The School For Ethics And Global Leadership

There are some aspects of Meridian that are positive. The salary is comparable to that of public schools in DC. There is generally no more than about 20 students per class.However, the school is lacking in internal structure, disciplinary consistiency, and measures put in place are often reactive opposed to proactive. Policies and procedures have been created as a "last-minute" decision and reaction to egregious behaviors by students and emergency events. There isn't school wide structure of behavioral expectation and parents aren't made aware of student conduct expectations and policies. In most school districts things like bullying policies and student personal safety policies (suicidal ideation, unsafe behaviors) are well communicated to staff and made explicitly clear. This is not true for Meridian. As a staff member I had to hunt for this information, which in some cases didn't exist. There are staff members in roles they are not qualified for. Roles that typically require higher level degrees, licensure, and certification were given to individuals who have not completed such qualifications. Students display unsafe and disrespectful behavior and language at the middle school on a regular basis. There are constantly students leaving class without permission, cursing and being vulgar, verbally threatening other students and adults, with little consequences. Sometimes the consequences didn't match the severity of the behavior. The expectation is often that behavior plans or plans for accomodations to take place with students that aren't effective or even possible, given the wide range of disrespectful and inappropriate behaviors that are constantly taking place throughout the building. Upon departure from the school, I gave 2 weeks notice and was swiftly given a letter by an individual in HR that stated that my last date of employment would be the day before I gave my notice. The letter almost was gaslighting in nature; making it seem like I chose the much earlier date and that I wouldn't be paid for time after that date. I was not given an explanation. Staff morale was low almost from the beginning of the school year. Staff appreciation events were hosted, but was never followed up with real staff support and school wide restructuring. At last I was aware, there are no plans to improve anything as far as foundation or structure for the upcoming year in spite of negative feedback Meridian has recieved from staff.

Our daughter goes to PRE-K3 here... I am so impressed by the quality of the teachers, administration, and staff. Great playground, both the larger one for the older kids and the dedicated Pre-K playground. Couldn't be happier!

As a parent, in-class parent volunteer, parent chaperone (had to clear an FBI background check and get finger printed), PTA representative, I was very excited about Ross. But what I saw over 4 years, was deliberate withholding of FAPE from dozens of students especially those with any kind of dyslexia or learning disability. Why would the smallest school in DCPS, in Ward 2, always under enrolled, withhold reading supports to students eligible for an IEP? Ross leadership would not hear that 1 in 5 people have dyslexia. That people with dyslexia are super bright thinkers, and are more able to adapt because that is what they always have to do. Ross refused to offer supports to its teachers and supports that would not have come out of the Ross school budget. Ross leadership is focused on raising money from the the parents of the lower grades to pay for everything in the school. Dyslexia is usually recognized and or diagnosed btwn 2-5 grades when the work gets harder, and yet it can be detected as early as pre-k. Ross refused phonics and to give teacher training in Child Find- a federal and state law. Why would Ross NOT even support its own teachers in academic expertise? People want to teach as a small school, so why is there an intense turnover rate of teachers at Ross? For 10 years, Ross leadership refused to place a parent representative on the Personnel Committee so that the parents could have input on teacher hirings. Why? Parents, PTA, and LSAT signed a petition and sent it around to OSSE and others for Ross leadership in order to force a placement of a parent on this committee. This letter also demanded that Ross leadership hire non-white teachers, to hire racially diverse, teachers, representative of DCPS. Why did this have to happen? Ross could be a vanguard of change. It could be an incredible school for reading and writing, and why not? With this focus, students from 2-5th grades would stay rather than leave in a mass exodus in 3rd and 4th grades and/or leaving the DCPS system altogether. DC Council passed The Decoding Dyslexia bill- Ross Leadership should take everything in that bill and run with it!! It should become the top example for how the measures in that bill can turn around an entire school especially after 3 yrs of COVID school shutdown, Canvas, Teams, etc...(spring 2020, SY 2020-2021, fall 2021).

My daughter is in prek3 at Thomson elementary and we absolutely love it. The school is amazing. The staff are all so nurturing and there is very low teacher turnover. The principal knows all the students by name. There is a strong sense of community and the student body is very diverse. The level of education is so strong. My daughter just turned 4 and is already reading and able to do simple addition and subtraction. She came home last week explaining how she learned about the magic e at the end of words. It’s so awesome to see. Class sizes are small and so teachers are able to do a lot of one on one. We also get daily updates and pictures, which we’ve loved. We have so appreciated how the teachers get to know the families, offering home visits and having regular communication through the school app. Most importantly, the kids are so happy. My daughter absolutely loves the centers in the classroom (dramatic play for example is one of them) and the specials. She gets to have Spanish, art, social emotional learning, music and library every week. At home, she likes to “play school” regularly and set up centers like she has in her classroom even. I wanted to share this review because a lot of parents don't consider Thomson solely because of the lack of outdoor space. But please do not let that deter you. I cannot stress enough how happy I am with our choice because of the level of attention and education my daughter is getting. I’ve talked to parents who have their kids at other schools in dc as well as Arlington, and I can say with certainty Thomson is special.

We have been at SWWFS for eight years and the school has felt like family since day one. The teachers are phenomenal and the admin works around the clock to take care of students, staff and families. We love that our kids can be in the same place from Pre-K through 8th grade. Principal Young is incredible and we are so lucky to have her.

We had high hopes for our son's first year at Garrison Elementary, particularly after Principal Kip spoke so highly of the staff and described the 4thgrade class that my son would be joining as "unusually kind" . My son's experience has been far from kind. Garrison failed to meet my expectations of providing a safe learning environment for my child, which has now resulted in an unexpected mid-year withdrawal.Bullying/School SafetyBetween August-December, my son has been bullied on more than one occasion. I met with with Principal Kip after the first incident to express myconcern regarding my son's safety and more specifically, that no one from the school had contacted me to inform me of the incident. Theschool officer was on the playground during recess and was aware of the incident, but the incident was never reported.It's now January and yet another bullying incident recently occurred on the playground during recess. An adult eventually intervened and escorted my son to see the school nurse. The school officer was made aware of the incident and yet again, no one contacted me to inform me that my son was being seen by the school nurse in relation to this incident (not the nurse, the school officer, or anyone else from the school).CommunicationCommunication needs improvement, in addition to the lack of communication related to the above-mentioned incidents. I raised concern with not having a parent teacher's conference. Principal Kip assured me that a parent teacher conference would be scheduled the following week. Still no parent teacher conference was ever scheduled. Communication concerning field trips has been minimal. For example, permission slips have been sent home for signature, seemingly more so focused on waiving liability to DCPS rather than providing adequate details beyond the date and location. Other pertinent info (i.e., departure and return time, plans for lunch, method of transportation) was never shared. The fourth grade class rode the Metrobus for their last field trip due to financial constraints rather than for a learning experience. While I can appreciate the creativity of the teachers making it happen, perhaps the PTO or individual parents may have been willing to support if this was communicated in advance.On a positive note, I do have to say the IEP team (Ms. Dorn, Mr Saxton, and Mr. H in particular) were genuinely committed to doing what was in the best interest of my son throughout the IEP evaluation process.