I'd take what I read on Greatschools with a grain of salt. It's often the disgruntled parents who will rate a school, not the people who are happy.

I'll add that a colleague of mine found her first teaching job at a school in MCPS where some of her friend's children had attended; her friends weren't fond of the principal and found her rather cold. However, as when my friend began working there, she found the principal very supportive to the staff and learned that this person just wasn't a warm/fuzzy type with parents. Try to talk to other staff members if you can to get some information, and don't base things on what parents have to say.

Anonymous wrote:A school that makes parents happy might be terrible for teacher support. YOu need a different source.

+1
This is not the right place to be asking your question. Good Luck.
( another mcps teacher)

A school that makes parents happy might be terrible for teacher support. YOu need a different source.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a school administrator but not in an MCPS elementary school, and I'd be hesitant to hire someone who started a thread gossiping about me on social media.

I will say that the quality of school administration is critical to your experience as a new teacher, but this isn't the way to find out about it. I'll also say that what makes parents happy with an admin, and particularly what makes the affluent segment that posts on DCUM, is not always the same as what makes teachers happy.

I didn't know that asking for background information was the same as gossiping, but thanks for the input.

It's not. But construing an ask for background information as gossiping tells you lots about the culture of the administration

Anonymous wrote:I'm a school administrator but not in an MCPS elementary school, and I'd be hesitant to hire someone who started a thread gossiping about me on social media.

I will say that the quality of school administration is critical to your experience as a new teacher, but this isn't the way to find out about it. I'll also say that what makes parents happy with an admin, and particularly what makes the affluent segment that posts on DCUM, is not always the same as what makes teachers happy.

I didn't know that asking for background information was the same as gossiping, but thanks for the input.

I'm a school administrator but not in an MCPS elementary school, and I'd be hesitant to hire someone who started a thread gossiping about me on social media.

I will say that the quality of school administration is critical to your experience as a new teacher, but this isn't the way to find out about it. I'll also say that what makes parents happy with an admin, and particularly what makes the affluent segment that posts on DCUM, is not always the same as what makes teachers happy.

During your interview - is it appropriate to ask to be put in touch with current teachers so that you can learn more about the school? In my industry - this is not an unusual request.

Also - don't be hard on yourself re "why would they want to hire a first year teacher"....some first year teachers are excellent and admin knows that. You are newly trained so everything is fresh, you are enthusiastic and likely have stellar reviews from your student teaching experience. My son had a first year teacher last year in K and she was awesome. I wish we could have her every year.

Anonymous wrote:This is going to be hard if you won't name the school, but I understand why you wouldn't want to.

My kids are at a Blair feeder ES, and I've heard other teachers say that the principal is one of the best they have worked with. She's been there for ages, and seems to have a great handle on the administrative and teacher liaison functions. She's also great with the kids. I'd say she's slightly weaker on the "talking to parents" aspect, but the school is really diverse and I think she takes some flack from the squeaky (white, middle class) wheels for trying to meet the needs of ALL the kids in the school.

OP here. This is a super helpful response. Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not use dcum as a source. The posts on here are very unrepresentative of real life imo.

+1 MCPS secondary school teacher

I know dcum is pretty terrible, but the reviews of the school I saw on greatschools.org were really disheartening, and they were all about how terrible the principal is. The reviews of the school where I student taught were all positive, and I agreed with all of them. If that school was hiring, and they'd take me, I'd go there in a heartbeat. I don't want to feel blindsided by an administration that looks nice in the interview and is awful in reality. Do you think there are any resources to find a real picture of specific schools? :-/

Anonymous wrote:Is it that easy to get first positions as an elementary teacher (so you can pick and choose)?

OP here: No, but I'd like to make an informed decision and go into a situation with both eyes open. Thanks for your concern.

Is it that easy to get first positions as an elementary teacher (so you can pick and choose)?

This is going to be hard if you won't name the school, but I understand why you wouldn't want to.

My kids are at a Blair feeder ES, and I've heard other teachers say that the principal is one of the best they have worked with. She's been there for ages, and seems to have a great handle on the administrative and teacher liaison functions. She's also great with the kids. I'd say she's slightly weaker on the "talking to parents" aspect, but the school is really diverse and I think she takes some flack from the squeaky (white, middle class) wheels for trying to meet the needs of ALL the kids in the school.

Anonymous wrote:I would not use dcum as a source. The posts on here are very unrepresentative of real life imo.

+1 MCPS secondary school teacher

I would not use dcum as a source. The posts on here are very unrepresentative of real life imo.

I'm a recent graduate trying to get my first classroom teaching position. I'm trying to get the real backstory behind MCPS schools. I have an interview today and was excited...and then did some googling and saw really bad reviews about the principal. I guess what I'm asking is if anyone has any recent experiences with MCPS elementary schools that make you think the staff/administration there is amazing...or lacking. I was a student teacher for a year in an amazing school and heard all year from the staff there how important good admin is. I'm kind of a little worried that this school is even considering a first year teacher in the first place. Something about not wanting to be part of any club that would have me as a member. I was a nanny in NW dc for many years and I trust parents to be observant and honest about what they see in their children's schools.

Thanks.