Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The good news is that the St. Mary's parents are very engaged. I don't think there's actually much panic, although there is clearly room for improvement.

St. Mary's is the biggest Catholic school in Virginia, and it's part of the oldest Catholic church/parish in Virginia. It's a feeder school for Bishop Ireton, Bishop O'Connell, Gonzaga, and Visitation. The tradition and momentum is good enough that some faculty and staff turnover isn't the end of the world.

But the turnover has been a problem. There's clearly been some issue at the school, and the school is deliberately not transparent about it. They've hired some young, unprepared teachers who didn't work out and then left quickly (some were pushed). They also lost a lot of good faculty and staff over the past couple years. A previous poster noted that this year they didn't say where people are going. That seems like a clue.

And if the well-respected assistant principal moved to another school in the diocese (unconfirmed), does that suggest that she had some beef with this school (principal? priest? other?). She had only been there for a couple years, they have a new principal, and they have a turnover problem. Why the heck would they move her when they need stability?

Can anyone confirm why she left and where she went? Can anyone confirm why any of the other high-quality people have left in the past few years?

It looks like they've done a good job hiring some good new faculty and staff. So that's something. But I wish I knew more about what had caused the turnover in the first place and how the school could fix it.

And I wish the school would expand the faculty a bit. They seem to run very lean, with large class sizes, and that seems to have caused various problems (teacher burnout, some teachers unable to fix badly behaving classes, teachers unable to tailor curriculum based on student ability/readiness, some undersupported new teachers failing, etc.) I think the school needs more teachers, more experienced teachers, more aides, more backups, more training, more mentoring, etc.

I googled the former Asst Principal and it’s appears she’s at St Thomas More per a bulletin in July in which is in Arlington and in a similar role. No idea why she left it felt sudden and rumor was at the end of the year she was without a job when she resigned.

Was she really that highly regarded? I don’t think I can name a single person that held her in high esteem. Good credentials to be sure.
There is a rumor that the principal left her to do the work he didn’t want to do. There may be some truth to that

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The good news is that the St. Mary's parents are very engaged. I don't think there's actually much panic, although there is clearly room for improvement.

St. Mary's is the biggest Catholic school in Virginia, and it's part of the oldest Catholic church/parish in Virginia. It's a feeder school for Bishop Ireton, Bishop O'Connell, Gonzaga, and Visitation. The tradition and momentum is good enough that some faculty and staff turnover isn't the end of the world.

But the turnover has been a problem. There's clearly been some issue at the school, and the school is deliberately not transparent about it. They've hired some young, unprepared teachers who didn't work out and then left quickly (some were pushed). They also lost a lot of good faculty and staff over the past couple years. A previous poster noted that this year they didn't say where people are going. That seems like a clue.

And if the well-respected assistant principal moved to another school in the diocese (unconfirmed), does that suggest that she had some beef with this school (principal? priest? other?). She had only been there for a couple years, they have a new principal, and they have a turnover problem. Why the heck would they move her when they need stability?

Can anyone confirm why she left and where she went? Can anyone confirm why any of the other high-quality people have left in the past few years?

It looks like they've done a good job hiring some good new faculty and staff. So that's something. But I wish I knew more about what had caused the turnover in the first place and how the school could fix it.

And I wish the school would expand the faculty a bit. They seem to run very lean, with large class sizes, and that seems to have caused various problems (teacher burnout, some teachers unable to fix badly behaving classes, teachers unable to tailor curriculum based on student ability/readiness, some undersupported new teachers failing, etc.) I think the school needs more teachers, more experienced teachers, more aides, more backups, more training, more mentoring, etc.

I googled the former Asst Principal and it’s appears she’s at St Thomas More per a bulletin in July in which is in Arlington and in a similar role. No idea why she left it felt sudden and rumor was at the end of the year she was without a job when she resigned.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Publish the HONOR ROLL

What the hell is this person blathering about? Who cares about the honor roll?

Anonymous wrote:The good news is that the St. Mary's parents are very engaged. I don't think there's actually much panic, although there is clearly room for improvement.

St. Mary's is the biggest Catholic school in Virginia, and it's part of the oldest Catholic church/parish in Virginia. It's a feeder school for Bishop Ireton, Bishop O'Connell, Gonzaga, and Visitation. The tradition and momentum is good enough that some faculty and staff turnover isn't the end of the world.

But the turnover has been a problem. There's clearly been some issue at the school, and the school is deliberately not transparent about it. They've hired some young, unprepared teachers who didn't work out and then left quickly (some were pushed). They also lost a lot of good faculty and staff over the past couple years. A previous poster noted that this year they didn't say where people are going. That seems like a clue.

And if the well-respected assistant principal moved to another school in the diocese (unconfirmed), does that suggest that she had some beef with this school (principal? priest? other?). She had only been there for a couple years, they have a new principal, and they have a turnover problem. Why the heck would they move her when they need stability?

Can anyone confirm why she left and where she went? Can anyone confirm why any of the other high-quality people have left in the past few years?

It looks like they've done a good job hiring some good new faculty and staff. So that's something. But I wish I knew more about what had caused the turnover in the first place and how the school could fix it.

And I wish the school would expand the faculty a bit. They seem to run very lean, with large class sizes, and that seems to have caused various problems (teacher burnout, some teachers unable to fix badly behaving classes, teachers unable to tailor curriculum based on student ability/readiness, some undersupported new teachers failing, etc.) I think the school needs more teachers, more experienced teachers, more aides, more backups, more training, more mentoring, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO there’s more from st Mary’s parents because they are all panicking and trying to switch schools. The only people who spend time in this forum are people looking to apply to private schools. It’s a dead time for most issues having to do with private school but the st Mary’s parents are hanging around because they’re freaking out. SSSAS is hard to get into now and crazy expensive. Potomac is impossible to get into. ACPS is a mess right now because of the high school project. At Mary’s parents have no options. They are venting and panicking and lurking.

I was only lukewarm on the school but reading this board is making me panic!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Publish the HONOR ROLL

What the hell is this person blathering about? Who cares about the honor roll?

Anonymous wrote:Publish the HONOR ROLL

Anonymous wrote:IMO there’s more from st Mary’s parents because they are all panicking and trying to switch schools. The only people who spend time in this forum are people looking to apply to private schools. It’s a dead time for most issues having to do with private school but the st Mary’s parents are hanging around because they’re freaking out. SSSAS is hard to get into now and crazy expensive. Potomac is impossible to get into. ACPS is a mess right now because of the high school project. At Mary’s parents have no options. They are venting and panicking and lurking.