Lafayette- the good, the great, the bad, the ugly

[Anonymous]

Could you elaborate on why the new principal seems under qualified to you? How do you know teachers and parent have struggled under her leadership?

[Anonymous]

I’d really like to know the status of the overall culture of the school since the new leadership has started this year. We are a new family to Lafayette and are joining the school next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school is top-notch. The resource teachers are excellent and provide small-group support to students who need it. I adore the choir and music teachers, and the Peace teacher is wonderful as well. Every lead teacher has been terrific with both my son and daughter, as was Dr. B. and Principal Prall. Both principals led with vision and strength, but Lafayette's well-established parents chose to fight both women to get their way.

We are an OOB White family, and we're grateful for our place here. However, my daughter has yearned to be friends with the "popular" 4th-grade girls, and I wish she hadn't. These girls can be mean-spirited; they compete on wealth and material goods and often put each other down. This has been ongoing since December, with teachers and staff reaching out to parents. Instead of parents taking a constructive approach, many go into defense mode, defending their daughters’ innocence and not supporting the school in encouraging their children to be respectful and kind. It's both appalling and sad.

The troubling part is that all of these girls have iPhones, and I have the text messages sent to my daughter to prove just how hurtful they’ve been.

The 4th grade is a nightmare this year. Several mean girls doing mean girl things.

[Anonymous]

What kinds of consequences are there for bullying? Does the mindfulness program help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What kinds of consequences are there for bullying? Does the mindfulness program help?

There are a group of girls who make fun of anyone who is not “rich” relentlessly…I don’t think mindfulness is the answer…better parenting is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kinds of consequences are there for bullying? Does the mindfulness program help?

There are a group of girls who make fun of anyone who is not “rich” relentlessly…I don’t think mindfulness is the answer…better parenting is.

It's just a reflection of the terrible parents who populate that school.

[Anonymous]

We're a prospective new family with a son who would be entering Kindergarten. REALLY want some honest feedback about the school (class sizes, teachers, etc.) Particularly interested to hear about the following: 1) how the transition into Kindergarten is handled, and 2) how well the school monitors kids being/getting sick (of course hard to avoid the spread of germs but had a great experience with a preschool who was really on top of it to avoid super spreaders, particularly for an immunocompromised child). Thanks so much for any helpful insight and guidance - we really appreciate it! And for what its worth, the "crazy parents" comments aren't particularly helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're a prospective new family with a son who would be entering Kindergarten. REALLY want some honest feedback about the school (class sizes, teachers, etc.) Particularly interested to hear about the following: 1) how the transition into Kindergarten is handled, and 2) how well the school monitors kids being/getting sick (of course hard to avoid the spread of germs but had a great experience with a preschool who was really on top of it to avoid super spreaders, particularly for an immunocompromised child). Thanks so much for any helpful insight and guidance - we really appreciate it! And for what its worth, the "crazy parents" comments aren't particularly helpful.

We are not at Lafayette but another DCPS and I’m a teacher. Parents will send kids to school the second they are “well enough.” Meaning they haven’t exhibited symptoms of fever/ vomiting/ diarrhea for 24 hours. Lafayette is a large school and I’m sure they do their best to track illness, but they certainly won’t be as diligent as a small PreK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're a prospective new family with a son who would be entering Kindergarten. REALLY want some honest feedback about the school (class sizes, teachers, etc.) Particularly interested to hear about the following: 1) how the transition into Kindergarten is handled, and 2) how well the school monitors kids being/getting sick (of course hard to avoid the spread of germs but had a great experience with a preschool who was really on top of it to avoid super spreaders, particularly for an immunocompromised child). Thanks so much for any helpful insight and guidance - we really appreciate it! And for what its worth, the "crazy parents" comments aren't particularly helpful.

No public school will be as good as a small preschool to monitor sick kids. It doesn’t matter what DCPS you attend.

[Anonymous]

I hate to worry you, but I’ve literally seen a parent dosing out Tylenol to their kids in the drop off area. My kid was just starting that fall and I was horrified. Especially with an immunocompromised kiddo, consider talking to the teacher at the beginning of the school year, just to put it on their radar. Oh, and offer to drop off extra tissues and sanitizing wipes - teachers never have enough!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: All the other NWDC schools let kids redshirt.

lol, this is not true.

At our NW DCPS, there are kids who have been allowed to repeat PK4 rather than move on to K. But it sounds here like these parents aren't doing PK at Lafayette and are just trying to enroll their kids into K instead of 1st?

Sounds like that to me but the article leaves a lot to the imagination. Seems like these parents must have known the risks of going against the (very well known) DC age cutoff policy, even if they judged it to be a small one, it was still a risk particularly with new school admin coming in.

Oh, sure - when the new principal came in, it was totally on her to give everyone affirmative notice that she would be following DCPS rules. She should have known that the parents of an unenrolled student were relying on her noncompliance!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're a prospective new family with a son who would be entering Kindergarten. REALLY want some honest feedback about the school (class sizes, teachers, etc.) Particularly interested to hear about the following: 1) how the transition into Kindergarten is handled, and 2) how well the school monitors kids being/getting sick (of course hard to avoid the spread of germs but had a great experience with a preschool who was really on top of it to avoid super spreaders, particularly for an immunocompromised child). Thanks so much for any helpful insight and guidance - we really appreciate it! And for what its worth, the "crazy parents" comments aren't particularly helpful.

Lafayette parent here, going into our 4th year at the school. Thoughts:
1) Not sure what you mean by the "transition." The K teachers are trained to handle kids of that age, and are good about helping them deal with separation anxiety for the kids who didn't attend PK and are just starting school for the first time, and other big emotions that 4/5 year olds have. But the DCPS K curriculum at any school is pretty academic in nature, and it can be a difficult transition at any DCPS school from play-based PK to the more academic environment of K.

2) Teachers will send the kids to the nurse's office if they look unwell or complain. The nurse sends kids home if they have a fever over 99.5, and the kids aren't permitted back until they are 24 hrs fever-free. I see kids mask from time to time in the winter months, especially right before winter break (parents don't want their kids to get sick before vacation), and that seems to be an acceptable practice - not aware of anyone treating other kids poorly because they masked up. Otherwise, there isn't much the school can do. It is a big school and class sizes are on the bigger side, so keep that in mind re: exposure risk.

- not a crazy Lafayette parent who has encountered only a few crazy parents each year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're a prospective new family with a son who would be entering Kindergarten. REALLY want some honest feedback about the school (class sizes, teachers, etc.) Particularly interested to hear about the following: 1) how the transition into Kindergarten is handled, and 2) how well the school monitors kids being/getting sick (of course hard to avoid the spread of germs but had a great experience with a preschool who was really on top of it to avoid super spreaders, particularly for an immunocompromised child). Thanks so much for any helpful insight and guidance - we really appreciate it! And for what its worth, the "crazy parents" comments aren't particularly helpful.

Lafayette parent here, going into our 4th year at the school. Thoughts:
1) Not sure what you mean by the "transition." The K teachers are trained to handle kids of that age, and are good about helping them deal with separation anxiety for the kids who didn't attend PK and are just starting school for the first time, and other big emotions that 4/5 year olds have. But the DCPS K curriculum at any school is pretty academic in nature, and it can be a difficult transition at any DCPS school from play-based PK to the more academic environment of K.

2) Teachers will send the kids to the nurse's office if they look unwell or complain. The nurse sends kids home if they have a fever over 99.5, and the kids aren't permitted back until they are 24 hrs fever-free. I see kids mask from time to time in the winter months, especially right before winter break (parents don't want their kids to get sick before vacation), and that seems to be an acceptable practice - not aware of anyone treating other kids poorly because they masked up. Otherwise, there isn't much the school can do. It is a big school and class sizes are on the bigger side, so keep that in mind re: exposure risk.

- not a crazy Lafayette parent who has encountered only a few crazy parents each year

Thank you for this, I appreciate you taking the time. All makes sense and hope to connect with the not crazy parents soon

[Anonymous]

If you have an immunocompromised kid, I don’t think any school will pressure parents to keep kids home outside of the health policy and people will push the edges as far as 24 hours after a fever, etc. Parents have to work and kids need to go to school. Instead, look for ways they can keep your kid relatively safer like good circulation, enforcing handwashing, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have an immunocompromised kid, I don’t think any school will pressure parents to keep kids home outside of the health policy and people will push the edges as far as 24 hours after a fever, etc. Parents have to work and kids need to go to school. Instead, look for ways they can keep your kid relatively safer like good circulation, enforcing handwashing, etc.

+1

I think this is the reality of school. Also I don’t know if people should be horrified as one PP said. Parents have to work.