HD Cooke

[Anonymous]

This thread is exhausting.

Yes, the room that the PP is talking about is the in school suspension room. It's everyone's goal to have fewer ISSes. I'm sure it was the previous principal's goal too. She did not accomplish that goal. She also did not accomplish the goal of improving test scores. When the new principal came in, her goals (whether imposed by DCPS or by her own priorities) have been to improve behavior overall (including ISSes) and test scores. She put some things in place to do those things - instituting a discipline system (PBIS) and improving/implementing more extensive planning for teachers. We can't compare this year's scores to last year's scores because of the change in testing system, which I think is a shame.

I don't know exactly how the "reset" room works or what the system for ending up there is for the whole school. I believe that one child in my daughter's PK4 class spent some time in there because he was violent in class and didn't respond to other interventions. I can tell you that sending a child to that room is not the first line of disciplinary measures.

In my child's classroom, the system was:

1. verbal warning
2. second verbal warning
3. taking a break in the classroom (in a chair to the side of the room, away from the centers/activities
4. taking a break in a buddy classroom
5. reset room

What I can tell you is that the behavioral issues that the PP is citing are more applicable to kids in upper grades. It's not like there are regularly 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds in that room such that they are in danger from older children in there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard a lot of teachers/staff are leaving this year. Is that true? If so, why?

I haven't heard who is leaving so can't say whether that rumor is true. But in general I would expect high turnover in any school after a principal's first year, especially at a school like Cooke where the prior principal did not leave by choice. The new principal has a clear mandate to improve the school in a way that the last principal simply did not care about.

What is that code for? What mandate does the new principal have for improvement, and how is it different from whatever the previous principal had?

Improve test Scores and increase parent engagement.

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine how one would know what the mandates were unless the principals (current and previous) shared them openly. DCPS is an interesting place and there have been lots of mandates given to principals that are not public nor always connected to what the larger stakeholder base things they should be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard a lot of teachers/staff are leaving this year. Is that true? If so, why?

I haven't heard who is leaving so can't say whether that rumor is true. But in general I would expect high turnover in any school after a principal's first year, especially at a school like Cooke where the prior principal did not leave by choice. The new principal has a clear mandate to improve the school in a way that the last principal simply did not care about.

What is that code for? What mandate does the new principal have for improvement, and how is it different from whatever the previous principal had?

Improve test Scores and increase parent engagement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine how one would know what the mandates were unless the principals (current and previous) shared them openly. DCPS is an interesting place and there have been lots of mandates given to principals that are not public nor always connected to what the larger stakeholder base things they should be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard a lot of teachers/staff are leaving this year. Is that true? If so, why?

I haven't heard who is leaving so can't say whether that rumor is true. But in general I would expect high turnover in any school after a principal's first year, especially at a school like Cooke where the prior principal did not leave by choice. The new principal has a clear mandate to improve the school in a way that the last principal simply did not care about.

What is that code for? What mandate does the new principal have for improvement, and how is it different from whatever the previous principal had?

Improve test Scores and increase parent engagement.

I'm not sure why you think that the PP wouldn't know that information.