I am joining with other parents and children of Vashon Island’s school district to demand action be taken that will hold Victoria Hopper, Spanish Arts teacher at Chautauqua Elementary School, accountable for her failure to meet nationwide professional teaching standards.

We allege the following:

1. Ms. Hopper loses her temper and yells at the children regularly. It is more than using a stern voice, and it is frightening, this can be directed at individual children or whole classes.
2. Ms. Hopper criticizes children, this can be passive aggressively or with a raised voice, both are demeaning and unacceptable.
3. Ms. Hopper uses jarring strategies such as clapping or snapping within inches of children’s faces in attempt to startle and correct various behavioral issues.
4. Ms. Hopper uses ineffective teaching strategies in congruence with negative feedback for some and positive feedback for others further dividing classrooms and creating a tense work environment.
5. And finally to acknowledge a general complaint from many children: Ms. Hopper is mean or she repeatedly plays the same video which is, “so annoying,” it is, “driving [them] crazy.”

We request the following:

1. An apology to students and their parents/guardians from Victoria Hopper, acknowledging what is right and wrong. What she has done that she has learned is inappropriate and how she intends to address these measures. This will set an example for the kids to begin building trust and to see an adult taking responsibility for their own mistakes.
2. An acknowledgment from the administration that there have been multiple complaints and that additional rounds of walking the halls and occasional pop ins has not been effective at helping Victoria Hopper better manage her classroom.
3. Remediation in the form of consistent advanced training tackling anger management, childhood education, & classroom management.
4. Public access to the plan and accountability of things such as weekly lessons completed by Victoria Hopper.
5. Consequences if there is a failure to comply.

Years of emails to administration of parental complaints can be provided by request

I attest that all of what this letter has stated is true to the best of my ability.