A quarter of the teachers at Lakewood Elementary are leaving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved to this neighborhood because of the school district. I've really liked the teachers my son has had; they have all been helpful, caring and communicative with me. But I know at least two of them are leaving! When I heard that, I told my husband that we should just sell our house, move to a condo and send the kinds to private school.

I'm told the new principal is making it a toxic workplace. Does anyone know what the f*** is going on?

Different school but ES had turnover in the 30% range. Covid and school closures destroyed education.

Not many teachers left during covid for Lakewood. A quarter left after one year of new principle.

It’s principal, not principle. Is that really so hard?

Well, she's not a "pal" if she's toxic. I guess that's the principle we're operating under.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two posts mention the principal's new diversity/inclusion initiatives, but what is she actually doing?

When talking about issues with diversity/inclusive initiatives you have to be kind of careful because it may come across the wrong way.

First it's as I tell people, I support a lot of the movements that's been going on. I've always hated the word "allies" because I always saw that as some sort of virtue signalling. You either live the life or you don't.

But this new principal came in beating that drum like, "I'm going to teach you all to be anti racist"

One thing people have to be aware of is that Lakewood is about 50 percent Asian. And a common accusation or narrative is that Asians are the most racist, especially against Black people. You can look at the Black on Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, Kanye's rants against Asians, going back to the hostility that lead to the LA Riots. Jada Pinkett Smith did a Red Table Talk about it too:
https://www.facebook.com/redtabletalk/videos/230734652152832/

So you have this principal seemingly come marching in saying, "I'm going to teach you all to be not racist..." How does that come across?

Here's her mission statement for the school:

Vision: We aspire to establish an anti-racist, culturally responsive, inclusive, collaborative learning environment by building positive self-identities and relationships where scholars and staff thrive.

Mission: We strive to cultivate data-driven instruction through an inclusive, engaging and antiracist community. We will develop a foundation for social-emotional learning in a safe and nurturing environment that value and meets the diverse needs of ALL scholars and staff, every day.

Here's a mission statement, from another school, where the principal is Black as well:

community values a positive emotional, professional and physical environment that fosters a joy of learning where students, staff, and parents are dedicated to creating a rigorous, nurturing educational experience for all learners.

You see how they kind of both encourage a positive and nurturing atmosphere? But the second one manages to do it without sounding accusatory.

So you combine this with issues that parents had where it sounded like there were instances where the principal cancelled recess to give an assembly to talk about slavery. I had to dig into my kids a little bit to find out what was going on. In one instance, it sounds like it came from an incident where the n word was used. In that type of incident I would fully support what the principal did. Where one of the concerns that we had about the area was that it wasn't really diverse and there's not really a lot of representation among all groups. But a major issue was that there was no communication from the principal on what was going on. So you only have that knowledge of her coming in making a big deal how she was going to "teach" the community to be antiracist, then hearing how she was cancelling recess and holding these assemblies.

Then her other statement, " All student-scholars, with a focus on African-American and Hispanic student-scholars..."

What's the other narrative about Asians? Asians are good at academics and don't need help and support. One of the reasons why we chose the Lakewood community was for the strong representation of Asians and we thought we could trust that our kids wouldn't get overlooked and get the support they need.

And it's like I said, when you grow up, live and work in diverse environments, you see the inequities and have to support the movements that's been going on. But I also believe that the pendulum can swing too far to the other way and there's better ways of going about it. I don't think that this principal has been going about it the right away and also is not sensitive to the community as well. There are a lot of other issues besides the diversity/inclusivity initiatives with the principal. The lack of communication about the assemblies is just one example of the principal's lack of communication. But my main issue with the principal is how she's going about her mission to foster an antiracist community. Again, I'm not against equity/inclusivity initiatives but I think she's going about it the wrong way.

Seems like they prioritize DEI indoctrination while education itself is a secondary or tertiary concern at best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This happens. The entire Math teaching contingent of Richard Montgomery school left when the new principal joined (who has now been replaced I believe).

the whole math Dept - every single teacher

nope. My DC's math teacher has been there a while at RM. Great teacher, btw. MIT grad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two posts mention the principal's new diversity/inclusion initiatives, but what is she actually doing?

When talking about issues with diversity/inclusive initiatives you have to be kind of careful because it may come across the wrong way.

First it's as I tell people, I support a lot of the movements that's been going on. I've always hated the word "allies" because I always saw that as some sort of virtue signalling. You either live the life or you don't.

But this new principal came in beating that drum like, "I'm going to teach you all to be anti racist"

One thing people have to be aware of is that Lakewood is about 50 percent Asian. And a common accusation or narrative is that Asians are the most racist, especially against Black people. You can look at the Black on Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, Kanye's rants against Asians, going back to the hostility that lead to the LA Riots. Jada Pinkett Smith did a Red Table Talk about it too:
https://www.facebook.com/redtabletalk/videos/230734652152832/

So you have this principal seemingly come marching in saying, "I'm going to teach you all to be not racist..." How does that come across?

Here's her mission statement for the school:

Vision: We aspire to establish an anti-racist, culturally responsive, inclusive, collaborative learning environment by building positive self-identities and relationships where scholars and staff thrive.

Mission: We strive to cultivate data-driven instruction through an inclusive, engaging and antiracist community. We will develop a foundation for social-emotional learning in a safe and nurturing environment that value and meets the diverse needs of ALL scholars and staff, every day.

Here's a mission statement, from another school, where the principal is Black as well:

community values a positive emotional, professional and physical environment that fosters a joy of learning where students, staff, and parents are dedicated to creating a rigorous, nurturing educational experience for all learners.

You see how they kind of both encourage a positive and nurturing atmosphere? But the second one manages to do it without sounding accusatory.

So you combine this with issues that parents had where it sounded like there were instances where the principal cancelled recess to give an assembly to talk about slavery. I had to dig into my kids a little bit to find out what was going on. In one instance, it sounds like it came from an incident where the n word was used. In that type of incident I would fully support what the principal did. Where one of the concerns that we had about the area was that it wasn't really diverse and there's not really a lot of representation among all groups. But a major issue was that there was no communication from the principal on what was going on. So you only have that knowledge of her coming in making a big deal how she was going to "teach" the community to be antiracist, then hearing how she was cancelling recess and holding these assemblies.

Then her other statement, " All student-scholars, with a focus on African-American and Hispanic student-scholars..."

What's the other narrative about Asians? Asians are good at academics and don't need help and support. One of the reasons why we chose the Lakewood community was for the strong representation of Asians and we thought we could trust that our kids wouldn't get overlooked and get the support they need.

And it's like I said, when you grow up, live and work in diverse environments, you see the inequities and have to support the movements that's been going on. But I also believe that the pendulum can swing too far to the other way and there's better ways of going about it. I don't think that this principal has been going about it the right away and also is not sensitive to the community as well. There are a lot of other issues besides the diversity/inclusivity initiatives with the principal. The lack of communication about the assemblies is just one example of the principal's lack of communication. But my main issue with the principal is how she's going about her mission to foster an antiracist community. Again, I'm not against equity/inclusivity initiatives but I think she's going about it the wrong way.

(Original topic poster here) Great job giving some context! So my curiosity about this whole thing was piqued because I got a somewhat unhinged email on Friday night where it ended up calling for the principal to be removed from the position, which is what got me started on digging on this topic. Now, I've gotten some equally wacky emails (and have been approached on the playground...!) from far-right/conservative groups protesting about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content in the curriculum, and I am definitely of the opinion that it is important for kids to learn about anti-racism, the history of Black Americans, and about diverse families and gender expression. So at first I had kind of written it off as one of *those* emails, and I thought they were targeting the principal for removal because she is Black. I wouldn't support calling for her removal if that were the case. I appreciate that her communications to the school are sent out in at least 3 languages (this latest one is in English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean) in an attempt to ensure that all communications are accessible to all families, though I am not as impressed that the Chinese text, at least, came out of Google Translate.

HOWEVER, it was only after talking to other parents that I found out it was actually about the toxic work environment for teachers. Like I said, my experiences with the teachers at Lakewood have been great, so I definitely want to support them. But I also want to do my due diligence, so that I can be sure that I'm supporting the teachers for the right reasons, and not just a personal vendetta or whatever.

[Anonymous]

https://mdsoar.org/handle/11603/27893

Her dissertation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two posts mention the principal's new diversity/inclusion initiatives, but what is she actually doing?

When talking about issues with diversity/inclusive initiatives you have to be kind of careful because it may come across the wrong way.

First it's as I tell people, I support a lot of the movements that's been going on. I've always hated the word "allies" because I always saw that as some sort of virtue signalling. You either live the life or you don't.

But this new principal came in beating that drum like, "I'm going to teach you all to be anti racist"

One thing people have to be aware of is that Lakewood is about 50 percent Asian. And a common accusation or narrative is that Asians are the most racist, especially against Black people. You can look at the Black on Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, Kanye's rants against Asians, going back to the hostility that lead to the LA Riots. Jada Pinkett Smith did a Red Table Talk about it too:
https://www.facebook.com/redtabletalk/videos/230734652152832/

So you have this principal seemingly come marching in saying, "I'm going to teach you all to be not racist..." How does that come across?

Here's her mission statement for the school:

Vision: We aspire to establish an anti-racist, culturally responsive, inclusive, collaborative learning environment by building positive self-identities and relationships where scholars and staff thrive.

Mission: We strive to cultivate data-driven instruction through an inclusive, engaging and antiracist community. We will develop a foundation for social-emotional learning in a safe and nurturing environment that value and meets the diverse needs of ALL scholars and staff, every day.

Here's a mission statement, from another school, where the principal is Black as well:

community values a positive emotional, professional and physical environment that fosters a joy of learning where students, staff, and parents are dedicated to creating a rigorous, nurturing educational experience for all learners.

You see how they kind of both encourage a positive and nurturing atmosphere? But the second one manages to do it without sounding accusatory.

So you combine this with issues that parents had where it sounded like there were instances where the principal cancelled recess to give an assembly to talk about slavery. I had to dig into my kids a little bit to find out what was going on. In one instance, it sounds like it came from an incident where the n word was used. In that type of incident I would fully support what the principal did. Where one of the concerns that we had about the area was that it wasn't really diverse and there's not really a lot of representation among all groups. But a major issue was that there was no communication from the principal on what was going on. So you only have that knowledge of her coming in making a big deal how she was going to "teach" the community to be antiracist, then hearing how she was cancelling recess and holding these assemblies.

Then her other statement, " All student-scholars, with a focus on African-American and Hispanic student-scholars..."

What's the other narrative about Asians? Asians are good at academics and don't need help and support. One of the reasons why we chose the Lakewood community was for the strong representation of Asians and we thought we could trust that our kids wouldn't get overlooked and get the support they need.

And it's like I said, when you grow up, live and work in diverse environments, you see the inequities and have to support the movements that's been going on. But I also believe that the pendulum can swing too far to the other way and there's better ways of going about it. I don't think that this principal has been going about it the right away and also is not sensitive to the community as well. There are a lot of other issues besides the diversity/inclusivity initiatives with the principal. The lack of communication about the assemblies is just one example of the principal's lack of communication. But my main issue with the principal is how she's going about her mission to foster an antiracist community. Again, I'm not against equity/inclusivity initiatives but I think she's going about it the wrong way.

Seems like they prioritize DEI indoctrination while education itself is a secondary or tertiary concern at best.

My kids’ MCPS elementary is also like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
(Original topic poster here) Great job giving some context! So my curiosity about this whole thing was piqued because I got a somewhat unhinged email on Friday night where it ended up calling for the principal to be removed from the position, which is what got me started on digging on this topic. Now, I've gotten some equally wacky emails (and have been approached on the playground...!) from far-right/conservative groups protesting about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content in the curriculum, and I am definitely of the opinion that it is important for kids to learn about anti-racism, the history of Black Americans, and about diverse families and gender expression. So at first I had kind of written it off as one of *those* emails, and I thought they were targeting the principal for removal because she is Black. I wouldn't support calling for her removal if that were the case. I appreciate that her communications to the school are sent out in at least 3 languages (this latest one is in English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean) in an attempt to ensure that all communications are accessible to all families, though I am not as impressed that the Chinese text, at least, came out of Google Translate.

HOWEVER, it was only after talking to other parents that I found out it was actually about the toxic work environment for teachers. Like I said, my experiences with the teachers at Lakewood have been great, so I definitely want to support them. But I also want to do my due diligence, so that I can be sure that I'm supporting the teachers for the right reasons, and not just a personal vendetta or whatever.

Not sure about the groups that came up to you. But when I asked more about people's issues about the LGBTQ+ content, a lot of their issues was at what age it was being introduced rather than the actual content. Some of the people sounded like it would be okay if it was introduced at an older grade level.

It's kind of like what I said how my main issue is how the principal was going about her antiracist education mission. I think a lot of the concern last week came from the news that a lot of staff is leaving and/or changing grades. If teachers are unhappy enough to leave, I can only imagine that the principal is running things with the same type of attitude that she's using with pushing her mission for the antiracist community.

I was unhappy with the school's previous principal and had come across some bad teachers at Lakewood too. So think that some changes could be good. Unfortunately from what I can tell, it's a lot of the good staff that are leaving or there are rumors about them being unhappy. I know that school staff, parents, and students might look at teachers under different lens. So that goes back to the principal's communication issues or the way she does things. If she has some kind of vision or goal on why she wanted to switch a teacher's grade level, it might be easier for the teacher to take. Rather than having the teacher involuntarily switched to it and making the teacher want to leave.

Some issues may not be entirely the current principal's fault. A major issue parents had this year was that there was a long term sub for a writing class for a good portion at the start of the year. I'm not sure how things work or when things planned. But an argument often heard was that people knew that the teacher was going to go out on leave for an extended period of time and there should have been a plan in place to teach that class. Instead they had a sub where from the sound of it, students spent most of their time playing on their chromebooks, maybe running amok and basically not learning for at least an entire quarter. Again, this happened at the start of the school year. So am not sure if it falls under the previous or current principal, slipped through the cracks, etc. There have been other inexperienced teachers who came, didn't do well and left really shortly afterwards too.

So after going through that, parents are understandably upset when they're seeing the prospect of new/inexperienced teachers coming in, which is what I would guess where this sudden commotion came from. Where I think they're worried that they'll have to go through the same issues that they did with that long term sub. As mentioned, personally I think some teachers can go but unfortunately it looks like it's the good ones are the ones that are going. But again the principal can do a lot to allay those fears by addressing and communicating to the parents. It sounds like some parents plan to bring this up in the upcoming virtual meeting. But back in a previous similar meeting, most of the concerns about the long term sub were disregarded and I expect the same for this upcoming meeting.

I personally question how the principal does things and what her goals are. And if there's an issue with potential turnover too, then I can only imagine that she's doing things the same way behind the scenes and staff see it and are unhappy with it too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did you get from "I know at least two of them are leaving" to "A quarter of the teachers are leaving"?

There are 9 out of 40 teachers leaving and more to follow, including some 20+ year long term teachers. The new principle is toxic.

there are not 9 leaving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happens. The entire Math teaching contingent of Richard Montgomery school left when the new principal joined (who has now been replaced I believe).

the whole math Dept - every single teacher

nope. My DC's math teacher has been there a while at RM. Great teacher, btw. MIT grad.

It was a group of IB math teachers...not the whole staff. The principal was promoted a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two posts mention the principal's new diversity/inclusion initiatives, but what is she actually doing?

When talking about issues with diversity/inclusive initiatives you have to be kind of careful because it may come across the wrong way.

First it's as I tell people, I support a lot of the movements that's been going on. I've always hated the word "allies" because I always saw that as some sort of virtue signalling. You either live the life or you don't.

But this new principal came in beating that drum like, "I'm going to teach you all to be anti racist"

One thing people have to be aware of is that Lakewood is about 50 percent Asian. And a common accusation or narrative is that Asians are the most racist, especially against Black people. You can look at the Black on Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, Kanye's rants against Asians, going back to the hostility that lead to the LA Riots. Jada Pinkett Smith did a Red Table Talk about it too:
https://www.facebook.com/redtabletalk/videos/230734652152832/

So you have this principal seemingly come marching in saying, "I'm going to teach you all to be not racist..." How does that come across?

Here's her mission statement for the school:

Vision: We aspire to establish an anti-racist, culturally responsive, inclusive, collaborative learning environment by building positive self-identities and relationships where scholars and staff thrive.

Mission: We strive to cultivate data-driven instruction through an inclusive, engaging and antiracist community. We will develop a foundation for social-emotional learning in a safe and nurturing environment that value and meets the diverse needs of ALL scholars and staff, every day.

Here's a mission statement, from another school, where the principal is Black as well:

community values a positive emotional, professional and physical environment that fosters a joy of learning where students, staff, and parents are dedicated to creating a rigorous, nurturing educational experience for all learners.

You see how they kind of both encourage a positive and nurturing atmosphere? But the second one manages to do it without sounding accusatory.

So you combine this with issues that parents had where it sounded like there were instances where the principal cancelled recess to give an assembly to talk about slavery. I had to dig into my kids a little bit to find out what was going on. In one instance, it sounds like it came from an incident where the n word was used. In that type of incident I would fully support what the principal did. Where one of the concerns that we had about the area was that it wasn't really diverse and there's not really a lot of representation among all groups. But a major issue was that there was no communication from the principal on what was going on. So you only have that knowledge of her coming in making a big deal how she was going to "teach" the community to be antiracist, then hearing how she was cancelling recess and holding these assemblies.

Then her other statement, " All student-scholars, with a focus on African-American and Hispanic student-scholars..."

What's the other narrative about Asians? Asians are good at academics and don't need help and support. One of the reasons why we chose the Lakewood community was for the strong representation of Asians and we thought we could trust that our kids wouldn't get overlooked and get the support they need.

And it's like I said, when you grow up, live and work in diverse environments, you see the inequities and have to support the movements that's been going on. But I also believe that the pendulum can swing too far to the other way and there's better ways of going about it. I don't think that this principal has been going about it the right away and also is not sensitive to the community as well. There are a lot of other issues besides the diversity/inclusivity initiatives with the principal. The lack of communication about the assemblies is just one example of the principal's lack of communication. But my main issue with the principal is how she's going about her mission to foster an antiracist community. Again, I'm not against equity/inclusivity initiatives but I think she's going about it the wrong way.

(Original topic poster here) Great job giving some context! So my curiosity about this whole thing was piqued because I got a somewhat unhinged email on Friday night where it ended up calling for the principal to be removed from the position, which is what got me started on digging on this topic. Now, I've gotten some equally wacky emails (and have been approached on the playground...!) from far-right/conservative groups protesting about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content in the curriculum, and I am definitely of the opinion that it is important for kids to learn about anti-racism, the history of Black Americans, and about diverse families and gender expression. So at first I had kind of written it off as one of *those* emails, and I thought they were targeting the principal for removal because she is Black. I wouldn't support calling for her removal if that were the case. I appreciate that her communications to the school are sent out in at least 3 languages (this latest one is in English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean) in an attempt to ensure that all communications are accessible to all families, though I am not as impressed that the Chinese text, at least, came out of Google Translate.

HOWEVER, it was only after talking to other parents that I found out it was actually about the toxic work environment for teachers. Like I said, my experiences with the teachers at Lakewood have been great, so I definitely want to support them. But I also want to do my due diligence, so that I can be sure that I'm supporting the teachers for the right reasons, and not just a personal vendetta or whatever.

A couple of thoughts on this chain:

1) I would not interpret "culturally responsive" and "anti-racist" as not including Asian American students. A culturally responsive classroom at a plurality Asian American school will absolutely include those families.

2) The Chinese being from Google Translate is not something down to the principal. MCPS Central Office does have some staff who translate parent documents, but on-the-go translations of non-Central Office communications can be hard. So, that task often falls to bilingual staff or parent volunteers. If those don't materialize, principals have to fall back on Google Translate. At our school, that means the Amharic is usually pretty bad, but at another school it means the Korean is bad.

3)

[Anonymous]

Sorry,

3) It does sound like the communications could be improved, but that's something a lot of administrators could use support on. Not unique to this school, and not unique to anti-racist initiatives.

[Anonymous]

At least 10 teachers, including several with over 10 years and 20 years of exceptional reputation in the community, have officially announced their departure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two posts mention the principal's new diversity/inclusion initiatives, but what is she actually doing?

When talking about issues with diversity/inclusive initiatives you have to be kind of careful because it may come across the wrong way.

First it's as I tell people, I support a lot of the movements that's been going on. I've always hated the word "allies" because I always saw that as some sort of virtue signalling. You either live the life or you don't.

But this new principal came in beating that drum like, "I'm going to teach you all to be anti racist"

One thing people have to be aware of is that Lakewood is about 50 percent Asian. And a common accusation or narrative is that Asians are the most racist, especially against Black people. You can look at the Black on Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, Kanye's rants against Asians, going back to the hostility that lead to the LA Riots. Jada Pinkett Smith did a Red Table Talk about it too:
https://www.facebook.com/redtabletalk/videos/230734652152832/

So you have this principal seemingly come marching in saying, "I'm going to teach you all to be not racist..." How does that come across?

Here's her mission statement for the school:

Vision: We aspire to establish an anti-racist, culturally responsive, inclusive, collaborative learning environment by building positive self-identities and relationships where scholars and staff thrive.

Mission: We strive to cultivate data-driven instruction through an inclusive, engaging and antiracist community. We will develop a foundation for social-emotional learning in a safe and nurturing environment that value and meets the diverse needs of ALL scholars and staff, every day.

Here's a mission statement, from another school, where the principal is Black as well:

community values a positive emotional, professional and physical environment that fosters a joy of learning where students, staff, and parents are dedicated to creating a rigorous, nurturing educational experience for all learners.

You see how they kind of both encourage a positive and nurturing atmosphere? But the second one manages to do it without sounding accusatory.

So you combine this with issues that parents had where it sounded like there were instances where the principal cancelled recess to give an assembly to talk about slavery. I had to dig into my kids a little bit to find out what was going on. In one instance, it sounds like it came from an incident where the n word was used. In that type of incident I would fully support what the principal did. Where one of the concerns that we had about the area was that it wasn't really diverse and there's not really a lot of representation among all groups. But a major issue was that there was no communication from the principal on what was going on. So you only have that knowledge of her coming in making a big deal how she was going to "teach" the community to be antiracist, then hearing how she was cancelling recess and holding these assemblies.

Then her other statement, " All student-scholars, with a focus on African-American and Hispanic student-scholars..."

What's the other narrative about Asians? Asians are good at academics and don't need help and support. One of the reasons why we chose the Lakewood community was for the strong representation of Asians and we thought we could trust that our kids wouldn't get overlooked and get the support they need.

And it's like I said, when you grow up, live and work in diverse environments, you see the inequities and have to support the movements that's been going on. But I also believe that the pendulum can swing too far to the other way and there's better ways of going about it. I don't think that this principal has been going about it the right away and also is not sensitive to the community as well. There are a lot of other issues besides the diversity/inclusivity initiatives with the principal. The lack of communication about the assemblies is just one example of the principal's lack of communication. But my main issue with the principal is how she's going about her mission to foster an antiracist community. Again, I'm not against equity/inclusivity initiatives but I think she's going about it the wrong way.

Interesting comments and these all seem like valid points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two posts mention the principal's new diversity/inclusion initiatives, but what is she actually doing?

When talking about issues with diversity/inclusive initiatives you have to be kind of careful because it may come across the wrong way.

First it's as I tell people, I support a lot of the movements that's been going on. I've always hated the word "allies" because I always saw that as some sort of virtue signalling. You either live the life or you don't.

But this new principal came in beating that drum like, "I'm going to teach you all to be anti racist"

One thing people have to be aware of is that Lakewood is about 50 percent Asian. And a common accusation or narrative is that Asians are the most racist, especially against Black people. You can look at the Black on Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, Kanye's rants against Asians, going back to the hostility that lead to the LA Riots. Jada Pinkett Smith did a Red Table Talk about it too:
https://www.facebook.com/redtabletalk/videos/230734652152832/

So you have this principal seemingly come marching in saying, "I'm going to teach you all to be not racist..." How does that come across?

Here's her mission statement for the school:

Vision: We aspire to establish an anti-racist, culturally responsive, inclusive, collaborative learning environment by building positive self-identities and relationships where scholars and staff thrive.

Mission: We strive to cultivate data-driven instruction through an inclusive, engaging and antiracist community. We will develop a foundation for social-emotional learning in a safe and nurturing environment that value and meets the diverse needs of ALL scholars and staff, every day.

Here's a mission statement, from another school, where the principal is Black as well:

community values a positive emotional, professional and physical environment that fosters a joy of learning where students, staff, and parents are dedicated to creating a rigorous, nurturing educational experience for all learners.

You see how they kind of both encourage a positive and nurturing atmosphere? But the second one manages to do it without sounding accusatory.

So you combine this with issues that parents had where it sounded like there were instances where the principal cancelled recess to give an assembly to talk about slavery. I had to dig into my kids a little bit to find out what was going on. In one instance, it sounds like it came from an incident where the n word was used. In that type of incident I would fully support what the principal did. Where one of the concerns that we had about the area was that it wasn't really diverse and there's not really a lot of representation among all groups. But a major issue was that there was no communication from the principal on what was going on. So you only have that knowledge of her coming in making a big deal how she was going to "teach" the community to be antiracist, then hearing how she was cancelling recess and holding these assemblies.

Then her other statement, " All student-scholars, with a focus on African-American and Hispanic student-scholars..."

What's the other narrative about Asians? Asians are good at academics and don't need help and support. One of the reasons why we chose the Lakewood community was for the strong representation of Asians and we thought we could trust that our kids wouldn't get overlooked and get the support they need.

And it's like I said, when you grow up, live and work in diverse environments, you see the inequities and have to support the movements that's been going on. But I also believe that the pendulum can swing too far to the other way and there's better ways of going about it. I don't think that this principal has been going about it the right away and also is not sensitive to the community as well. There are a lot of other issues besides the diversity/inclusivity initiatives with the principal. The lack of communication about the assemblies is just one example of the principal's lack of communication. But my main issue with the principal is how she's going about her mission to foster an antiracist community. Again, I'm not against equity/inclusivity initiatives but I think she's going about it the wrong way.

(Original topic poster here) Great job giving some context! So my curiosity about this whole thing was piqued because I got a somewhat unhinged email on Friday night where it ended up calling for the principal to be removed from the position, which is what got me started on digging on this topic. Now, I've gotten some equally wacky emails (and have been approached on the playground...!) from far-right/conservative groups protesting about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content in the curriculum, and I am definitely of the opinion that it is important for kids to learn about anti-racism, the history of Black Americans, and about diverse families and gender expression. So at first I had kind of written it off as one of *those* emails, and I thought they were targeting the principal for removal because she is Black. I wouldn't support calling for her removal if that were the case. I appreciate that her communications to the school are sent out in at least 3 languages (this latest one is in English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean) in an attempt to ensure that all communications are accessible to all families, though I am not as impressed that the Chinese text, at least, came out of Google Translate.

HOWEVER, it was only after talking to other parents that I found out it was actually about the toxic work environment for teachers. Like I said, my experiences with the teachers at Lakewood have been great, so I definitely want to support them. But I also want to do my due diligence, so that I can be sure that I'm supporting the teachers for the right reasons, and not just a personal vendetta or whatever.

A couple of thoughts on this chain:

1) I would not interpret "culturally responsive" and "anti-racist" as not including Asian American students. A culturally responsive classroom at a plurality Asian American school will absolutely include those families.

2) The Chinese being from Google Translate is not something down to the principal. MCPS Central Office does have some staff who translate parent documents, but on-the-go translations of non-Central Office communications can be hard. So, that task often falls to bilingual staff or parent volunteers. If those don't materialize, principals have to fall back on Google Translate. At our school, that means the Amharic is usually pretty bad, but at another school it means the Korean is bad.

3)

Except that is how MCPS has implemented its anti-racist agenda.

There are often posts on social media about programs or meeting that are exclusive to Latinx or African American parents. There are admin who highlight #BlackGirlMagic but would never dream of highlighting #AsianBoyStrength or whatever.

Plenty of Asian families in MCPS who feel dismissed (ant best) and targeted (at worst).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard that this principal plays tricks and treats parents as if they're idiots. The principles should be investigated regarding her accountability.

Mommy rumor mill at it's finest.