LAMB AP's contract not renewed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im so glad finally parents with common sense are chiming in. I am so tired of the loud few that make it sound like everything is awful and everyone but one person in admin is horrible. A school does not run on the shoulders of a single person. It is so sad to read such untruths about a place where both of my kids and us are happy.

I joined the charla last night and agree with the previous post that it seems they are looking for something the AP doesn’t have. It makes sense to me that they will look for Montessori expertise given that LAMB is a Montessori school. I had assumed she had that expertise.

Regarding aftercare, I didn’t hear them say no aftercare for new students. I heard that they are working on a plan and on hiring but cannot guarantee that every single child will get a spot. This does make me nervous but I liked that they said they will open registration in June and do a lottery for spots. At least this will give us ample time to Olán if we don’t get spots.

"Parents with common sense" = new parents with no institutional memory whose kids are so far away from middle school that they can blithely bumble along, wrapped in their warm upper-middle class ignorance and the knowledge that Lowell or the burbs are never far away. Spare me. Those of us who have been here a while know that getting rid of an effective bilingual administrator who was able to get things done in favor of hiring a Montessori director is complete garbage for our kids (particularly those in upper el where - spoiler - Montessori breaks down spectacularly) and it's absolutely on point for Charis and Majose who are vindictive, insecure and self-interested. The teachers are fantastic and most parents (the above notwithstanding) are awesome at LAMB. But the Executive Director and her enablers are serious liabilities.

+1.

We absolutely loved the warm and fuzzy Montessori feeling from PK-3 through second grade. But then you watch your 5th grader trying to learn algebra using rainbow colored blocks. That's when you realize the Montessori ideologues have pushed it too far.

This is why UMC white folks can't have nice things. We take something good (Montessori model for ECE) and decide Larla learns better making her own decisions and not having to memorize or fit into a box. Except life isn't like that unless you are a true trust fund baby. And true trust fund babies are NOT in DCPS or PCSB schools.

[Anonymous]

It kinda sounds like LAMB need to strengthen their curriculum, academics, and teacher support for upper elementary grades. Maybe they should invest in a stronger teacher coaching academic support program?

Oh wait, that’s exactly what they’re doing with this proposed move.

I don’t understand how families can have so many complaints about how the upper school program is run and not directly tie it back to the assistant principal who is responsible for that program.

My kids are in the pre-K program at lamb and have been very happy, and I don’t know this assistant principal, but she seems like a lovely person. It just seems like they are trying to strengthen their upper school program and are looking for someone with more qualifications and specific experience. I get super emotional and that’s hard, but the logic makes sense.

[Anonymous]

LAMB has lost its way, and it started long before decisions about next year's administration were made. It is not a far cry from the Latin American Montessori Bilingual Public Charter School. A pivot to something different could have worked if there was a vision for something better, but there is no vision. How crazy is it that a school with "bilingual" and "Montessori" in its name hires people to interact with kids who aren't bilingual or qualified in Montessori? The school is a great example of the idea that if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. BTW, I loathe the parents on PS who publicly gripe. I think they are self-serving and gross. A big reason LAMB has lost its way is because parents like them have gotten too much input. You helped lead us of off the rails. Pardon me if I don't think you should have input in how to get us back..

[Anonymous]

It is crazy so many administrators don’t speak Spanish

[Anonymous]

There are only 2 who don’t speak Spanish…the Ed is one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is crazy so many administrators don’t speak Spanish

It seems odd its not a job requirement for everyone but English teachers. How do they work with parents who don't speak English much, if at all. (I'd assume there are a lot of those families at a bilingual school?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2 who don’t speak Spanish…the Ed is one of them.

Charis promised to learn Spanish when she was hired five years ago. So much for that…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is crazy so many administrators don’t speak Spanish

It seems odd its not a job requirement for everyone but English teachers. How do they work with parents who don't speak English much, if at all. (I'd assume there are a lot of those families at a bilingual school?)

I don't think there are, actually. LAMB is 7% at-risk and only 27% Latino. It's not a school that attracts Spanish only families, it's one that attracts educated "balanced bilingual" families. It does seem odd but that oddness actually speaks to the reality. It would be actually impossible at a school that had a high percent of Spanish only families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is crazy so many administrators don’t speak Spanish

It seems odd its not a job requirement for everyone but English teachers. How do they work with parents who don't speak English much, if at all. (I'd assume there are a lot of those families at a bilingual school?)

I don't think there are, actually. LAMB is 7% at-risk and only 27% Latino. It's not a school that attracts Spanish only families, it's one that attracts educated "balanced bilingual" families. It does seem odd but that oddness actually speaks to the reality. It would be actually impossible at a school that had a high percent of Spanish only families.

This is a telling statistic, because eight years ago the school was 50% Latino, and approximately 25-25% Black/white. The past administration, for all its faults, worked very hard to make sure that Spanish-speaking families and lower-income families were well represented. That is clearly not a priority for the current administration.

[Anonymous]

Am I the only one who reads this LAMB thread and thinks, "Holy hell, LAMB parents seem like a bunch of middle school children who seem to feed off of drama!"? Seriously, how do you all have time and energy for this nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We absolutely loved the warm and fuzzy Montessori feeling from PK-3 through second grade. But then you watch your 5th grader trying to learn algebra using rainbow colored blocks. That's when you realize the Montessori ideologues have pushed it too far.

Is algebra even in the 5th grade curriculum? I didn’t learn algebra until 8th grade.

- LAMB parent still feeling warm and fuzzy, so far having a good experience with the school, except for the parents that are making me worried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who reads this LAMB thread and thinks, "Holy hell, LAMB parents seem like a bunch of middle school children who seem to feed off of drama!"? Seriously, how do you all have time and energy for this nonsense.

To be fair, there seem to be drama parents like that at every school that comes up here. BASIS comes to mind. For a while, the Janney parents were a trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We absolutely loved the warm and fuzzy Montessori feeling from PK-3 through second grade. But then you watch your 5th grader trying to learn algebra using rainbow colored blocks. That's when you realize the Montessori ideologues have pushed it too far.

Is algebra even in the 5th grade curriculum? I didn’t learn algebra until 8th grade.

- LAMB parent still feeling warm and fuzzy, so far having a good experience with the school, except for the parents that are making me worried.

It's pretty easy to avoid those parents. There is an ever-present toxic set of them, to be clear. But they are a tiny minority, and if you don't engage, then it's very very easy to not know they exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who reads this LAMB thread and thinks, "Holy hell, LAMB parents seem like a bunch of middle school children who seem to feed off of drama!"? Seriously, how do you all have time and energy for this nonsense.

To be fair, there seem to be drama parents like that at every school that comes up here. BASIS comes to mind. For a while, the Janney parents were a trip.

That feels like a false equivalence. BASIS parents seem to be pretty aggressive at defending a constant barrage from a small and vocal group that really, really hates that school. The LAMB drama seems to be coming from inside the building. It feels like a bunch of bored parents who thrive on drama and palace intrigue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who reads this LAMB thread and thinks, "Holy hell, LAMB parents seem like a bunch of middle school children who seem to feed off of drama!"? Seriously, how do you all have time and energy for this nonsense.

To be fair, there seem to be drama parents like that at every school that comes up here. BASIS comes to mind. For a while, the Janney parents were a trip.

That feels like a false equivalence. BASIS parents seem to be pretty aggressive at defending a constant barrage from a small and vocal group that really, really hates that school. The LAMB drama seems to be coming from inside the building. It feels like a bunch of bored parents who thrive on drama and palace intrigue.

Honestly, the fact that you are stuck on this seems like you also enjoy drama. It's very easy to avoid this drama if you are at the school, which you don't seem to be.