Rumor mill turning about Darin Thompson, Hayfield's principal, getting moved to West Springfield. Pass the trash.

TJ the best high school in the WORLD.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is cool that he was in the first class of TJ graduates!

The first class was mostly kids left over from the previous regime and before it was good.

No.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He has your back when no one else will even if you mess up bad. Ask me how I know (actually don’t should be obvious)

No I didn’t love all his policies and directives but he was honest about his goals and plans for the school.

His door was open for staff. The counseling staff turnover was more about the former director of student services and how they managed people not him.

Yes he’s not perfect but he’s a genuine good guy who will support and protect staff so they can do their jobs.

If you can’t put this all together, I someone who would’ve been critical am telling you the man does his best and stands behind people.

Everyone at WSHS always speculated that he might try for the TJ job if it ever opened. Like he could tell you he wanted to retire at WSHS and that’s honestly true but TJ is really a dream for him. He wants to be there he wants to raise it back up. Mr. Mukai will do well at TJ period

Thanks for this. I am a TJ teacher and was surprised by what was mentioned by another poster. Everyone I've talked to that has worked under him has had positive things to say. No leader is perfect. He seemed genuine in his staff welcome on Friday. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Every work location has disgruntled former staff.

Look at the amount of teachers staying at WSHS and the smount of people clamoring to send their kids there. Mukai is doing many things very right.

Take that person who is posting (anonymously) so far from what everyone else sees with a grain of salt. Their experience is valid for them, but is far from reality for most at WSHS.

Is Mukai perfect? Are all of his policies what every teacher, counselor, parent and kid wants? No, of course not.

But overall, he is a great principal, who assembled one of the best staff teams in the county.

Hey I really wanna applaud you for actually reading my post

I stated that he and I had differences but I had nothing but respect for him. But go ahead and insinuate that my post says the same thing as a post earlier in the thread.

I was agreeing with both of you.

The "disguntled" comment was in reference to that same earlier post you were commenting on. My post was nothing but agreement to what you said.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He has your back when no one else will even if you mess up bad. Ask me how I know (actually don’t should be obvious)

No I didn’t love all his policies and directives but he was honest about his goals and plans for the school.

His door was open for staff. The counseling staff turnover was more about the former director of student services and how they managed people not him.

Yes he’s not perfect but he’s a genuine good guy who will support and protect staff so they can do their jobs.

If you can’t put this all together, I someone who would’ve been critical am telling you the man does his best and stands behind people.

Everyone at WSHS always speculated that he might try for the TJ job if it ever opened. Like he could tell you he wanted to retire at WSHS and that’s honestly true but TJ is really a dream for him. He wants to be there he wants to raise it back up. Mr. Mukai will do well at TJ period

Thanks for this. I am a TJ teacher and was surprised by what was mentioned by another poster. Everyone I've talked to that has worked under him has had positive things to say. No leader is perfect. He seemed genuine in his staff welcome on Friday. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Every work location has disgruntled former staff.

Look at the amount of teachers staying at WSHS and the smount of people clamoring to send their kids there. Mukai is doing many things very right.

Take that person who is posting (anonymously) so far from what everyone else sees with a grain of salt. Their experience is valid for them, but is far from reality for most at WSHS.

Is Mukai perfect? Are all of his policies what every teacher, counselor, parent and kid wants? No, of course not.

But overall, he is a great principal, who assembled one of the best staff teams in the county.

Hey I really wanna applaud you for actually reading my post

I stated that he and I had differences but I had nothing but respect for him. But go ahead and insinuate that my post says the same thing as a post earlier in the thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He has your back when no one else will even if you mess up bad. Ask me how I know (actually don’t should be obvious)

No I didn’t love all his policies and directives but he was honest about his goals and plans for the school.

His door was open for staff. The counseling staff turnover was more about the former director of student services and how they managed people not him.

Yes he’s not perfect but he’s a genuine good guy who will support and protect staff so they can do their jobs.

If you can’t put this all together, I someone who would’ve been critical am telling you the man does his best and stands behind people.

Everyone at WSHS always speculated that he might try for the TJ job if it ever opened. Like he could tell you he wanted to retire at WSHS and that’s honestly true but TJ is really a dream for him. He wants to be there he wants to raise it back up. Mr. Mukai will do well at TJ period

Thanks for this. I am a TJ teacher and was surprised by what was mentioned by another poster. Everyone I've talked to that has worked under him has had positive things to say. No leader is perfect. He seemed genuine in his staff welcome on Friday. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Every work location has disgruntled former staff.

Look at the amount of teachers staying at WSHS and the smount of people clamoring to send their kids there. Mukai is doing many things very right.

Take that person who is posting (anonymously) so far from what everyone else sees with a grain of salt. Their experience is valid for them, but is far from reality for most at WSHS.

Is Mukai perfect? Are all of his policies what every teacher, counselor, parent and kid wants? No, of course not.

But overall, he is a great principal, who assembled one of the best staff teams in the county.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone from TJ that is excited about Mukai as their new principal should take some time to talk to the WSHS staff…..or, most specifically, the mass amount of staff that have left since he started there. Take a look at their counseling department, the turnover has been almost 100% each year since he got there. Staff have chosen to become unemployed versus working for that man. People have referred to him as “the worst man ever”.
If I were staff at TJ, I would honestly consider looking at other opportunities. It’s sad because TJ is great for many students and staff alike but being led by this man will ruin everything that has been built there.
The article written about his transfer highlights him being responsible for increasing the number of National Merit Scholarship winners and theatrical Cappies winner. Anyone with half a brain knows that the principal of a school has NOTHING to do with any of that.
WSHS was a great school before that man arrived and hopefully this is their chance to be great again with him gone.
It’s pretty sad that they did an alleged “nationwide” search and this was the best they could come up with! There’s more to this appointment. It certainly isn’t because he is the best man for the job. If anything, someone from WSHS paid off the school board to get him the hell out of there.
Fortunately, the TJ students are smart and independent and don’t need leadership to be successful. The stafff…….should run!

Your post does not reflect reality at WSHS or the school leadership.

Every disgruntled former employeee has a back story that has a lot of untruths and truths in it.

Most of the teachers have been there for years.

WSHS has very little staff turn over compared to all the other FCPS high schools. We have been there for over a decade, and teachers very rarely leave the school. The staff is extremely stable for FCPS.

Many of the teachers are former students, who come back to teach at WSHS.

The leadership is very well regarded within the community.

Sounds like someone drinks the community Kool-Aid. Look at VDOE teacher quality data and you'll see WS trends on district average with inexperienced teachers, and is slightly worse than average rate for of out-of-field and provisionally licensed teachers over the last 5+ years, implying turnover has occurred. Nothing particularly stands out as this being an "extremely stable" school versus any other school.

Like I said above- this school can run itself. It has strong admin teams, high achieving kids, good athletes and talented musicians and theatre kids that make this a good school despite Mukai or any teacher issues.

I didn’t realize staff were so unhappy. We’re only on our 4th kid through and have seen some of the same teachers through the years. And we’ve had zero interaction with Mukai.

We have been there for 12 years.

The teaching staff has been very stable since we started there, with my youngest kid having several of the same teachers as my oldest kids. We knew a couple of teachers who left voluntarily, but they were for normal things like becoming a SAH mom, getting promoted, and leaving their 50 minute commute to WSHS to an opening at a school 5 minutes from their house. All normal career progressions and lifestyle choices.

We have also had several interactions with Mukai. Even when we disagreed with him, he has been proactive, professional and helpful. He works around the clock. I have gotten email responses from him as late as 1AM from and as early as 6AM. He always responds within 24 hours to concerns, and takes time to be informed on the topic. If the issue is pressing, he calls, which is rare in this day and age. Most importantly, he has assembled a talented, exceptional staff, the most important role of an administrator. And the kids overall like and respect him.

The only notable staff turnover we have seen is in the counseling department, particularly around covid and before covid. My oldest had more than one counselor, and all of them were lemons. Friends from different parts of the alphabet with kids of different ages have had the same complaints about their counselors. However, my youngest has a newer counselor, and they are exceptional. I never hear complaints now from their peers parents about the counselors, so perhaps the turnover in that department was necessary to get to a quality staff on par with the outstanding teachers and admin at WSHS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is cool that he was in the first class of TJ graduates!

The first class was mostly kids left over from the previous regime and before it was good.

Not true. My cousin was one of the kids who went to TJ before it was the TJ we know now. Those kids were moved to Annandale HS. He was in the class hand selected for TJ.

Anonymous wrote:He has your back when no one else will even if you mess up bad. Ask me how I know (actually don’t should be obvious)

No I didn’t love all his policies and directives but he was honest about his goals and plans for the school.

His door was open for staff. The counseling staff turnover was more about the former director of student services and how they managed people not him.

Yes he’s not perfect but he’s a genuine good guy who will support and protect staff so they can do their jobs.

If you can’t put this all together, I someone who would’ve been critical am telling you the man does his best and stands behind people.

Everyone at WSHS always speculated that he might try for the TJ job if it ever opened. Like he could tell you he wanted to retire at WSHS and that’s honestly true but TJ is really a dream for him. He wants to be there he wants to raise it back up. Mr. Mukai will do well at TJ period

Thanks for this. I am a TJ teacher and was surprised by what was mentioned by another poster. Everyone I've talked to that has worked under him has had positive things to say. No leader is perfect. He seemed genuine in his staff welcome on Friday. I'm cautiously optimistic.

He has your back when no one else will even if you mess up bad. Ask me how I know (actually don’t should be obvious)

No I didn’t love all his policies and directives but he was honest about his goals and plans for the school.

His door was open for staff. The counseling staff turnover was more about the former director of student services and how they managed people not him.

Yes he’s not perfect but he’s a genuine good guy who will support and protect staff so they can do their jobs.

If you can’t put this all together, I someone who would’ve been critical am telling you the man does his best and stands behind people.

Everyone at WSHS always speculated that he might try for the TJ job if it ever opened. Like he could tell you he wanted to retire at WSHS and that’s honestly true but TJ is really a dream for him. He wants to be there he wants to raise it back up. Mr. Mukai will do well at TJ period

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard mixed things about Mukai over the years, and not all of it was positive. Some people assume he’ll be good just because he went to TJ, and that tells me they haven’t dealt with a lot of TJ grads. Some are impressive and others are just really odd ducks who apparently peaked in 8th grade.

1995 is so long ago it’s not even relevant to doing this job.

So Mukai doesn’t have a doctorate? How did he get the TJ gig?

I’ve heard mixed things about Mukai over the years, and not all of it was positive. Some people assume he’ll be good just because he went to TJ, and that tells me they haven’t dealt with a lot of TJ grads. Some are impressive and others are just really odd ducks who apparently peaked in 8th grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone from TJ that is excited about Mukai as their new principal should take some time to talk to the WSHS staff…..or, most specifically, the mass amount of staff that have left since he started there. Take a look at their counseling department, the turnover has been almost 100% each year since he got there. Staff have chosen to become unemployed versus working for that man. People have referred to him as “the worst man ever”.
If I were staff at TJ, I would honestly consider looking at other opportunities. It’s sad because TJ is great for many students and staff alike but being led by this man will ruin everything that has been built there.
The article written about his transfer highlights him being responsible for increasing the number of National Merit Scholarship winners and theatrical Cappies winner. Anyone with half a brain knows that the principal of a school has NOTHING to do with any of that.
WSHS was a great school before that man arrived and hopefully this is their chance to be great again with him gone.
It’s pretty sad that they did an alleged “nationwide” search and this was the best they could come up with! There’s more to this appointment. It certainly isn’t because he is the best man for the job. If anything, someone from WSHS paid off the school board to get him the hell out of there.
Fortunately, the TJ students are smart and independent and don’t need leadership to be successful. The stafff…….should run!

Your post does not reflect reality at WSHS or the school leadership.

Every disgruntled former employeee has a back story that has a lot of untruths and truths in it.

Most of the teachers have been there for years.

WSHS has very little staff turn over compared to all the other FCPS high schools. We have been there for over a decade, and teachers very rarely leave the school. The staff is extremely stable for FCPS.

Many of the teachers are former students, who come back to teach at WSHS.

The leadership is very well regarded within the community.

Sounds like someone drinks the community Kool-Aid. Look at VDOE teacher quality data and you'll see WS trends on district average with inexperienced teachers, and is slightly worse than average rate for of out-of-field and provisionally licensed teachers over the last 5+ years, implying turnover has occurred. Nothing particularly stands out as this being an "extremely stable" school versus any other school.

Like I said above- this school can run itself. It has strong admin teams, high achieving kids, good athletes and talented musicians and theatre kids that make this a good school despite Mukai or any teacher issues.

I didn’t realize staff were so unhappy. We’re only on our 4th kid through and have seen some of the same teachers through the years. And we’ve had zero interaction with Mukai.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone from TJ that is excited about Mukai as their new principal should take some time to talk to the WSHS staff…..or, most specifically, the mass amount of staff that have left since he started there. Take a look at their counseling department, the turnover has been almost 100% each year since he got there. Staff have chosen to become unemployed versus working for that man. People have referred to him as “the worst man ever”.
If I were staff at TJ, I would honestly consider looking at other opportunities. It’s sad because TJ is great for many students and staff alike but being led by this man will ruin everything that has been built there.
The article written about his transfer highlights him being responsible for increasing the number of National Merit Scholarship winners and theatrical Cappies winner. Anyone with half a brain knows that the principal of a school has NOTHING to do with any of that.
WSHS was a great school before that man arrived and hopefully this is their chance to be great again with him gone.
It’s pretty sad that they did an alleged “nationwide” search and this was the best they could come up with! There’s more to this appointment. It certainly isn’t because he is the best man for the job. If anything, someone from WSHS paid off the school board to get him the hell out of there.
Fortunately, the TJ students are smart and independent and don’t need leadership to be successful. The stafff…….should run!

Your post does not reflect reality at WSHS or the school leadership.

Every disgruntled former employeee has a back story that has a lot of untruths and truths in it.

Most of the teachers have been there for years.

WSHS has very little staff turn over compared to all the other FCPS high schools. We have been there for over a decade, and teachers very rarely leave the school. The staff is extremely stable for FCPS.

Many of the teachers are former students, who come back to teach at WSHS.

The leadership is very well regarded within the community.

Sounds like someone drinks the community Kool-Aid. Look at VDOE teacher quality data and you'll see WS trends on district average with inexperienced teachers, and is slightly worse than average rate for of out-of-field and provisionally licensed teachers over the last 5+ years, implying turnover has occurred. Nothing particularly stands out as this being an "extremely stable" school versus any other school.