Anonymous wrote:I am the PP with the virtual kid this morning and I don't think Neal should be fired. I have been lucky enough to have kids at Deal for over a decade. I had kids there when Albright was there and now with Neal. I love her and think she is an amazing leader. However, I do think she completely dropped the ball during Covid. I was caught off guard by her lack of leadership when the shit hit the fan. I remember as the 6th grade AP with her bullhorn whipping those kids into shape. Have not seen that at all from her during this time. She has been such a huge advocate of kids for years then seems complacent when it comes to kids not learning for over a year.

In the fall I was on the ball. Keeping track of when teachers were out, reaching out about a teacher who couldn't do synchronous learning due to renovations at her home. I was the squeaky wheel. Now, emails go unanswered, the 8th grade AP who gave me his cellphone in the fall now must screen my calls because he never picks up and doesn't return calls. So in the end they have beaten me into submission. We are going to power through these last few weeks and then my kid is off to private for 9th. My first one to not go on to Wilson or Walls. That is how beaten down we are.

Me too. I gave up when my kid came home week after week in his Weds. SEL classroom and told me they let him play on his phone the whole time. Unfortunately we don't have another option for the fall short of moving out the city.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who didn't get a "lucky" IPL spot at Deal what is your kid doing this morning?

Mine got up for her 9 am huddle. No teacher, no teacher, kids looking at each other, check emails, no email, no teacher, no teacher.

Logs off and is now back in bed. Will try again for her next class. It is a rare day when all of her teachers actually teach a class. How is this acceptable?

The Deal assistant principals are generally ineffective at resolving issues with teacher performance, and Neal won't touch it. Start sending emails to Neal and the AP, and copy the instructional superintendent for Deal and someone in the Chancellor's office. You need to start a spreadsheet tracking the dates when this occurs. Send your first email today and explain this the x time it happened.

It's important to keep the DCPS instructional superintendent and someone in the Chancellor's office looped in and for all parents to keep sending these emails. We have to give them the ammo if they finally decide to remove Neal.

Look, I get it—you’re unhappy with the way Ms. Neal has handled this year. I disagree, but I understand that perspectives differ.

But the idea that there’s some longstanding effort to “remove” her, that she’s “wrecked” the school as some other posters have claimed, makes me think this is not just about pandemic management; it seems more personal. As has been pointed out a million times on here, Deal is a massive school (way, way too big), which Ms. Neal managed pretty masterfully pre-pandemic. There’s a lot of anxiety about what’s going to happen in the fall, but I hope those who are unhappy with the decisions Ms. Neal made this year can focus on what it will take to return to full IPL in the fall rather than try to blow the place up.

Just to be clear, I don’t believe there’s any chance Ms. Neal is removed. But I do think the calls for her firing create a poisonous atmosphere that will make a return to normal difficult. I want kids to have a good year next year, something as close to normal as possible; that requires some goodwill and commitment from families to be constructive rather than destructive.

Amen. I feel like Janney already lost its principal to this shortsightedness. Deal will continue after your children move through. Neal has shown herself to be an effective principal of a HUGE school in 'normal times.' Other children, families, communities will be a part of this school long after your family has moved on. Please keep some perspective.

I am the PP with the virtual kid this morning and I don't think Neal should be fired. I have been lucky enough to have kids at Deal for over a decade. I had kids there when Albright was there and now with Neal. I love her and think she is an amazing leader. However, I do think she completely dropped the ball during Covid. I was caught off guard by her lack of leadership when the shit hit the fan. I remember as the 6th grade AP with her bullhorn whipping those kids into shape. Have not seen that at all from her during this time. She has been such a huge advocate of kids for years then seems complacent when it comes to kids not learning for over a year.

In the fall I was on the ball. Keeping track of when teachers were out, reaching out about a teacher who couldn't do synchronous learning due to renovations at her home. I was the squeaky wheel. Now, emails go unanswered, the 8th grade AP who gave me his cellphone in the fall now must screen my calls because he never picks up and doesn't return calls. So in the end they have beaten me into submission. We are going to power through these last few weeks and then my kid is off to private for 9th. My first one to not go on to Wilson or Walls. That is how beaten down we are.

NP here. I am unhappy with how Deal has handled virtual learning but I certainly don’t want Ms. Neal fired. The people asking for that have no idea how bad the overall quality of principals is in DCPS. Running Deal is a tough job. Dealing with central office is a nightmare.
With all that said, I wish she would be tougher on the teachers. It is hard for principals when the Mayor and Chancellor are such lousy leaders for education.

I would get behind an effort to fire our current chancellor. I think he is the real issue not Ms. Neal

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who didn't get a "lucky" IPL spot at Deal what is your kid doing this morning?

Mine got up for her 9 am huddle. No teacher, no teacher, kids looking at each other, check emails, no email, no teacher, no teacher.

Logs off and is now back in bed. Will try again for her next class. It is a rare day when all of her teachers actually teach a class. How is this acceptable?

The Deal assistant principals are generally ineffective at resolving issues with teacher performance, and Neal won't touch it. Start sending emails to Neal and the AP, and copy the instructional superintendent for Deal and someone in the Chancellor's office. You need to start a spreadsheet tracking the dates when this occurs. Send your first email today and explain this the x time it happened.

It's important to keep the DCPS instructional superintendent and someone in the Chancellor's office looped in and for all parents to keep sending these emails. We have to give them the ammo if they finally decide to remove Neal.

Look, I get it—you’re unhappy with the way Ms. Neal has handled this year. I disagree, but I understand that perspectives differ.

But the idea that there’s some longstanding effort to “remove” her, that she’s “wrecked” the school as some other posters have claimed, makes me think this is not just about pandemic management; it seems more personal. As has been pointed out a million times on here, Deal is a massive school (way, way too big), which Ms. Neal managed pretty masterfully pre-pandemic. There’s a lot of anxiety about what’s going to happen in the fall, but I hope those who are unhappy with the decisions Ms. Neal made this year can focus on what it will take to return to full IPL in the fall rather than try to blow the place up.

Just to be clear, I don’t believe there’s any chance Ms. Neal is removed. But I do think the calls for her firing create a poisonous atmosphere that will make a return to normal difficult. I want kids to have a good year next year, something as close to normal as possible; that requires some goodwill and commitment from families to be constructive rather than destructive.

Completely agree with you, PP. I am so tired of this vitriol against Ms. Neal. Stay focused on the fall, people. You are beginning to lose the rest of us with this sole focus on one person.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who didn't get a "lucky" IPL spot at Deal what is your kid doing this morning?

Mine got up for her 9 am huddle. No teacher, no teacher, kids looking at each other, check emails, no email, no teacher, no teacher.

Logs off and is now back in bed. Will try again for her next class. It is a rare day when all of her teachers actually teach a class. How is this acceptable?

The Deal assistant principals are generally ineffective at resolving issues with teacher performance, and Neal won't touch it. Start sending emails to Neal and the AP, and copy the instructional superintendent for Deal and someone in the Chancellor's office. You need to start a spreadsheet tracking the dates when this occurs. Send your first email today and explain this the x time it happened.

It's important to keep the DCPS instructional superintendent and someone in the Chancellor's office looped in and for all parents to keep sending these emails. We have to give them the ammo if they finally decide to remove Neal.

Look, I get it—you’re unhappy with the way Ms. Neal has handled this year. I disagree, but I understand that perspectives differ.

But the idea that there’s some longstanding effort to “remove” her, that she’s “wrecked” the school as some other posters have claimed, makes me think this is not just about pandemic management; it seems more personal. As has been pointed out a million times on here, Deal is a massive school (way, way too big), which Ms. Neal managed pretty masterfully pre-pandemic. There’s a lot of anxiety about what’s going to happen in the fall, but I hope those who are unhappy with the decisions Ms. Neal made this year can focus on what it will take to return to full IPL in the fall rather than try to blow the place up.

Just to be clear, I don’t believe there’s any chance Ms. Neal is removed. But I do think the calls for her firing create a poisonous atmosphere that will make a return to normal difficult. I want kids to have a good year next year, something as close to normal as possible; that requires some goodwill and commitment from families to be constructive rather than destructive.

Your points are well taken, but in light of everything that's gone down this year it's really hard to have this Pollyannish view of the place. She has gone a long way to creating this poisonous atmosphere, and that should be ackowledged.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were really looking forward to the summer math acceleration at Deal. But to ask kids who have been sitting in front of a screen for a full academic year to spend a full month of their summer doing the same is not reasonable. Especially after a year of receiving only 2/5 of the regular instructional time in the previous math course. What are they building on?

My son did SMAC online last summer and actually quite enjoyed it.

Same. Kid enjoyed it and did well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who didn't get a "lucky" IPL spot at Deal what is your kid doing this morning?

Mine got up for her 9 am huddle. No teacher, no teacher, kids looking at each other, check emails, no email, no teacher, no teacher.

Logs off and is now back in bed. Will try again for her next class. It is a rare day when all of her teachers actually teach a class. How is this acceptable?

The Deal assistant principals are generally ineffective at resolving issues with teacher performance, and Neal won't touch it. Start sending emails to Neal and the AP, and copy the instructional superintendent for Deal and someone in the Chancellor's office. You need to start a spreadsheet tracking the dates when this occurs. Send your first email today and explain this the x time it happened.

It's important to keep the DCPS instructional superintendent and someone in the Chancellor's office looped in and for all parents to keep sending these emails. We have to give them the ammo if they finally decide to remove Neal.

Look, I get it—you’re unhappy with the way Ms. Neal has handled this year. I disagree, but I understand that perspectives differ.

But the idea that there’s some longstanding effort to “remove” her, that she’s “wrecked” the school as some other posters have claimed, makes me think this is not just about pandemic management; it seems more personal. As has been pointed out a million times on here, Deal is a massive school (way, way too big), which Ms. Neal managed pretty masterfully pre-pandemic. There’s a lot of anxiety about what’s going to happen in the fall, but I hope those who are unhappy with the decisions Ms. Neal made this year can focus on what it will take to return to full IPL in the fall rather than try to blow the place up.

Just to be clear, I don’t believe there’s any chance Ms. Neal is removed. But I do think the calls for her firing create a poisonous atmosphere that will make a return to normal difficult. I want kids to have a good year next year, something as close to normal as possible; that requires some goodwill and commitment from families to be constructive rather than destructive.

You have it backwards. The only personal prejudice is coming from Neal against certain families who disagree with her, and Neal created this poisonous atmosphere, not the parents. We didn't have this issue with the prior Principals. It's concerning that you believe that a legitimate response would be Neal continuing to refuse to reopen as some sort of payback for parents not behaving the way she wants us to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who didn't get a "lucky" IPL spot at Deal what is your kid doing this morning?

Mine got up for her 9 am huddle. No teacher, no teacher, kids looking at each other, check emails, no email, no teacher, no teacher.

Logs off and is now back in bed. Will try again for her next class. It is a rare day when all of her teachers actually teach a class. How is this acceptable?

The Deal assistant principals are generally ineffective at resolving issues with teacher performance, and Neal won't touch it. Start sending emails to Neal and the AP, and copy the instructional superintendent for Deal and someone in the Chancellor's office. You need to start a spreadsheet tracking the dates when this occurs. Send your first email today and explain this the x time it happened.

It's important to keep the DCPS instructional superintendent and someone in the Chancellor's office looped in and for all parents to keep sending these emails. We have to give them the ammo if they finally decide to remove Neal.

Look, I get it—you’re unhappy with the way Ms. Neal has handled this year. I disagree, but I understand that perspectives differ.

But the idea that there’s some longstanding effort to “remove” her, that she’s “wrecked” the school as some other posters have claimed, makes me think this is not just about pandemic management; it seems more personal. As has been pointed out a million times on here, Deal is a massive school (way, way too big), which Ms. Neal managed pretty masterfully pre-pandemic. There’s a lot of anxiety about what’s going to happen in the fall, but I hope those who are unhappy with the decisions Ms. Neal made this year can focus on what it will take to return to full IPL in the fall rather than try to blow the place up.

Just to be clear, I don’t believe there’s any chance Ms. Neal is removed. But I do think the calls for her firing create a poisonous atmosphere that will make a return to normal difficult. I want kids to have a good year next year, something as close to normal as possible; that requires some goodwill and commitment from families to be constructive rather than destructive.

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who didn't get a "lucky" IPL spot at Deal what is your kid doing this morning?

Mine got up for her 9 am huddle. No teacher, no teacher, kids looking at each other, check emails, no email, no teacher, no teacher.

Logs off and is now back in bed. Will try again for her next class. It is a rare day when all of her teachers actually teach a class. How is this acceptable?

The Deal assistant principals are generally ineffective at resolving issues with teacher performance, and Neal won't touch it. Start sending emails to Neal and the AP, and copy the instructional superintendent for Deal and someone in the Chancellor's office. You need to start a spreadsheet tracking the dates when this occurs. Send your first email today and explain this the x time it happened.

It's important to keep the DCPS instructional superintendent and someone in the Chancellor's office looped in and for all parents to keep sending these emails. We have to give them the ammo if they finally decide to remove Neal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were really looking forward to the summer math acceleration at Deal. But to ask kids who have been sitting in front of a screen for a full academic year to spend a full month of their summer doing the same is not reasonable. Especially after a year of receiving only 2/5 of the regular instructional time in the previous math course. What are they building on?

My son did SMAC online last summer and actually quite enjoyed it.

Any other summer, virtual wouldn’t be a problem. After a full year in front of a screen where summer outside is the biggest thing to look forward to? It’s a bit different.

Yup - that was our thinking too. Our rising 7th would have loved to do this in person- or even online last summer, but after a full year behind the screen, we can't commit to that for the summer, too. Mental health is more important.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were really looking forward to the summer math acceleration at Deal. But to ask kids who have been sitting in front of a screen for a full academic year to spend a full month of their summer doing the same is not reasonable. Especially after a year of receiving only 2/5 of the regular instructional time in the previous math course. What are they building on?

My son did SMAC online last summer and actually quite enjoyed it.

Any other summer, virtual wouldn’t be a problem. After a full year in front of a screen where summer outside is the biggest thing to look forward to? It’s a bit different.

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who didn't get a "lucky" IPL spot at Deal what is your kid doing this morning?

Mine got up for her 9 am huddle. No teacher, no teacher, kids looking at each other, check emails, no email, no teacher, no teacher.

Logs off and is now back in bed. Will try again for her next class. It is a rare day when all of her teachers actually teach a class. How is this acceptable?

Does your kid have Mr. B? He sent note that he’d be out today and gave assignment link.

Anonymous wrote:We were really looking forward to the summer math acceleration at Deal. But to ask kids who have been sitting in front of a screen for a full academic year to spend a full month of their summer doing the same is not reasonable. Especially after a year of receiving only 2/5 of the regular instructional time in the previous math course. What are they building on?

My son did SMAC online last summer and actually quite enjoyed it.

For those of you who didn't get a "lucky" IPL spot at Deal what is your kid doing this morning?

Mine got up for her 9 am huddle. No teacher, no teacher, kids looking at each other, check emails, no email, no teacher, no teacher.

Logs off and is now back in bed. Will try again for her next class. It is a rare day when all of her teachers actually teach a class. How is this acceptable?