Reply to DHMS does it get better?

Forum Index » VA Public Schools other than FCPS

Reply to "DHMS does it get better?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have five years experience at DHMS with two children.  The administration (Ms E Smith) is the best in Arlington and on par with what we would expect at any excellent school.  As a result of this outlier administration in APS, DHMS tends to get a better pool of teachers.   They want to work for her.   Period.  I know there’s always personality conflicts, and some teachers are going to disagree (of course), but you have to take the overall picture and it’s extremely positive.

We have emailed teachers twice that I can think of and they responded.   But, perhaps that is tone/demands/frequency of your emails or the particular teacher happens to be a dud?

Unlike some APS schools, DHMS has a no tech policy, meaning phones away in lockers which I love.  However, APS totally undercuts this by handing all the children iPads and then expects teachers to police their use for 25 kids all class.  From my perspective, that is an APS problem and not a DHMS problem per se.   I know some teachers are better than others, etc., but it’s a real distraction and problem across the board in APS that isn’t properly being dealt with.

My children participated in vastly different kinds of activities at DHMS.  One was athletic and did all the sports.  Another was primarily interested in clubs.  We’ve had teachers go the extra mile, showing up out of school hours, hours away, for unpaid extra activities.  We’ve also had a few dud coaches, “coaching” sports they know nothing about (seriously)!  But, you know the seasons are short, and my kids were generally very happy.  I mean, it’s MS so I don’t exactly expect ES reactions of I love my teacher mommy.  Perhaps that’s a transition for you?

There is a big movement to self responsibility that’s actually the most important a kid can learn in MS.  More important than any of the underlying memorizing topics and the stupid grades.  Focus on that transition.  Your child absolutely needs to learn to advocate for themselves.  Learn this now.  Candidly, my reaction to your post was: sounds to me like this is your first or only child and you are too involved. [/quote]

So your whole response to this person is you're wrong that's not how it is and what your child is experiencing is not happening.  Super helpful.

Also, what basis could you possibly have for saying it's the best administration in APS?[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics