Experience at Key Middle School and Lee High School in Springfield

[Anonymous]

Our kids are currently attending Garfield Elementary and wanted to hear perspectives from parents whose children attended Key Middle School and Lee High School in Springfield. I know the schools have a negative reputation from rankings and demographics, so those who do not have first hand experience of the schools please do not share the perceptions based on those rankings/statistics.

[Anonymous]

Hi. Thanks for reaching out for a perspective from actual parents at these schools. My first daughter graduated from Lee in 2017. She is in her second year at VCU in their nursing program. My second daughter who just graduated from Lee last year (2018) is in her first year at UVA in their nursing program. We have had a great experience at Lee. Principal Lavery is great and the students are full of life. The teachers are great and the teacher to student ratio is one of the lowest in the County. Both of my daughters participated and excelled in varsity sports also.

They both also attended Key Middle School and we had no problems there.

What I have found generally is the people who are speaking negatively about these schools do not have children that attend these schools. Due to the negative talk, this pyramid has lost good students who have pupil placed to other schools. That's unfortunate. Of course, this affects the overall test scores.

In a lot of those circumstances, we have lost more wealthier parents that affects fundraising and other school activities. Also, a few school boundary adjustments implemented by the FCPS Board in 2005 and one in 2015 that moved some of the most wealthiest Lee families to West Springfield high school had a detrimental effect.

So there are some challenges, but they are manageable. Fighting the unwarranted negative discussions has been annoying.

[Anonymous]

There is no way I would send my child to a school under Aimee Holleb. Get away from Key if you can. If you had asked me 2 years ago, I'd have raved about Key. Now, you won't find a single staff member who is honestly happy, discipline is a mess, class placement is super screwed up, and class sizes are a disaster. (Some are 30 students, while others are 4. FOUR).

Holleb is a narcissistic, manipulative, vindictive "leader". Almost 1/3 of the staff quit last year. Another 1/3 is trying to quit now. Avoid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi. Thanks for reaching out for a perspective from actual parents at these schools. My first daughter graduated from Lee in 2017. She is in her second year at VCU in their nursing program. My second daughter who just graduated from Lee last year (2018) is in her first year at UVA in their nursing program. We have had a great experience at Lee. Principal Lavery is great and the students are full of life. The teachers are great and the teacher to student ratio is one of the lowest in the County. Both of my daughters participated and excelled in varsity sports also.

They both also attended Key Middle School and we had no problems there.

What I have found generally is the people who are speaking negatively about these schools do not have children that attend these schools. Due to the negative talk, this pyramid has lost good students who have pupil placed to other schools. That's unfortunate. Of course, this affects the overall test scores.

In a lot of those circumstances, we have lost more wealthier parents that affects fundraising and other school activities. Also, a few school boundary adjustments implemented by the FCPS Board in 2005 and one in 2015 that moved some of the most wealthiest Lee families to West Springfield high school had a detrimental effect.

So there are some challenges, but they are manageable. Fighting the unwarranted negative discussions has been annoying.

I completely agree. Although my kids go to Twain/Edison (which is routinely bashed here), we have a lot of friends from baseball/softball/basketball/swim who go to Key/Lee and the parents are happy with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no way I would send my child to a school under Aimee Holleb. Get away from Key if you can. If you had asked me 2 years ago, I'd have raved about Key. Now, you won't find a single staff member who is honestly happy, discipline is a mess, class placement is super screwed up, and class sizes are a disaster. (Some are 30 students, while others are 4. FOUR).

Holleb is a narcissistic, manipulative, vindictive "leader". Almost 1/3 of the staff quit last year. Another 1/3 is trying to quit now. Avoid.

This. Nothing against this pyramid...I used to teach at one of the feeder elementary schools. However, I know that a LOT of the Key staff is not happy and if the staff isn't happy, great instruction is not happening.

[Anonymous]

My daughter's private school stopped offering middle school prior to her 8th grade year. We transitioned to Key for that year, and she did very well. The first couple of weeks were tough because she had to learn new systems (google docs, using a school I'D, electronic homework submission, etc.). Once she figured that out, it was much better. She enjoyed her classes and made some very good friends. She participated in the Middle Years IB "prep" classes, and she was challenged without being overwhelmed. Her Years at Lee have been very positive. She is taking many challenging IB and honors courses which require her to think critically, write cohesively/ thoroughly, work with others who think differently than she does, and consider multiple solutions. The independent work she had been assigned has challenged her and helped her grow as a learner. The small group assignments help her learn to compromise, delegate, and trust others. She has been involved with sports, and the lessons she has learned about working with other young ladies as a team will serve her well in the future. Are the Lee students loud sometimes? Yes. But I remember being loud (exuberant) as a teen, too. They are good kids. They are not perfect kids. I know of no school with perfect kids. Your child can thrive at Lee. He/ she will learn, laugh and grow in so many ways. Give Lee a chance. It's well worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids are currently attending Garfield Elementary and wanted to hear perspectives from parents whose children attended Key Middle School and Lee High School in Springfield. I know the schools have a negative reputation from rankings and demographics, so those who do not have first hand experience of the schools please do not share the perceptions based on those rankings/statistics.

I know several parents who visited the principal at Lee Deirdre Lavery and left feeling very positive. I recommend you visit the school yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no way I would send my child to a school under Aimee Holleb. Get away from Key if you can. If you had asked me 2 years ago, I'd have raved about Key. Now, you won't find a single staff member who is honestly happy, discipline is a mess, class placement is super screwed up, and class sizes are a disaster. (Some are 30 students, while others are 4. FOUR).

Holleb is a narcissistic, manipulative, vindictive "leader". Almost 1/3 of the staff quit last year. Another 1/3 is trying to quit now. Avoid.

This. Nothing against this pyramid...I used to teach at one of the feeder elementary schools. However, I know that a LOT of the Key staff is not happy and if the staff isn't happy, great instruction is not happening.

If this is the case, how come the Superintendent or the School Board has not jumped in to make a change at Key?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no way I would send my child to a school under Aimee Holleb. Get away from Key if you can. If you had asked me 2 years ago, I'd have raved about Key. Now, you won't find a single staff member who is honestly happy, discipline is a mess, class placement is super screwed up, and class sizes are a disaster. (Some are 30 students, while others are 4. FOUR).

Holleb is a narcissistic, manipulative, vindictive "leader". Almost 1/3 of the staff quit last year. Another 1/3 is trying to quit now. Avoid.

This. Nothing against this pyramid...I used to teach at one of the feeder elementary schools. However, I know that a LOT of the Key staff is not happy and if the staff isn't happy, great instruction is not happening.

If this is the case, how come the Superintendent or the School Board has not jumped in to make a change at Key?

She was removed from Twain years ago for the same complaints, and put in central office. Then central office eliminated her position, so they made her the interim at Key. They went through a whole dog and pony show about hiring a permanent principal. Staff was encouraged to write letters to outline qualities we wanted in a new principal. There were over 50 staff letters collected that said essentially, "Please don't hire Aimee Holleb. She is bad for Key because x,y,z." Staff who was on the "panel interview" for her said it was rigged from the start. It was basically her job to lose, and since she'd already been acting principal for 9 months she had all the "right" answers in her pocket. Then they announced she was the principal.

She is friends with the regional superintendent from way back, so terry dade is on team Aimee. The parent organization is not nearly as strong at Key as it was at Twain (no AAP parents), so their voice is less. I think central office needed to place her somewhere, and Key was likely to complain the least.

They've lost 3 teachers since school started. That's pretty bad. Surely central office is aware, I just think they're probably happy to have placed her somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no way I would send my child to a school under Aimee Holleb. Get away from Key if you can. If you had asked me 2 years ago, I'd have raved about Key. Now, you won't find a single staff member who is honestly happy, discipline is a mess, class placement is super screwed up, and class sizes are a disaster. (Some are 30 students, while others are 4. FOUR).

Holleb is a narcissistic, manipulative, vindictive "leader". Almost 1/3 of the staff quit last year. Another 1/3 is trying to quit now. Avoid.

This. Nothing against this pyramid...I used to teach at one of the feeder elementary schools. However, I know that a LOT of the Key staff is not happy and if the staff isn't happy, great instruction is not happening.

If this is the case, how come the Superintendent or the School Board has not jumped in to make a change at Key?

She was removed from Twain years ago for the same complaints, and put in central office. Then central office eliminated her position, so they made her the interim at Key. They went through a whole dog and pony show about hiring a permanent principal. Staff was encouraged to write letters to outline qualities we wanted in a new principal. There were over 50 staff letters collected that said essentially, "Please don't hire Aimee Holleb. She is bad for Key because x,y,z." Staff who was on the "panel interview" for her said it was rigged from the start. It was basically her job to lose, and since she'd already been acting principal for 9 months she had all the "right" answers in her pocket. Then they announced she was the principal.

She is friends with the regional superintendent from way back, so terry dade is on team Aimee. The parent organization is not nearly as strong at Key as it was at Twain (no AAP parents), so their voice is less. I think central office needed to place her somewhere, and Key was likely to complain the least.

They've lost 3 teachers since school started. That's pretty bad. Surely central office is aware, I just think they're probably happy to have placed her somewhere.

Not commenting on principal quality either way, but 3 is not a huge number of teachers to lose after a principal transition. One of the top performing schools in that area, Sangster, lost around half of their staff in the two years after their new principal came in. From reading this board, losing large numbers of teachers after a new principal arrives is not uncommon. If the principal is a bad as you say and you have only lost 3 teachers, that is not so bad.

[Anonymous]

They lost 29/70 last June. They've lost 3 more since September. Meaning the teachers gave up the ability to ever teach in fairfax again. That's almost half in a single year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no way I would send my child to a school under Aimee Holleb. Get away from Key if you can. If you had asked me 2 years ago, I'd have raved about Key. Now, you won't find a single staff member who is honestly happy, discipline is a mess, class placement is super screwed up, and class sizes are a disaster. (Some are 30 students, while others are 4. FOUR).

Holleb is a narcissistic, manipulative, vindictive "leader". Almost 1/3 of the staff quit last year. Another 1/3 is trying to quit now. Avoid.

Can you elaborate on how “discipline is a mess” and “class placement is super screwed up”? Also, what class has only 4 students? Is it a self-contained special education class? Those classes are usually very small.

I have a student at Key who seems to be doing well and I have not heard complaints about the administration. My interactions with both teachers and administrators have been very positive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter's private school stopped offering middle school prior to her 8th grade year. We transitioned to Key for that year, and she did very well. The first couple of weeks were tough because she had to learn new systems (google docs, using a school I'D, electronic homework submission, etc.). Once she figured that out, it was much better. She enjoyed her classes and made some very good friends. She participated in the Middle Years IB "prep" classes, and she was challenged without being overwhelmed. Her Years at Lee have been very positive. She is taking many challenging IB and honors courses which require her to think critically, write cohesively/ thoroughly, work with others who think differently than she does, and consider multiple solutions. The independent work she had been assigned has challenged her and helped her grow as a learner. The small group assignments help her learn to compromise, delegate, and trust others. She has been involved with sports, and the lessons she has learned about working with other young ladies as a team will serve her well in the future. Are the Lee students loud sometimes? Yes. But I remember being loud (exuberant) as a teen, too. They are good kids. They are not perfect kids. I know of no school with perfect kids. Your child can thrive at Lee. He/ she will learn, laugh and grow in so many ways. Give Lee a chance. It's well worth it.

I’m the parent of a student at Saratoga elementary. My concern with Lee HS is how well does the school educate the average student? I’ve heard from parents of students who have taken honors and IB classes and done very well, but what if your child is a middle-of-the-pack student? What then?

[Anonymous]

Aimee Holleb sucks. Terry Dade is itching to get out of that mess and out of the County as a whole. He's too good for that position.

[Anonymous]

Happening at Lee High School -

Lancer Singers have been invited to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City next March as part of an exclusive concert for top-ranked choirs.

https://www.lancersingers.org/