A little over three months into his tenure as the DC Public Schools chancellor, Lewis Ferebee used Teacher Appreciation Week as a chance to shadow 2018 DCPS Teacher of the Year Lakeisha Brown and tour Ward 4’s Lafayette Elementary School, where she teaches kindergarten.
The May 6 visit to the Chevy Chase school — DCPS’ largest elementary school, with more than 800 students — came amid growing attention to teacher retention in DC. The city has an annual teacher turnover rate of 25 percent, compared to the national average of 16 percent, according to an October report by the DC State Board of Education. In a separate analysis by Bellwether Education Partners, DCPS teachers cited reasons like work-life balance, school leadership, and the pursuit of leadership opportunities in other districts as reasons to leave.
Ferebee was optimistic about what he saw at Lafayette, though, and expressed his gratitude for the teachers there. “Starting the week here at the school with teachers and staff is a great way for me to begin the recognition process, and we’ll celebrate our teachers all throughout this week and the great work that our educators do,” he said in an interview with The DC Line.
Lafayette’s emphasis on “social-emotional learning” was a standout feature, according to Ferebee. The school employs a “peace teacher” to educate students on conflict resolution, and classrooms include “cooldown corners” and posters with mindfulness techniques. Brown, who has taught for 16 years and spent the last four at Lafayette, leads her class through two mindfulness activities a day to help students refocus. For some of these exercises, the children have the chance to dance and let out some energy; other times, with the classroom lights dimmed, the students are guided through a short meditation by a program on the classroom’s smartboard.
“You never know what kids come in with from the night before, so I want them to know this is a safe place,” Brown said in an interview. “Everything that might have been on your mind, you don’t have to worry about it in this space.”
According to Ferebee, mental health techniques like the ones practiced in Brown’s classroom are a perfect illustration of the value of social-emotional learning.
“I’m really thrilled that we continue to invest in mental health supports,” Ferebee said. “Elements of Ms. Brown’s class hit every button from top to bottom.”
Brown — a member of the “teacher cabinet” that meets monthly with Chancellor Ferebee and advises him on policy decisions — knows firsthand the importance of creating a safe environment in the classroom. Having experienced homelessness as a child in the small town of Oxford, Pennsylvania, Brown said during her Teacher of the Year acceptance speech in February that she was inspired to become an educator by what she describes as her own teachers’ failures to support her. Despite her teachers’ shortcomings, Brown took time in an interview to thank the people who supported her along the way. “I definitely feel very honored and humbled and thankful for everyone who’s been in my life to get me to that point,” she said.
Brown said she puts an emphasis on making her classroom a loving space — something that helped set her apart to win the award. Having used the experience of homelessness to inform her work made winning the Teacher of the Year award especially poignant for Brown. “I don’t take it lightly,” she said. “It goes to show if you believe that you can do anything, anything is possible.”
During Ferebee’s visit, Brown also credited her students for making the award possible. “It’s actually [the kids] who won the award — I’m just the face — because they do a lot of the heavy lifting in the classroom,” she said.
Brown also touched on the importance of representation in terms of the Teacher of the Year recognition, particularly since she teaches in a school where 68 percent of the student body is white. “I think [the award] is also really important as an African American female — especially in an area where a lot of people in the community don’t look like me. For the children that are in the school, I like being a role model they can look up to,” she said.
Ferebee finished his Lafayette visit by commenting on his excitement for DCPS investment in technology in next year’s budget. The school system is looking to allocate $4.6 million in technology in fiscal year 2020 in order to provide greater access to learning devices for students. DCPS aims to have a 1-1 ratio of devices to students in grades three, six and nine for the upcoming year.
Reflecting on the value of Teacher Appreciation Week, Ferebee closed the tour on a grateful note for DCPS teachers. “I think it’s important for us to be reminded of all the great things our teachers do for us outside the teaching and learning,” he said. “They’re coaches, they’re motivators, they’re caregivers, they wear many hats — and we should value the work that they do.”
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