Haycock Principal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd rather have a school like Haycock that is liked by most families than by some random DCUM poster. It's a great pyramid, and people try hard to get their kids into Haycock.

Being dissed on DCUM is a good sign that a school is desirable. Same thing happens regularly to Langley and TJ.

It'll be fun when my kid who goes to a title I school meets yours in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd rather have a school like Haycock that is liked by most families than by some random DCUM poster. It's a great pyramid, and people try hard to get their kids into Haycock.

Being dissed on DCUM is a good sign that a school is desirable. Same thing happens regularly to Langley and TJ.

It'll be fun when my kid who goes to a title I school meets yours in high school.

My McLean HS kids first met kids from a Title I school at Longfellow, and a girlfriend went to Timber Lane. What's with the drama?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd rather have a school like Haycock that is liked by most families than by some random DCUM poster. It's a great pyramid, and people try hard to get their kids into Haycock.

Being dissed on DCUM is a good sign that a school is desirable. Same thing happens regularly to Langley and TJ.

It'll be fun when my kid who goes to a title I school meets yours in high school.

My McLean HS kids first met kids from a Title I school at Longfellow, and a girlfriend went to Timber Lane. What's with the drama?

My point exactly. All our kids are going to end up in the same place, so not sure why PP thinks people are jealous of their public elementary school???

[Anonymous]

So many teachers ran the eff outta there like their asses was on fire. Also very telling. It's the parents and the admin that contribute to the bad vibe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many teachers ran the eff outta there like their asses was on fire. Also very telling. It's the parents and the admin that contribute to the bad vibe.

You really ought to seek professional help. You don’t know what you are talking about, and you clearly have no idea how to express yourself without resorting to increasingly crude language.

[Anonymous]

There are no instructional vacancies currently listed at Haycock for SY 2020-21, unlike at many other FCPS schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are no instructional vacancies currently listed at Haycock for SY 2020-21, unlike at many other FCPS schools.

The whole third grade team was new during the previous school year. A lot of the fourth grade teachers are new this year. There’s also a few fifth graders teachers new to the school this year. They’re too young to retire. With the economy the way it is I doubt anyone will try to leave for anywhere else.
Plus I heard they need one less teacher next year.

[Anonymous]

Haycock parent here. To be clear, the mass exodus of teachers began after the first year of Jereme Donnelley as principal. It continued into his second year. While the parents never supported Jereme, the breaking point which led to his leaving was as a result of the remaining teachers coming to the parent community and asking for support and help. jereme did not listen to our teachers or seek their opinions or guidance. The parent community then decided to voice concerns on behalf of both groups (parents and teachers).

Since Augie has taken over as interim, our teacher turnover is incredibly low. He, along with our strong asst principals, has brought much needed stability. Scott Bloom was in the school as principal for all of two months and never really made a mark. I can’t imagine he’s coming back. Of course, we would love a new long term principal but given the priorities right now in a pandemic, I just have to hope Augie can see us through one more year.

I write this because so many people on these threads who do not have children at Haycock consistently make the argument that the parents are crazy and pushed the principal out as if it was done in a vacuum. What we did was support our teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haycock parent here. To be clear, the mass exodus of teachers began after the first year of Jereme Donnelley as principal. It continued into his second year. While the parents never supported Jereme, the breaking point which led to his leaving was as a result of the remaining teachers coming to the parent community and asking for support and help. jereme did not listen to our teachers or seek their opinions or guidance. The parent community then decided to voice concerns on behalf of both groups (parents and teachers).

Since Augie has taken over as interim, our teacher turnover is incredibly low. He, along with our strong asst principals, has brought much needed stability. Scott Bloom was in the school as principal for all of two months and never really made a mark. I can’t imagine he’s coming back. Of course, we would love a new long term principal but given the priorities right now in a pandemic, I just have to hope Augie can see us through one more year.

I write this because so many people on these threads who do not have children at Haycock consistently make the argument that the parents are crazy and pushed the principal out as if it was done in a vacuum. What we did was support our teachers.

+1000. Donnelly was an outlier and he probably needed better mentoring than he received from Region 2 leadership. Other Haycock principals have had longer tenures and if you look at the principals of Longfellow and McLean both have been there a long time (12 years and 8 years) with comparatively little staff turnover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are no instructional vacancies currently listed at Haycock for SY 2020-21, unlike at many other FCPS schools.

The whole third grade team was new during the previous school year. A lot of the fourth grade teachers are new this year. There’s also a few fifth graders teachers new to the school this year. They’re too young to retire. With the economy the way it is I doubt anyone will try to leave for anywhere else.
Plus I heard they need one less teacher next year.

The good news is the 3rd grade team they brought in is really strong. My 3rd grader was having his best year yet and I'm bummed that the year was cut short (at least in the classroom she's doing awesome with the distance learning though).

[Anonymous]

The parents at this school are nasty and demanding. They kicked the former principal in the butt many times. Aside from that, the former principal was also nasty by making horrible decisions over multiple years, not just the one decision about the specials that pissed teachers and parents off. As for the strong Ass. Principal, several teachers say he falls asleep in meetings and/ or struggles to keep his eyes open or just sits there and does not do or say anything but maybe the other Ass. Principal is ok and makes up for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haycock parent here. To be clear, the mass exodus of teachers began after the first year of Jereme Donnelley as principal. It continued into his second year. While the parents never supported Jereme, the breaking point which led to his leaving was as a result of the remaining teachers coming to the parent community and asking for support and help. jereme did not listen to our teachers or seek their opinions or guidance. The parent community then decided to voice concerns on behalf of both groups (parents and teachers).

Since Augie has taken over as interim, our teacher turnover is incredibly low. He, along with our strong asst principals, has brought much needed stability. Scott Bloom was in the school as principal for all of two months and never really made a mark. I can’t imagine he’s coming back. Of course, we would love a new long term principal but given the priorities right now in a pandemic, I just have to hope Augie can see us through one more year.

I write this because so many people on these threads who do not have children at Haycock consistently make the argument that the parents are crazy and pushed the principal out as if it was done in a vacuum. What we did was support our teachers.

+1000. Donnelly was an outlier and he probably needed better mentoring than he received from Region 2 leadership. Other Haycock principals have had longer tenures and if you look at the principals of Longfellow and McLean both have been there a long time (12 years and 8 years) with comparatively little staff turnover.

Principals typically stay until retirement in the northeast. Why is 8-12 years considered long here?

And I’ve never heard a complaint about the APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haycock parent here. To be clear, the mass exodus of teachers began after the first year of Jereme Donnelley as principal. It continued into his second year. While the parents never supported Jereme, the breaking point which led to his leaving was as a result of the remaining teachers coming to the parent community and asking for support and help. jereme did not listen to our teachers or seek their opinions or guidance. The parent community then decided to voice concerns on behalf of both groups (parents and teachers).

Since Augie has taken over as interim, our teacher turnover is incredibly low. He, along with our strong asst principals, has brought much needed stability. Scott Bloom was in the school as principal for all of two months and never really made a mark. I can’t imagine he’s coming back. Of course, we would love a new long term principal but given the priorities right now in a pandemic, I just have to hope Augie can see us through one more year.

I write this because so many people on these threads who do not have children at Haycock consistently make the argument that the parents are crazy and pushed the principal out as if it was done in a vacuum. What we did was support our teachers.

+1000. Donnelly was an outlier and he probably needed better mentoring than he received from Region 2 leadership. Other Haycock principals have had longer tenures and if you look at the principals of Longfellow and McLean both have been there a long time (12 years and 8 years) with comparatively little staff turnover.

Principals typically stay until retirement in the northeast. Why is 8-12 years considered long here?

And I’ve never heard a complaint about the APs.

The school systems in the northeast are much smaller and there aren't as many lateral opportunities if you want to stay in the same system to accrue leave, benefits, etc.

There are also quite a few principals who aspire to get jobs in FCPS adminstration, where you get paid more to do far less. It's generally understood that you're more likely to land one of those jobs if you've worked in schools with different demographics. There are also some principals who like to develop longer-term ties to a school and don't especially want to work at Gatehouse, and they may stay longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The parents at this school are nasty and demanding. They kicked the former principal in the butt many times. Aside from that, the former principal was also nasty by making horrible decisions over multiple years, not just the one decision about the specials that pissed teachers and parents off. As for the strong Ass. Principal, several teachers say he falls asleep in meetings and/ or struggles to keep his eyes open or just sits there and does not do or say anything but maybe the other Ass. Principal is ok and makes up for him.

You should spend more time in front of a mirror before you call anyone else "nasty." You kind of have a lock on that right now.

[Anonymous]

I find pp comments so interesting. Calling people on an anonymous chat board that they have never spoken to nasty for posting what they experienced or heard about. Thanks for your insight. Great job! We greatly appreciate your input!