Agreed. The bee teacher bios did not do its job of calming the nerves of the parents due to the turn over rate. Yet again another reason to worry about the hiring of a 6th teacher in August.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would prefer 28 kids in a class with an experienced teacher then a last minute teacher (2.5 weeks away!!). What amazing teacher is suddenly going to appear to save the day? Be careful what you wish for. Last year we had a brand spanking new last minute teacher (who was early pregnant) and it was a disaster. I say go for 28 or go private one more year.

Same. They already have underqualified teachers aides filling teaching positions. Keep your 28.

No they don't. She may be new to teaching (although her bio says she's taught older kids before), but she's in no way unqualified. As assistant teacher in K, she was better than some full teachers.

What is her degree in? We heard she has never run a classroom before and only was an aide the previous year, we are slightly concerned since 2nd grade is right before a testing year. We are thinking of asking if she is highly qualified and have her background sent to us. The bio on the website was not very professional. I did not understand her nickname for our kids.

None of the bios were professional; one spelled the name of the school wrong. They certainly should have been proofread.

I don't know what her (or any other teacher we've had) degree is in. Nor do I have any reason to think that a degree in education is better than any other liberal arts field. But I do encourage you to ask -- Dr. B should be more forthcoming about everything.

Wow. You guys know you are talking about a real person with feelings right? This airing of dirty laundry on an anaymous website is really not a good look. Why can't you post on your school list serv and take ownership of your comments and feelings? This whole thing makes me really sad for the teachers and the kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would prefer 28 kids in a class with an experienced teacher then a last minute teacher (2.5 weeks away!!). What amazing teacher is suddenly going to appear to save the day? Be careful what you wish for. Last year we had a brand spanking new last minute teacher (who was early pregnant) and it was a disaster. I say go for 28 or go private one more year.

Same. They already have underqualified teachers aides filling teaching positions. Keep your 28.

No they don't. She may be new to teaching (although her bio says she's taught older kids before), but she's in no way unqualified. As assistant teacher in K, she was better than some full teachers.

What is her degree in? We heard she has never run a classroom before and only was an aide the previous year, we are slightly concerned since 2nd grade is right before a testing year. We are thinking of asking if she is highly qualified and have her background sent to us. The bio on the website was not very professional. I did not understand her nickname for our kids.

What is "MUSHY?"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would prefer 28 kids in a class with an experienced teacher then a last minute teacher (2.5 weeks away!!). What amazing teacher is suddenly going to appear to save the day? Be careful what you wish for. Last year we had a brand spanking new last minute teacher (who was early pregnant) and it was a disaster. I say go for 28 or go private one more year.

Same. They already have underqualified teachers aides filling teaching positions. Keep your 28.

No they don't. She may be new to teaching (although her bio says she's taught older kids before), but she's in no way unqualified. As assistant teacher in K, she was better than some full teachers.

What is her degree in? We heard she has never run a classroom before and only was an aide the previous year, we are slightly concerned since 2nd grade is right before a testing year. We are thinking of asking if she is highly qualified and have her background sent to us. The bio on the website was not very professional. I did not understand her nickname for our kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would prefer 28 kids in a class with an experienced teacher then a last minute teacher (2.5 weeks away!!). What amazing teacher is suddenly going to appear to save the day? Be careful what you wish for. Last year we had a brand spanking new last minute teacher (who was early pregnant) and it was a disaster. I say go for 28 or go private one more year.

Same. They already have underqualified teachers aides filling teaching positions. Keep your 28.

No they don't. She may be new to teaching (although her bio says she's taught older kids before), but she's in no way unqualified. As assistant teacher in K, she was better than some full teachers.

Anonymous wrote:I would prefer 28 kids in a class with an experienced teacher then a last minute teacher (2.5 weeks away!!). What amazing teacher is suddenly going to appear to save the day? Be careful what you wish for. Last year we had a brand spanking new last minute teacher (who was early pregnant) and it was a disaster. I say go for 28 or go private one more year.

Same. They already have underqualified teachers aides filling teaching positions. Keep your 28.

I would prefer 28 kids in a class with an experienced teacher then a last minute teacher (2.5 weeks away!!). What amazing teacher is suddenly going to appear to save the day? Be careful what you wish for. Last year we had a brand spanking new last minute teacher (who was early pregnant) and it was a disaster. I say go for 28 or go private one more year.

This is the second year in a row with 140 kids in K. I hope that DCPS is willing to recognize that and allocate 6 teachers from the start, so we don't have this problem every year.

In a few years, enrollment is going to get close to 1000 kids (140x6 grades plus 100 in PK).

Anonymous wrote:We are in the Lafayette waitlist (pretty good number) so I'm certainly rooting for you all to get your extra classroom, which may then get filled with some waitlist folks. Although I'm sure that isn't what the Lafayette folks want to see...

Sorry -- even at current enrollment, spreading out among 6 classes would be almost 24 kids per class, plus whatever other IB enrollment is needed to get the 6th teacher. They're not going to go to the wait list.

We are in the Lafayette waitlist (pretty good number) so I'm certainly rooting for you all to get your extra classroom, which may then get filled with some waitlist folks. Although I'm sure that isn't what the Lafayette folks want to see...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be upset if my child was pulled out of a seasonsed teachers class and thrown into a new hire class last minute. How seasoned is this 6th teacher going to be? This is why Principals should plan ahead and make sure they have enough teachers during the normal hiring season! Just leave my kid in the class of 27.

You can't win with some people.

Most of the K teachers were new last year and people complained about that too.

Right? Seriously guys how about focusing on how you can help or being positive. We are where we are - let's deal with it the best way we can! Model some flexibility for your children.

Anonymous wrote:+100 to the previous poster, does any one know who's the cluster superintendent to Lafayette?

Aileen Murphy. So I assume her email is aileen [dot] murphy [at] dc [dot] gov

+100 to the previous poster, does any one know who's the cluster superintendent to Lafayette?

If people seriously want to push for an additional teacher call DCPS central office, contact your school's cluster superintendent. Dr. B has her hands tied. Let's help her in this fight and support her, please try to make her job even more stressful. We all know DCPS is dysfunctional unless parents really push them to do what makes common sense.