Reply to Feedback on Campbell Elementary (Arlington, VA)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I will say that based on our experience at Campbell, the principal plays favorites with kids, teachers and families. She makes it very clear who she likes and who she doesn't like, which in my view isn't super professional. I wish that she would remember that she's there to serve all kids and all families. She doesn't get to chose who attends "her" school. [/quote]

Nailed it. She also bullies the staff members she doesn’t like. She was the same way when she was at ASFS where she learned from
“the best.”[/quote]

So unfortunate.  That's not how it was with the previous principals.[/quote]

We were there for a couple years with the previous principal and she was great. A big reason why we chose Campbell. [/quote]

The previous principal, from over 10 years ago couldn’t keep staff- tons of turnover every year and the school was chaotic. I knew a part time teacher there at the time and it was apparently horrible.[/quote]

This Principal has been there for more than 10 years now, so it sounds like a lot of this information is dated, or very unique to certain situations and (if true) coming from parents with particular axes to grind, and based on very limited interaction (one month of experience, during Covid). Current principal was named principal of the year shortly before Covid, and that is an award that is nominated by parents and school staff, who provide “evidence” to Central Office. She also received an award for staff person of the year from SEPTA, the SpEd PTA, prior to Covid. Many staff members have stayed at this school for her entire tenure, only leaving to retire, and a number of parents have joined staff, or have started teaching there and then sent their own children, so it would not seem to be the case that she’s a “nightmare” principal to the majority. She might come across as curt in her messaging to parents, but I suspect that is because all her emails/texts are translated to multiple languages, and it helps to cut to the chase. This is likely not an issue for home school Principals N of 66, who can send missives in English only. She has a very good relationship with the students, and is well-like by them. She has allowed them to dunk her in a dunk tank (at the school festival), tape her to the wall of the gym for meeting their reading goals, etc. I really don’t get the hate. My kids have aged out, but we had a very good experience here and loved EL. Kids were ID’d gifted in various subjects (one in all core subjects, other in math and the arts), and no IEPs or 504s, but had very close friends who were mainstreamed with SpEd diagnoses and who had positive experiences as well. Kids are happy and thriving academically, and I credit Campbell their good foundation. It is definitely not a private school, but of all the publics, it has a good staff to student ratio, and smaller class sizes than average due to being Title 1. We found that the combination of Title 1 funds, plus an active PTA, resulted in a good amount of money to support teachers and students in the majority of their initiatives. I loved Community Meetings, the expeditions, the extra student conference, etc., that made Campbell unique. Not overly reliant on iPads, and my kids had a lot of additional outdoor time. It’s true that some teachers take better advantage than others, maybe we were just fortunate to have had those ones. But they all do expeditions. Some teachers just do extra outdoor lessons, or had the kids do their writing or math in the courtyard on beautiful days, for example.

PP who bumped this thread, go to the source. Not sure if they’re allowing school tours during Covid, but take anything you read here with a grain of salt and investigate for yourself to see if this school would be a good fit for your child and your family. Also, anything that has happened in the last 2 years is probably atypical and will (hopefully) revert to normal once the various Covid restrictions are lifted. [/quote]

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