New MacAuthur Principal

[Anonymous]

announcement coming shortly, but the selection is a GREAT one. This person is truly impressive. GET PSYCHED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. An ES principal with ZERO HS experience from a low achieving ES? The MAJORITY of ELA scores are ONE, so it's hard to see how there could have been that much growth. Also, per the DCPS profile, student satisfaction has plummeted from 86% to 65% during his tenure, so I'm not seeing any evidence to back up the poster's suggestion that all students are happy there. What is DCPS thinking???

I was on the selection panel and i can tell you, the person who has been selected is terrific. ignore all of this - person is a born leader and is going to crush this new job. I am 100% confident in person's ability to lead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. An ES principal with ZERO HS experience from a low achieving ES? The MAJORITY of ELA scores are ONE, so it's hard to see how there could have been that much growth. Also, per the DCPS profile, student satisfaction has plummeted from 86% to 65% during his tenure, so I'm not seeing any evidence to back up the poster's suggestion that all students are happy there. What is DCPS thinking???

I was on the selection panel and i can tell you, the person who has been selected is terrific. ignore all of this - person is a born leader and is going to crush this new job. I am 100% confident in person's ability to lead.

Lead with what goals? Was the question of average and high achievers addressed by the panel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. An ES principal with ZERO HS experience from a low achieving ES? The MAJORITY of ELA scores are ONE, so it's hard to see how there could have been that much growth. Also, per the DCPS profile, student satisfaction has plummeted from 86% to 65% during his tenure, so I'm not seeing any evidence to back up the poster's suggestion that all students are happy there. What is DCPS thinking???

I was on the selection panel and i can tell you, the person who has been selected is terrific. ignore all of this - person is a born leader and is going to crush this new job. I am 100% confident in person's ability to lead.

Why should we trust you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, all the people I know that work at Stanton are happy, which is a rarity in any DCPS let alone a particularly challenging school. He has had really strong staff retention which is no easy task. I'd give him a chance rather than worrying where he got his PHd, which is in no way a pre - req to becoming a principal

With no high school experience!

Incorrect.

I cannot speak to whether this is the person hired, or even whether he was interviewed.

But the interview panel made up on feeder school leaders was reportedly in complete agreement about the best two candidates, and, I think, the preferred candidate.

If this is the candidate DCPS hired, and if he is the same person the interview panel were raving about, then this is an excellent result. I trust the interview panel even if I don't trust central office.

We cannot deny that the current school is only 4% proficient.

JFC if Ronald McDonald was principal of Janney/Hearst/Mann the proficiency scores would be exactly the same. That's not what a principal does

That’s not the point. The point is whether the candiate is able AND WILLING to support the needs of high achievers (or even average achievers).

What qualities would this candidate have that someone who worked in a high needs school wouldn't have? Otherwise it just sounds like your dog whistling

[Anonymous]

DCUMs are never happy! There’s a new Ward 3 HS and it’s nothing but whining here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, all the people I know that work at Stanton are happy, which is a rarity in any DCPS let alone a particularly challenging school. He has had really strong staff retention which is no easy task. I'd give him a chance rather than worrying where he got his PHd, which is in no way a pre - req to becoming a principal

With no high school experience!

Incorrect.

I cannot speak to whether this is the person hired, or even whether he was interviewed.

But the interview panel made up on feeder school leaders was reportedly in complete agreement about the best two candidates, and, I think, the preferred candidate.

If this is the candidate DCPS hired, and if he is the same person the interview panel were raving about, then this is an excellent result. I trust the interview panel even if I don't trust central office.

We cannot deny that the current school is only 4% proficient.

JFC if Ronald McDonald was principal of Janney/Hearst/Mann the proficiency scores would be exactly the same. That's not what a principal does

That’s not the point. The point is whether the candiate is able AND WILLING to support the needs of high achievers (or even average achievers).

What qualities would this candidate have that someone who worked in a high needs school wouldn't have? Otherwise it just sounds like your dog whistling

Newish P. You're the one intentionally signaling something there, trolling, with your "your" for "you're" and absence of ".".

We would have wanted the principal to have past relationships with colleges, local for high schoolers who may need it in 11 and 12th, and across the US for college applications. We would have wanted the principal to have a deep strong knowledge of what high schoolers go through - that age group - emotionally and behaviorally, and a decade or two figuring out what works and what doesn't, for addressing their needs. We would have wanted him to have some experience supporting high school teachers, quirks in curriculum, materials, anything high school related.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. An ES principal with ZERO HS experience from a low achieving ES? The MAJORITY of ELA scores are ONE, so it's hard to see how there could have been that much growth. Also, per the DCPS profile, student satisfaction has plummeted from 86% to 65% during his tenure, so I'm not seeing any evidence to back up the poster's suggestion that all students are happy there. What is DCPS thinking???

I was on the selection panel and i can tell you, the person who has been selected is terrific. ignore all of this - person is a born leader and is going to crush this new job. I am 100% confident in person's ability to lead.

"lead"? The F are you talking about this as if it were some abstract exercise in leadership? There is an amount of subject matter expertise AND established bridges outside of DCPS, to being a high school principal.

[Anonymous]

Looks like he was a principal at a PGCPS high school in Lanham, MD. The name of the high school is not listed in his bio or his LinkedIn page, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, all the people I know that work at Stanton are happy, which is a rarity in any DCPS let alone a particularly challenging school. He has had really strong staff retention which is no easy task. I'd give him a chance rather than worrying where he got his PHd, which is in no way a pre - req to becoming a principal

With no high school experience!

Incorrect.

I cannot speak to whether this is the person hired, or even whether he was interviewed.

But the interview panel made up on feeder school leaders was reportedly in complete agreement about the best two candidates, and, I think, the preferred candidate.

If this is the candidate DCPS hired, and if he is the same person the interview panel were raving about, then this is an excellent result. I trust the interview panel even if I don't trust central office.

We cannot deny that the current school is only 4% proficient.

JFC if Ronald McDonald was principal of Janney/Hearst/Mann the proficiency scores would be exactly the same. That's not what a principal does

That’s not the point. The point is whether the candiate is able AND WILLING to support the needs of high achievers (or even average achievers).

What qualities would this candidate have that someone who worked in a high needs school wouldn't have? Otherwise it just sounds like your dog whistling

Newish P. You're the one intentionally signaling something there, trolling, with your "your" for "you're" and absence of ".".

We would have wanted the principal to have past relationships with colleges, local for high schoolers who may need it in 11 and 12th, and across the US for college applications. We would have wanted the principal to have a deep strong knowledge of what high schoolers go through - that age group - emotionally and behaviorally, and a decade or two figuring out what works and what doesn't, for addressing their needs. We would have wanted him to have some experience supporting high school teachers, quirks in curriculum, materials, anything high school related.

Ohh, same PP, I take my rant back, he DOES have experience as a high school principal.

Dr. McCray began his career teaching middle school mathematics in Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS). He also served as an instructional coach and assistant principal. Additionally, he served as a principal in both elementary school and high school in PGPCS before transferring to the District of Columbia Public Schools to serve as principal of Stanton Elementary School.

During his time as principal of a high school serving over 1,800 students, Dr. McCray maintained over a 90% retention rate for 9th graders, increased dual enrollment, and was instrumental in launching the district’s only Aerospace Engineering & Aviation Technology Program. In his role as an elementary principal, he has significantly decreased the number of students reading below grade level through the implementation of the Science of Reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looks like he was a principal at a PGCPS high school in Lanham, MD. The name of the high school is not listed in his bio or his LinkedIn page, though.

That's super weird.

[Anonymous]

Was he a “resident principal” of a high school in PGCPS or a principal of a high school? I would imagine there is a difference. Alot of titles in the bio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was he a “resident principal” of a high school in PGCPS or a principal of a high school? I would imagine there is a difference. Alot of titles in the bio.

What's a "resident principal"?
Where do the 10% of 9th graders go who didn't stay? Is that supposed to mean he kept a lot of 9th graders from dropping out, or from going to other schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was he a “resident principal” of a high school in PGCPS or a principal of a high school? I would imagine there is a difference. Alot of titles in the bio.

According to his LinkedIn, he was "resident principal" for 1/2 of sy16 and sy17 and then "principal" for sy18 and sy19. His LinkedIn doesn't list the name of the school, but it seems likely that it was DuVal High School in Lanham, MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looks like he was a principal at a PGCPS high school in Lanham, MD. The name of the high school is not listed in his bio or his LinkedIn page, though.

That's super weird.

He was at DuVal.

AT DuVal, 74% are below grade level in English and 95% are below grade level in math.