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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]NP.

I have read this thread and I'm glad to see that there is a willingness to see what can be done to improve a neighborhood school. I think that this can be done without all of the negativity expressed regarding the former principal or the current one. I didn't see it as a pity party rather than a number of response to combat what has largely been on this board as public opinion sans the 97% of families that Cooke serves. One or two families, even five shouldn't be able to color the opinion of a school without engaging the rest of the stakeholder base. That's part of the challenge of these threads about schools.  Clearly on this thread its been noted that only a small group of families participate.  That's problematic in and of itself.

That's one way to start to make changes.  Engage the folks who are also at the schools in a equal and unbiased way.  Open a conversation where folks listen and recognize that children have little control over their circumstance but we can impact what happens in any school as a collective.

The fact remains that all of the children in DCPS deserve a quality neighborhood school in which they are all equally valued.  I'm not sure that is a shared sentiment on this board but that's what I believe will help to start to change the schools in DC.[/quote]

I am one of the 3% of Cooke parents who posts on this board. Here is what I know.

1. At the beginning of the school year, I was specifically told by several parents of older children that they were glad the old principal was gone because they didn't feel that she took their children's safety seriously, particularly during aftercare. They also believed that she did not enforce discipline consistently.

2. We had a great year. We have no intention of leaving the school. We do not plan to enter the lottery ever again and are thrilled with that decision.

3. I have spent time in the school. I haven't seen children being contained in a classroom, on the 3rd floor or anywhere else. I have also not seen students assaulting staff members, and I don't want this board to think that such things are the norm at the school. I think that even the disgruntled PP would say that such things are the norm or totally representative of the school as a whole.

4. I have found the principal to be generally responsive to parent concerns, but I understand that there is some tension because she wants people to schedule meetings, rather than just stop by. I understand that that is different from the way the previous principal did things, but I don't think it's unreasonable to ask that parents with serious concerns schedule time to talk about those concerns at a time when the principal is available, rather than stopping her in the hallway and expecting her to miss a meeting. I think it is also possible that she started the year with grand ambitions, and then when the reality of managing a school like Cooke set in, she was a little overwhelmed, which is totally understandable.

5. The letters that were sent home were sent to OOB students who weren't complying with the attendance policy. It's not an attempt to oust students of color from the school. As the PP said, given the demographics of the school, that would be next to impossible.

6. I don't know what teachers are for sure not coming back. I know at least one kindergarten teacher is. I know that some positions were not in the budget this year. I know that there are people who are really mad about some of those and I'm not totally thrilled about them either. I don't think that they're retaliatory or racist, as the PP is implying. I think they demonstrate shifting priorities for DCPS and cannot be blamed on this specific principal.

7. Most importantly, I think there is a tendency on this board to think that this board is the be-all and end-all of engagement with schools. I asked the PP how we could fix the problems that that PP cited because it seems like s/he feels that a certain group of parents has the ear of the admin while the rest are left out in the cold. I would like to be part of the solution, but if the only way that these problems get talked about are in anonymous disgruntled whispers, that does not give me much to work with. I don't want this board to get the impression that there is no parent engagement at our school, or that the "middle class" "gentrifier" families are not engaged with the rest of the school. I have seen a lot of parent engagement, but the reality is that for many years, parents found it difficult to engage with the school and as a result, there is little centralization of that engagement. People's classroom teachers rely on parents for assistance with various things. I know that I've done a lot for my kid's classroom teacher this year, but I have also done stuff for teachers at other grade levels when they've asked. People have a perception of our school that it's full of extremely poor kids with awful behavior, who don't learn anything. Our test scores are not great, but I truly believe that they are improving.[/quote]

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