the neighborhood school, etc.

A related factor is fixing the issues that keep other neighborhood parents away. Branching out to the in boundary community, especially those who opted for schools other than Shepherd, is a great idea. It's not just those selecting religious schools. Lots of people in charters and even some in privates would have no qualms sending their kids to Shepherd if it was up to the standards of a JKLMM. Our IB community would support getting to this level (seriously great community), but we have to get the neighbors to be willing to send their kids.

We're in a good position. Hopefully we get the right leadership in place to make this happen. I don't know who you are but I look forward to working with both of you as we move forward

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

There are many Jewish families that have opted in to Shepherd. There are also many that I know of that go to nearby charters. Not all Jewish families go to Milton.

+1. The pp you're responding to clearly hasn't been open to getting to know any Jewish people. Really hard to do in our neighborhood so congrats on avoiding ALL of us . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

DP here. The stronger DCPS schools have better neighborhood buyin. Nothing against any current OOB families, but typically the schools that fill up with IB families are higher performing. It goes hand in hand with stronger parent advocacy for the school to improve, stronger commitment to the neighborhood school, etc.

A related factor is fixing the issues that keep other neighborhood parents away. Branching out to the in boundary community, especially those who opted for schools other than Shepherd, is a great idea. It's not just those selecting religious schools. Lots of people in charters and even some in privates would have no qualms sending their kids to Shepherd if it was up to the standards of a JKLMM. Our IB community would support getting to this level (seriously great community), but we have to get the neighbors to be willing to send their kids.

We're in a good position. Hopefully we get the right leadership in place to make this happen. I don't know who you are but I look forward to working with both of you as we move forward

FWIW we turned down Lafayette in favor of Shepherd a few years ago. If your compare the scores, AA kids (my kid) actually do better at Shepherd. My recent research shows they have similar report card grades. I like the economic and religious diversity at Shepherd. I also like a smaller school environment and the IB curriculum. Not everyone wants to be at a JKLM school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

What a, like, bigot! One of the synagogues in Shepherd Park tutors Shepherd students at the synagogue. Are they like, super unfriendly with no buy in to the neighborhood? Jack and Jill kicked a bunch of kids off the Shepherd playground this weekend. Isn't that, like, super unfriendly? Shall we, like, extrapolate that all members of Jack and Jill are unfriendly? Can you, like, hear yourself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

What a, like, bigot! One of the synagogues in Shepherd Park tutors Shepherd students at the synagogue. Are they like, super unfriendly with no buy in to the neighborhood? Jack and Jill kicked a bunch of kids off the Shepherd playground this weekend. Isn't that, like, super unfriendly? Shall we, like, extrapolate that all members of Jack and Jill are unfriendly? Can you, like, hear yourself?

Shepherd kids are ok to tutor but not to have as classmates I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's expecting, this could be the reason she's resigning?

She is not expecting, her sister is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

What a, like, bigot! One of the synagogues in Shepherd Park tutors Shepherd students at the synagogue. Are they like, super unfriendly with no buy in to the neighborhood? Jack and Jill kicked a bunch of kids off the Shepherd playground this weekend. Isn't that, like, super unfriendly? Shall we, like, extrapolate that all members of Jack and Jill are unfriendly? Can you, like, hear yourself?

I am not getting the comparison here. What does Jack nJill have to do with the argument? And who did they kick off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

What a, like, bigot! One of the synagogues in Shepherd Park tutors Shepherd students at the synagogue. Are they like, super unfriendly with no buy in to the neighborhood? Jack and Jill kicked a bunch of kids off the Shepherd playground this weekend. Isn't that, like, super unfriendly? Shall we, like, extrapolate that all members of Jack and Jill are unfriendly? Can you, like, hear yourself?

I am not getting the comparison here. What does Jack nJill have to do with the argument? And who did they kick off?

Jack and Jill members send their kids to Shepherd too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

Have you ever lived near a group of very observant religious folks before? Many prefer to send kids to Jewish schools, where they learn Hebrew, learn about and preserve their culture, etc.

Also, I've found our Jewish neighbors on our block to be friendly. Our kids play outside together. They warmly welcomed us to the neighborhood when we first moved in. I would be careful not to generalize to all members of a certain group based on your interactions with a few.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

What a, like, bigot! One of the synagogues in Shepherd Park tutors Shepherd students at the synagogue. Are they like, super unfriendly with no buy in to the neighborhood? Jack and Jill kicked a bunch of kids off the Shepherd playground this weekend. Isn't that, like, super unfriendly? Shall we, like, extrapolate that all members of Jack and Jill are unfriendly? Can you, like, hear yourself?

Shepherd kids are ok to tutor but not to have as classmates I guess.

You clearly know very little about Shepherd Park as a neighborhood or SES as a school - your take is ahistorial, and yes, bigoted as hell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had interactions with her during her first year and I always appreciated how she spoke respectfully to children. I can’t say the same for the teachers. She seemed like she was going to try to be present but from even those early days she never seemed to be available to parents. Not everyone is perfect so hopefully she’ll find a good school and be given the power to hire/fire early on. But if you want more neighborhood buyin? I would recommend the new principal get out into the neighborhood if he wants to make it a neighborhood school versus just talking to the same old parents who think the school is amazing - it could be SO much better with neighborhood buy in.

Curious why you think this? I’d like a principal who would actively drum up more neighborhood buy-in too, even if for selfish reasons (more walking play dates! running into families at the playground, etc.). But there have been some great, engaged OOB families too over the years. Not sure fewer OOB would necessarily make the school “better.”

The neighborhood has a ton of Jewish families, they aren’t going to buy in... ever. Like they can’t even say hello to non-Jewish neighbors! The OOB kids are great. Our child has many oob friends.

What a, like, bigot! One of the synagogues in Shepherd Park tutors Shepherd students at the synagogue. Are they like, super unfriendly with no buy in to the neighborhood? Jack and Jill kicked a bunch of kids off the Shepherd playground this weekend. Isn't that, like, super unfriendly? Shall we, like, extrapolate that all members of Jack and Jill are unfriendly? Can you, like, hear yourself?

I am not getting the comparison here. What does Jack nJill have to do with the argument? And who did they kick off?

The bigot OP is calling Jews is an exclusionary group - Jack and Jill has certainly been called an exclusionary group - and surprise- both some Jews and some Jack and Jill members send their kids to Shepherd. Jack and Jill had a permit, though, so they paid for the right to kick people off the playground.

Jack and Jill members send their kids to Shepherd too.