The principal of local Albert Einstein High School posted the following on the school website and apparently distributed the notice to families. This is one of the most appalling, offensive, unprofessional, regressed, and generally inappropriate statements I have ever heard in modern public education...http://leesyknits.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/give-him-a-for-appalling.html
Is Einstein in Bronda Mills cluster of schools? If I were a parent of one of the students enrolling in Extensions I would be livid. Fernandez basically describes them as monsters and then he has the nerve to say that he will welcome them with open arms!!!!! Maybe, they get the open arms after the big punch in the face.
ReplyDeleteThe Cluster Superintendent for this school is Bronda Mills. What is going on in her cluster? New Hamphire Estates, Kemp Mill, Einstein, Blair.............so many problems in this cluster and Bronda Mills keeps on smiling. She needs to be removed and so does the principal at Einstein. I would not want my child at Einstein after reading his post. It is so uncaring and worst of all, so damaging to the youth at Einstein.
ReplyDeleteI'd give him a C for appalling.
ReplyDeleteThis appears to have been an effort to mollify worried yuppie parents that ill-behaved, potentially violent kids were being placed at their precious children's school.
What could he have written to accomplish this. It must acknowledge that the kids DO have behavior problems, and he must explain why they should not be concerned.
He covered the bases and tried to humanize them and gave lip service to being happy about getting additional ill-behaved kids in his school. (which is a LIE, but it's his job. Pretending to be happy about getting problem kids is also part of the job.)
The criticism here is excessive.
It's all well and good to complain from the sidelines, but these people have multiple forces pushing in multiple directions. This principal threaded a needle. Maybe not perfectly, but I'm not mortified.
You speak for the incoming students? You've met them? What incredible prejudice and bias.
DeleteI have met the kids and they don't fit or deserve this description! You are all happy with this description because you are completely buying into this as if the description is factual. IT IS NOT.
So, now what do you have to say? A principal smeared a group of incoming students before they even set foot in the door. How about we do that with a group of incoming GT students? Let's put the same letter out about them. Now, you are good with that?
Discrimination, prejudice and bullying are alive and well in MCPS.
No, there hasn't been enough criticism. This principal needs immediate training in the laws pertaining to education of individuals with disabilities. By posting matter like he did on the website, he made massive generalizations about these students and their abilities. Did you know, for example, that these students are in the community at jobsites, restaurants, etc., at least three times a week?
ReplyDeleteEinstein I'm sure has its share of ill-behaved, potentially violent kids. (Remember the gun show held in the bathroom there a few years ago?) This is DIFFERENT. What the principal has done is to STIGMATIZE a whole group of incoming kids, say they are so potentially dangerous they can't even be in the cafeteria with "your" children, and say in advance that they are going to be restricted to two rooms in the building, REGARDLESS of what their IEPs say, and REGARDLESS of their individual needs.
These aren't "PROBLEM KIDS." They are kids with disabilities. Attitudes like that are exactly why some parents fight for their kids to be placed in non public schools where teachers and parents alike value each child.
Again, a principal who writes about students in such a negative manner should not be principal. He showed a true lack of sensitivity to the parents and the students. Why put out a letter like that? The damage is done. How are these students feeling about attending their new school? Frankly, if I were one of the students I'd be mad and depressed. Who deals with the fallout from this ignorant letter by the principal? Bronda Mills? Probably not. She has her hands full with the abuse she allowed at New Hampshire Estates and Kemp Mill.
ReplyDeleteLyda, the training should have been done before he became principal. How does MCPS train a person to be sensitive and empathic toward students? I don't think this has anything to do with laws pertaining to education of individuals with disabilities. I think it is more about the character of the principal who posted the information. Most adults with a heart and a brain would know better than to post something like that. MCPS has taken a sad turn which started with Jerry Weast's tenure and his number #1 Larry Bowers is still running the county. Jerry Weast is still here in spirit. And, Josh Starr, he's just busy with his tweets and book club.
ReplyDeleteI agree with "C for Appalling." Why are these kids in that program? Because that's who/what they are. Your thought that they are all so good and sweet little children is the same reason we have some kids in 12th grade that are beasts...because they aren't recognized early enough.
ReplyDeleteAnd why are you anonymous? Because you are clueless, wrong and ignorant. This is not who these children are. This does not describe those students.
DeleteApparently, you and this principal have a FIXED MINDSET that has labeled all of these students without EVER meeting them. Oh, dear! What ever shall Super Starr do about you all. Fixed mindsets are no longer tolerated in MCPS land.
Thanks for perfectly illustrating what is wrong with this letter. It DOES NOT describe the incoming students! But, clueless anonymous people/MCPS suck up whatever the principal says and believe it. It's WRONG. So now what? Are you going to apologize to the families and students?
Here's what's fascinating: When MCPS identifies 60% of MCPS students as gifted and talented the response is, "Oh, that can't be right! That many kids can't be GT." But, when a principal labels and entire group of students as aggressive the response is, "They are all aggressive..." without any evidence whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, who describes the kids as "beasts"..................You are the beast and a bully. You have no idea who any of these students are and you label them as "beasts"...........and this is what the principal created through the ignorant letter that he presented to every parent at Einstein. So, is this just another MCPS special that's going to be swept under the rug? I hope not.
ReplyDeleteWow. I didn't say that the kids that Mr. Fernandez is talking about are beasts. I didn't say that all students are beasts. I was talking about the students we have in MCPS that ARE beasts, thugs, and just all around bad people. They are there people. I promise. All our students aren't GT, going to Churchill, Wootton, or Whitman.
Delete@1:45 - Your incredible prejudice is showing and is not productive to the conversation on this blog. We are talking about children, not even adults. There are no beasts or thugs, there are only children. And, your broad generalizations are false. The name of a school does not signify the kids in the school. They aren't beasts and they aren't all GT.
DeleteWhat is most disturbing is that you probably work for MCPS.
"tried to humanize them.". Do you even realize what you said? The readers of this blog and these children deserve an apology from you for suggesting our children are somehow not human. Who ARE you?
ReplyDeleteThere is a little common sense that seems to be lacking from this principal. I've written a lot of letters, MOU's, memo's, etc, in my years. Anything major going out to a large audience I ALWAYS have someone give it the "idiot" check. Not just spelling an grammar but does it sound right, does it make sense? Did he just write it up and slap it on the web site without anyone else checking it? What is even worse is if it did go through several eyes and yet everyone said, "yup looks good to me".
ReplyDelete