Holton brain drain?

[Anonymous]

Penny just sent an email on the LS Head’s departure to GDS.

Would be interesting to see if this will affect the newly admitted families’ decision to have their DDs attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lucky day for GDS.

And a sad day for Holton…

[Anonymous]

Yes the Holton LS head is leaving for GDS. She’s been at the school for 16+ years and she’s phenomenal.

They’re bringing in an interim head from the outside, not someone who knows Holton.

We are parents of two Holton girls and we’ll be applying out as quickly as possible. I imagine others will as well. There will be a brain drain not just of faculty, but also families.

This isn’t just disgruntled DCUM talk.

[Anonymous]

OP - nice work strategically planting this seed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes the Holton LS head is leaving for GDS. She’s been at the school for 16+ years and she’s phenomenal.

They’re bringing in an interim head from the outside, not someone who knows Holton.

We are parents of two Holton girls and we’ll be applying out as quickly as possible. I imagine others will as well. There will be a brain drain not just of faculty, but also families.

This isn’t just disgruntled DCUM talk.

I am another Holton parent here and I am genuinely curious: How if at all has your daughter's day to day experience been affected? I just haven't seen any evidence of any sort of change for the worse for the girls. It just seems like a rash decision to pull your daughter from her friend group and environment.

[Anonymous]

Prospective family here. Did the LS have an assistant director as well? Similar to middle school? And if so, is there a reason she wasn’t considered as interim LS director, considering her familiarity with Holton? Or is there a possibility, she’s also considering leaving?

We are definitely more than a bit concerned here and are now considering our other options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prospective family here. Did the LS have an assistant director as well? Similar to middle school? And if so, is there a reason she wasn’t considered as interim LS director, considering her familiarity with Holton? Or is there a possibility, she’s also considering leaving?

We are definitely more than a bit concerned here and are now considering our other options.

The assistant head is a 5th grade teacher. Not sure if he was considered for the position or if he wanted it.

The interim head is a colleague of Penny’s from back in the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Penny just sent an email on the LS Head’s departure to GDS.

Would be interesting to see if this will affect the newly admitted families’ decision to have their DDs attend.

Was it sent to the whole school or just the lower school?

[Anonymous]

The departing LS head is a gem. Sad day for Holton. My daughters are in MS/HS now, but there experience in LS was great, in large part due to the LS head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes the Holton LS head is leaving for GDS. She’s been at the school for 16+ years and she’s phenomenal.

They’re bringing in an interim head from the outside, not someone who knows Holton.

We are parents of two Holton girls and we’ll be applying out as quickly as possible. I imagine others will as well. There will be a brain drain not just of faculty, but also families.

This isn’t just disgruntled DCUM talk.

That seems a bit "sky is falling". If your kids are already in LS, they will be in MS in a matter of a year or two (especially given you can't apply out at this time of the year). The LS head won't make much of a difference by that point as they'll be in MS or about to enter it.

[Anonymous]

I was holding out hope that they’d realize their mistake and make her the new HoS to replace this one. Too bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello - parent of newly admitted DD1 and prospective DD2 for LS and I’ve heard rumblings of faculty departures due to HOS transition. A little nervous about making the move if it’s been a rocky transition and there may be brain drain. Since we’re LS, need to assess if we should wait to see how this all plays out. It’s a hefty $ to experience too many departures. Any intel from current parents?

We have one HS stident at a different well regarded, private and another kid in a well regarded public. Anytime there's a change in head of school or principal, there's a large change in faculty. New leaders want to bring in their own people, and, sometimes the pets of the previous leader don't like change. It usually works out in the end

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes the Holton LS head is leaving for GDS. She’s been at the school for 16+ years and she’s phenomenal.

They’re bringing in an interim head from the outside, not someone who knows Holton.

We are parents of two Holton girls and we’ll be applying out as quickly as possible. I imagine others will as well. There will be a brain drain not just of faculty, but also families.

This isn’t just disgruntled DCUM talk.

I am another Holton parent here and I am genuinely curious: How if at all has your daughter's day to day experience been affected? I just haven't seen any evidence of any sort of change for the worse for the girls. It just seems like a rash decision to pull your daughter from her friend group and environment.

The lower school head leaving is a really big deal. We have a kid in an early LS grade. We're not going to wait around to see how bad it gets. The handwriting is already on the wall. Your family is totally free to make their own decision based on your circumstances. We've made ours.

[Anonymous]

Every week another departure is announced. This is the third this month. 2 out of 3 Division Heads are leaving for lateral moves. How long before the 3rd jumps off this sinking ship?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every week another departure is announced. This is the third this month. 2 out of 3 Division Heads are leaving for lateral moves. How long before the 3rd jumps off this sinking ship?

Wow…Would you mind sharing who were the other two departures this month? Specifically what roles they had?