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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]At McLean High School, many excellent teachers have left recently. As I know two well-respected Math teachers and one AP English teacher. A lot of complains from students and parents. And Principal has decided to remove the Chinese Language program completely in Mclean High. [/quote]

Are these retirements or quitting to go elsewhere?  There is an excellent math teacher leaving Longfellow but that's not because of an administration issue; she's done her 30+ years of teaching and genuinely wants to retire.  I think it's important to note whether this is due to something Ms. Jones has done or is doing, or if it's just regular attrition.

[b]The one issue I have with Ms. Jones is the downplay on the academic stress. I understand why she keeps harping on the issue as being unsustainable and a mental health issue for teenagers, but on multiple occasions my DD has pointed out that preaching about a bad system doesn't help the students manage their stress levels. That McLean should be putting in scaffolding to help the students. Real, serious scaffolding. You want to minimize impact, don't sit there and tell kids to jump off the train moving 100mph because that is the design.  Give them the tools to ride it safely. Acknowledgment without action is not leadership, it's just a speech that doesn't really sit well with discerning kids.[/b]

The Chinese Language program elimination is also worth addressing separately. Removing a language program entirely is a significant academic and cultural loss, and it deserves a real explanation. Which students does this affect? Were families consulted? Were alternatives offered? These are the questions a principal should be answering proactively, not leaving parents to piece together from hallway conversations.
[/quote] Chesterbrook has Chinese for the FLES program and Longfellow offers it.  I would expect those students who continued with Chinese in HS would be the most affected.  I don’t know how many students that is.  [/quote]

What kind of scaffolding are you looking for? Maybe I'm not understanding your point, but the school isn't responsible for students taking AP classes they aren't ready for or for students taking too many APs (which is the main issue). Parents and students select their classes. [/quote]

All I've heard is Jones paying occasional lip service to the idea that kids shouldn't over-extend themselves.  But you're right that it should be up to kids and families to decide how many APs kids should take.  We have no problem in FCPS with kids exerting themselves for an IB diploma, but somehow it's fashionable to obsess over kids taking too many AP courses.  [/quote]

If you're the Principal and you genuinely believe AP overload is a mental health crisis -- and it is -- then do something about it and be prepared to take the heat. Yes, parents and students will push back hard. But you can document the policy directly in the school profile sent to colleges, stating clearly that McLean caps students at X APs per year. Colleges see this all the time and it is a completely legitimate administrative decision.
You could even make it data-driven: pull the last 10 years of student records, find the point where GPA starts breaking down as AP load increases, and draw the line there. That's not arbitrary, that's evidence-based policy. It gives you something defensible to stand behind when angry parents show up at your door.  The alternative is giving speeches about stress while leaving 15-year-olds and their ambitious parents to self-regulate. That's not leadership. That's just noise.

[/quote]

It's McLean, parents can and do take legal action for things. At the elementary school level, they had people taking legal action to appeal for AAP. Longfellow had to call everything honors to avoid complaints. FCPS cannot afford even more lawsuits.[/quote]

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