On the June "Start a new post" Amy Moore wrote:
Is Randall Taylor right? If Randall is right, this is one of the few times that the board has listened to parent complaints. In this morning's PG among the other changes listed, Ms Berdnik is being transferred from Linden to Woolslair. Mr. Taylor complained that it was orchestrated by a handful of parents critical of Ms. Berdnik. Although I am no longer closely associated with Linden, I have heard more than a few complaints from the parents that I still know there.
June 25, 2009 9:21 AM
Another Principal has bailed out. It will be interesting to hear the story behind this story. Did Mr. Lentz actively seek a new job even before his new Sci-tech school opens or was he recruited by Fox Chapel because of his outstanding credentials? Is Mr. Scherrer's transfer a demotion because of the recent events at Allderdice or is heading up one of Mr. Roosevelt's pet schools a promotion? and how will the parents at 'Dice accept Ms. Friez? Lots of changes
June 25, 2009 9:30 AM
Here is the link to the PG article that the above posts are discussing:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09176/979791-53.stm
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25 comments:
The staff at Allderdice is jumping for joy to get a new principal. Melissa Friez attended Allderdice and later taught English there. She will be welcomed back with open arms. Mr. Scherrer was not popular with the staff. Hopefully he will be a better fit at his new school. Rumors had him going to Baldwin HS as their new principal. He apparently applied for that job. Maybe the Board worked a deal with him to stay in PPS?
I know that parents have been trying to get rid of her for a couple of years now. Heard that this year they actually got the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition to join in their efforts.
Don't know exactly what went down, though I'd say that Randall Taylor is basically right.
I'd say that heading up the school is a good thing for him...unless he's just a place-filler until they find someone they want more.
Love how they still play musical chairs with the principals. The argument is always that they can't get rid of teachers (which is untrue), but that they can fairly easily get rid of administrators. If the one principal was removed due to parent complaints...what about the new parents who will get her?
Parents at Woolslair are much less likely to speak up than parents at Linden.
Challenges at W. might be much less than at L too, but I'm not sure if that can be so. The size in schools might be a big difference. ???
So, Peabody HS is with its 3rd principal in as many years. Right? Guess 2 for 0 beats that however. (i.e. Sci-Tech)
However, the musical chairs seems to have slowed, if this is the final switches for next year.
BTW, loved reading the South section of today's PG and the news of the coaches and the remarks about support and dealing with parents.
One issue Woolslair has is asbestos. As noted in PURE's featured topic on this subject, it is not clear how Woolslair can be considered any safer than Schenley was.
I don't think of Allderdice as one of the superintendent's pet schools. I have attended enough meetings to know that no matter how you feel about how he does his job, he heaps praise PUBLICLY on any school he can. I do think a home-grown principal, especially a graduate of PPS, will attack his job with a tenacity an outside hire cannot muster. I would like to think a home-grown leader would be more likely to challenge decisions made by others that impact his building.
As for some of the other principal changes, not everyone will love the principal. And those that do love the principal should not love the principal everyday.
The bigger concern is the possibility that exists that some well-trained VPs are being squeezed out of advancing to principalships because of PELA.
Don't be so sure about Woolslair parents being less vocal than Linden.
I justaparent so my thoughts could all be wrong.
I remember seeing and hearing Mr. Lentz giving a presentation to parents shortly after he was hired. I also remember thinking his enthusiasm was hard to contain. Are the demands on principals unreasonable? The expectations too high? The deadlines unattainable?
I think that Melissa Friez coming home to Allderdice is a great story and that for once, you are talking about a principal who knows the neighborhoods and dynamics of the school. That is something you simply don't see around this district.
As far as her challenging decisions made by others that impact her building, let's be reasonable. PELA principals do not question their superiors. They don't challenge the folks up above them.
Those types of principals have been "eased out" and into retirement.
Sounds nice for Allderdice but what will be done, really, to support Peabody students, as they face uncertainty and fight to hold onto their school and must now transition to a new principal in a setting without a clear longterm mission?
I don't know, Questioner. The East End is going to be a real political football in the coming months, as IB will logically be heading to Peabody in a couple of years.
Someone asks about the stress placed on principals. I agree---it is incredible that this district employs so many individuals OUTSIDE of the classroom who can exert pressure on principals and teachers these days. It's an incredible waste of money and an incredible drain on individuals.
I know many PELA principals got out of teaching beause of stress. They only found more in school admin. And these young leaders are expected to be drones.
Anon 10:16, do you mean that you think Peabody is the logical place for IB and if so, why?
Questioner, I thought that the 30 member commission named Peabody as the logical choice for the IB location. I think the building is under-utilized now and it is a logical move. Perhaps it will also share CTE, as mentioned here.Truth be told, would Reizenstein--with its private driveways and updated interior--be such a bad place for an IB or a high school, in general?
The IB committee was given only limited options and the Peabody community was not included in these closed meetings. And, the committee made its recommendation b/f the results of the recent lottery were released showing incoming 9th graders are now coming from all parts of the city, including areas that may not be easy to reach from Peabody.
Re: Reizenstein, the committee thought the buildiing would be too expensive to renovate but does not seem to have been given comparative information on the costs of the other options. Also the Schenley committee authorized by the board almost a year ago, which was specifically to have considered use of the building as a school, still has not been formed. So lots of issues are still out there.
Thank you. I thought the move to Peabody was a done deal. Maybe it still will be. I must admit however that a school in Oakland would be more centrally located and yet, I get the feeling that the board has closed the door on the idea of Schenley renovation.
BTW, when you say "Peabody community", what are you alluding to? If you mean the general Highland Park/East Liberty area, it's hard to fathom those folks not wanting an IB school in their back yards. As far as location, I'd say that the North Highland Avenue/Negley Avenue spot lends itself to a great deal more public transportation alternatives than other spots.
By Peabody community- the students currently attending Peabody and their neighborhoods. As a second choice to Oakland Highland Park would probably welcome IB at Peabody, but many have expressed concerns about current Peabody feeder students not well-suited to IB. With transfers most students could probably get to Peabody, but a number of Schenley students have found even the trip to Reizenstein to me much more time consuming than the trip to Oakland was...
Did the new principal sign a contract? What did he lose to leave before school even started? I certainly hope we aren't paying him to go...like so many others!
I'm guessing that this means that during his time on the job he didn't become convinced that this administration was truly going to devote the resources and listen to the right people enough to make this a national model, eh? Seems like if he really thought that was going to happen, it would be too good to pass up. After that, he could have written his ticket anywhere.
Maybe he found what so many of us keep seeing. They talk a great deal -- if you could believe what they say, you'd be crazy to leave. However, the gap between their talk and their actions is enormous.
Things have changed where the idea of principals are concerned. In the olden days, I believed that people looking to go this route were leaders who had a vision for schools. Now, I look at the young people who go through the PELA immersion and Broad Foundation brainwashing sessions to be more in line with the idea of young people who looked at urban education and surmised there was no way they could make it for 35 years in the classroom. In fact, the amount of classroom time some of these folks have is unbelievably small. That makes me wonder just how they can determine what should be rendered as good teaching and insufficient instruction.
Young principals are exactly what the Roosevelt crew wants--people with little connection to the teaching staff of the city and years to go until retirement. They are inundated with the theories of micro-managing their schools to death.
All of this will be interesting to watch. You see, each principal has an inate knowledge of what his or her school needs and can accomplish after a very small amount of time on the job. Each understands his school's unique problems. How many will speak up to the board? How many will have the resolve to deal with the problems given the extreme oversight by Bellefield Avenue--again, a group of people who largely never in the classroom themselves?
I understand that Peabody not only gets a new principal, but it is being cut a Vice Principal slot too. Used to have to V-Ps. Now to have only 1.
True?
Reactions?
I think this is based upon enrollment, Mark. Unless I am mistaken, a few schools are cutting VP positions and a few principals themselves will handle a house or grade level. Peabody continues to shrink. I don't think this is a surprise.
Do I need a lesson in geography? The principal of U prep left because his wife had an internship in NYC and he has now accepted a position in Boston. Am I missing something or did I read it wrong?
Well, visiting between Boston and NYC is definitely a lot easier than between Pgh and NYC.
But you can't help but wonder if the superintendent, who is from Boston, had something to do with this placement in Boston if the position here in Pgh wasn't working out.
I attended the Meet the Principal event at Allderdice last night. A couple of observations:
For about the first 20 minutes I couldn't see Friez because I was sitting behind a big pillar. All I could hear was her voice: very girlish, every other sentence went up at the end, like a question, like teenagers do, you know, like when Friez said: "I was principal last year at Pittsburgh Peabody?" A question instead of a statement. I know that this way of talking has developed over the years into a device to stimulate agreement/buy-in from the listener--every time the talker's tone goes up the listener feels compelled to shake their head affirmatively or go "uh-huh" in agreement. I find that to be somewhat manipulative. Either way--girlish or manipulative--it was irritating.
But after about 20 minutes I stood up and moved to another part of the room and got a look at Friez. Interestingly, adding the visual element made a big difference in my assessment. Friez was dressed in a tailored, business-like jacket and skirt, her demeanor was serious and she was physically calm--very still and focused on each parent who asked a question. Her composure completely neutralized the sound of her voice. What kind of effect her physical presence will have on a hallway full of teenagers is definitely open to question though.
As far as content goes, she definitely has the foundation-speak down pat: Promise-ready this and Promise-ready that. I'm all for the Pittsburgh Promise, but it got a little repetitive.
She spent too much time in her introduction detailing her higher education background and all the steps she's climbed up the public education corporate ladder. Seemed that she was trying a little too hard to assure everyone that she's qualified to lead Allderdice. I would have liked to have heard her thoughts on students and parents, some anecdotes from her Peabody experience, and an outline of her personal philosophy.
She garnered applause when she assured parents that students rounded-up in hall sweeps would be considered innocent until proven guilty of whatever. And she was really attentive and thoughtful when answering numerous questions and complaints from parents.
From what I saw at Peabody- she will do what she can but toe the corporate line.
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