Anonymous wrote:Lot of bad assistant principals in MCPS unfortunately. A few smart and competent ones who add a lot of value but most are not very smart and love the power dynamic of being an AP.

This.

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Anonymous wrote:I heard they are hiring some assistant principals with high school admin experience in MCPS. That should be helpful.

Unfortunately not. They are getting one from Magruder who is awful. Lots of complaints from staff about her.

Who? Why?

Seyoum is incompetent as a AP. No follow through, doesn’t meet deadlines, and gives empty promises in person, but rarely responds to emails. Self promoting and rarely shows up for work. Really, she’s out all the time and when she is there, she comes in late. She will smile on your face while throwing you under the bus. Staff were constantly going the EFR about her not meeting MCEA contractual obligations. Oh and as for experience, I think she’s only been an AP for two years. She won’t survive at Wootton.

Well that tracks.

Lot of bad assistant principals in MCPS unfortunately. A few smart and competent ones who add a lot of value but most are not very smart and love the power dynamic of being an AP.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I heard they are hiring some assistant principals with high school admin experience in MCPS. That should be helpful.

Unfortunately not. They are getting one from Magruder who is awful. Lots of complaints from staff about her.

Who? Why?

Seyoum is incompetent as a AP. No follow through, doesn’t meet deadlines, and gives empty promises in person, but rarely responds to emails. Self promoting and rarely shows up for work. Really, she’s out all the time and when she is there, she comes in late. She will smile on your face while throwing you under the bus. Staff were constantly going the EFR about her not meeting MCEA contractual obligations. Oh and as for experience, I think she’s only been an AP for two years. She won’t survive at Wootton.

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Anonymous wrote:I heard they are hiring some assistant principals with high school admin experience in MCPS. That should be helpful.

Unfortunately not. They are getting one from Magruder who is awful. Lots of complaints from staff about her.

Who? Why?

As a parent, I’m going to wait and form my own opinions on new staff. So many times over the years I was told a teacher was horrible when they actually were a great fit for my child and vice versa. Somebody above has been adamant that there have been no good counselors at Wootton and I completely disagree. DD who graduated in 2020 had one who couldn’t keep her name/grade straight even after multiple interactions. Yet, both my DSs shared a wonderful counselor who took the time to get to know them and support them. In my opinion she always went the extra mile, especially considering how many students she was responsible for.

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Anonymous wrote:DS came home and told me that dozens of teachers are leaving Wootton at the end of semester. I always expect a few transfers and retirements but it sounds like this goes way beyond. Any parents or staff members know whether this rumor is true and why? I’m worried as we have had so many wonderful teachers that we’d hate to lose.

And counselors leaving? What's going on?

Not leaving. 5 counselors left.

to be clear, 5 counselors left Wootton (including resource counselor) and 3 counselors are staying.

on positive note, Dr. Ponce, the new resource counselor, has great experience and spearheaded another MCPS school to Ramp certification with ASCA.

Did Dr. Ponce just come from Edison? She was at Northwood before that. She knows Dr. Bostic from Northwood. She’s ok but nothing great. Good luck!

Oh dear!

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Anonymous wrote:I would be curious to know why they're leaving.

Is it:

1) General exodus from fatigue with the teaching profession or MCPS shenanigans in general

2) Out of support for Doug Nelson who was ousted earlier this year

3) Out of concern for the continued leadership uncertainly with the principal search just being announced

Re: #2 why and what happened? Was he also ousted from Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS years ago?

He became Wootton’s principal 3 years ago. Last school year he was put on leave for mishandling racist issues.

Seems like they fired him for being White and replaced him with a black principal. It would be interesting to see if Nelson files a lawsuit against the school district if he felt it was anti White for them to put him on leave.

They fired him for unilaterally canceling the mandated MCPS diversity training (and keeping that secret from MCPS) and several other bad choices. That's different from "being White."

This would never pass muster now. Trump would give him a promotion for cancelling a diversity meeting

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Anonymous wrote:I would be curious to know why they're leaving.

Is it:

1) General exodus from fatigue with the teaching profession or MCPS shenanigans in general

2) Out of support for Doug Nelson who was ousted earlier this year

3) Out of concern for the continued leadership uncertainly with the principal search just being announced

Re: #2 why and what happened? Was he also ousted from Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS years ago?

He became Wootton’s principal 3 years ago. Last school year he was put on leave for mishandling racist issues.

Seems like they fired him for being White and replaced him with a black principal. It would be interesting to see if Nelson files a lawsuit against the school district if he felt it was anti White for them to put him on leave.

They fired him for unilaterally canceling the mandated MCPS diversity training (and keeping that secret from MCPS) and several other bad choices. That's different from "being White."

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Anonymous wrote:What’s happening there?

This is a nothing burger every year teachers and staff leave schools .

Staff don’t leave Wootton though. Maybe a few a year. Not 30.

Anonymous wrote:I was the OP of this thread. Interesting that DS turned out to have accurate info. He said he was told by a teacher who was among those leaving. Sadly, his beloved counselor has now also left. She was amazing! I think he’s more bothered by this loss then the others as he’s a rising senior and didn’t expect it.

The new principal is excellent so I’m surprised so many chose to leave. It probably didn’t help that they waited so long to make the announcement.

Just stop.

This is normal attrition.

There are no good counselors ever at MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:What’s happening there?

This is a nothing burger every year teachers and staff leave schools .

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Anonymous wrote:I was the OP of this thread. Interesting that DS turned out to have accurate info. He said he was told by a teacher who was among those leaving. Sadly, his beloved counselor has now also left. She was amazing! I think he’s more bothered by this loss then the others as he’s a rising senior and didn’t expect it.

The new principal is excellent so I’m surprised so many chose to leave. It probably didn’t help that they waited so long to make the announcement.

Did that many people leave because of the uncertainty of not knowing who the new principal would be?

I have no idea but I suspect that could have been a factor. Things were a mess under the old principal who was replaced with an interim principal Dr Bostic. I assume most staff gave notice without knowing the interim principal would be made permanent.

Many staff are unhappy with Dr. Bostic - there’s a lot of talk that isn’t backed up by action. The union was heavily involved this spring to try to mediate. Examples: 1. Spring testing and AP exams were a significant problem, with nothing done to adjust and make it better even though teachers and department chairs gave many suggestions. 2. Teachers were not told what they would be teaching next year until the last day of school. At that point in the year, many positions at other schools were already posted and filled, leaving little time to make moves if teachers were unhappy with what courses they were given.

This post rings true. I previously worked with Bostic. He is a nice guy but he wants to be liked by everyone so he says yes to everything but then never follows up with what he promised or agreed to. He is also very good with promoting himself to central office. He has ambitious and lofty goals but the hard work of actually getting things done is sometimes lacking.

+1. He dresses well and talks a good talk, but imo, he lacks substance.

I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but Mr. Nelson was down to earth and there were things he could improved on, I feel he was the lesser of the two evils.

It is truly says that Wootton lost many good teachers and counselors.

Wootton has never ever had good counselors.

Nelson is not good at all.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be curious to know why they're leaving.

Is it:

1) General exodus from fatigue with the teaching profession or MCPS shenanigans in general

2) Out of support for Doug Nelson who was ousted earlier this year

3) Out of concern for the continued leadership uncertainly with the principal search just being announced

Re: #2 why and what happened? Was he also ousted from Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS years ago?

He became Wootton’s principal 3 years ago. Last school year he was put on leave for mishandling racist issues.

Seems like they fired him for being White and replaced him with a black principal. It would be interesting to see if Nelson files a lawsuit against the school district if he felt it was anti White for them to put him on leave.

Unlikely. Looks like he got absorbed by Central Office and is now working on the Program Analysis.

Anonymous wrote:I heard they are hiring some assistant principals with high school admin experience in MCPS. That should be helpful.

Unfortunately not. They are getting one from Magruder who is awful. Lots of complaints from staff about her.