We are not IB for L-T, but I had a child here briefly. We are educated, middle class. Cobbs was extremely rude, dismissive, unprofessional, and downright hurtful to me on at least 4 occasions that I can think of directly. She also spoke inappropriately in front of my child. I was willing to believe it was simply our situation that made her unwelcoming to us, but then I heard multiple stories such as what people are posting above (unfriendly to middle class families). I understand how hard it must be for a school that feels itself to be settled and successful to have an influx of a new type of parent, but that's the way things happen. Families who live IB have a perfect right to participate in supporting their IB schools. They have a perfect right to attend their IB schools. Principal Cobbs and other principals at similar schools need to understand that there are different styles of parenting and that working with those different styles is part of their jobs.

I think Cobbs is starting to work on becoming more welcoming and I commend her on that. I certainly wish her all the best, but I can assure you that I, with a long time association with DCPS, experienced quite directly extremely negative (and I must say one-sided -- she mostly spoke to me, I barely said anything) interactions with Principal Cobbs. It made me question the possibility of success for L-T.

The teachers and administrators I met were, for the most part, wonderful. There are some really wonderful people there.

Anonymous wrote:My question is: what do y'all get from writing negative things about Ludlow Taylor here? I came to find out about the school in general(community, arts programs, aftercare) and from what I've read none of this thread seems constructive or informative.

I can't give detailed information here as we were only at LT (we are IB) for about a month before leaving for greener pastures, but one thing that initially made me feel better was that it was an arts immersion (maybe thats the wrong term?) school. I was surprised and upset to learn that for this past year, at least, they had gotten rid of both the music and art teacher for budget reasons. How are you an arts school without an arts program? I know they have a relationship with Folger Theater, but so do many of the other area schools.

The PS community is great but from what I hear from friends who have spent the year there, they are not well supported by the rest of the school, so much of their hard work ends up getting canned by the higher ups for 'lack of approval', etc.

We did participate in aftercare while we were there and were very happy. Its all run by the PK teachers for the younger kids and I felt very comfortable with the teachers and the program.

Good luck, the school issues are so difficult.

Anonymous wrote:This is 23:01 again -- seriously, tho, I've only had a few conversations with her, but she's always been perfectly nice. And I've seen her in conversations with other white parents, and witnessed her being nice to them, too.

We're AA and she certainly wasn't nice to us when we asked her if LT is planning to offer pullout groups for advanced learners, like Watkins and Brent do. If she's so nice to white parents, why are there so few in the school? Most of the neighbors around us are white.

I'd wager that faces in the DC school reform game are going to change in the next 18 months: Wells will be out, and probably Gray and Henderson. The shuffle will be provide the LT in-boundary parents an opening to lobby for new leadership at LT with a chance in hell of success.

We're heading to a charter but would gladly support anybody who tries to oust Cobbs, at least by signing a petition or attending a meeting. She can't be good for our property values and I'm not relishing the commute to Brookland for a charter, plus my own commute to VA afterwards.

This is 23:01 again -- seriously, tho, I've only had a few conversations with her, but she's always been perfectly nice. And I've seen her in conversations with other white parents, and witnessed her being nice to them, too.

I did time in grad school, but left w/out a degree. Maybe that's why she's always been friendly to me.

Anonymous wrote:Other than not being open to a g&t program, what makes her hostile?

Are you white, Asian or Latino with a graduate or professional degree? Ever tried to talk to her?

My question is: what do y'all get from writing negative things about Ludlow Taylor here? I came to find out about the school in general(community, arts programs, aftercare) and from what I've read none of this thread seems constructive or informative.

Oh please. Anyone paying attention know that there was cheating at Ludlow Taylor. What more evidence do you need than statistically astronomical erasure rates and the score rise and fall. Educators know scores don't do that. We don't need this message board for that

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who owns a home IB for Ludlow-Taylor, I do care if Cobbs cheats.

The high test scores make her untouchable.

She's a cheater AND hostile to those of us who live inbounds for LT.

My kids are older, we've found other options, but my life would be much easier if they could walk 3 blocks to school each day.

See how you went from "she might be a cheater" to "She is a cheater" without any proof or scant evidence.

Honestly I have never met the woman but I have way more sympathy for her dealing with such hostile parents who basically assume the worst of her and are out for her job just because of some BS on a message board.

You really think people are forming opinions about the principal and the school from DCUM?

Anonymous wrote:As someone who owns a home IB for Ludlow-Taylor, I do care if Cobbs cheats.

The high test scores make her untouchable.

She's a cheater AND hostile to those of us who live inbounds for LT.

My kids are older, we've found other options, but my life would be much easier if they could walk 3 blocks to school each day.

See how you went from "she might be a cheater" to "She is a cheater" without any proof or scant evidence.

Honestly I have never met the woman but I have way more sympathy for her dealing with such hostile parents who basically assume the worst of her and are out for her job just because of some BS on a message board.

Other than not being open to a g&t program, what makes her hostile?

As someone who owns a home IB for Ludlow-Taylor, I do care if Cobbs cheats.

The high test scores make her untouchable.

She's a cheater AND hostile to those of us who live inbounds for LT.

My kids are older, we've found other options, but my life would be much easier if they could walk 3 blocks to school each day.

I don't care if Cobbs and her people cheat on the CAS. I care that they're not remotely gentrifier friendly, and almost certainly never will be. But no principal lasts anywhere forever and the pressure to make LT a real neighborhood school isn't going away. One day, an almost entirely high-SES IB population will overcome.

Already apologized and also identified it as rumor. Will be more careful in the future. Maybe coffee before posting

And her boyfriend's children are at Payne.

Really - get your facts straight before you continue to slander LT.