Anonymous wrote:Gail Jenkins is a consultant who works for Caroline Trice. Jenkins is not staff, but a paid consultant, so apparently Dr. R can appoint consultants on interim basis, and not actual staff to the position.
Anonymous wrote:Dr. R sent out an email today telling parents that they have an interim head of school lined up. It's Gail Jenkins who has been a consultant at Shining Stars and knows the school pretty well.
This is good news in terms of stabilizing the situation. The bad news is that she has no Montessori credentials at all. So, although she might help keep the test scores up to help the PMI keep SSMA as a Tier 2 school, we are moving further away from Montessori principles here.
My beef is that SSMA is supposed to be an accredited Montessori school. And that's an imprimatur that can't be taken lightly. It's Shining Stars' calling card, for goodness sakes. Is it even kosher for an accredited school to have no credentialed Montessorian as principal?
At least Dr. R moves fast.
Would love to hear any reactions to the latest news.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So where are the SSMA refugees planning to flee to?
It’s sad. There’s so much potential there. This is a black eye for DCPSCB as well.
Why? Their job is to allow people to innovate and try to new / better ways to educate children and hold them accountable for the educational outcomes.
SSMA appears to have had a good plan and has been given a chance to succeed. It is on their board to hire people who can execute the plan. If they fail, the school should and will be shut down.
Families voting with their feet will hasten that process.
Anonymous wrote:From what I see on the AMI website, certification relates to teachers being Montessori-trained, not administrators. Perhaps there are more details about the process somewhere less accessible?
https://amiusa.org/becoming-an-ami-school/
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So where are the SSMA refugees planning to flee to?
It’s sad. There’s so much potential there. This is a black eye for DCPSCB as well.
Why? Their job is to allow people to innovate and try to new / better ways to educate children and hold them accountable for the educational outcomes.
SSMA appears to have had a good plan and has been given a chance to succeed. It is on their board to hire people who can execute the plan. If they fail, the school should and will be shut down.
Families voting with their feet will hasten that process.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:When are parents going to get proactive and reactive?
There are some messages that need to be completely looked in to.
Been there done that. Ton of energy expended by parents last year and the Community Board. The situation at SSMA made us realize how little power parents have at charter schools in general. It's all about the Board at charter schools. The same sentiment has been echoed by LAMB parents (their situation was much more serious). So add researching the Board at whatever schools you are considering to your evaluation list. DCPCSB is pretty toothless when it comes to real issues. DCPS parents have way more leverage and clout. The SSMA experience made us realize that its private or a DCPS school before we go charter again.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So where are the SSMA refugees planning to flee to?
It’s sad. There’s so much potential there. This is a black eye for DCPSCB as well.
Anonymous wrote:So where are the SSMA refugees planning to flee to?
Anonymous wrote:So where are the SSMA refugees planning to flee to?
Anonymous wrote:So where are the SSMA refugees planning to flee to?
Anonymous wrote:So where are the SSMA refugees planning to flee to?
Anonymous wrote:So where are the SSMA refugees planning to flee to?