Lafayette Principal

[Anonymous]

Dr B has hired some of the worst teachers LES has ever seen.

[Anonymous]

NP here. I'm a fan of Dr. B and think she is being unfairly blamed for DCPS policies. It seems like a group of Lafayette parents (unclear how large but it seems like its the same 20 or so doing all the complaining) liked that under Dr. Main the school was run like it was still 1980. Dr. Main completely ignored DCPS policy and for some reason the central office never called her on it. As I understand it, she wasn't doing basic things like testing the reading level of each first grader at the beginning and end of the year to see how they were improving. So the school is experiencing the pain of decades of education policy changes all at once and some of that isn't that pretty - today's DCPS is super into "data based education" - which means tons of assessments and testing.

I do know that every family who is new to Lafayette is hugely appreciative of the fact that they know their child will have essentially the same experience as those kids whose parents are chummy with the principal and the teachers. My child has experienced plenty of special and creative projects (many of which are unique to Lafayette) while still learning the same fundamental things in 4th grade that my older child learned in 4th grade at a different DCPS elementary school (like the revolutionary war - which is a 4th grade DCPS standard). I am grateful for that, because if our Lafayette 4th grade teacher had the liberty to decide she'd rather teach ancient Egypt, there would be a bit of a hole in my kid's education.

I do hope that Dr. B isn't run out of town by a few loud complainers whose kids will eventually age out. She's doing a great job under some trying circumstances.

[Anonymous]

It really sounds like a bunch of busybodies with too much time on their hands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I'm a fan of Dr. B and think she is being unfairly blamed for DCPS policies. It seems like a group of Lafayette parents (unclear how large but it seems like its the same 20 or so doing all the complaining) liked that under Dr. Main the school was run like it was still 1980. Dr. Main completely ignored DCPS policy and for some reason the central office never called her on it. As I understand it, she wasn't doing basic things like testing the reading level of each first grader at the beginning and end of the year to see how they were improving. So the school is experiencing the pain of decades of education policy changes all at once and some of that isn't that pretty - today's DCPS is super into "data based education" - which means tons of assessments and testing.

I do know that every family who is new to Lafayette is hugely appreciative of the fact that they know their child will have essentially the same experience as those kids whose parents are chummy with the principal and the teachers. My child has experienced plenty of special and creative projects (many of which are unique to Lafayette) while still learning the same fundamental things in 4th grade that my older child learned in 4th grade at a different DCPS elementary school (like the revolutionary war - which is a 4th grade DCPS standard). I am grateful for that, because if our Lafayette 4th grade teacher had the liberty to decide she'd rather teach ancient Egypt, there would be a bit of a hole in my kid's education.

I do hope that Dr. B isn't run out of town by a few loud complainers whose kids will eventually age out. She's doing a great job under some trying circumstances.

interesting point.

[Anonymous]

We want the experienced teachers who have been in the field to have the freedoms to teach the skills and subject areas that they believe are imperative for students success.

Our students should not have to follow dcps curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Our students should not have to follow dcps curriculum.

Hahahaha. You do realize that's what it means to be part of a school system, right? Your kids are taught the curriculum of the school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We want the experienced teachers who have been in the field to have the freedoms to teach the skills and subject areas that they believe are imperative for students success.

Our students should not have to follow dcps curriculum.

Seriously? This cannot be real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We want the experienced teachers who have been in the field to have the freedoms to teach the skills and subject areas that they believe are imperative for students success.

Our students should not have to follow dcps curriculum.

I think this sums it up - the complainers want a tax-free education that they control but don't actually want their kids at a DCPS school.

[Anonymous]

Lafayette has some of the highest test scores DCPS has seen. It does not always follow the curriculum to the T which is most likely why our kids test much better. Our students need to freedom to learn and express themselves as the experienced teachers see fit, which result in these high scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette has some of the highest test scores DCPS has seen. It does not always follow the curriculum to the T which is most likely why our kids test much better. Our students need to freedom to learn and express themselves as the experienced teachers see fit, which result in these high scores.

Lafayette has also had a long-term achievement gap that was ignored by the previous previous principal because everybody else was doing just fine.,

[Anonymous]

Yes can we please do a school swap one day? My baby from SE would love to have a stable teacher and gym and art.

Oblivious to the real world these people are..

[Anonymous]

Some of the posters must be trolls. Seriously, not one can be this obtuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette has some of the highest test scores DCPS has seen. It does not always follow the curriculum to the T which is most likely why our kids test much better. Our students need to freedom to learn and express themselves as the experienced teachers see fit, which result in these high scores.

This is just inaccurate. Kids at Lafayette don't have higher test scores because an experienced teacher decided to teach the Revolutionary War instead of the Civil Rights Movement, or fractions instead of symmetry, or fantasy instead of historically fiction as dictated by the curriculum. These types of choices, made in isolation, lead to knowledge gaps as the PP explained. While the DCPS curriculum isn't perfect, it is coherent and comprehensive and each year builds on the previous one.

Lafayette has high test scores because of its student population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette has some of the highest test scores DCPS has seen. It does not always follow the curriculum to the T which is most likely why our kids test much better. Our students need to freedom to learn and express themselves as the experienced teachers see fit, which result in these high scores.

This is just inaccurate. Kids at Lafayette don't have higher test scores because an experienced teacher decided to teach the Revolutionary War instead of the Civil Rights Movement, or fractions instead of symmetry, or fantasy instead of historically fiction as dictated by the curriculum. These types of choices, made in isolation, lead to knowledge gaps as the PP explained. While the DCPS curriculum isn't perfect, it is coherent and comprehensive and each year builds on the previous one.

Lafayette has high test scores because of its student population.

Not to mention that its scores are on par with all the other high SES schools-- and those also follow the curriculum. The curriculum doesn't seem to be holding them back...

[Anonymous]

Could somebody please share the piece in the post?