The board of the Delaware Design-Lab High School sent out a notice to parents that the Head of School Joseph Mock was out, and the search was on for his replacement. Last year, the school won $10 million in Laurene Powell Jobs’ XQ Super School competition.
Blogger Kevin Ohlandt was stunned to hear the news and assumed that Mock resigned but it appears, says Ohlandt, but it appears that he was ousted.
Here is the beginning of the email to parents. Get a load of the titles:
“From: Design-Lab High School
“Sent: Friday, September 15, 5:20 PM
“Subject: Important Message from the DDLHS Board
“Dear DDLHS Families,
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, we would like to bring you up to date on changes inside school administration as we prepare for the next phase in the process of becoming an XQ Super School in August 2018.
“The Board will begin interviews next week for the position of XQ Project Manager and, shortly thereafter, will begin the search for the school’s XQ Dean of Academic Intensity. These leaders, together with a Dean of Engagement and Dean of College and Career Readiness, will guide us through the XQ process and prepare us for the opening of our XQ Super School next fall.
“As we shift our administrative structure to help us succeed as a Super School, the Board has decided to eliminate the position of Head of School effective Friday, September 15, 2017. As a result of these changes, we are sad to announce that Mr. Mock will be pursuing other opportunities at this time. Mr. Mock has been an invaluable asset to our school since he joined us as Vice Principal/Special Education Coordinator in 2015. Through his tenure as Principal and Head of School, he has navigated some of the most challenging waters a school can face with grace and commitment. We thank Mr. Mock for all he’s done preparing DDLHS to move into this next phase in our school’s history, and wish him well in his new endeavors.”
Translation: Mock is out immediately. His temporary replacement is a member of the board. Something’s rotten in Denmark (er, Delaware).
Lesson #1 for Mrs. Jobs: Schools are about people, not tools. They are not corporations where the personnel are interchangeable. Human interactions create a culture, and the culture supports the people in it and the work they do–or it doesn’t. A school is more than the sum of its parts. Great tools do not a great school make. Commitment, dedication, compassion, and teamwork matter most.
Perhaps that’s what the XQ project will demonstrate.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So none of those titles has Special Education in them, which was part of the ousted Mock’s title. I wonder who will be in charge of special education services.
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There likely won’t be special education services. Not in a specialty XQ school. They will likely only take high scorers on the stupid BS tests.
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He ticked somebody off. Must have shown an inkling of independence or, Horrors, asked an intelligent question.
Ta Ta – don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
He’s the lucky one, the losers are the students and teachers left behind.
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You don’t get rid of a principal at the beginning of the academic year because you are changing your administrative structure for a new initiative and put a board member in as temporary lead. Do they really expect people to believe their fantasy? Even more disturbing to me is firing a principal for no fault of his own after the school year has just started. Are you kidding me? I know this kind of dismissal/firing happens all the time in all areas of employment, but I find it morally repugnant in a career that has a cyclical nature and typically hires in the spring or early summer for positions beginning in the summer. Your lesson #1 for Powell Jobs is too often ignored these days.
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“Dean of Academic Intensity”? OMGROFLAMO. “Dean of . . . College AND Career Readiness”? AGAIN. OMGROFLAMO!!!!!
If only we could make school more gritful and intense. Then, any given student will be ready to become EITHER a cosmologist OR a cosmetologist or BOTH.
It’s impossible to parody this stuff. It does such an excellent job of self-parody.
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With all the zombie students staring at screens all day, instead of a Dean of Academic Intensity, they should be searching for a Dean of Academic Rigamorits.
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Dean of Gritful Acquiescence by Prole Children perhaps?
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Thumbs up!
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The best schools are those with stable staffing. That is why tenure is so important, otherwise each year will have a new set of personnel and leadership. It’s like Ground Hog’s Day, starting from scratch – not even the students remain constant. School Choice – flitting from school to school looking for some magic elixir which doesn’t exist, like trying to find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow with nary a leprechaun in sight.
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