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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is there a DCPS middle or high school that is bringing kids back for more than one class/week for live, in-person instruction?[/quote]

[b]According to DCPS Reopen strong, yes, the answer is yes.  Other schools are doing more.  [/b]

At a minimum, Deal could bring back alot more students right now and offer more in person instruction if they encouraged teachers to come back instead of discouraging them them.

I believe MD and VA schools are back on a hybrid rotation - in school 2 full days a week.

And pretty much the rest of America is back at least hybrid - and were always open hybrid or full.  In NJ and CA parents had to sue, but the schools then opened.  Middle schools and high schools are back in full rotation.  And they are now cutting down on the quarantining after finding so few kids testing positive.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/school-quarantine-changes/2021/05/02/681cdb4a-668e-11eb-886d-5264d4ceb46d_story.html

Deal has a baseball team, even drives the kids to the game in busses, but somehow refuses to provide in school instruction.  its just awful.  [/quote]

Which ones, specifically? Even at Wilson, where the principal was very pro-return, the kids are in max half day/week, just like at Deal. (I have one kid at each.) So which DCPS middle schools and high schools are doing more? Please name them and share their plans if you’re going to single out Deal and Ms. Neal as underperforming.[/quote]

Stop comparing Deal to Wilson.  I also have kids at both and at Wilson my kid gets in person instruction where the teacher in the room teachers to the kids in the room.  Deal is not doing that and it is a HUGE difference.

[b]And why are other DCPS schools the standard? [/b] Plenty of DC charter schools are back.  Private schools are back.  AND THE REST OF THE COUNTRY IS IN THE CLASSROOM.

I fully believe that if leaders such as Neal had come out and said truthfully that they cannot adequately teach students through distanced learning and that these students are being irreparably harmed it would have made a huge difference with the policy makers.  But they didn't stand up for their students and settled for just barely teaching this year.

Just got a notice that the science teacher will not be teaching this week.  No sub, just some homework and free time.  i recognize that teachers to have emergencies and do need leave, but normally there would be lesson plans and a sub.  And normally a teacher that misses 2 classes would still be teaching 3 classes that week.

Honestly, it feels like Deal has completely given up and written off this year.  The parents are so beaten down that they can't even get up the anger any more.  No public official one is talking about this at all.  And honestly, I am questioning whether Deal will open next year.  I already hear the press release:  "We had the full intention of opening, but Deal is so big that its just too big of a risk. We can't have 1500 students in one building at the same time...."[/quote]

The critique on this thread is of Deal and Ms. Neal, specifically. Deal and Ms. Neal operate within a system, DCPS. So it’s relevant to compare Deal and Ms. Neal to other schools and principals in DCPS. If other DCPS MSs are doing more than Deal, let’s talk about that. Otherwise, this just feels like a big tantrum by parents who for some reason expect Deal to operate differently than other DCPS middle schools.

(And, by the way, the idea that what’s happeni[b]ng at Wilson—ONE period of in-person instruction each week—is so far superior to what Deal is doing is absolutely laughable...especially since some of the Deal IP students, including my kid, are also getting one period of in-person instruction. My kid at Wilson has had teachers occasionally not show up or cancel class,[/b] but my kid at Deal has had that experience only once all year. I say this not to criticize Wilson but just to make the point that all of this is hard and imperfect, and Ms. Martin and Ms. Neal and their staffs are doing their best in an extraordinarily difficult situation.)
[/quote]

Well you have been really lucky.  There are multiple Deal teachers who have missed double digit days, many without calling out.  They just don't show up. 
My kid has one of them  It's horrible.

If you're sick or unable to teach: at least email the school and/or the kids.   It's what any other professional on the planet has to do. [/quote]

+1. It's a combination of Neal's vocal support of WTU's efforts to keep schools closed, her condescension towards parents who want in person school, her collusion and manipulation with the ADCA/LSAT reps to silence parents who want schools reopen, her refusal to manage underperforming teachers that predates the pandemic but is heightened now with teachers just not attending class because no one is managing them, etc. That's why Neal is rightfully criticized.[/quote]

And, to add, it is apparent that none if this happened across the street at Wilson.  Ms. Martin has been pretty vocal about her frustrations with DCPS and seems like she tried just about everything to get the kids into school more.  Our understanding from our Deal friends is that this is where the frustration lies, and I think parents are willing to cut Ms. Martin some slack because she actually tried to do something for the kids.  One question for this board - instead of complaining here, is there any evidence that DCPS Central Office knows or cares about the issues?  It would seem to be a bad look for them to have their flagship middle school go down the tubes due to poor leadership.[/quote]

+1. Some parents have documented our frustrations in any text options for surveys and emailed DCPS and the Mayor, so DCPS should know. Deal really is declining and I wouldn't expect it to correct course with Neal at the helm.

To add to the list of reasons why parents lost confidence in Neal: She was very sneaky in the way she "reopened" by calling it IPL and omitting key facts such as it's really zoom in a room, not live instruction taught by a teacher for many of the students. Kids get to school and take virtual classes while the teacher in the room teaches a different class. Neal lied by omission, and I don't believe for a minute that there wasn't a way to get every child at least one live class. She lost all credibility, so she doesn't get any benefit of the doubt the way Martin does.[/quote]

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