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Classroom Practice/Program

Overcoming the Learning Gap

After COVID-19: Vision, Goals,

Teamwork, and Love

By Cynthia Prather
Interview with LaCondria Beckwith

Principal, Ketcham Elementary School, Washington, DC

LaCondria Beckwith, a 16-year educator with District of
Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), accepted the position
as principal at Ketcham Elementary School in southeast
Washington, DC, serving grades prekindergarten to 5, to
open the 2021–2022 academic year. Following a year of
virtual education and a few weeks of summer activities for
students to address academic losses, Beckwith assumed the
helm facing below-benchmark beginning-of-the-year (BOY)
academic scores and reluctance, anxiety, and even resistance
from parents and staff about returning to in-person learning.
By June 2022, however, Ketcham scored near the top of
schools throughout the city in terms of gains on the English
and Language Arts (ELA) indicators.
In discussions with Principal Beckwith, I sought to learn
how she accomplished this improvement. Her comments
revealed some expected responses and one surprising, yet Principal LaCondria
encouraging, element. Beckwith

Q: What challenges did you face at the beginning of the school
year?

A: One big challenge was getting to 100% enrollment of the families registered.
Some parents were reluctant to return to in-person schooling because of fears of
COVID-19. To address these concerns, I invited parents back to school to make
them feel comfortable. I arranged COVID-safe meet-and-greets and play dates
with teachers and students on the outdoor plaza. Classroom teachers called parents
to introduce themselves and answer questions. We had a big back-to-school
welcome with signs, posters, a red carpet, and staff cheerleaders! To help parents
and students feel more comfortable about the drop-offs, staff were assigned to
escort pre-k and kindergarten students to their classrooms each morning. And I
think every one of my teachers achieved at least 84% of their home visits. These
activities helped to build relationships between the parents and the school.
I continued this type of parent contact throughout the school year, with parent
grab-and-go’s of resource materials, morning meet-the-principal events (donuts
served!), and school-based outdoor plaza activities such as Literacy Night; Science,

Collegial Exchange · 31